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James 3 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Good morning, church. Thank you, Alex and the band, for those leading us in those songs.
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What an excellent morning to be here. So glad to see you all here that you survived the sickness going around and the bad storm that came through last night.
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If you don't know who I am, my name is Colson Rivers. My wife and I have been members here at Christ Family Church for five years and some change.
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And I'm honored to be opening God's word with you this morning.
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Before we get into our primary text this morning, I'd like to give you a roadmap of where we're going.
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First, we're going to read through the entirety of James chapter three.
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This will either re-familiarize you with a text that you've heard before or give you a great first impression of this wonderful, practical and applicable passage.
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We'll be looking at four sections of this chapter summarized into these four points.
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We all stumble, warning of the power of the tongue, working for purity and wisdom from above or below.
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After that, we will zoom out a bit and look at some context for James chapter three, the broader context for the letter.
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As we move more thoroughly to examine chapter three, we will also reference some other touch points of some key themes, those four points, as James is carrying them through this letter.
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As we're kind of just taking a snapshot of the central chapter in this letter that James has written.
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And what the goal is today is for you to see the wisdom that God has given us through his word for his glory and our good.
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Let's pray.
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Dear Lord, thank you for your kindness to us to give us the means and ability to gather here.
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Thank you for providing this building for us to gather into together.
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Thank you for your generosity in all that you've given us to steward well for your glory, to expand your kingdom.
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Thank you for your working in us through your spirit, working in believers to make us more like your son.
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Father, we strive for that and we need your help, your strength and your wisdom to be more like Jesus.
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Lord, for those here in this room that do not know you, I pray that you would continue to draw them to yourself, that they would see your wisdom today.
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They would see the great generosity and graciousness that you have for your children.
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And they would know there's a gap in their relationship between where it is and where you have offered it to them.
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Father, I pray that they would act, that they would not harden their hearts today, but would receive your grace.
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In your son's name I pray, amen.
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So, turn with me if you would to James chapter 3 and we're going to go through our read through of the chapter just to get us all in the same ground.
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Starting in verse 1.
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Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
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A verse that I read with a lot of trepidation this morning.
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Verse 2.
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For we all stumble in many ways.
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If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
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If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
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Look at the ships also.
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Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
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So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
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How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
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And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
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The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
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For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
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But no human being can tame the tongue.
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It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
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With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
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From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
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My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
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Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
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Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?
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Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
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Who is wise and understanding among you?
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By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
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But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
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This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
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For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
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But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
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And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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So now that you all have that memorized, we're going to expand a little bit into some context for the letter of James to his audience.
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So first, just our place in redemptive history.
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This is happening after the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
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The good news of Jesus' substitutionary atonement and the new life that can be provided by God through faith in Jesus Christ is spreading out from the epicenter of Jerusalem.
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The audience of this letter, with the spread of the good news, the good news, and more people are following after Christ.
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Many of whom are Jewish people that have been waiting for their prophesied Messiah or Christ.
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James was a half-brother of Jesus and a leader in the church of Jerusalem.
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He is writing this letter to these new Jewish Christians spread out across their world.
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So now as we look to verse 1 and 2, our first section, we all stumble.
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Verse 1, James is cautioning aspiring teachers.
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We could consider this to be a balance to what Paul is writing in Timothy in 1 Timothy 3.1,
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where he says,
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Jesus also gives an illustration more in line with the caution of James in Matthew 8.6,
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where Jesus says,
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Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
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it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
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Again, great trepidation.
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So that ought to make us very grateful for the excellent elders that we have and pastors over us
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that have weighed the solemnity of their task and accepted the invitation to serve the body in this way.
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Now before we continue to verse 2,
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I think it's important to consider some of the foundations that James has throughout the letter
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as he's making his point in verse 2.
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So first, if you'll just flip a page over with me to James 1, verse 13.
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It says,
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Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God.
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For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
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But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
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Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin.
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And sin, when it has fully grown, brings forth death.
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Consider also chapter 2, verse 8.
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If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture,
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you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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You are doing well.
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But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
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For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
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So, by this point in chapter 3, James has made a clear foundation that by the time he asserts in verse 2 of chapter 3,
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for we all stumble in many ways, this audience is going,
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Yep, yep, yeah, we got that.
