Prove Your Faith. Studies in James. Gertrud I. Harlow

Transcription

1 Prove Your Faith Studies in James Gertrud I. Harlow EVERYDAY PUBLICATIONS INC. 310 Killaly Street W. Port Colborne, ON L3K 6A6 Canada Copyright 1981 Everyday Publications Inc.

2 Copyright 1981 by Gertrud I. Harlow ISBN Cover design by Brian Smith Fifth impression 2006 Printed in Canada Copyright 1981 Everyday Publications Inc.

3 Prove Your Faith This little letter is full of practical teaching for the Christian. Its main subject is Faith and Works. The writer is speaking to those who say they have faith, that is, to Christians. He wants us to know that it is not enough just to say with our lips that we have faith. We must show that we are saying the truth by the things we do and by the way we live by our works. In short, you say you have faith? Prove it! But this letter does not only tell us to prove that we have faith, real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It shows us how or in what ways we can prove that our faith is real, that we are true Christians. 3 Copyright 1981 Everyday Publications Inc.

4 Outline CHAPTER 1 TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS 1 The writer and readers 2-12 Trials Temptations Listen and obey 26,27 Genuine religion CHAPTER 2 FAITH AND GOOD WORKS 1-13 Equal honour to both rich and poor Faith and works Two examples of true faith CHAPTER 3 THE TONGUE 1 The responsibility of Bible teachers 2-12 The power of the tongue Unspiritual wisdom 17,18 Wisdom from above CHAPTER 4 SUBMISSION TO GOD 1-3 Why fights and quarrels among Christians? 4-10 The cure for fights and quarrels: submission to God 11,12 Do not criticize your brother Tomorrow is in God's hands CHAPTER 5 RICHES, PATIENCE AND PRAYER 1-6 Warning to rich people 7-12 Be patient until the Lord comes Prayer in all circumstances 4 Copyright 1981 Everyday Publications Inc.

5 7 TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS Verse 1 The writer and readers Who wrote this letter? Most Bible teachers believe the writer was a half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew His parents were Joseph and Mary the mother of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Himself had no human father, Matthew Read these verses about James: John 7.5; Acts ; 1 Corinthians 15.7; Galatians 2.9,12; James 1.1, and answer the following questions: 1. Did the Lord Jesus brothers believe in Him right from the beginning? 2. When did the Lord show Himself in a special way to James? 3. Which verses show that James became one of the leaders in the early church? 4. What does James call himself in the first verse of his letter? You will find the correct answers below the dotted line No, John After He rose from the dead and before He returned to Heaven, 1 Corinthians Acts ; Galatians 2.9, A servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. The word in the Greek language really means more than a servant. It means one who has been bought with money by another, a slave. Yes, one of the leaders of the Church and a halfbrother of the Lord Jesus Christ called himself His slave! 5

6 6 PROVE YOUR FAITH God can only use us when we are humble. Read Micah 6.8. Are you a Christian? Then you too are a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ because you have been bought for a very great price, His own precious blood, 1 Corinthians 6.19,20; 1 Peter 1.18,19. Let us remember in our lives day by day that we are Christ's slaves and do His will rather than our own. Who were the readers? James wrote this letter to Jewish Christians who were living in other lands. In Old Testament times the Jews disobeyed God and God judged them by allowing many of them to be taken to live in other countries. On the day of Pentecost Jews from these places visited Jerusalem and heard the gospel. Doubtless some of them accepted Christ as their Savior and took the gospel back to the countries where they lived. Also many Christians left Jerusalem when Paul persecuted them before he was saved. These Christians were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and preached the gospel wherever they went. So James wrote this letter to Jews who had been scattered all over the world. It was therefore written less than 50 years after the birth of Christ. Trials, Verse 2 God sends trials into our lives to test our faith and see if we are really trusting in Him. Some Bibles use the word temptation in these verses instead of trials, but it does not have the meaning of temptation to sin. What are trials? Various kinds of difficulties perhaps sickness, the loss of a husband or wife or a close relative, perhaps an employer who is difficult to work for, losing your job, a poor harvest, persecution because you are a Christian... Read verse 2 again slowly and see if the following sentences are true or false, and why. 1. Some people never have any trials. 2. We should be happy when we have trials False. Read the verse again. Do you read IF or WHEN all kinds of trials come your way? The little word when shows that all Christians have trials at some time or another.

