Faith Clarifies

So we're turning for the last time in our Sunday mornings to the book of James.

And just take one minute to share with your neighbor what has been the big theme of James as we've gone through.

If you're visiting for the first time, then the person sitting next to you has a great responsibility to get you up to speed.

And if they get it wrong, then tell me afterwards and we'll put them under church discipline.

Just take one minute to do that.

Okay, that's great.

I would invite answers from the floor, but I'm nervous about getting lots of different answers.

I want to show you a clip from a German sitcom.

It's one of my favorites. I'm afraid the quality is not very good.

But I put some subtitles in it for you.

So watch this.

Okay, just in case your eyesight wasn't as sharp as it used to be.

The daughter asked her dad, how are you getting on with the iPad?

And he says, fine.

And then she says, what apps have you got?

And he says, what do you mean by apps?

And he's been using the iPad as a chopping board.

And I think, in some kind of roundabout way, that is like James.

Because James, two weeks ago when Graham took us through the first bit of chapter 4,

James gave us the stunning solution to the double-mindedness of his people.

But he wants to make sure before they close the letter and put it on the shelf,

that they know exactly what to do with the instructions that he's given them.

As we come to the end of James,

James kind of spent the first three chapters of the letter kind of sparring with his readers.

He tells them things like, don't waste your trials,

but ask the Lord for wisdom that you might persevere in a way that brings glory to God.

He says, don't give in to your temptations.

Don't use, when hard times come, an excuse to sin.

Don't give up or don't give in to your temptations.

And then in chapter 3, he told them two things.

He says, hear and do God's words.

Don't be like a guy who looks in a mirror and then walks away and forgets what he looks like unchanged.

He says, don't show favoritism.

Don't give good seats to rich people and bad seats to poor people.

But show equity, show love to all.

He says, don't retreat to easy believism.

Make sure that your faith is working out in good work.

He says, faith without deeds is debt.

So make sure that your faith is working in your life.

And then that really uncomfortable passage in chapter 3.

Keep control of your tongue.

It's a very small organ, but it does a great amount of damage.

For the first three chapters, James has been sparring with his readers.

But in chapter 4, the gloves come off.

In chapter 4, James addresses them.

As Graham so helpfully said, it's like he's gone from the hug to the headlock.

And he calls them out.

He says in chapter 4, verse 4,

Don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity with God.

Therefore anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

That is our big theme of the book.

Two-timing God.

Being two-faced, double-souled.

Doing one thing on Sunday and something else, Monday through to Saturday.

Singing Jesus, all for Jesus, all I am and have and ever want to be at the top of your voice.

But living life Monday to Saturday, thinking that it is all about you.

These people are leading double lives.

Going to church, singing all the right songs, listening to all the right sermons, believing all the right things.

But there is no fruit in their lives.

No faithfulness to their faith.

And no import from Sunday into the working week.

They are saying, God we love you, but at the same time sneaking all sorts of lovers up the stairs.

And you know, people are people are people, aren't they?

That James' audience are kind of like us.

That we can so easily retreat into a veneer of respectability on a Sunday,

but look just like the world the rest of the time.

And so James gives the proper medicine to their double-mindedness.

Submit yourselves to God.

That is living total submission to God.

Let him call the shots, drive the ship.

Let him be the captain.

Resist the devil who would love to trip and ensnare and distract and deflect us

from single-minded devotion to Jesus.

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

That is what we're to do when we're caught in this trap.

And so what he wants to do is he wants to flesh that out for us.

In all sorts of areas of life.

He wants to talk about double-mindedness in our speech, in our diaries,

in the way that we use our wealth, in our prayer lives, in our persistence.

And so let me read chapter 4, verse 11, to chapter 5, verse 6, and we'll see this picked up.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.

Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it.

When you judge the law, you are not keeping it but sitting in judgment on it.

There is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy.

But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?

Now listen, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,

spend a year there, carry on business and make money.

Why? You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.

What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.

As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes.

All such boasting is evil, is if anyone there knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it,

it is sin for them.

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.

Your wealth has rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.

Your gold and silver are corroded.

Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.

You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you.

The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.

You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

You have condemned and murdered the innocent one who was not opposing you.

It's quite strong words, isn't it?

And what he's saying in essence is, make your life not about you.

Make your life not about you because at the center of those three distinct passages

is the idea that you're at the center of your universe and you're calling the shots.

You're sitting in judgment.

You're in control of your diary.

You're the one who's worth all the money that you earn.

And he's prodding them.

And he's illustrating for them what this pride-filled, self-centered life looks like.

And he's already quoted Proverbs 3 verse 34.

Proverbs 3:34

God opposes the proud.

But shows grace, gives grace to the humble.

And that's what he's calling on each of us today.

To not be pride-filled, puffed up, big-headed, full of our own importance.

But to become less so Jesus can become more.

The first thing he talks about is speaking slanderously.

James warns them not to speak against one another.

Not to tear strips off their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Not to retreat to the quiet, dark corners of the church and dish the dirt that you've come to find out.

James has taken a great deal of time in chapter 2 to elevate the royal law in our lives and say,

the royal law is summed up, love your neighbor as yourself.

And when you're behind closed doors to chastise and criticize and tear down,

it's not loving your neighbor as yourself.

In fact, you've got the law here.

And you say, well, Jesus, you said that, but I think this is better.

I think feeding people tasty morsels of this and that is a better idea.

When your tongue goes feral and you lose control, why is this pride in action?

Well, because gossip is tasty, isn't it?

Getting actually angry at someone kind of vents your anger quite quickly.

But why do we really do it?

So we can push people down in order that we might rise up.

Pride, isn't it?

He said, didn't he, in chapter 4, why do you get angry with people?

Because of what's going on in here.

And not what's going on out there.

Don't be pride-filled.

Control your tongue.

He humbles them.

He says, who are you to judge your neighbor?

There is one lawgiver and judge.

And he would have every right to tear shreds off each of us.

And yet he doesn't.

He speaks grace and life and hope and joy.

So whenever we think actually criticism is a good thing, let's remember Jesus could criticize each of us but doesn't.

Then he talks to them.

Make your life not about you.

Don't plan presumptuously.

He turns to a different case study and points out how pride can turn up in our diary.

He illustrates using the businessman who plans well in advance without any reference to God.

But the person who plans like they are the center of the universe, they know everything that's to happen.

And even a year ahead, they say we're going to emigrate here.

We're going to open a shop.

We're going to have a nice business.

We're going to make some money.

It's going to be great.

And James wants to say that's a ridiculous state of affairs.

Now I don't think James is condemning planning.

He's not saying planning is evil and spontaneity is good.

That's not what he's saying.

Nor is he saying we need to follow every sentence we ever say with the kind of mantra, God willing.

We don't have to finish every Christmas card we ever write with DV.

Although that might be helpful in reminding us that we are not the center of the universe.

What he's saying is don't plan your diary.

Don't fill your diary with stuff.

And fail to consult God.

Don't fill your diary in a self-reliant way.

That says actually I can spend my time how I want on what I want in ways that make me feel important and good.

Verse 17 is a real warning.

Or verse 14 brings us to the very problem of life, isn't it?

We are a mist.

We appear and we go.

Here one minute gone the next.

Whenever we think we're at the center of the universe, let's remind ourselves of our own mortality.

We don't know what tomorrow holds.

But James is saying make sure you're in a relationship and consulting the one who does.

And the one who controls.

Verse 17 says, if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.

That seems like a little strange add-on.

But what he's referring to is having a diary that's so jammed full of activity and stuff that it means when you see something that needs doing, you go, I don't have time.

I don't have time to go to the prayer meeting.

There's no space in my diary for an evening service.

I don't have time to go to the prayer meeting.

anything that's of eternal importance.

We are mist.

And so our only hope is to have a dependence and on a real reliance on the one who is eternally permanent, who never changes.

And then he wants to talk about indulging indiscriminately.

Lots of commentators think that when we get to chapter 5, verses 1 to 6, that he's referring to a different group outside the church.

Well, that seems ridiculous to me.