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We've all broken the law, and now we're guilty for all of it.
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So, from the very first, you know, temptation through entire law breaking,
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we all do it, and we are all solely responsible for our sin.
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So, looking now at verse 2, we all stumble in many ways.
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Again, we should be able to nod our heads and say, yes, that is true.
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And then continuing, if anyone does not stumble in what he says,
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he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
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Some of the easiest sins that we commit come from what we say.
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Therefore, they require the most diligence and sanctification to restrain.
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We shall not be wholly sanctified in this flesh,
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but James instructs us that if we can get this unruly muscle straight,
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we can better follow after our Lord.
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Jesus also assumes and asserts and tells us that we are going to be making mistakes with the words that we say.
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In Matthew 12, 36, Jesus says,
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I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.
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Not if they speak a careless word, or every careless word they may speak,
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but rather, every careless word they speak.
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Jesus knows that we will be guilty of saying these careless words.
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Continuing to our next section, in verses 3 through 8,
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considering James' warning of the power of the tongue.
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Now we're going to actually back up a little bit and consider the letter context before getting into these verses.
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Flipping again back to chapter 1, verse 19.
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Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
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For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
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Also verse 26 in chapter 1.
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Moving also now to chapter 2, the first four verses.
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Here in chapter 2, James is drawing a clear look.
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There's a line of connection between the words that are said.
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You sit here in a good place.
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You stand over there.
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And the internal heart condition of the people that are saying that thing.
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In verse 4,
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So for James, those statements of judgment partiality are coming from their hearts with evil thoughts.
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Looking actually beyond our chapter, in chapter 4, verse 11, James says,
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Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.
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The one who speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law.
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But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
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Again and again, James is warning these Christians to be careful with their words.
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Now a quick flag for some wayward destinations that could come from me speaking about the power of the tongue or the power of words.
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James does not at all have in mind here the idea that our words in and of themselves have power.
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He is not teaching against speaking a bad word over someone,
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nor is he teaching about naming and claiming some aspiration of ours.
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In fact, he devotes a section of this letter to help us put ourselves in the right understanding.
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James 4, starting in verse 13,
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Come now, you who say,
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Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.
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Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
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What is your life?
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For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
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Instead, you ought to say,
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If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
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As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
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All such boasting is evil.
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Our words have no cosmic power to call things into being.
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That is exclusively God's power.
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Look at Genesis 1.
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To claim anything other than this for ourselves is evil, boastful arrogance.
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Back to verse 3 of chapter 3.
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If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.
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Look at the ships also.
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Though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
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Now, I'm taking these two illustrations of James together because I think they're of a similar nature.
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A small object is controlled by a rider or a pilot to steer a much larger thing, a horse or a ship.
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If that small object or the person wielding it is not there, the venture or objective is not going to go very smoothly.
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If the rider of a horse doesn't have his bit or the horse loses the rider entirely, that horse is not going to get to its intended destination, most likely.
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Even worse, could you imagine being on a cruise ship and over the intercom, you get the message that the steering capability of the ship is gone.
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And beyond that, there is also not a captain anymore.
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That would certainly incite some panic.
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So, there is some good first part of verse 5 being accomplished by these small members in these illustrations.
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And now in the first part of verse 5, James kind of takes a pause from his illustration to drive his point home.
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He says,
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James did not want to lose his audience as they started to exchange their sailing stories.
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Didn't want them to get off track.
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Hey, this is what we're talking about.
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The tongue is small and it's going to do great things.
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And then he brings it down even more solemn in the end of verse 5.
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How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.
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That's a much more serious, catastrophic illustration.
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As terrible as forest fires are often today, think about all the infrastructure we have to combat them.
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That did not exist 2,000 years ago when this was written.
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These were even more catastrophic and damaging than what we know.
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So, we ought not to toss out careless words like lit matches into dry forests.
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Can we just talk about this later?
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Or, that's what you always say.
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It's not that big a deal.
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Or, if you're in a corporate space.
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Per my last email.
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To run with this forest fire analogy for a second,
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an accidental match in a well-kept forest is unlikely to start a fire.