7 JAMES True. Often we want to feel sorry for ourselves and complain when we have trials, but the Word of God commands us to be happy and to consider ourselves fortunate. The Bible gives us examples of people who rejoiced in their trials: Habakkuk, even in times of famine, Habakkuk 3.17,18. The apostles when they were beaten and persecuted because they had witnessed to the Lord, Acts Paul and Silas when they were put in prison because they had preached about Christ, Acts The early Christians when their belongings were taken from them, Hebrews Why should we be happy when we have trials? Our faith becomes stronger when we endure trials patiently and we can bring glory to God by the way we endure them. Verses 15 and 16 of Hebrews 4 show how we can bring glory to God in our trials. How?... By coming to His Throne and asking Him to give us the grace we need to glorify Him in our difficulties. Which do you think is better, to ask God to take away your trials or to give you the strength and grace to endure them and glorify Him in the way you endure them? 4 A result of being able to endure trials Read this verse again slowly and think about it. God tests our faith through the things He allows to happen to us. We should accept difficult circumstances and understand that through them God wants us to grow spiritually. He wants us to become strong and mature, not easily upset by difficulties as a child would be. Only through trials can we become more like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what God the Father wants for us more than anything else. It is the best thing that can happen to us. Read Romans 8.28,29. 5 Wisdom How we need it! What kind of wisdom is the writer thinking

8 8 PROVE YOUR FAITH of? Not human wisdom. Not the kind we get in schools and universities. He is thinking about wisdom from God. How can we get this wisdom from God? Simply by understanding that we need it and by asking God for it. God will give it to us generously and graciously, so we never have to be afraid that we will come too often to Him to ask for it. What should you do when you want to know what you ought to do about a certain problem? Choose the right answer. 1) Do what you think is the best thing to do. 2) Ask God to give you the wisdom to make the right decision.... I am sure you chose 2) which is the right answer. Our own human wisdom is not enough to show us how best to do God's will, so we need to ask God to give us the wisdom we need. 6-8 How should we pray? How should we pray for wisdom or anything else? With faith, believing that God is all powerful. Remember that He loves you and that He will do only what will be of greatest blessing for you. Then you will have peace in your heart in spite of your trials and problems. But if you doubt God's wisdom and power and love you will be like a wave of the sea, sometimes up and sometimes down, sometimes happy and other times sad. What does James say about people who pray without faith?... He says they are unsure and undecided because they pray but do not really believe that God will answer their prayers. Will these people receive anything from the Lord in answer to their prayers?... No, v.8. Read also Hebrews 11.6 and ask God to give you the faith to believe that He will always answer your prayer even though the answer might be different from what you expect. You can find more teaching on the important subject of prayer in a booklet called ASK IN MY NAME by the same author.

9 JAMES Poor and rich Many Christians are poor and the people of the world look down on them. Why should these Christians be glad, v.9? Because God has lifted them up in His eyes they are very important and He has given them every spiritual gift in the heavenly world, Ephesians 1.3. Read Ephesians 2.19 and name another wonderful thing about those who believe in Christ.... They have become members of God's family! No riches or honour of this world can compare with these things. But why should the rich man be glad when God makes him understand his low position, v.10? What is meant by his low position? The rich man needs to understand that his money means nothing to God God will not receive him just because he is rich. Here on earth he might be an important person but before God he is the same as all other people. He should also understand that he could lose his riches and even his life very quickly, v.11. When he accepts these facts he will be happy because he can be saved just as the poor man. Many Christians want to become rich. Is this good? See what the Bible says about riches. Read the following verses and write down what they teach. 1. Proverbs 23.4,5 2. Proverbs Timothy 6.9, Proverbs 23.4,5 we should not work hard just to become rich because riches seem to disappear as a bird that flies away. 2. Proverbs Riches do not last forever Timothy 6.10 The love of money is a source of all kinds of evil and people who want to get rich fall into the temptation of putting money before God in their lives, and of trying to get money in an unrighteous way. How much money should be enough for us? See 1 Timothy We should be content if we have enough to buy the things we really need.

10 10 PROVE YOUR FAITH 12 Tests In verse 2 we saw that we should be happy when trials come our way. Now we see that these trials are like tests in God's school. Name one man in the Old Testament whom God tested in this way. See Genesis 22.1,2.... Abraham. God was pleased when Abraham passed the test successfully, Genesis What will He do for Christians who pass His tests?... He will give them a reward, the crown of life. It is like a prize someone receives when he comes first in a race. Does this mean that the person receives life, eternal life, as a prize or reward? See Acts and Romans No, we receive eternal life only as a gift when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12 probably means that God will honour the person who has won the victory in trials, and that this person will enjoy eternal life in Heaven more than other people. Temptations, We have already read about trials. The next three verses teach us about temptations. Temptations are different from trials. Trials are sent or allowed by God. Temptations come partly from our own sinful nature. Sometimes trials become temptations temptations to do something which is not pleasing to God in order to get out of the trial, but God never tempts people to sin. Satan is an expert at tempting people. He tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, and even the Lord Jesus Christ in the desert. He is always trying to lead God's people into sin and thus dishonour God's name and spoil His plans for them. The temptation itself is not sin it becomes sin when we give in to our sinful desires which urge us to do what Satan wants us to do. And let us never forget that the wages of sin is death! Romans 6.23.

