Remaining Unstained

Already in this short chapter the Holy Spirit speaks to us about several evidences of faith that will be true in the life of a real follower of Christ Jesus. Perseverance is one mark of Christian faith – perseverance in trials, including temptations to sin – and perseverance in DOING God’s commandments, not merely hearing them. That’s why he writes: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

 

Paul wrote to Titus about the hearers and doers his young protégé faced in the church on the island of Crete. Some there did a lot of ‘hearing’ without ‘doing’ God’s commandments: (Titus 1:16) “They profess to know God, but their actual behavior denies their profession, for they are obviously vile and rebellious and when it comes to doing any real good they are palpable frauds.” (JB Philips)

 

Of course, human nature being as it is, the contrast between hearing and doing has been going on for a long time. Listen to what God said to the prophet Ezekiel: (Ezekiel 31:32-33) “They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

 

Christian – guard your heart. Routinely seek God’s help to be more than simply a hearer of God’s word, but to DO what He commands of us.

 

Now, to today’s text. After challenging his readers to be more than passive hearers of God’s word, James then writes: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:26-27)

 

I want us to look at three points in these two verses: (1) Control the tongue (see next chapter), (2) Help those in need, and (3) Walk with God in holiness.

 

First, Control the tongue. If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.’

 

We’ve all heard the children’s rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” And we ALL know – many of us from personal experience – we all know how wrong those words are.

 

God tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21) That certainly could be one reason the Lord Jesus warns us: (Matthew 12:36-37) “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

In her essay, When Words Kill, Clinical Therapist and author Lisa Ferentz writes: Those of us who work in the mental health community have long understood the incredible impact of words. The way others talk to us profoundly influences our emotional states, our subsequent thoughts, and many of our behavioral choices. Unkind or abusive words can literally be used as weapons . . . Clients in their 60’s and 70’s can still recall the exact words and phrases that belittled and hurt them in childhood . . . And when they do, they are still overcome with sadness, helplessness, self-doubt, or self-loathing. The messages remain powerful because they were spoken by people who were supposedly safe, trustworthy, and loving.” 

 

As many of us who are familiar with James’ epistle, we know he will come back to this point later in his letter: (James 3:5-6) ^“The tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”

 

Richard needs to learn this lesson well: If you have nothing good to say to someone or about someone, then don’t say anything. And what I need to practice applies to every person here: If you have nothing good to say TO anyone or ABOUT anyone – then don’t say anything. God makes it very clear in this epistle and elsewhere in Scripture, if we don’t bridle our tongue, we deceive ourselves about our walk with Christ and we defile ourselves and give place to hell in the destruction of others.

 

Listen to the Lord Jesus (Luke 6:45-46) “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” 

 

Here again is Solomon: (Proverbs 16:28) “A perverse person spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.”  And once more: Proverbs 20:19 ‘[The one] who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip.”

 

Continuing in the next verse, James tells us: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress.” In other words, help those who are in need. James returns to this critical point in chapter two, and we do well to pay close attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place: “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

 

That was NOT a rhetorical question. It’s one on which true Christian faith is founded. The answer to James’ question is a resounding ‘No.” Such faith is NOT the faith that saves.

 

“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works . . . But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:15-20)

To demonstrate his point, James reminds his readers of faithful Abraham and faithful Rahab: (Verse 21) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

 

But some might quickly counter: “Paul tells us, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1). To the Christians at Ephesus, “By grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).

 

True; Yet at the same time we dare not overlook what Paul continued to say to the Ephesians two verses later, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10).

 

And it is important to also note that Paul wrote in his short letter to Titus no less than five times that the Christian is RESPONSIBLE to God to perform good works. So, Paul and James are not at all in conflict. Indeed, they harmonize with each other.

 

Abraham’s faith compelled him to DO SOMETHING with his faith. Rahab’s faith compelled her to DO SOMETHING with her faith. And if OUR faith does not compel us to do likewise, then we have good reason to question if our faith is purely theoretical or is it actual.

