Walk the Line More Than You Talk the Line

James 1:19-27

English Standard Version (ESV)

Hearing and Doing the Word

¹⁹  Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive withmeekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.


In James 1:19-27, James tells us to, "...be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." James is telling us that when we act without thinking, we act in anger and anger is not honoring to God. So he tells us to put away anything that will cause wickedness in our souls so that it does not defile ourselves. In order to be quick to hear, we must always be prepared and ready to hear the word. When we are prepared to take in and listen, we will be more ready to allow it to set in our hearts so that we will be doers of the word.

James goes on to speak about be not only those who hear the word, but be ones who do as the word commands. He compares hearers of the word as a man who looks in the mirror and intently studies himself. Then as soon as he leaves the mirror he forgets what he looks like. But the one who hears the word and does what it says will be blessed in doing so.

When we think we can be only hearers, we have been deceived by our own religion. But when we take the time to slow down and do what is said in the word God will be glorified. James closes this chapter by saying that for us to be doers we must show love. Love for the orphans and for the widows. We must keep ourselves unstained from the world.

Sexual Immorality Will Defile the Church

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

English Standard Version (ESV)

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. ² And you are arrogant! Ought younot rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³ For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴ When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.^[a]
6  Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰  not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church^[b] whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges^[c] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

1 Corinthian 5 presents us with a letter written by The Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. He tells us that there has been great sexual immorality going on within the church that is not being dealt with. In the second half of verse 1 he says, "... sexual immorality is among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife." In the church, some man was having continual sexual relations with his father's wife, who would be his step-mother. In order to understand the extreme taboo factor of this, this was even immoral in the non-Jewish community. Sleeping with your father's wife was wrong in all cultures at this time.

So in this letter, Paul is outraged that this is happening. Not only is he furious that it is happening, but that the guilty has not been taken care of. He says that   a man who does such a sin should be cast out from the church. He goes on to say that even while he has not physically been there with them, the Holy Spirit has been among them the entire time. Paul is telling them that even though he wasn't there, they should have dealt with matter according to the Holy Spirit.

In verse 6, it says, "Your boasting is not good..." The Corinthians were proud of how they had been dealing with the situation. They had been tolerating this man and his sin because they thought they were being loving and accepting of this man. The Corinthians were easily deceived by sexual sin because it was so dominant in their culture. In their environment, sexual immorality was so regular that they did not see it as immoral at all. But in the church, Paul says no, this man's sin is not to be tolerated in the least bit.

He says that this man should be cut off from the fellowship of the church. Not only for the man to be dealt with for his sins, but for the church to not be torn apart. Since they were accepting of this man's sin, they were telling the world that this kind of perversion was ok. The church was becoming of this world by accepting sin. Paul tells them again that that is not how things are. We are to reject sin no matter how big or how small it may seem. Paul says that even as he would associate with sinful people, he would not accept their sin. 

You Are My Joy!

James 1:2-4

English Standard Version (ESV)

Testing of Your Faith

²  Count it all joy, my brothers,^[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faithproduces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4 is a great encouragement when we are going through hard seasons of life. Just in these short verses James, a servant of God, tells us that in difficult times, we must find joy because God is allowing us to endure this trial in order to strengthen our faith. Sounds easy enough, right? When we are going through the hardest times in our lives, we are filled with joy. In reality, we tend to be filled with angst and frustration. From my own life, trials have always caused me a great deal of anxiety. So in our hardest times, how can we find joy and why should we?

It is interesting that James says, "When you meet trials..." He doesn't say if you meet trials. James knows that if we living like Christ we will endure tough times.  Christianity is not meant to be a happy walk in the park. It is going to be hard and we are going to go through much grief. Knowing that we are going to have trials in our lives, James says," Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds..." The NIV translation says to count "pure joy." So we aren't supposed to just put a happy face mask on when we are struggling. We are to find PURE JOY in our trials. We must realize that God isn't allowing this to happen to punish us, but He is using these times to strengthen us.