11 JAMES 1 11 Now think about the following questions: 1. Does God control the amount of temptation Satan can put before us? Read 1 Corinthians What did the Lord Jesus do because He knew that Satan would tempt Peter? Luke 22.31, What should we do when Satan tempts us? See 4.7; 1 Peter 5.8,9. 4. How can we do that? Ephesians Yes, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. 2. He prayed for Peter even before Peter was tempted. He is praying for us too, Hebrews Resist him. 4. By putting on the whole armor of God. Satan's arrows of temptation cannot hurt us if we have faith and really trust in the Lord. We should fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God because the Word of God keeps us from sinning, Psalm God wants us to be sure to understand that temptations to sin do not come from Him, v.16. He is the One who gives us all that is good and perfect. He created all things including the sun, moon and stars, but unlike these He never changes, v.17; Hebrews He Himself chose to make the readers of James letter His children through His Word, the Word of Truth, v.18. He did it because He wanted to. He did not do it because they deserved it but so that they might be the first ones among thousands more who would become part of God's family by believing in Christ. You and I are part of that harvest if we have believed in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. Listen and obey, ,20 The third part of this first chapter shows how important it is for us to listen to the Word of God and obey it. We should not start to argue or become angry when it tells us something which our human nature does not like, vs.19,20.

12 12 PROVE YOUR FAITH 21 What then should we do? We should get rid of every filthy habit, everything that is evil. Only in this way can we receive all of God's truth We often look in a mirror to see if our face is clean, if our hair is combed, and our clothes look alright. What would you think of a person who looks in a mirror and sees his face is dirty, his hair is standing up straight-and then walks away and does nothing about it? It would be just as foolish and wrong to listen to God's Word and forget all about what we have heard. If God's Word tells us something is sin, we should rid our lives of that sin. If it commands us to do something we should obey that command, Luke 11.28; John Answer the following questions: 1. What does the Bible say we do if we only listen to God's Word without doing anything about it? 2. What else can cause you to do the same thing? Read Galatians 6.3; James 1.26; 1 John We deceive ourselves, v Being proud of ourselves; not controlling what we say; thinking we have no sin. Ask God today to help you not to deceive or fool yourself. 25 The law that sets men free is the teaching of the grace of God in the New Testament. Moses law told people what to do but did not give them the power to do it. Christians now have the Holy Spirit in their hearts and He gives them the desire and the power to do what will be pleasing to God. Genuine religion, 1.26, Some worship God outwardly with their lips without truly loving Him in their hearts. Instead of showing God's love to others they speak evil about them. This kind of religion is worthless in God's eyes. Read Matthew What then is genuine religion? It is to show the love of God to others by helping them in their need and to keep ourselves clean from sin and the things of this world. See Matthew and 1 Peter 1.22.

13 JAMES 1 13 People s greatest needs are spiritual. Unbelievers need to hear about Christ and His salvation and Christians need to be fed with the Word of God so they will become strong and know how to meet the many problems they face every day. God wants you and me to be busy meeting these great needs. Some people think that religion will save them and that God will forgive their sins if they are kind to others. Only the blood of Christ can save anyone. We will learn more about faith in chapter 2.

14 2 FAITH AND GOOD WORKS In chapter 1 we saw the difference between trials and temptations. Trials: Are sent by God to test our faith. We should be happy when God sends them. They cause us to grow and become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Temptations: Are never sent by God. Come partly from our own sinful nature and from Satan. We should resist them. They will become sin if we give in to them and do what Satan wants us to do. In chapter 2 we read first about showing equal honour to both rich and poor people, vs. 1-13, and then about faith and good works, vs The chapter begins with the words My brothers. We saw these words also in verses 2 and 19 of chapter 1 and will see them again in verse 1 of chapter 3. They show that James is beginning to write about something else. Equal honour to both rich and poor, No favoritism How do you treat an important or rich person and a poor person when they come to your church at the same time? Do you greet the important person first and lead him to a good seat in the front and afterwards show the poor man where he might find an empty seat in the back of the building? James said that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, should not act that way, vs Those who do so are guid- 14

15 JAMES 2 15 ed by evil thoughts because they are judging the rich man and the poor man in an unjust way. By what they do they are saying that the soul of the rich man is more valuable in God's eyes than that of the poor man. 5-7 More honour to the rich? Verses 5 to 7 give three reasons why it is wrong to show more honour and respect to a rich person than a poor person. What are these reasons? 1. God has chosen mostly (but not only) those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, v.5. This is the only kind of riches that God counts as true riches. Read also 1 Corinthians Rich people often persecute the Christians, so why should the Christians show them special honour? v Worst of all, the rich often spoke evil of Christ's name, v.7. Of course, James is not speaking here of rich Christians. We should not oppress others, Exodus 22.21; Proverbs 14.31; Zechariah We should not take another Christian to a law court about some quarrel, 1 Corinthians 6.1. No one can speak evil of Christ by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians Worldly rich men may do these things and we should not give rich believers special honour just because it is the custom of the world to do so The Christian and the Law 8 Should we then show more honour to the poor than to the rich? Verse 8 tells us to keep the royal law, that is the law of the kingdom. 1. What is the royal law? 2. Do people keep the royal law when they honour some people more than others? The royal law is to love your neighbour as yourself, no matter whether he is rich or poor.

