James 3:1-12 | Faith Works: The Book of James

James three is the passage that we're in.

I don't know how much of it I'm going to get through.

And so I'm going to trust that you're going to read it on your own.

and ask the Holy Spirit

to give you wisdom about what you read.

I want to talk about at least the first two verses

and then tell you something that just happened.

When we left off in James in chapter two.

James made it pretty clear

that words alone don't account for much.

Basically, he said, you can say whatever you want

about faith and about following Jesus.

You can say whatever you want,

but at least what you unless what you say is backed up

by what you do and proven by what you do, what you say doesn't matter.

In essence, what he's saying is all your words of faith

are useless and dead unless it's

proven by what you do.

And then in James chapter three,

he says, now let me flip the script a little bit.

Your words are really, really important.

He just got done saying, it's not that big a deal.

What you say it matters what you do.

And then all of a sudden in James three,

he says, okay, but let me go back to the words part.

It's really crucial

about what you say and how you say it.

So he he talks a lot about words.

He focuses on words now.

And our speech

and what we have in James three

one through 12 is some, some instruction that is

is incredibly practical, incredibly practical.

And so I just want to give you this charge on the front,

because I'm not sure how this one's going to go.

So I just want to give you the charge

on the front end when you leave this place.

Spend this week reading James three verses one through 12.

It'll be clear and practical enough for you.

You can get something about it if you ask the Holy Spirit.

Speak to me about this now and then read it.

You'll get something out of it. That'll be.

That'll be good.

It'll be godly.

It'll be biblical.

But let me I do want to get through.

I think maybe the first two verses

and with a little bit of explanation,

and then tell you a little bit about what went down in the first service.

Here's what James three one says.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,

because you know that you will.

That that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

So he said, don't don't desire to be teachers.

Now he's not talking about teaching in the public school system.

although that may be a good warning for some,

love our district, but, boy, that is a high calling.

Man, that is, what he's really talking about is,

is don't many people desire

to be preachers and teachers of the word?

Don't rush into it.

Now, let me give some context before

I give you content, because it's important for you to know the context.

At the time that James was writing this.

being a teacher of the word,

a preacher of God

and his kingdom was a very lofty profession.

It was a very, very high calling.

and many people wanted to be

in this position of leadership, in this position of authority,

and they wanted to be respected as a teacher.

And so there was a lot of people clamoring

to sit on the stool on Sunday morning.

But oh, how times have changed.

There are many people

anymore who want to sit in this place.

Now, most of us want to be taught the Bible

and want to be a part, a part of a Bible study where someone is teaching us.

But few of us want to be that person, right?

Yeah, right.

Right. Yeah.

If I'm telling the if I'm telling a lie, then y'all sign up to start teaching

Bible study.

Yeah.

And so we all want it.

We just don't want to have to be the one to give it.

At one point in our nation's history, in the early days,

preachers were some of the most educated

and most well-respected people of the community.

They're held in very high esteem,

very well respected,

and people were attracted to the idea of perhaps,

maybe one day attaining that measure

of being a preacher.

and then, generations go by in the 60s, hit

and the 60s were a time where,

culture learned and began

to perfect the ability to question

and deny authority.

And it has been a downhill slide

of the respect of authority

for the last 60 plus years.

So much so

that it's now become

the prevailing,

way of living is to deny every authority

except the authority that's in here for me.

I am my own authority.

I will deny every and resist every other authority

except for what I think is right.

And whatever I say is right for me is right because I am my own authority.

That's how far we slid.

It's a dangerous place to be.

There's been such a slide

that even even preachers and teachers

desire to be preachers and teachers

so they can build their own brand and have their own

following.

So true.

And and there there are many people who sit in a position of authority

in teaching who have very sad and misplaced priorities.

And so James says, be very careful.

I want to go through verses one and two,

and I'm going to give you the I'm going to read one again and give you verse two.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,

because you know that what you teach will be judged more strictly.

I'm going to come back to that.

We all stumble in many ways.

Anyone who's never at fault and what they say is perfect,

able to keep their whole body in check.

The King James

Version phrases this really well that we missed

in all the other versions, and it says we all stumble.

In many ways.

The King James Version says it like this.

In many things we offend everybody.

That's what.

That's what James is saying.

In many things we offend all,

especially teachers.

Those who desire to to have authority and to teach.

James says we'll offend everybody at some point.