The key is knowing why we endure trials. It is not an easy thing to count it all joy when you feel like you are being pushed down or helpless. First, we must quit our grumbling and complaining. Then just take a step back and prayerfully think about why this is happening and how God could be communicating something to you. This will not be easy, and it will take work to be able to step back like that. In these verses, James tells us that God will use these times to build steadfastness in us. Trials will cause us to think about things. A lot of the time God is telling us that we can't make it through this season on our own. We must allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. When we know why we are going through hardships, it can be easier to find pure joy in it. 

While building steadfastness in us, God is calling us to excellence. Verse 4 says, "And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This is what God is calling us to be in our lives of worship. Though we will never be able to attain true excellence and perfect because only Christ was perfect, but we must always strive to be perfect and excellent. So as we go through our lives of trials, we must step back, understand that God is using this to teach us, and then we must allow Him to work through us so we can overcome our trials. When we depend on Him to save us, we will be able to comprehend what James means when he says, "Count it all joy."

Keep Your Guard Up

Romans 16:17-18

English Standard Version (ESV)

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,^[a] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

In Romans 16:17-18, Paul is leaving his final thoughts and instructions to the Romans. Here Paul is warning them to be cautious of false teachers. False teachers can and will come amongst our churches. And their goal is to cause division in the families of Christ. They will come with their own agenda and they will twist up the ideas of doctrine that we have been taught. So we need to be aware that these people exist and may already be trying to infect our church body.

John Piper says that there are usually two kinds of people in the church. There are those who want to emphasize doctrinal purity and there are those who want to emphasize relational unity. We either fully love truth or we fully love people. We need to find a balance of these two. Throughout history we have seen these two types of people raise division in the church. Especially in today's church it is hard to hold one hundred percent to doctrine. When we preach the truth some aspects get hard for people to accept and they feel like they are being attacked or not being shown love. But when we focus on loving people over doctrine, then we can end up tolerating sin. It is not easy to balance these two out but we must in order to avoid division.

It is the hope of Paul that this warning will free us from any kind of bondage to one way over the other. He tells us to be cautious of those who cause divisions amongst the church. Paul is promoting unity in the church body. We are to stay unified as a family of Christ. He tells us to avoid them. These people that are trying to break our families, are to be cut off from the church because they are dangerous. We break them off so the church stays unified and together.                        

In order for us to remain unified we must be aware of our doctrine. We need to know what believe in so we can discern what is true and what is false. We need to not be swayed by pastors only because they are popular or seem well spoken. Remember Jesus was not a popular preacher; He spoke in both absolute truth and absolute love. And people certain people didn’t like this. This is where the balance comes. For us to stay together, we must know what we believe so we can cut off those who divide us. 

Why the World Will Hate Us

John 15:18-27

The Hatred of the World

¹⁸  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,^[a] but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³  Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.²⁵ But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled:‘They hated me without a cause.’
²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness,because you have been with me from the beginning.

In John 15: 1-17, Jesus has just told us that we are to love our neighbors and how there is no greater love than he who lays down his life for his friend. But in verses 18-27, He tells us that while we love, we will be hated for showing Christ's love. We will give and give and not receive anything back from the world. This seems quite discouraging. But we Jesus tells us that we will be hated because He was hated first. It says that if we chose to be loved by the world, we would belong to the world. We are loved by Christ so we belong to Him.

            Jesus reminds of what he has said, "'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name." We will be hated because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate Christ because He shines light in the sinful ugliness of their hearts. If Christ didn't come and reveal this to them, they would be ignorant of their sin, but since He came they have no excuse not to know. And since they hate Christ, they also hate the Father. 

From verses 26- 27, Jesus tells us that we cannot overcome the hate of the world on our own power. But we must allow the "Helper" to work through us. "The Helper" is the Holy Spirit. In order for us to show the true love of Jesus Christ, we must open ourselves to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. The Holy Spirit will shine His love through us. This shows us just how weak we are, there are things we cannot do without the Spirit working in us and through us. 