16 16 PROVE YOUR FAITH 2. No. To honour one person more than another is a sin, a sin which it is very easy for us to commit. In the Old Testament the Israelites were also forbidden to show favoritism, see Leviticus We should examine our hearts to see if we show favoritism to people. Do we show more kindness or respect to 1. people who are liked by everyone than to those who are harder to love? 2. people of our own nation or tribe than to those of other tribes? 3. young people than to old people? 4. rich people than to those who cannot help us in any way? Let us remember that the way we treat the least lovable believer is the way we treat the Saviour, Matthew (Wm. MacDonald; Epistle of James ) 9-10 In Old Testament times a person became a lawbreaker when he disobeyed only one command of the Law. In the same way a Christian's fellowship with the Lord is destroyed when he commits just the one sin of showing special honour to certain people. 11 Christians are under grace, not under the Law of Moses. However God gave ten commands to Israel in the Old Testament of which nine are repeated in the New Testament and we should obey them. It is very important how we behave ourselves in this world and we should remember that one day we will have to answer to God for what we have done, Romans 14.10; 2 Cor - inthians The law that gives freedom, v.12; 1.25, is the same as the royal law in verse 8. We know that Christ has set us free from the punishment we deserve for our sins. He has also set us free from the power that sin had over us so that we are now able to obey Him through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. 13 Judging without mercy In verse 13 we see something else which is true of some Christians who are not walking in close fellowship with the Lord. These Christians judge others without mercy for their mistakes and sins. A Christian who is close to the Lord realizes how often

17 JAMES 2 17 he sins himself and this makes him kind and merciful to others. As a result he will be judged with mercy himself. What will happen to the person who judges others without mercy? Read Matthew He will be judged himself without mercy. Think about this and see what God says in Matthew 6.15 about forgiving others. This is very important. Much harm has been done and dishonour brought to the name of the Lord because men disobey God in this matter. Faith and works, Is faith by itself enough? How can we prove that we have really believed in the Lord and have true faith? By what we do. Some people say they believe and have faith but do not show that faith by what they do. They think they are true Christians, v.14. Are they? Let us read what the Lord Jesus said about this in Matthew 7.21, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. According to this verse, who will enter the kingdom of heaven?.... Those who do God's will. Can a person have true faith and at the same time do nothing to help a fellow Christian who is in need, vs. 15,16? Verse 17 tells us plainly that that kind of faith is dead and cannot save anyone. 18 Must we do good works in order to be saved? You might ask: Does James then teach that we must do good works in order to be saved? How would this agree with what Paul taught in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9, that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works? Paul was thinking of the works that the Law commanded the Israelites to do, but James did not teach that we must do the works commanded by the Law. He did teach that if we have real faith, it will be seen by what we do and the way we live. The Holy

18 18 PROVE YOUR FAITH Spirit lives in all true Christians, Romans 8.9, and causes them to bear fruit such as love, joy, peace and the other things mentioned in Galatians 5.22,23. As a result they live clean lives, act righteously and are patient and kind and forgiving toward others. What they do shows that they are true Christians and that the Holy Spirit is living in them. So the works James speaks of are works that are the result of having believed in Christ for salvation. We do them because we are Christians, not in order to become Christians. 19,20 Is it enough to believe in one God? Some people say they believe in one God and think this is enough to save them. James says it is good to believe that there is one God but it is not sufficient for salvation. Even the demons believe that and they tremble, probably because they realize that they will be judged by God, Matthew We must believe in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who through His death on the cross for our sins made it possible for us to be saved, and then show by what we do that we have true faith. Any other kind of faith is useless. James called people without true faith foolish. This is a strong word. What other people are called fools in Scripture? Read these verses and write down your answer in your own words: Psalm 14.1; Proverbs 10.18; 14.9; 28.26; Luke The following people are called fools: The person who believes there is NO God, Psalm speaks evil of others, Proverbs does not care if he sins, Proverbs trusts in himself and in his own opinions, Proverbs piles up riches for himself, Luke Are YOU a fool? Two examples of true faith, Abraham 21 Abraham was counted righteous by God when he believed God's promise that he would have a son and become the