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However, when there's a lot of old, flammable things on the ground, it inevitably will.
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So, we ought to keep our relational forests clean.
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And keep short accounts with our fellow image bearers.
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Our families, our siblings, our co-workers, everyone in our lives.
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We should be quick to forgive and ask forgiveness.
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Proverbs 15, 1.
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A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
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Verse 6 of chapter 3.
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And the tongue is a fire.
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And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
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The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
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The tongue affects all our body through it.
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From the moment we are born until the moment we die, it is a dominant member of our body through it all.
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Unless Christ returns, we are not going to be the ones to break that cycle.
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There's some confusing or unfamiliar phrases in this verse as well that I'd like to maybe give a little explanation to.
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The tongue is a fire at the start of verse 6 and then at the conclusion, and set on fire by hell.
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So the tongue's sinful fleshly nature is coming from the forces that oppose God.
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So that's illustrated here by James by the use of the word hell.
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So set on fire by sin we could read as well.
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So this is the source of that inflammation that comes, that fire that comes, that our tongue is presently.
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And therefore we have a hope that this can be redeemed, extinguished, and then used for good.
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Looking at verse 7 and 8 together.
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For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
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But no human being can tame the tongue.
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It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.
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If you think that you have mastered your tongue in this life, you have not.
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Jesus Christ is the master of his tongue, but we will not be holy like him until we see him as he is.
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1 John 3, chapter 3, verse 2.
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So we turn to the third section, working for purity.
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Looking at verses 9 through 12.
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Reading verse 9 and 10 together.
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James is pleading for the sanctification of these Christians.
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For some, it's easy to think that they are humble before God.
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They may understand him to be their creator and offer some trifling respect.
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We can think back in James, chapter 2, verse 19, where he says,
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You believe that God is one, you do well.
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Even the demons believe and shudder.
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That's not good enough, in other words.
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Immediately, this takes me to Matthew 18, where Jesus tells the parable of the wicked and unforgiving servant,
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who's forgiven an unfathomable amount of money from his master,
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and then turns to his fellow servant that owns him some cash, and he chokes him out for that cash.
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And so we're saying one thing, we're doing another.
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There is not purity in our hearts.
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Considering the theme of purity, single-mindedness, versus double-mindedness in the letter of James,
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there's a few texts I'd like us to consider in this letter.
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Flipping back to chapter 1, starting in verse 6,
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Looking then at verse 22 of the same chapter,
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And then, finally, chapter 2, verse 14,
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James says,
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James continues to hammer home his point that we are to be singly focused on faithfulness,
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and that that faithfulness bears fruit in keeping with true faith.
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Verse 11 and 12,
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Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water?
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Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or grapevine produce figs?
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Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
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James is echoing a similar teaching of Jesus in Matthew 15,
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where I'm going to read verse 11, 18, and 19,
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where Jesus says,
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It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,
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but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person.
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But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,
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and this defiles a person.
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For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
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murder, adultery,
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sexual immorality,
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theft,
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false witness,
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and slander.
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The fruit that comes from our heart
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comes from the nature of our heart.
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If our hearts are rotten,
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they will bear rotten fruits.
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But if our hearts have been renewed,
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they ought to produce good new fruit.
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Our final section,
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verse 13 through 18,
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Wisdom from above or below.
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So James is contrasting
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these two kinds of wisdom that he's defining.
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So first,
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we're going to read verse 13,
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Who is wise and understanding among you?
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By his good conduct,
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let him show his works
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in the meekness of wisdom.
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So again,
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James is really working to blend this idea
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of what is said by these people
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and how that compares to their actual works.
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He's linking these together
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so that what comes out of the heart
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and what we say
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is a natural byproduct of the heart
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and also links to what we do.
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So let's look at these signs and source
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of the wisdom that James discusses
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in verses 14 and 15.
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But if you have bitter jealousy
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and selfish ambition in your hearts,
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do not boast and be false to the truth.
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This is not the wisdom
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that comes down from above,
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but it is earthly,
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unspiritual,
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and demonic.