And any of you in any position of authority and leadership

and teaching or coaching, I guarantee you you have offended

somebody right?

And so let's take this out of the world just teaching and preaching

and put it in the world of fatherhood.

Us dads.

You know that there have been those moments in those times.

When you have

offended those you love the most,

right?

And James says, it's just what that's what we're going to do.

And here's why. Here's why.

And especially for teachers and preachers.

One one reason we offend people is because

if we're teaching truth, guess what truth does

offends people.

I said last week, look, I don't want to offend you,

but if you're fit, if this is your fault, not mine.

Now, it's

truth is not to be spoken or taught with a club.

Paul will say the Ephesians, speak the truth in love.

So it doesn't mean be abusive with it, but it does mean speak it.

And when you speak the truth, it's going to be a thing.

Especially in this culture in which we live,

in this culture that says, I am my own authority.

If you teach what is truth, i.e.

afford true authority from the one who is the authority, it's

going to be offensive.

For those who think their truth is their truth.

And so it's going to be offensive.

One of the best things a coach can do

is to be truthful with their players and tell them the truth.

You're not good.

Or you're good, but you're not great.

I want to help you take the next step.

And to do that, you gotta get better at X, Y, and Z.

You're not coachable and coachable.

Kid becomes an unemployable adult.

Let me help you understand this.

At every at every every scope.

This applies here.

Now we know how not do the fifth like brutally.

But but truth is gotta be spoken.

But another reason why why we offend people

is because sometimes we just say the wrong thing and misspeak.

Sometimes we get it wrong,

and sometimes we say things that

we say the wrong way with the wrong intent, the wrong priority.

And it just hurts. And we offend people.

And when those things happen,

we need to be able to say, look, I'm sorry I was wrong.

I'm sorry that what I said was so offensive.

I just I didn't do it well,

I'm going to happen that way.

But another reason, especially in the context of preaching and teaching,

why James says we offend everybody is is this because as a teacher,

as a preacher, my theology and understanding of God in the kingdom grows.

I can look back a decade ago

and think, what was I thinking?

I can look back two decades ago

and think, well, I've

some of the stuff and I'm old enough.

I can go back three decades when I was first

learned to preach and teach and think, oh Lord, thank you for your mercy.

Thank you that some people are still walking with you

in spite of my preaching and teaching.

The fact is, we have a lot of.

If you if you're someone

who speaks, you have a lot of opportunity to offend people.

And if you're someone who speaks a lot, you have a lot more opportunity

to offend people.

And this is what the Bible says.

Sin is not ended by multiplying words,

numbers.

What it's saying is where there's a lot of words, there's a lot of sin.

But the prudent hold their tongues.

The tongue of the righteous is choice, silver.

But the heart of the wicked is of little value.

The lips of the righteous nourished many.

But fools die for lack of sense.

And so he says, look, just be careful with your words,

because the more you speak, the more often

you're going to have to offend people.

Now, in the world of fathers,

this is especially true.

have any of you dads

just been at that place in your

in your life, your world, your situation

where the kids, the wife that someone

has just as pushed so much, where you just start,

start the word vomit

and you're in the midst of the stream

and you're thinking, I shouldn't be saying what I'm saying,

and I shouldn't be saying it the way I'm saying it, but I can't help it right now.

And I got a lot more words, and I'm going to spew out right now.

And have you ever been there?

Yeah, yeah.

So, if if

you kids and wives have

your dad and husband ever been anywhere on Tell the Truth, you will ask those who.

Now, I don't I don't know the reality of this.

I know my experience of it.

I cannot I cannot think of one hurtful thing

that my father ever said to me.

I'm sure he did.

But I've been thinking.

I've been trying to remember some time

when my dad just lost it on me.

And I'm so fortunate

to not be able to think of a time,

and I thank God for that.

I think that I thank God for you.

And I hope my sons have very bad memories.

All right.

Not all my bad, because now I said that was wrong.

Very poor.

I hope they can't remember very much.

That's what I'm trying to say.

I'm giving them a bad memories to help me forget it.

That's what I'm saying.

But when James says, be careful because you'll be judged more strictly.

What's you talk about being judged more strictly.

Are we going to be judged more strictly by God?

Maybe.

But. But here's why that's not scary.

Because though we may be judged more strictly by God,

it doesn't mean that we be condemned more fully.

Because.