 

Solomon writes: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?” Proverbs 24:11-12

 

Listen also to the apostle John: “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”1 John 3:17

 

A week or two ago I cited the text near the end of Mathew chapter 25 wherein the Lord commends the righteous dead for having helped the poor, the sick, the prisoners, and so forth. But it is important to this point about faith and works that we hear the rest of that text in Matthew 25:41-45 –

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Scripture cannot be any clearer: Faith, if it has no associated works, is NOT true Christian faith, and it will not saves us.

 

Which brings us now to the third point James makes in these last two verses of chapter one: “Keep oneself unstained by the world. In other words, walking in holiness is not optional for the Christian. (Hebrews 12:14)

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification [holiness] without which no one will see the Lord.”

 

Christian, we must each heed this dire warning of Scripture, perhaps especially in the culture in which we live. God doesn’t tolerate negotiation with the world. James is uncompromisingly blunt when he writes: (James 4:4) "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  

 

Charles Spurgeon, in illustrating this text on one of his sermons, spoke of the white petals of a flower planted in the countryside that remain white, but the white petals of the flower planted in the city soon become stained by the surrounding pollution.

 

Spurgeon’s analogy ought to be instructive because it is impossible to remain pure when we surround ourselves with the pollution of this world – whether it be our entertainment, or friends with whom we spend the bulk of our time. Scripture asks what a believer in Christ has in common with an unbeliever. (See 2 Corinthians 6) The answer is, ‘Nothing.’

 

Whether it be our perspectives on morality, or the Church, or the Scriptures, or the authority of God over our life – what do we have in common with those who do not believe in the full authority of God and His word and routinely scoff at His commandments? There is good reason Paul warned the Christians at Corinth: “Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

 

Keeping ourselves unstained has very little to do with following a list of dos and don’ts. Rather, keeping ourselves unstained by the world is inextricably tied to our reverence toward God, and we reverence Him when we live in profound and humble awe of His holiness, His inexpressible greatness, and His absolute authority over our entire lifestyle. How then can we not turn away from anything that displeases Him?

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when we hold a holy and reverential FEAR of God. When ANYONE encounters God’s utter holiness, they’re immediately confronted with their own utter sinfulness. When Isaiah saw the Lord on His throne, “high and lifted up,” he cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)

 

When Peter recognized who Jesus was, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8) When the apostle John saw a vision of the Lord Jesus in His glory, he “fell at His feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17)

 

It should not surprise us – indeed, it should be expected that those who are close to God recognize their profound sinfulness when held up to the light of God’s unspeakable holiness. And the more we recognize our sinfulness, the more grateful we are for God’s love and mercy to wipe away our sins with His precious sacrificial blood.

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when our reverence for God causes us to take His commandments seriously: “What does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear [reverential fear] the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

 

We keep ourselves unstained by the world when we demonstrate reverence for God by never taking Him causally. It ought to drive the Christian to distraction when we hear professing Christians use the Lord’s name as a sort of punctation mark in conversation or hear them say “O-M-G” – meaning “Oh, My God” – as if the phrase has no more significance than the word, ‘wow.’

 

Christians might not intend to be irreverent when they say such things, but make no mistake – it IS irreverence, and the unbeliever hearing it from the mouths of churchgoers recognizes the irreverence, whether consciously or unconsciously.

 

Listen to the Psalmist speak in awe of God’s name: (Psalm 138:2) “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” (English Standard Version)

 

The Lord Jesus was serious when He taught us to be reverent toward the Father AND toward His name: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed (holy) is Thy name.” (Matthew 6:9)

 

There are one or two more points to make about reverence for God, but I’ve run out of time to deal adequately with it, so I leave it for next time.

 

Christian, do you want to draw closer to Christ? Of course you do. How, then, can we do that? He tells us how repeatedly from Genesis through Revelation, and the entire book of James is only one set of instructions. We looked at this one today: “If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

 

We’ll continue studying God’s instructions in this letter next time.

Hearers or Doers

We are continuing our series through the epistle of James. During the last couple of weeks, we looked at verses 1-11. Today we’ll look at the next several verses, but here is last week’s text for context:

 

“But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.  For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” 

 

As I just said, we’ve already spent time examining the first verses of this epistle, so we won’t now review them other than to pause a moment for this reminder:

 

The Holy Spirit inspired James to write down for not only his readers suffering various trials which were causing some to consider walking away from Christ, but the Spirit of God moved on James to write this message also for his readers in the 21^st century – for you and for me. And because this epistle is intended also for us today, we must pay close attention to its commandments. There is a fundamental difference between ‘professing’ Christian faith and ‘possessing’ Christian faith. That difference is evidenced by our OBEDIENCE to God’s word.