19 JAMES 2 19 father of millions of people, Genesis 15.6; Romans 4.3. About 30 years later he obeyed God's command and offered this son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, Genesis 22. James said that Abraham was considered righteous when he did this. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham did it by faith, Hebrews 11.17, that is, he showed that he really believed God's promise. 22 He was willing to offer up the son God had given him believing that God would raise Isaac again from the dead to fulfill this promise. So we see faith and actions working together in the life of Abraham. God saw his faith and men could see his works and so his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 Abraham was especially near to God because he believed and obeyed Him and so God called him His friend. How beautiful! Twice more in the Bible Abraham is called God's friend, see 2 Chronicles 20.7 and Isaiah You and I can be Christ's friends too! See John So the writer reminds us once again that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. This does not mean that we are saved by faith and works but that our works will prove that we have real faith. God justifies us the moment we believe in His Son but we must prove our faith to men through our good works. 25 Rahab Many years before this time the Israelites sent spies into the land of Canaan when they came to its borders. The king of the land heard about the spies and would have killed them but Rahab saved their lives by hiding them on the roof of her house. Why was she counted righteous because of this action? By hiding God's servants she showed that she believed their God was the true God and that He would give her land, the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel. 26 Faith and works cannot be separated Verse 26 sums up the teaching of the second half of chapter 2. A person is alive only as long as his spirit and his body are together. He dies when his spirit leaves his body. In the same way faith and works belong together and faith without works is dead. Is your faith dead or alive?

20 3 THE TONGUE In chapter 2 we learned some very important things: 1. Rich and poor people are all the same in God's eyes and Christians should show the same respect to all. 2. A person does not receive eternal life by keeping the Old Testament Law but by believing in Christ. Nine of the ten commandments of the Old Testament are repeated in the New Testament. The Christian shows that he has real faith by his obedience to God's commands in the New Testament. He is not saved because he obeys them, but these good works prove that he has true faith. So we should prove by our actions that we are true Christians. We must also learn to control our tongue and be very careful of what we say. Chapter 3 has a lot to say about this. 1 The responsibility of Bible teachers It is a great responsibility to teach people God's Word. Verse 1 tells us that people should not be too eager to become teachers of the Word of God. For what reasons?... Because those who teach others how to live will be judged more strictly than other people if they do not live that way themselves. In other verses of the New Testament we see that God chooses certain people to become teachers, see 1 Corinthians 12.28; Ephesians We know that James considered himself a teacher because he used the word we. Do not disobey if God chooses you to teach God's Word to others. It is very important for Bible teachers to study the Word of God themselves so that they will be able to teach the whole truth 20

21 JAMES 3 21 of God to His people. Both Paul and Peter said that there would be false teachers in later times, 1 Timothy 4.1,2; 6.3-5; 2 Peter 2.1,2. These false teachers are among us now. Many of them use verses from the Bible when they teach. Some of their teaching is good and true, but mixed in with it are things that dishonour the Lord and do not agree with the teaching of the Bible. How can we know if a certain man is a true or a false teacher? Read 1 John By what he says about the Lord Jesus Christ. True teachers say that He is the Son of God. We should not listen to any others nor allow them to teach in our churches or Bible study groups, 2 John The power of the tongue, Of course most Bible teachers teach the Word of God by speaking and so James goes on to speak about our tongues. We all sin in various ways and the most difficult mistakes to avoid are those of the tongue. The person who can control what he says can control his whole body. How can you control your tongue? Read Matthew and Mark What do these verses say about speaking?... Matthew says that we speak about what our hearts are full of. If your heart is full of the evil things mentioned in Mark , then you will speak about them too. It is therefore important that we fill our hearts and minds with the right kind of things those mentioned in Philippians 4.8. Then what we say will always be glorifying to the Lord and helpful to others. Read Colossians Men put metal bits into the mouths of horses to control them and make them go where they want them to go. They control the horse's actions by controlling his mouth. The writer of Psalm 39.1 knew that we should be able to control what we say. 4 In this verse there is another example of what great work can be done by a small thing. The bit, v.3, is only a small piece of metal. The rudder of a ship is also very small compared to the size

22 22 PROVE YOUR FAITH of the ship, but with it a man can make the whole ship go where he wants, even during a storm. 5-6 In the same way the tongue is a very small part of our body but it has great power. In these two verses James shows what great harm it can do. He compares the tongue with a small fire that can cause a whole forest to burn and destroy thousands of trees. An evil tongue is called a world of evil (to give an idea of the greatness of the evil) and through it men express all the other evil things such as greed, lust, blasphemy, covetousness and others. It makes the whole person unclean in God's sight, together with all his activities and does great harm. It is set on fire with the fire that comes from hell. 7,8 Men can tame and control all kinds of animals, but find it impossible to tame their own tongues. God has given us tongues so that we can praise and glorify Him and help one another, but often we use them to dishonour God and hurt each other. What does Psalm command us to do?... To keep our tongues from lying and saying what is evil. What effect will that have on our life? Read Proverbs 13.3 and It will keep us out of trouble physically, and from destroying our testimony for the Lord spiritually. Only the Lord can enable us to control our tongues if we present our bodies (including our tongues) wholly to Him, Romans He has done and is doing this in the lives of many of His children. 9,10 We should not use the tongue for both good and evil purpoes. How can we honestly praise God and at the same time speak evil about our fellow men who are made and beloved by Him? We should use our tongues to help and encourage others rather than harm them. Before you want to say anything about anyone else ask yourself 1) if it is true. 2) if it is necessary for you to say it. 3) if it will help or hurt the person. 4) if it is glorifying to the Lord.