Because I am in Christ, therefore there is no condemnation,

even under strict judgment.

He may just be more strictly,

but he's not going to condemn me more greatly,

because under the blood of Christ and Him on the cross,

that's even that sin is forgiven.

And the sin of misspeaking sitting on this stool is not greater than your sin,

and it's covered by the blood of Jesus.

So there's no fear,

there's responsibility,

but there's no fear.

He just says, just make sure you're called

because you'll be judged more strictly, more strictly to what?

I don't believe that what James is saying

that will be more strictly to get it all right,

because God is so profound and so big and so deep and such an incredible mystery

that how can any preacher teacher get everything right about who God is?

So I don't think he's saying, make sure that you get everything right.

I think one of the things he's saying is we will be judged

more strictly.

Because we have to teach the whole thing.

We gotta we gotta teach

from the table of contents, through the maps.

And there's some stuff in here

that that as a teacher, you used to want to deal with.

Because how it's going to come across to this culture

and there's a tendency to back off a little bit.

Let me tell you this.

I owe you and I owe God my father, who's called me the respect

to teach the whole thing.

And if I back off out of fear of you, if I back off

because you might cancel me, that's what will be judged.

And so I approach this

with authority and great humility.

But I'm not backing off.

Do you understand that? Yes.

And I don't want to offend you, but if you're offended by

God's truth, that's your fault, not mine.

And I'll teach it as gently as I can with as much mercy and grace as I've received.

But it's going to be the whole of Scripture.

We'll be judged more fully.

I think that what that also means is

we can't be lazy about it.

Dealing with the Word of God requires such dedication

and devotion and struggle and turmoil and work.

It is exhausting,

but it must not be approached with a lazy attitude

that will just show up and see what God does.

That's so wrong.

And so it's got to be handled

with great care and God will judge me.

Not that I get it all right, because I am unable to get it all right,

but with the diligence and dedication and devotion that I give to the study

and the preparation so that I can do it well, does that make sense?

Same thing goes for you.

Every one of you in this place is a teacher.

At some level.

And when the Kingdom of God seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

when that is paramount in your life,

you better approach this and putting it here

with great dedication and wisdom and diligence.

Amen.

Amen.

Understand?

But let me tell you this.

This is another way we'll be judged.

That what I proclaim.

I've got a practice.

Dummy.

And have to be perfect.

And that's why I.

One of the things I will proclaim is repentance and mercy

and grace.

Because as I fail, I will repent before my God,

and I will always proclaim his mercy and his grace.

So that I have the authority

to preach truth and to call you to repentance.

Because of God's mercy and grace.

Now, part of what that means.

Is that when I talk about

God being the God

who steps in and intervenes,

who is the God of mercy, who is a God of grace,

who was a God of life?

Who is a God who is present with us?

Who is the God that we can approach his throne of grace

with confidence, because we know that before the throne of grace

we receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

That because I believe and I preach that for God's people,

he will discharge his ministering angels

to both protect them from the evil one

and to serve and help us in our times of need.

Because I preach that I must practice that

in the first service,

I was halfway through my message

and there was a man sitting right back there who turned to his side

and kind of knelt down, and I thought he was just having a moment with Jesus.

And I kept preaching,

and he stood up and kind of stumbled to the back.

A couple people saw was gone and got up and followed him,

and he fell down.

I had no idea what was going on.

Most of us didn't.

Couple people in the back did.

What was happening was having a heart attack

and he collapsed.

And there were some people

in our church, medical professionals,

who recognized what was going on and jumped up

and ran back

and started doing what they knew to do to try to save his life.

His heart stopped.

He stopped breathing.

All this was going on back there.

I have no idea what's happening.

and so I directed the

chaos and just said, there are some medical professionals here.

Let them do their work.

And they shouted back.

They're doing it!

I couldn't tell what was going on, but all of a sudden

I see the compressions start,

and they're doing compressions on a man.

And right laying on the ground, right back there.

His heart had stopped.

His breathing had stopped,

and he was dead.

And one of the ladies back there

just yelled, pray, pray.

And so we, of course, stopped everything.

And I sat here

and I said, church, start praying.

And I prayed.

Because what I have been preaching

is that we can approach the

throne of grace with confidence,

knowing that there we will receive

mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

And that God dispatches

his angels as ministering spirits

to protect from the evil one,

and to intervene in our needs and help us,

and that God is the God of life

and peace and not chaos,

and that God is the God who steps in,

and that God is the God who makes up

in strength.