How many times have you got a letter that says,

Dear John, well, I bet not many of you have had that, because you'd be reading my post.

Dear John,

I'd now like to finish this letter by writing to your brother Edward.

Please pass it across to him.

You know, some of my relatives are quite tight.

But I'm sure they could afford two stamps if it was really that important.

James is writing to people in the church.

He confronts his hearers with the real litmus test of pride and counsels them about their checkbook.

About how they're using their resources.

Now listen, you rich people.

We would all be in this category in James' church.

He warns them about stockpiling their riches.

That in the light of eternity, it will just prove to be corroded vanity.

They've got lots of wealth.

They've got wardrobes that are bursting at the seams with clothes that they never wear.

They've spent their money on themselves.

For themselves.

In order to make themselves look good.

They stored it away.

It became their security and the focus of their lives.

And with the end in mind, which is all the way through this passage.

It proves to be worthless.

It's just rotted and corroded.

And become nothing.

James doesn't just criticize their accumulation.

He confronts their acquisition.

Because it seems they've made themselves rich on the backs of others.

They've prospered at the expense of diddling their workers.

That check they forgot to write.

That contract they failed to honor.

That corner they cut.

And it says,

The cries of the oppressed have reached the ears of God.

Verse 5 hits them square in the face.

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.

Self-indulgence with you at the center.

Because you thought you were worth it.

Chapter 5, the end of verse 5 is grotesque, isn't it?

You've fattened yourself in the day of slaughter.

All that stuff you consumed and bought.

All that stuff that you thought you were worth.

Just proved to be crackling in the end.

You've fattened yourself as on the day of slaughter.

And verse 6 humbles us.

You have condemned and murdered the innocent one.

A reference explicitly to the Lord Jesus.

The one who really did deserve it all.

The one who had countless riches, eternal wealth.

And yet he gave it up to come down for us.

And we, out of our self-centered pride, murdered him.

But in the glory of God,

though we murdered and condemned the Lord Jesus,

he died to save us.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That though he was rich,

yet for your sake he became poor.

So that through his poverty you might become rich.

James shows us and his readers what pride looks like.

He says it's not necessarily going around with the t-shirt that says,

I am the greatest.

He says, actually, pride can turn up in our speech,

in our diaries,

and in our wallets.

And he gives us that great verse,

God opposes the proud,

but he gives grace to the humble.

I wonder, is double-mindedness something that's now affecting us?

As we look at our burgeoning eye count,

as we look at the bills on our desk,

as we look at the desires of our hearts,

and the way that we speak about others.

Have we made our life about us?

Or are we committed,

as we've sung,

to say,

Jesus, be the center.

Be the wind in these sails.

Be the fire in this heart.

Be the reason

that I live.

He then goes on to talk about patience.

He says,

Be patient then,

brothers and sisters,

until the Lord's return.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop,

patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

You too be patient and stand firm,

because the Lord's coming is near.

Don't crumble against one another.

Brothers and sisters,

or you will be judged.

The judge is standing at the door.

Brothers and sisters,

and as an example of patience in the face of suffering,

take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

As you know,

we count blessed those who have persevered.

You have heard of Job's perseverance,

and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Above all,

my brothers and sisters,

do not swear,

not by heaven,

or by earth,

or by anything else.

All you need to say is a simple yes or no.

Otherwise,

you will be condemned.

James has already spoken about trials at the very beginning.

And he's telling us now that in the midst of trials,

don't get distracted.

Patiently persevere.

It's a common theme in the Bible that waiting time is testing time.

Actually,

when life is really good,

or when life is really bad,

we find our relationship with God good.

But what about in the humdrum mediocrity of life?

Waiting time is testing time.

James knows that when people are waiting,

the temptation is to either get distracted,

or become economical with the truth.

He says,

be patient,

be consistent,

be wholehearted in your waiting.

Israel were never good at waiting.

While Moses is up the mountain,

and Sinai,

they're down building the golden calf.

When we get to the judges,

there is this cycle where it gets good,

and then it gets bad.

Even Malachi,

the last book in the Old Testament,

when the people are back,

and things are going great,

they neglect the Lord,

because waiting time is testing time.