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So the signs of this earthly wisdom,
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bitter jealousy and selfish ambition,
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and then the source of it,
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it is not from above,
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rather it is from,
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as he says in verse 15,
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it is earthly,
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unspiritual,
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and demonic.
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So you could say
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the conventional wisdom
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of this world in a sense.
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Now let's look at the signs
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and source of,
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and let's talk about the signs,
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is first pure,
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then peaceable,
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gentle,
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open to reason,
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full of mercy and good fruits,
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impartial and sincere.
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The way this is constructed,
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James is putting up
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two groups of signs
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for this heavenly wisdom.
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So group A is purity,
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and then group B
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is everything else in the verse.
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So group A is purity,
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so this comes first,
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and then all these other characteristics.
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So from the purity of this wisdom
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comes peaceable,
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gentle,
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open to reason,
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full of mercy and good fruits,
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impartial and sincere.
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So now let's look
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and contrast this
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against the fruits
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of earthly wisdom,
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or the wisdom from below.
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James tells us these fruits
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in verse 16.
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For where jealousy
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and selfish ambition exist,
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there will be disorder
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in every vile practice.
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And we can contrast this
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against the fruits
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of heavenly wisdom,
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as James describes them
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in verse 18.
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And a harvest of righteousness
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is sown in peace
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by those who make peace.
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A harvest of righteousness
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is sown in peace
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by peacemakers,
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relating back to
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the Sermon on the Mount
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from Jesus.
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A wealth of good works
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done in faith,
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prepared beforehand
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that we may walk in them.
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Considering the themes
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of wisdom from above
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and below in this letter,
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we're going to again
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go back to chapter 1,
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this time in verse 5,
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where James says,
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If any of you lacks wisdom,
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let him ask God
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who gives generously to all
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without reproach,
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and it will be given him.
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That is a promise
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that we need to hold tightly to.
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Verse 16 and 17 of chapter 1,
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Do not be deceived,
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my beloved brothers.
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Every good gift
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and every perfect gift
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is from above,
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coming down from
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the Father of lights,
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with whom there is no variation
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or shadow due to change.
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Here, I'm going to take this
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and apply this to today's sermon.
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If there's anything good
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that comes from me
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being here before you today,
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that is from the Lord.
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Anything bad,
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that is due to me.
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Looking at the wisdom
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from below,
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as James is going to expand this
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throughout the letter,
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he does in a couple places.
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First, in chapter 4,
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the first four verses,
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What causes quarrels
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and what causes fights among you?
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Is it not this,
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that your passions
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are at war within you?
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You desire and do not have,
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so you murder.
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You covet and cannot obtain,
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so you fight and quarrel.
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You do not have
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because you do not ask.
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You ask and do not receive
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because you ask wrongly
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to spend it on your passions.
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You adulterous people,
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do you not know
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that friendship with the world
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is enmity with God?
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Therefore,
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whoever wishes to be
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a friend of the world
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makes himself
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an enemy of God.
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Are we going to align ourselves
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with the wisdom of this world
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and be friends of this world?
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Looking at chapter 5,
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the first six verses,
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and these are,
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this is a severe admonishment.
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Come now,
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you rich,
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weep and howl
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for the miseries
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that are coming upon you.
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Your riches have rotted
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and your garments
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are moth-eaten.
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Your gold and silver
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have corroded
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and their corrosion
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will be evidence against you
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and will eat your flesh
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like fire.
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You have laid up treasure
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in the last days.
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Behold,
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the wages of the laborer
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who mowed your fields,
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which you kept back by fraud,
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are crying out against you.
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And the cries of the harvesters
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have reached the ears
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of the Lord of hosts.
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You have lived on the earth
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in luxury
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and in self-indulgence.
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You have fattened your hearts
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in a day of slaughter.
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You have condemned
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and murdered the righteous person.
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The righteous person
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does not resist you.
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God is ready
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to generously give us
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his wisdom
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that James further defines
26:04
in chapter 3
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that he mentions first
26:06
in chapter 1.
26:08
And all wisdom
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of that nature,
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described as he does
26:12
in verse 17
26:12
of chapter 3,
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comes from God.