When we're weak and fail.

That God is the God who gives discernment

and wisdom to know what to do in the midst.

When we don't.

That God is the God who is present in this place, that God is the God

who orchestrates and intervenes to bring people to the exact scenario.

He needs his people to live and move and, and, and act in that

he is the God that orchestrated this man to have a heart attack in this place.

On Sunday morning.

That God is the God that orchestrated a paramedic

who is never off on Sunday to just by chance, have this Sunday off

and jump in and be the first to give compression who God is.

The God is who orchestrates a retired spinal surgeon from Kaiser

to be sitting right next to the man when he collapsed to take care of him.

That God is the God who sees us in our need and says,

I will step in and intervene if you just simply come to my throne

believing that I will, that God is the God

that can not only stop hearts but can start them.

That God is the God that can bring life to where there is death, that

God is the God. Yeah.

And if I didn't pray that with my words,

it wouldn't matter if I believed it in my head.

And so I sat here knowing, just having preached this,

that God will judge me more strictly, that if I believe you in my mind,

in my heart, and then profess it before the church, it's dead faith.

And I would stand before God one day.

Oh, yeah, here's what I'm saying.

If any of us claim that faith and that God,

that prayer and that confidence has got to come through in our words,

not a timid God is not a timid, oh Lord, we don't know.

Not a timid God, I'm sure, but God.

not commanding his hand at all,

but just requesting

the blessing of being in his presence.

And we pray for a peace that passes understanding.

And a submissiveness to his sovereignty

and a realization

that for those in this place who didn't know Jesus would realize that

one day they will stand before him in those who in that time will be.

And there's no time to delay.

I was told just after that service

that someone who was, who was who was been exposed to our church time

and time again decided because of that, that it's time for her to get baptized.

Yeah.

Talk to the paramedics outside.

And they said, we love your church.

We all have the opportunity.

To not just believe, but to speak what we believe.

Not that speaking make it makes it happen,

but speaking changes the heart

and you.

And so in that moment, I had to speak

as a teacher and a preacher.

Words of authority

that were from God's Word.

They were my words.

They were just God's words.

And there were people all over the church with their hands

raised and praying themselves like reaching out in their spirit.

God moved God saying, don't let this man die.

Not on Sunday in our church.

The Lord, that church is out there.

He could die.

And but not this one.

In fact,

and there was just this overwhelming sense that no,

not today.

So they started the compressions,

went through two rounds of people,

and there was some wailing and some crying,

certainly some pleading with God.

He had no heartbeat and no breath and no pulse.

And so we started praying, God, today you are the God of life.

You're the God of healing.

And we speak that and pronounce that with the authority.

The name of Jesus over him right now.

And almost immediately start praying that

he woke up.

And he shut up.

Your.

And he said, I'm okay.

I think it was just indigestion.

Oh, yeah.

Listen.

He died.

Yeah.

God is so good.

So that he brought people who knew what they were doing.

And he's so good

to work beyond their ability

to create life in a dead man.

So yeah.

You can play.

You better clap for that.

So much life that as I'm talking to him

in the ambulance I said I will see you next week.

He said no, I'm going back packing.

And I thank God

that God orchestrated his life

and the lives of the medical professionals in this place.

For him to be here and have his heart attack today.

God is a good God.

Oh, God, now he's good

regardless of that result.

You understand that?

He's good regardless of that result.

It was just a lot of fun

to get to see that result.

It's the first time

in my 30 plus years of ministry that someone has died.

While I was preaching.

And it's my first time in 30 plus years of ministry

that God's brought him back to life.

And what I told the church in the first service,

after a moment like that,

we got 1 or 2 options.

You either have a baptism or take an offering.

I don't know what. I don't know what else to do.

I don't know what else to do.

But I want you to know this.

Friends.

And if you claim Jesus.

You need to not just claim him.

You need to live like you do.

And you need to not just live like you do.

You need to proclaim like you do.

Because God will judge every one of his kids who claim something

but doesn't act like it and doesn't talk like it.

You understand?

Now we leave the results up to him,

and in grief and celebration,

we honor him for who he is.

Is that clear?

And that's what it means to be

mentored by Jesus

and discipled by him.

That honors the father

in every miracle, and in the garden

and the cross.