 

So, to today’s text, starting with verse 13: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (13-16)

 

It is certainly true that the devil tempts us to sin. Case in point – the Garden of Eden where he enticed Eve to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. And we mustn’t overlook Matthew 4 and Luke 4 which speak of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

 

But Scripture also makes it clear, the Serpent doesn’t need to expend much effort to get us to do wrong. Jesus made it pretty evident in His comments to His disciples: “The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man.” (Matthew 15:18-20)

 

James picks up on this point again, later in his epistle: (James 4:1-2) “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so, you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so, you fight and quarrel.” 

 

So, to be clear – the origin of personal sin is within our heart. God does not tempt us to sin. He is Holiness itself. He cannot be tempted to sin and neither does He seduce anyone to sin. But, as we have just seen, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” James uses pregnancy as a picture of the process: “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

 

Now look at that next verse. It is as if James places a punctuation mark after what he’s just written: “Do not be deceived my beloved brethren.” Do not be deceived about the process of sin’s birth and how it matures into our death. The adage attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson surely rings true to everyone who’s lived as long as we in this sanctuary have lived: “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

 

Please. Do not be deceived about these infallible spiritual truths. There is a reason God tells us from Genesis through Revelation how to deal with temptations to sin. He tells us to run – not walk – run to the nearest exit. Joseph and Potipher’s wife is only one of hundreds of examples. “Flee from youthful lusts,” Paul commanded Timothy, “and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

 

Writing to the Christians at Rome, Paul commanded, (Romans 6:12) “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:12-13

 

You might be familiar with the story of the Two Wolves. I’ve told it before, but it’s worth repeating: An elderly Cherokee sat by a fire with his grandson. He said to him, “A battle between two wolves is raging inside of me. One wolf is evil, full of anger, lies, envy, jealousy, greed, arrogance, guilt, and resentment. The other wolf is good. It has joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandfather was silent for a moment and then continued: “The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The Grandfather replied simply, “The one you feed.”

Christian, which wolf are we feeding? Which did we feed yesterday? Which will we feed tomorrow?

 

Do we want to avoid temptation to sin? Here is a newsflash: We CANNOT avoid temptations to sin. The enticements surround us wherever to go. But we CAN overcome temptations to sin, although, as we all know, ‘overcoming’ is not easy. It’s often difficult – however, the overcoming DOES get easier with persistent practice. Listen, God is telling the truth when He promises to ALWAYS provide us the means to escape temptations to sin – if we WANT to escape. (See 1 Corinthians 10:13)

 

Do we want to be successful in overcoming temptation to sin? Follow Scripture’s guidance: “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

 

Present your bodies to God every morning when you get out of bed. Pray something along these lines: “Keep me, Lord, in the center of Your will. Let me not wander from Your commandments.”  And at bedtime, “Search me, Lord. See if there is any wicked way in me, let me know if there is anything in my life for which I need repentance.”

 

Present your bodies. Be renewed in your mind. “How can a young man [or an old person] keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word . . . Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:9, 11

 

Now let’s try to make some application of these principles: Christian, if you have a problem with sexual lust then the wisest thing to do is avoid places, media, and online encounters that will get you into trouble with God. I’ve been a Christian for 54 years this December, and because I know I have a problem with lust, I haven’t been to a pool or a beach in more than half a century.

 

If a Christian has a history of alcoholism, then the wisest thing to do is never bring alcohol into their home. If they have a narcotics addiction, I give the same counsel. And if they’ve been prescribed narcotics for pain, they ought to tell their doctor about their addiction who then might be able to prescribe an alternative pain reliever. If not, the physician will prescribe only the fewest amount of pills that they’d expect to be necessary to relieve the pain. And I could cite other temptations to sin and how to avoid them, but you get the idea.