And James sees this as a clear and present danger.

Are you going to persevere?

Is your Christian faith just going to be a season of your life?

James says it can't be so.

Patiently endure.

Patiently suffer.

Patiently keep on keeping on.

And he gives them three encouragements.

He says,

think of the farmer,

who come rain or shine,

come gale or calm.

He's out there,

long days,

tirelessly,

toiling,

tilling,

drilling,

sowing,

fertilizing,

harvesting,

doing it in every season,

through every weather,

without distraction,

or deviation.

And why does he do it?

Because he has harvest day in mind.

The day where he cuts it down,

and brings it in,

and it's a happy day.

James says to his farmers,

be like the farmer.

Work and toil.

Don't be distracted.

Because there's an eternal harvest coming.

And unless you have your eye on that day,

then you'll get lost this day.

Then he talks about the Old Testament prophets.

These people that God appointed to speak up for him,

amidst great persecution.

The likes of Jeremiah,

and Elijah,

and Elisha,

and Ezekiel,

and Hosea,

and Micah,

and Malachi,

and Obadiah.

And even though it was unpopular,

and they were imprisoned,

and they were hurt,

they were thrown in wells,

they were cut in half.

They didn't get distracted,

because they knew God was worth it.

And then we think of Job.

Job,

who for 42 long chapters,

is utterly despairing.

It couldn't have gone any worse.

His wife says to him,

curse God and die.

That's the kind of wife you're looking for.

But for 42 chapters,

at the very end,

God commends him,

because he's spoken what is right of the Lord.

That even amidst great suffering and persecution,

he's not become despairing or distrusting of God.

And so,

don't be double-minded.

When it gets tough and difficult,

when it's hard and tiring,

patiently endure.

Patiently endure.

Don't retreat

to just a functional relationship with the Lord.

Satisfactory working relationship.

Look, I'll do the Sunday thing,

but you know you've let me down.

It's too tough.

I want to go it my own way.

And then I think we get to the most confusing parts

of the letter.

I think it's a passage that we take

greatly out of context.

Like 1 Corinthians 13.

Is anyone among you in trouble?

Let them pray.

Is anyone happy?

Let them sing songs of praise.

Is anyone among you ill?

Let them call the elders of the church

to pray over them

and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer offered in faith

will make the sick person well.

The Lord will raise them up.

If they have sinned,

they will be forgiven.

Therefore,

confess your sins to each other

and pray for each other

so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person

is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a human being,

even as we are.

He prayed earnestly

that it would not rain

and it did not rain on the land

for three and a half years.

And he prayed

and the heavens gave rain

and the earth produced its crops.

My brothers and sisters,

if one of you should wonder from the truth

and someone should bring that person back,

remember this,

whoever turns a sinner

from the error of their way

will save them from death

and cover over a multitude of sins.

As we've seen,

at first glance,

James looks like a bit of a pick and mix letter

where he's kind of put loads of blog posts together.

And it would be so easy,

wouldn't it,

to think,

oh, James thinks,

oh, I'm getting to the end.

Oh, I'm nearly finished.

I should probably put something in about prayer.

Just like drop it in,

make sure they're praying.

But I think this whole thing

is specifically to a group of people

and he's still addressing double-mindedness.

And I think the absolute key

is verses 17 and 18.

Look at them with me.

Elijah was a human being

and he's talking about the prayer he prayed

and there was no rain.

I don't think many of us in Scotland

have ever prayed a prayer like that.

But I think that's not a thing.

There was no rain.

Now, if he was really talking about

answered prayer and healing,

if he was really talking about the prayer of prayer,

why would he talk about that?

Surely, if we were talking about people being ill

and praying for them and them getting well,

we'd be better going a few verses,

a few chapters later to maybe Elisha

and the healing of Naaman.

Or the raising of the dead son

of the widow of Zarephath.

That would make more sense.

But what is it about this prayer?

Well, Elijah is praying

at a time when Israel is at its most

double-minded.

The whole of Israel

is worshipping Baal

and Yahweh.