And Christmas.

The first service was this also, if you don't yet know this, God,

and if you have not trusted him with your life.

I don't know what it is you're waiting for.

It's appointed

once for man to die and then be judged.

What the Bible says.

Every one of us will go through that moment.

And if we live our lives

in rejection of Jesus, when that moment comes,

we will be rejected before the father,

not out of anger,

but he'll honor our choices on earth.

Every one of us will go through that moment.

And I implore you,

in the name of Jesus, with great mercy and grace,

get yourself right with God

through faith in Jesus right now,

right now.

God is a good God.

He's a good father.

And I thank the Lord

for his salvation

and for the saving of that life.

Today you, you. It's a good Sunday.

It's a good Sunday.

And that's the God you get to carry around with you.

It's been said that Christianity is the only religion in the world

where the man's God comes and lives in him.

This is it.

There's no other religion in the world

where the God comes and lives inside.

Is it?

And it matters.

And you need him. You understand?

And you pray with me, father.

Thank you

God. I give you praise

for the saving of that life today.

Yeah, you left to ourselves.

He's dead and he stays dead.

I thank you for those people

for whom you've given skill to, and knowledge and understanding

a call of their on their lives to do what they did.

I thank you that you orchestrated them to be here today,

when so many of them weren't even planning on it.

You just changed plans

so you could have your people here.

And I thank you that

that that his heart attack happened here at that moment and

and not tomorrow and not next week when he's up in the woods.

Yeah.

It just so good.

And I thank you for the faith and the confidence

and the assurance of this church that while that's going on,

prayed with the thought that approached your throne of grace,

knowing that will receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

You're so good, so

I thank you that this church has a story

of resurrection to tell.

You're so good

and you're a good father. You.

God, I pray that

that what you allowed us to experience this year would not be wasted on us.

Let us not treat this

with contempt or normalcy at all.

So? So move your hand.

I pray you call us into relation in the following of you

the God who would live in us.

My goodness.

Friends, I want to invite you

if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior yet.

Boy, this is your day.

Would you just simply by faith said, God,

I accept your son into my life.

Jesus, come into my life.

Forgive me of my sin.

I want you living in me.

You are real.

There's no denying it.

You resurrect dead things, dead

people resurrect me, make me new.

I accept you as a leader in my life.

Would you take that step?

If you never done that? Would you take that step right now?

And if you've taken that step, would you.

Would you just say, God,

I want to live and I want to speak like I really do

believe this.

Like you're alive.

Your word is alive.

It's active and sharper than any two edged sword.

It it works.

Would you give me the confidence in authority to act like it doesn't?

To speak like it does?

Would you resurrect dead things in me?

Would you resurrect dead people around me?

Would you give me the boldness of the courage

to move in the authority of of your word,

submitting to your sovereignty, whatever that means?

Father, I thank you.

We can't say enough what a good father you are.

You you.

I thank you for the experience of that in a very real way.

Today.

May you be forever praised.

Pray we never get tired of telling your story.

Never.

God, we love you.

I thank you for the outcome of first service,

that it ended like it did.

What a good God you are is

pray all these things.

Jesus in your matchless, mighty name.

Amen.

Listen.

Celebrate who God is

and the fullness of his sovereignty,

the pain of it and the glory of it.

The loss and the gain.

He's sovereign and he's good.

We gotta understand that.

We gotta know that.

Sometimes we go through this valley of the shadow of death.

Yeah.

Sometimes we go through the crucifixion.

Sometimes we go to the grave.

And other times we get to see in living color

his hand of miracle, his hand of power, his hand of resurrection, his hand of.

Of might.

We praise him all the same.

Listen, if you've not been baptized

by immersion.

And you know Jesus as your Savior,

next week is your week.

And I implore you

in that same name of Jesus to be obedient

and to follow Jesus example of baptism by immersion.

And if that's you, I want you to let us know.

Stop at the start here, Booth.

Fill out one of the cards.

Let us know online.

Jeff, me, David.

Okay, Kaylee, someone needs to have a conversation with you this week,

but just a conversation to make sure we're good.

And then let

let us celebrate your baptism next week.

It's your next right spiritual step.

Listen, we're going to sing one more song.

And for the rest of the day, I want you to carry with you

the knowledge

and the assurance of this incredible God

that we serve and who loves us.

All. Right, let's sing.