When You Fight With Your Brother

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^{Matthew 18:15-20
15}  “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you havegained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile anda tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[a] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Disputes seem too rampant in our churches today. They can be caused by all sorts of things such as; rash decisions, laziness, thoughtlessness, lack of gratitude, or just very poor communication between parties. Whether the issues people have are justified or not, they still need to be handled in a biblical manner. Jesus told us in these verses how we are to resolve conflict with our brothers and sisters. There are four steps we should take in order to reconcile with one another.

The initial step is overlooked and ignored so often, it only snowballs and makes the issue worse than it needs to be. If our brother sins against us, we must go and tell him his fault. In today's society, it is rare that the conflict will be resolved right there. We are a prideful people, and our first thought when we are accused is to defend ourselves. Jesus says that if your brother listens to you, you have gained your brother. He calls us to do this quickly and do not allow Satan to place hate in your heart. 

If dealing directly with the manner doesn't work out, go to your brother with two or more witnesses so that both of you may be held accountable. And if this still does not resolve the issue, it should be brought to the church. Since the church is to be our family, then as a family we should attempt to fix the problem. If the accused does not change his ways, he to be treated an outsider and left alone. Jesus tells us, "That whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." So if he chooses to hold onto his sin and not repent, then he is bound his sin and until he repents, he cannot enter into God's presence. 

Jesus is the True Vine

I Am the True Vine

John 15"1-17

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have keptmy Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

¹²  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵  No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant^[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

This is what I have been reading about the last couple of weeks. It's the kind of thing that I should already know, but it helps to get refreshed on it. I'm always amazed how God will take something I've read over and over again and then show it to me in a new and amazing light. Jesus came and said that he is the vine that all good fruit will grow off of and God, the Father is the one who grows and nurtures the fruit of the vine. In verse 2, He says that any branch that does not produce fruit will cut off, while branches that produce good fruit will be cared to and pruned to grow more. It seems simple enough, but so often we forget who we are. We are the branches and when we walk the teaching of Jesus, we will bear good fruit. If we do not produce fruit, we will be cut from the vine. Because in Revelation 3:16, if we are neither hot nor cold for Christ, we will be spit out from Him. So when we are unproductive we will be tossed aside.

In verse 4, we learn that we cannot grow and produce fruit by our own strengths and abilities. We must rely on God, for He is the own who prunes and nurtures the branches on the vine. So what must we do to become fruitful? It is key for to rely entirely on the Father. We must ask Him to make us fruitful through prayer. We need to pray to produce good fruit. In being fruitful, we will glorify God.

To abide in Christ, is to abide in love, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." Jesus goes from verse 12-13, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Because Christ came to earth to die our death in love, so we are to daily die to sin and live in the love of Christ. He closes this section verse 17, "These things I command you, so that you will love one another."

I don't like me when I am angry

21  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[a] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[b] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[c] of fire. 23  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.[d]

In these verses, we read about how Christ came to fulfill the law. Here Jesus digs deeper in the meaning of the sixth commandment, "Though shall not murder." Jesus says that murder is not just the physical act of killing someone, but rash and unjustified anger is just as sinful as taking someone's life. Hate is murder. We are commanded not to murder, but that also means we cannot have hate in our heart. 

There is so much here we can learn about conflict from these verses. Jesus says how hate can be just as evil as murder. In Matthew Henry's commentary, he says, "Malicious slanders and censures are poison that kills secretly and slowly. Christ told them that how light so ever they made of these sins, they would certainly be called into judgment for them." Jesus tells us that we cannot live in community when we live with anger in us. If we don't deal with the hateful feelings towards somebody, we cannot come before God in worship because our hearts are not pure. 

Its goes on in verses 23-26, that if we hold something against our brother we need to reconcile our differences before we can approach the altar of Jesus to worship Him. Because if anger is as vicious as murder, then we need to go to our brother, whom we have murdered, in love and ask forgiveness. If we don't do this, it prevents us from coming in the God's magnificent presence. If it is never reconciled, then our hearts will become dead and we will begin fade. Jesus is telling us that we can't hold onto the anger in our hearts. If we do, we will become overcome with it. 

 

SInce it is star wars day (May 4th, so may the fourth be with you), I leave you with wise words from Yoda, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."