23 JAMES 3 23 If you answer these questions honestly you will know if you should say the thing or keep quiet. Let us pray the prayer of the writer of Psalm 141.3, Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Read also Psalm ,12 These verses show again that one thing cannot be used for opposite purposes. A fruit tree bears only one kind of fruit, and a salty spring cannot produce both salt water and fresh water. In the same way what we say with our tongues should always be only good. Spiritual wisdom, In verse 1 James spoke about teachers of the Word of God and he now goes back to that subject. 13 How can a teacher of the Word of God show that he has wisdom and understanding? By his good life and by the deeds he performs with humility and wisdom. Not only teachers but all Christians must be careful of the way they live before others, see 1 Peter It is very easy for teachers to become proud, but those who have true wisdom are also truly humble. God has made Christ to be our wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1.30, and the Lord Jesus said of Himself that He was humble in spirit, Matthew A truly wise man will therefore also be a very humble man. 14 A teacher must not be jealous or bitter and he must not have selfish ambitions. He should not be jealous of other servants of God who perhaps are receiving more honour or seeing more fruit in their service than he, and he must not seek praise and honour for himself. If he is jealous and bitter, he is really denying the truth of God which he is teaching. In Philippians we read about some who did just what James warns us not to do and God graciously used their preaching. This happened at the very beginning of the Church. Since then there have been teachers who have turned people away rather than drawing them to Christ because of their jealous and bitter spirit. This is a very serious matter.

24 24 PROVE YOUR FAITH 15,16 The wisdom of such men is not from heaven but belongs to the world and is of the devil. Their jealousy and selfishness lead to disorder and many other evils. Read Philippians 2.3,4; 2 Timothy 2.24,25 and 1 Peter 5.5 and answer the following questions by showing why they are true or false: 1. A teacher should argue with those who do not agree with him. 2. A good teacher thinks about the spiritual needs of others. 3. A proud man can be a good teacher False; we should quietly try to teach them the truth, 2 Tim - othy 2.24, True. All Christians, not only good teachers, should think about the needs of others instead of their own ambitions, Philippians 2.3,4. 3. False, because God resists proud people and will not bless their teaching, 1 Peter 5.5. Wisdom from above, 3.17,18 17 How different is the wisdom that comes from heaven! It is pure and those who have it love to be at peace with their fellow men, if this is possible without allowing them to continue in sin. Read Romans are gentle and easy to get along with. have mercy on others, especially those who are in the wrong, and try to help them find the right way. are free from prejudice and hypocrisy, that is they do not have favorites and do not try to appear better than they are. Compare verse 17 with Matthew What did the Lord Jesus call such people? Examine your own life and see if you have this kind of wisdom. If you haven t, how can you get it? Read again James This last verse shows the importance of being peacemakers. God Himself is a God of peace, 1 Corinthians 14.33, and calls

25 JAMES 3 25 those who are peacemakers His children, Matthew 5.9. The seeds sown by them bring forth fruit which results in goodness and righteousness in their own lives and in the lives of others. Are you a peacemaker? Other kinds of sowing - with what harvest? 1. In tears, Psalm 126.5,6. 2. Beside all waters, Isaiah To the flesh, Galatians To the Spirit, Galatians 6.8.

26 4 SUBMISSION TO GOD At the end of Chapter 3 we saw that the wisdom that comes from heaven is peace loving and we were encouraged to be peacemakers. But the beginning of chapter 4 shows that often people fight and quarrel, even Christians. Verses 1 to 3 show us the reason for this. Why fights and quarrels among Christians? What causes these fights and conflicts among people? Our lust or desire to have more honour and possessions than other people. Men are enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures, Titus 3.3, and James tells us that these are constantly fighting within us. They are not fighting against each other, but through us with other people. If only we could learn to be satisfied and content with what we have! Read 1 Timothy This verse needs little explanation. We quarrel and fight and are ready to kill when we cannot get the things we want. What we should do is to ask God for them rather than try to get them by our own efforts. 3 But you say, sometimes I do ask God for what I want but He does not answer my prayer! Why doesn t He? God loves us and that is why He does not always give us what we ask for. He only gives us what will be best for us. He will NOT give us what we ask for if it is just for our own enjoyment, to satisfy our own lust rather than for His glory. We should pray that we might desire and love the right things, those things that are according to God's will. Then when we ask for these, He will give them to us because they are good for us and because He is glorified in them. 26