 

Let’s go back now to the text in James and move down a bit to verses 22-25: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

 

Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers. Otherwise, we deceive our own selves.

 

Author and evangelist Joe Stowell tells a story in Decision Magazine of a friend who was living in an adulterous affair and was planning to divorce his wife. Stowell and several others confronted him, seeking to restore him to the Lord and to his marriage. And they said to him, “If you continue in this affair, please don’t tell anyone that you are a follower of Jesus because that would bring shame to His Name.” But the man responded, “Oh, but I am a follower of Jesus.” Stowell adds, “That was a delusional response.” (Decision Magazine, May 2025).

 

Yes, of course, the adulterer is self-deluded to think he can live in sin and escape God’s eternal judgment. And so are we to think we can willfully and with impunity live in ongoing rebellion against God’s commandments and escape His judgment.

 

The person who has truly received God’s Word will humbly turn from sin and put obedience to the Word into practice. That explains why James immediately goes on in verses 23–25 to compare the Word to a mirror.

 

Mirrors in the ancient world were generally made of polished bronze or copper which, unlike modern mirrors, produced dim and distorted reflections. A person couldn’t simply glance at their mirror to see what they looked like. They needed to look intently and carefully at their image. That’s why James speaks of looking ‘intently’ at the mirror of God’s word which reveals our flaws and our dirty faces.

 

If we see our flaws, but walk away without doing anything to fix them, we’ve proven that our Christian faith is really a puff of air. We’ve CHOSEN to forget what we looks like to God. Our failure is not due to ignorance, but to willful rebellion – which inevitably results in self-delusion.

 

Like the adulterer Joe Stowell wrote about, knowledge of the Bible without corresponding obedience to God’s word will likely produce a false sense of spiritual security. The Lord Jesus warned of that danger often enough that we should not make the same fatal mistake ourselves: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

 

James then contrasts the one who looks intently but does nothing with the one who looks intently and DOES what is necessary. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

 

Contrary to what so many people convince themselves to be true, God’s laws are NOT meant to be punitively restrictive. He gave us His laws to bring us FREEDOM – freedom to BE whom God created us and designed us to be; Freedom from bondage to sin’s reign and control of our life and its inevitable heartbreak and tears and loss; Freedom to obey God because we have learned to delight to do so.

 

No wonder the psalmist wrote, as we studied a few weeks ago: “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:7-8)

 

THAT is real freedom, and not the false ‘liberty’ that Satan promises if we reject God’s word. We only need to remember what he told Eve – and I paraphrase: “God has given you the law about the tree in the middle of the Garden to restrict your freedom. Obviously, He doesn’t have your best interests at heart.”

 

We know how Eve’s and Adam’s distrust of God turned out. But listen now to the one the Bible calls the ‘Last Adam’ (1 Corinthians 15:45) - John 8:31–32 - “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

I was recently asked if I follow Jesus because I want eternal life. I paused only a moment before responding because I’d been thinking about that question for a while. And so, I told him, for me, salvation is not only about eternal life – although I very much long to live forever with my God. But my salvation is also about living a life free from the self-destructive pathway I’d been on through my early adult years. For me, salvation is ALSO about being set free from the prison Satan had me in. 

         

The “Law of liberty” does not mean freedom from God’s commands. It means we are free to obey His commands – and we do so because we actually delight to do them. As the psalmist exclaimed: I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

 

Truth be told, the person whose eyes God has opened cannot read the entire 119th psalm and not come away with a deep sense of the superabundant value and worth of His word. And that would be a good prayer, wouldn’t it? “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, that I might behold wonderful things out of Your law.”

 

Already in this short chapter the Holy Spirit speaks to us about several important elements of faith that are true in the life of a Christian, not the least of which is perseverance in various trials, including temptations to sin. He also speaks about persevering in DOING God’s commandments and not merely hearing them.

 

We make rules for children to protect them from harm and to mature them into responsible adults. Similarly, God gives us rules to protect us and mature us into a people who are free to BE whom God designed us to be; Free from bondage to sin’s reign and control of our life; Free to obey God because we have learned to delight in obedience.

 

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free,” Scripture tells us: “Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

 

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him,
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

 

And all God’s people say, “Amen.”

 

We’ll continue our study through the epistle of James next time.