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The counterfeit wisdom
26:16
of this world
26:18
tells us to look out
26:19
for ourselves,
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trust no one,
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put ourselves first,
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hoard for me and mine,
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and reach out
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and take and take and take.
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That counterfeit wisdom
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bears bitter,
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painful,
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sad,
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and eternally tormented
26:35
fruit.
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Let us consider
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what we are to do now
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with the wisdom
26:41
of this text.
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Look moving to our applications.
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First,
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we must strive
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to control our tongues
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and if we do,
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the rest will follow.
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Control over our tongues
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does not mean silence,
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though sometimes it may.
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It looks like
26:57
the signs of heavenly wisdom,
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pure,
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peaceable,
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gentle,
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open to reason,
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full of mercy
27:04
and good fruits,
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impartial and sincere.
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Is this how those
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in your life
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would describe
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your words
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and actions?
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Pure,
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no ulterior motives,
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singly focused
27:16
on God's glory.
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Gentle,
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self-controlled,
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not short-tempered,
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open to reason,
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not stubborn
27:27
and insisting
27:28
on our own way,
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full of mercy
27:31
and good fruits,
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taking opportunities
27:34
to serve others
27:35
in your life
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and rejoicing
27:37
in your ability
27:38
to serve them.
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Impartial,
27:41
steadfast character
27:42
regardless of
27:44
who is around.
27:46
And finally,
27:47
is it all for show
27:49
or is it sincere?
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Our second application,
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we cannot control
27:56
our tongues
27:56
by ourselves.
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We must seek wisdom
27:59
and strength
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from the Lord.
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Don't forget,
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it is a restless evil,
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the tongue,
28:06
too great for us
28:07
to bear alone.
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The theme of
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self-deception
28:11
is strong
28:12
through the letter
28:12
of James.
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And he says it
28:15
three separate times
28:16
in the first chapter,
28:17
and I think we can
28:17
insert it correctly
28:18
into verse 7 and 8,
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that no human being
28:21
can tame the tongue.
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Don't be deceived
28:24
by that.
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An easy observation
28:27
about wisdom
28:28
from above
28:29
is that it is
28:29
from above,
28:30
it is not from us.
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Looking at Proverbs 2,
28:33
verse 6,
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for the Lord
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gives wisdom,
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from his mouth
28:37
comes knowledge
28:38
and understanding.
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And for proof
28:40
that God gives wisdom,
28:41
we don't need to look far.
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We have his entire
28:44
holy word.
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And again,
28:49
I'll remind you
28:50
of James 1, 5,
28:52
if any of you
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lacks wisdom,
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let him ask God
28:55
who gives generously
28:56
to all without reproach
28:57
and it will be given him.
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And so,
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throughout Scripture,
29:03
and particularly
29:03
in the Sermon on the Mount
29:04
and the letter of James,
29:06
we're instructed
29:06
to ask God
29:08
and ask God rightly.
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But that is
29:11
of his children.
29:12
And maybe today
29:13
you know that you
29:14
are not a child of God
29:15
or you're not sure.
29:16
Maybe you know
29:17
that you have a problem
29:18
with the words
29:19
that you say,
29:19
maybe how you act too.
29:21
Maybe you tried
29:22
for a while
29:22
to be better
29:23
but it didn't stick.
29:24
But I assure you
29:26
that a dead heart
29:28
can only produce
29:29
rotten fruit.
29:30
No matter how many layers
29:32
of paint and wax
29:34
human effort
29:34
we put on top.
29:36
Before we can begin
29:37
taking steps
29:38
towards producing
29:39
faithful fruit,
29:41
the Lord must
29:42
give us a new heart.
29:43
If you are tired
29:44
of striving
29:45
and constant stumbling,
29:47
James gives
29:48
plenty of actions.
29:50
Submit yourself
29:50
to God.
29:51
Draw near to God.
29:52
Humble yourself
29:54
before God
29:54
and ask God.
29:57
Dear church,
29:59
beloved of God,
30:00
let our renewed hearts
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overcome
30:02
our clinging flesh
30:03
and show
30:05
God's generous wisdom
30:06
through us
30:07
by our faithful words
30:09
and faithful works.
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Let's pray.