27 JAMES 4 27 God is always ready to hear the prayers of His people He listens to the cries of the righteous, Psalm He is near to all who call on Him in truth and sincerity, Psalm He listens to those who repent of their sins, Luke He hears all who ask for anything that is according to His will, 1 John 5.14 The cure for fights and quarrels: submission to God The Old Testament prophets often accused Israel of being unfaithful to God, Jeremiah 3.20; Ezekiel The Lord Jesus called the Jews who were living when He was on earth a wicked and adulterous generation, Matthew We too are unfaithful to God if we love the world and put material things before God in our lives. Verse 4 teaches very plainly that he who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. You think you can love the world and your heavenly Father too? Or that you can serve God and money at the same time? Impossible! Read 1 John and Matthew 6.24 very carefully. 5 Why are these things so impossible? Because God is a jealous God and wants to have first place in our lives. He will not put up with any rival, Exodus 20.5; 34:14; 1 Corinthians 10.21,22. He has given us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to live in us and the Holy Spirit is jealous when we allow anything else, such as love for the world, to enter our hearts. 6 It is difficult for us to live completely for God but God does not expect us to do it in our own strength. He gives us grace and more grace. In Hebrews 4.16 we see that God's throne is a throne of grace and that we can approach it and find grace to help us just when we need it. What kind of people must we be in order to receive God's grace? We must be humble. The words of the second part of verse 6

28 28 PROVE YOUR FAITH are taken from Proverbs 3.34 and were also used by Peter in 1 Peter 5.5. What kind of people does God save? See Job This verse shows us two ways to avoid worldliness: 1) Submit yourself to God. 2) Resist the Devil. Only those who are humble can submit themselves to God. To submit yourself to someone else means that you realize the other person is greater and better than you. The people of the world do not like to submit to anyone else. Every person wants to have more honour than others, but the Christian who is walking close to the Lord is happy to submit for the Lord s sake to those who have authority over him, 1 Peter 2.13, because He has commanded us to do so. We must resist the Devil because the Devil is constantly telling us not to submit but to stand up for our rights. He tempted even the Lord Jesus Christ in this way in the desert, and when the Jews wanted to make Him King, John 6, but the Lord Jesus resisted him. He resisted him with verses from the Word of God and by going into the hills to pray. We too can resist him with verses from the Bible and by asking God to help us. We should also put on the whole armor of God that we read about in Ephesians We will find that the Devil will flee if we resist him. He is stronger than we are but not as strong as the Holy Spirit who lives in us, 1 John How wonderful it is that we can come near to God. In Old Testament times only the nation of Israel were able to do so, Deuteronomy 4.7. Even then not all the people but only the priests could really come near, Exodus Now all true believers have that wonderful privilege, Hebrews 4.16, and it seems strange that we have to be commanded to do so. We are also commanded to abide or remain in Christ, John If we do, 1) we will live as the Lord Jesus Christ did, 1 John ) we will bring forth much fruit, John ) our prayers will be answered, John James is speaking to Christians in this verse. Why does he call them sinners as if they were unbelievers? Because we become un-

29 JAMES 4 29 clean as we live in this sinful world day after day. Fights and quarrels and friendship with the world are all sin, 4.1,4, and the Christian who says he is without sin deceives himself, 1 John 1.8. So we are commanded to do two things: 1) to wash our hands, that is to repent of our sins; 2) to purify our hearts so that we will no longer be double minded and hypocrites. Then our lives will be controlled by the desire to live only for God. Read also 2 Corinthians 6.17 to How does this verse agree with Paul's teaching to the Philippians, Rejoice in the Lord always, Philippians 4.4? It is true that a Christian has real joy in his heart, a God-given joy which does not depend on what goes on around him. Nothing can take that joy away from him. But at the same time the Christian who is really walking with the Lord cannot help but be sorrowful as well. He cannot help but be sad as he sees all the evil in this world and the suffering of innocent people because of the sins of others. And he is also sorrowful because he sees that sin is still very active in his own life and in the lives of his brothers and sisters in Christ, the sin for which his beloved Lord suffered and died. The Lord Jesus said, Happy are those who mourn, Matthew 5.4. In the Gospels we see Him weeping, John 11.35; Luke 19.41, but never laughing. He mourned at the grave of Lazarus because He shared the sorrow of Mary and Martha, but also because of the way sin has ruined this earth. We will mourn too if our hearts are in fellowship with His. 10 We should remember our sinfulness and humble ourselves be fore the Lord. Then He will lift us up and assure us that with His help we can overcome our weaknesses and failures. He has also promised that he who humbles himself will be made great, Luke 14.11; This promise will be completely fulfilled when we rule with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Do not criticize your brother, 4.11,12 11 James also tells us not to criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we criticize others we are really saying that we are better than they. It is very easy to judge others but it can do a