Professors or Possessors

 

Our text today comes from verses 9-11 in this first chapter of the epistle of James, but first, we review the first several verses for context:

 

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

 

Now to today’s text, starting with verse 9: “But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.”

 

I will never forget my experience while I was deployed with the Navy Nurse Corps during the Gulf War in 1990. Approximately 50 other Marine and Navy personnel set up a hospital somewhere in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert. I lived in a 16-man tent about 100 yards from the medical unit.

 

Each morning as I stepped out of the tent, I looked across the flat horizon to all points of the compass. Initially I was stunned by the desert’s greenery. When I expected varying hues of tan desert sand, there was instead a thin carpet of green flowering grass. But every day, day after day, when the afternoon sun hung overhead – the greenery all disappeared, scorched by the desert sun. And I could not help but remember verses such as the one we’re looking at: “For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.”

 

Let’s pause here a few moments to make an important point for personal application. There is a Latin term often spoken of during Lent: Memento Mori – meaning, “Remember, you must die.”

 

The unavoidable truth of life’s brevity should assault everyone who takes time to think about it – especially those of us on this side of 70. How often have you looked back over the years and wondered how our lives could have passed so quickly? We only need to look at photos taken in our younger days to realize how quickly our years have flown. Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof, sang it for all of us:

 

Sunrise, sunset/Sunrise, sunset/Swiftly fly the years/One season following another/Laden with happiness and tears.

 

That’s why, whenever I speak at a memorial service, I often use a text from the book of Ecclesiastes: It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

 

Listen, please: It’s the wise person who considers St Peter’s words about this point of life’s swiftness: ‘What sort of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness? (2 Peter 3:11)

 

As we saw last week, the first part of this epistle talks about universal trials: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James then wastes no time telling his readers how to respond to and deal with those various trials and sufferings: “Ask God for wisdom.”

 

It is nothing less than a guarantee for failure if we attempt to cope with life’s ordeals in our own strength and wisdom. We may succeed for a while. Many people do. But eventually – unless the person has so hardened his heart that he is unable to see what is right in front of him – eventually the truth catches up with them, and the reality of death causes them to lose sleep at night.

 

Which brings us now to today’s text which is linked by context to coping with life’s brevity and sorrows: “But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. (James 1:9-10)

 

James will return to this theme toward the end of his letter in chapter four: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:13-14)

 

So, in this short passage of verses 9–10, we might ask why James tells the poor Christian to rejoice in his exaltation and the rich one to rejoice in his humiliation. I think Charles Spurgeon answered the question well: Both poverty AND wealth are trials to test one’s faith AND to bring that faith to maturity.

 

And please notice that James’ counsel to the poor Christian contains no notion of the Name-it-and-claim-it heresy that promises the Christian wealth if he has enough faith. Instead, James tells the poor Christian to rejoice in his ‘high position.’ In other words, as Paul told the Ephesians, the poor – and the wealthy – to rejoice because, “even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God[ made us alive together with Christ. . .  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-7).

 

Rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life, that you have been rescued from Satan’s domain and transferred to God’s kingdom. Such is a fait accompli. It is not something that will happen in the future. Because of our faith – rich or poor, sick or healthy, alone or surrounded by loved ones – because of our faith we can all rejoice in our high position with Christ.

 

It is on that point I want to pause a few moments. When you’re alone in your apartments, think back to where you were before you came to Christ. Unless you came as a young child and remained faithful to Him from your earliest ages, you grew up like many of us who came to faith in our later years. You came from a life laden with sin. And speaking for myself, I can

easily extrapolate where I would likely be today if I’d stayed on the rebellious and self-centered trajectory I was on.

 

For me, salvation is not only about eternal life. It’s about a life free from self-destruction and heartache. For me, salvation is ALSO about being set free from the prison Satan had kept me in.

 

James tells the poor Christian – as he is about to tell the rich one – poverty is only temporary. Wait a while – as he says at the end of this epistle: (James 5:7-8, 11b) “Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

 

The poor Christian might be tempted by the devil to think they are of no value or use to God. And as an aside, the same temptation can fall to those who are elderly, or physically disabled. In all such cases, those thoughts would be 100% wrong.