Israel is kind of two-timing God

and it's the whole nation.

And therefore,

Elijah prays and says,

God, let it not rain.

And then at the end of that,

what do they do?

Well, they go up a mountain

and have a bonfire competition.

And what does Elijah pray?

Say to the people,

how long will you waver

between two opinions?

If Yahweh is God,

worship him.

If Baal is God,

worship him.

The God who answers by fire,

he is God.

And so James still has in mind

this double-mindedness.

And he finishes

with the greatest example

of Israel being double-minded.

Israel has a foot in two camps.

James' readers have a foot

in two camps.

And it seems

that some of James' readers

have so committed adultery

against the Lord,

they're becoming ill.

There's a present judgment

falling on them

because of their adultery,

because of their idolatry.

Like Ananias and Sapphira,

who lied to the Holy Spirit

and were cut down dead.

Or like the people

in 1 Corinthians 11

who were selfishly indulging

at the Lord's Supper.

And therefore,

James is talking

to the church

and saying,

if you're double-minded,

pray.

And more than pray,

call the elders

to anoint you with oil.

Why do you anoint

someone with oil?

Well, you always do it

to consecrate someone.

To bring them back,

to set them apart for God.

That would be a great remedy

for people that have

been caught in this

double-mindedness.

Anoint them with oil

draw a line

under all of that

and bring them back.

These people are wandering

from the truth

and James says,

bring them back.

Don't let them

go off on a tangent.

Let them be gods

and gods alone.

Confess your sins

to one another.

We're all to look out

for each other.

looking out for where

we've got distracted

and deflected,

for where we've started

devoting ourselves

to other things.

I don't know,

but James is decidedly

an uncomfortable letter.

So many people have said,

I love James.

I used to love James

before we looked at him

this week

and last week

and the week before.

because when we really

get him,

he makes us wiggle

and sweat

and look at our lives

and think,

am I just playing

at this?

Is this just

Sunday respectability?

Is God at work

in every area

of my life?

Am I consulting him

in every area

of my life?

God is calling us

through the letter

of James

to lay it all down

for God,

to resist the devil

and keep on persevering

and to have

clean hands

and a pure heart.

But a word to you

if you're not

trusting Jesus

this morning.

There's a real warning

here, isn't there,

about what life

is all about.

It's not about people

speaking well of you.

It's not about

accumulating as much

as you can

well you can

for yourself

because James is clear

it's all going to

rust away.

It's just going to be

iron oxide

and good for nothing.

It's not about

making extravagant

plans because

we are a mist.

And he's saying

the only hope,

the only

certainty,

the only way

life has meaning

and purpose

and value

and hope

is if we will

humble ourselves

and come to

the Lord Jesus

and say

I don't deserve it

I could not

earn it

but you give it

anyway.

Because God

opposes the proud

the people that

make it all about

themselves.

But he gives

grace

and eternal

grace

to the humble.

can I say

in closing

that over

our eight

sessions in

James

I have felt

the prompting

of God

in a way

I have seldom

felt before.

I've been

burdened by

my life

and our

life

as a

fellowship

and I worry

just how

compromised

we've become.

I've been

convicted by the

Holy Spirit

of areas

in my life

that I have

become far

too comfortable

in sharing

with God.

And God

is saying

give it all

give it all

so would you

stand with me

and let me

pray for us.

Let's pray.

Father God

as we have

sat under

your living

and active

word

over this

last season

as a church

we confess

that it has

searched us

and found

us wanting.

Our infatuation

with the world

has been

uncovered

our

heart-heartedness

has been

laid bare

and our

double-mindedness

has been

diagnosed.

Father God

purify our

hearts

that we may

draw near to

you once again.

Father God

bring us low

that you

might lift us

up.

Father God

tame our

tongues

give us

wisdom

banish

favoritism

unleash your

word

to work

in our

lives

and give

us more

grace.

Father let

us be

yours

and yours

alone

and we

pray all

this in

and through

the Lord

Jesus Christ

who loved

us fully

and gave

himself for

us

totally.

Amen.

Let's

.

Amen.

.

.

.

.