30 30 PROVE YOUR FAITH lot of harm. It breaks up friendships and causes unhappiness and evil feelings between us and other Christians. The one who finds fault with his brother in Christ is breaking the Law which commands him to love his neighbour as he loves himself, James 2.8; Leviticus James says this person is really judging the Law. By disobeying the Law he is saying that it does not apply to him, that he is above it. 12 Every nation has its lawgivers and judges, but God is above them all. Only His laws will never be changed and only His judgment has an eternal effect on us. Only He is able to save our souls and to destroy those who reject the Gospel, 2 Thessalonians Therefore we should not be proud and think that we can judge our fellow-men. Read also Romans 14.4,13; 1 Corinthians 4.5. However verses 11 and 12 do not teach that I should let my brothers and sisters go on in sin without speaking to them about it. I must not criticize the person in front of other people but should speak with him alone about his sin. If he repents, nothing more needs to be done. If not, then I should visit him again with one or two other believers as taught in Matthew and Galatians 6.1. He should be judged in a public way only after he does not accept the advice of all the believers who speak to him privately and refuses to repent. Tomorrow is in God's hands, The next four verses warn us not to leave God out of our lives. It is so easy for us to make our own plans as if God did not even exist. 14 How foolish this is, seeing we have no idea of what will happen even tomorrow or if we will still be alive. See Proverbs We are certain of only one thing: our lives are short and they can come to an end very suddenly and at a time when we do not expect it. In the Gospel of Luke we read of a rich man who had great plans as to how he was going to spend the rest of his life. What did God say to him? Read Is it therefore wrong to make plans? Not at all, but we should

31 JAMES 4 31 remember that God has control of our lives. We should ask Him to guide us in the plans we make and always remember that we will be able to fulfill the plans only if they are according to His will. This is how Paul lived. We find him saying again and again that if it is the Lord's will he would do this or that. See 1 Cor - inthians 4.19; 16.7; Philippians 2.19, It seems that the Christians to whom James was writing were proud of making their own plans and trying to do as they pleased. They even boasted about it and this was very wrong. 17 This verse sums up the teaching of the chapter. The Christians knew now what they should do and they would be sinning if they did not do it. However the verse does not refer only to the teaching of this chapter but to everything taught in the whole Word of God. There are two kinds of sins: 1. Doing what is wrong, what we should not do. 2. Not doing what we know we should do. Why did the Lord judge the man with the one talent in the parable of Matthew ? He had not done anything wrong with the talent, but he had failed to do with it what he should have done. Let us ask the Lord to help us do the things He tells us to do and not to disobey any of His commands.

32 5 Riches, Patience and Prayer Chapter 4 taught us the importance of submitting ourselves to God. If we do so we 1. will not quarrel and fight with our fellow believers. 2. can draw near to God. 3. will be able to resist the Devil. 4. will not criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ. 5. will ask the Lord to guide us in all our plans. Verse 17 of chapter 4 taught us that it is a sin not to do the things we know we should do. In the first six verses of chapter 5 we read about a group of people who are often tempted in this way. God has allowed them to be rich and they are therefore able to help others but often they do not do so. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that it is a sin to be rich, but God does judge people according to what they do with their money. Warning to rich people, Some teachers think that here James is writing to unbelievers. He wrote his letter to his brothers or fellow Christians, 1.2. Among them there were some who were rich, 1.10, and who because of their riches were not acting the way they should have. These are the people to whom James is speaking at the beginning of chapter 5. They should weep and wail because God would judge them. Their works will be burned up because they were not done for God but for themselves, 1 Corinthians They laid up treasure on earth and so will be poor in heaven, Matthew They stored up riches for themselves instead of using them for God and so their riches had rotted. In the days when James wrote this letter there were no banks as we have now where people could keep their money and so people's riches were often in 32

33 JAMES 5 33 the form of things which could rot. Often clothes were used for presents or as payments for other things. They were thought of like money. See Joshua 7.21; 2 Kings 5.22,23; Acts Today rich people are tempted to have a lot of beautiful expensive clothes, much more than they need. So the clothes just hang or lie there month after month and moths get into them and spoil them by eating holes into them. This is a sin because there are many people who really need these clothes which are rotting away in the rich man's closet. 3 Rust covers only metal things that are not being used. (Actually gold and silver do not rust but they get tarnished and corroded.) The rust was a witness against the selfishness of these rich people. Some day they will realize that they should have used these riches to bring the gospel to those who had never heard it and they will feel terrible as if their bodies were being burned by fire. 4 They were piling up more riches for themselves by not paying their workmen the wages they deserved. God gave a strict command in the Law of the Old Testament concerning this, see Deuteronomy 24.14,15, and said He would judge those who disobey it, see Malachi 3.5. The Lord heard the cries of these workmen. How wonderful that He hears us too, Psalm 18.6! Not paying wages was dishonest and a sin. Later Paul wrote to the church of Corinth and said that a greedy person should be put out of the assembly, 1 Corinthians We have seen that these rich people 1. stored up riches instead of using them well; 2. did not pay their workmen. Now we find that they spent a lot of money on themselves, on expensive houses, clothing, food and pleasures. Animals eat a lot of food not realizing that they will be slaughtered as soon as they are fat enough. These rich people fattened themselves up by getting for themselves everything they wanted, and were getting themselves ready for God's judgment. 6 The rich condemned innocent people unjustly. Perhaps they did not actually kill them but made them work so hard and