 

Poverty or wealth – or health or physical or mental limitations – none of these determine our standing before God. Listen to the Lord Jesus speak to the impoverished Christians at Smyrna (Revelation 2:8b-9a): “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty - but you are rich.”

 

And listen to what James writes about the poor a little later in this epistle: “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? (James 2:5)

 

Of course, those who are wealthy can face the opposite temptation. They can be tempted to think of themselves as either spiritually or socially superior to others. But they must not think so. The rich and the poor are both level at the foot of Calvary’s Cross. And each is equally responsible to God for seeking to imitate Christ.

 

Listen to Jesus rebuke the members of the Laodicean church: (Revelation 3:15-17) ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

 

As the entire length and breadth of Scripture tells us, poverty and riches are only temporary. TEMPORARY. Fifty years of wealth or poverty is temporary in the light of eternity. A lifetime of wealth or poverty is temporary in the light of eternity. And so the rich should rejoice when God humbles them to the point of repentance, to the end that they ‘get over themselves’ and produce the fruit of true repentance. (See Matthew 3:8)

 

Wealth, health, status, and whatever else we deem important in life – all of it is temporary. One hundred years from today, everyone – rich or poor, living in a mansion or under a bridge – all of us will be decaying to dust – unless the Lord returns before then, at which time all who are in their graves will hear His voice. Listen to God’s word: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28-29

 

Christian – we all had better be working on bringing forth fruit that demonstrates humility and a realistic understanding that all the gifts God gives us are given only on loan, to be used for the benefit of others and ultimately for His kingdom. The Lord Jesus made it clear when He told His disciples: “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4). Listen also to Peter: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10) 

 

SO, what are we doing with God’s gifts of time, talent, and treasure? Please hear this: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”  (CT Studd)

 

To that point, I’ve included in your handout a list of organizations I believe are worthy of support. I’ve verified on Charity Navigator.org that each of these charities is dedicated to helping the poor, or the homeless, or the hungry, the prisoner, the unborn, and so forth. Whether a few dollars each month, or a lot of dollars each month, to any of these – or to different charities you know about – we are all responsible to help others.

 

One day we will all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ. Jesus spoke of that time in Matthew 25:34-40, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

 

I won’t at this time quote the rest of that text, but if you remember, the Lord then spoke to those who lived only for themselves. It did not end well for them.

 

And this is a good place to return to those verses nine and ten as they also relate to what James talks about persevering through trials. Some of you know the name of the Romanian Lutheran pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. When Romania fell under Communist control, Wurmbrand fearlessly proclaimed that Communism and Christianity were incompatible. Of course, that didn’t sit well with the Romanian communist government, and he was subsequently imprisoned and routinely tortured for the next 14 years for his ongoing refusal to deny true Christian faith.

 

By the way, what Wurmbrand said of the incompatibility of Communism and Christianity, we must also say of Socialism and Christianity: They are just as incompatible. Please remember Socialism’s history. For example, the word ‘Nazi’ is an abbreviation of the German term "Nationalsozialist. The term refers specifically to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which was led by Adolf Hitler.

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And then there is the USSR – the abbreviation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

 

It is a demonstrably true aphorism: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat history.” And I want to be clear about this: Voting for politicians who call themselves Socialists is like signing your own death warrant and the death warrants of everyone you know and love who faithfully serves Christ.

 

And what Wurmbrand said of many of his fellow pastors who cozied up with Communists is something we should all heed – especially as America begins to lean toward Socialism at all government levels: “A man really believes not what he recites in his creed, but [he really believes] only the things he is ready to die for.”

 

We will see in upcoming weeks as we look through his entire epistle, there is a fundamental difference between professing Christian faith and possessing Christian faith. That difference is evidenced by how our faith governs our lives. Will we obey Christ when obedience becomes costly?

 

I conclude today’s message this way: The overriding theme of this first chapter of James’ epistle speaks to how a true Christian responds to life circumstances. He tells us trials test our faith, producing perseverance and spiritual maturity (verses 2-4, 9-11, 12-18). Finally (verses 19-27) obedience to God’s word proves whether our faith is genuine. Verse 22 will serve as our springboard next week:

 

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”