James

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James The Power of Prayer James 5:13-19

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

The Power of Prayer

James 5:13-19

Introduction

James concludes his writing with one last big idea. “The main thrust of this section is the power of prayer and its appropriateness in every situation of life. Prayer is encouraged in times of distress (v. 13), elation (v. 13), sickness (v. 14), and sin (v. 15-16a) and in assisting fellow Christians in striving for righteousness and spiritual health (16a).”[1]

Prayer

My Response to Life Is to Pray and to Praise (vv. 13-15)

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Suffering

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray” The word suffering does not just refer to bodily illnesses, but rather it means “adversity,” “suffering hardship.” It is the stress of a strenuous circumstance that leads to an action, or a reaction. Its when a person has experienced hardship and now they are affected by the situation. What is the first thing we do or say when hardship, stress, and adversity comes our way?

If we are the person suffering, we are told to pray, but not just one time but as an ongoing habit.[2] “Prayer is a blessing to the heart and to the mental life. It is good to talk with God and our worry disappears in the presence of the Lord.

So, what should we pray for? There are times when we are so stressed and suffering so much we don’t even know what to say, or what to pray for. Often times we want to hardship and suffering to end and we pray for the pain to stop.

Paul prayed that the “thorn of his flesh” would be removed. It wasn’t. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane “that this cup would pass from me.” It didn’t. You can pray for it to end, but sometimes that’s the season you are in. So, here are some things that you could pray for:

Wisdom (James 1:5) One of the things we will see later in the text is that people are watching how you are going to respond – so we need wisdom to respond and deal with the suffering appropriately. Many a foolish word and action has been done while people are under suffering, but God has promised to give you the wise words to say, and the wise action to take, if we ask Him.

Endurance – stress and suffering will over time take it toll on your spirit, your body, your health, so as God for strength to endure.

Reading and Studying the Word of God – as you read and study it, take God’s Word and pray it back to God. When you don’t know what to say, let God give you the Words to say.[3]

Smiling

“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise” James starts with someone being low, and then turns to someone’s mood being cheerful. How then should we respond when things are good, delightful, and over all calm? Prayer and praise are the Christian’s emotional outlet. When we are troubled we pray, when we are cheerful, we sing. We also should avoid the temptation to pray less when things are good. If times are hard, we pray. If times are good, we pray.

Sick

“14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders[4] of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

If the person is sick they are to call for the elders (plural) of the church. This was already a Jewish custom for the town elders to be called in for prayer when a person was very ill. The emphasis was on the praying, (not healing) and continues the theme from the earlier verses.[5]

The same phrase for “anointing with oil” is used in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34 “He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” Olive oil was thought to have medicinal properties and was used in a wide variety of ailments.

There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding this verse. For example, Roman Catholics use this verse to support their idea of Extreme Unction – which prepares a person for death, but the intention of the text is to continue life.[6] There are no miracle healers, no matter what they say, no one can lay hands on someone and miraculously heal them. It also is not a mandate to not seek medical attention.

“Some may wonder why James does not mention calling in the doctor! That is where it is needful to keep in mind the New Testament setting of the epistle. Doctors were few in those days; their skills very limited, and they were very expensive – as the woman with the issue of blood, who had spent all her substance in consulting them, in vain, so sadly experienced (Luke 8:43).”[7] The sick Christian today calls the doctor, but James is emphasizing the power of prayer for the sick. It is both, not either or.

The spirit, the mind, and the body are one unit – all need healing, all are affected by our sin, our repentance, and our relationship with other believers.

So, while there may be lots to discuss about the anointing with oil, the basic idea is to surround yourself with leaders from your church who pray with you, when you are gravely ill.

So, the question then is why elders verses any other Christian? Why the pastors, verses people from your Sunday School class? This text is not easy to interpret, so I am going to give you my interpretation. This book was written to the persecuted church, who had been scattered – people had to leave their ancestorial homes, reestablish homes, businesses, and create new lives – while also having to live with the reality that as soon as you do this, you may have to do it again. They were beaten, many were slaves, and they still are living under persecution.

This person who is gravely ill could be sick from all this stress, perhaps abuse from persecution, and they may even be asking, “why is this happening to me?” What have I done to deserve this illness?”[8]

What they need are people to say, “The Lord is with us, You made the right decision by following Christ,” to appropriately rub their wounds with care and concern, and to share Scripture with them, pray with them as they are working out this horrible time in their life.

Jesus in his healing ministry often touched those who were sick. “He touched the hand of Peter’s wife’s mother, and the fever left her (Matt. 8:15); when two blind men called upon Him to have mercy on them, He asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” and on their reply, “Yes, Lord” He touched their eyes saying, “according to your faith, be healed,” (Matt. 9:29). He touched the tongue of a deaf-mute (Mark 7:33); He touched the ear of Malchus (Luke 7:14); He touched the leper and made him clean (Luke 15:13); In none of these cases did Jesus need to touch them, He could have done this with a word.”[9]

The sin here may be related to how he has reacted to the stress of the persecution the church is experiencing. They may have lost their temper, grumbled against another church member, got in a fight, who knows what the sin may have been, but they need help in navigating back to God and seeking forgiveness. (which in many ways brings a different kind of healing).

But the result of the elders prayers is two-fold, “(1) the sick person is made well (sozo)’ and (2) the Lord will raise him up (egeiro).”[10]

God’s Response to Our Prayers (vv. 16-18)

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Whenever we see the word, “therefore” what follows is tied to what came before this word. We are to pray when are suffering, sing when we are cheerful, surround ourselves with fellow Christians when we are ill who are praying for us, therefore –

In order to confess our sins to one another there has to be a high level of trust and love.

Matthew 5:23-24 “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

The power of a righteous person is focused here on interaction with other people. A righteous person is asking forgiveness for sins (from others publicly that they have wronged), they are praying for the sick, for other believers, and a great amount of effort is going into praying.

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” This means that the righteous person is able to do, or is enabled to do (by the Holy Spirit) – their prayer has a powerful effect. “Such a prayer can have noticeable consequences on a person whose sickness is the result of sin, as long as (or especially if) the sin has been confessed.”[11]

In the original language of James it reads, “prayer to pray” “The Scottish Covenanters used to speak of “gaining access,” – There is a difference between just saying a prayer, and in our praying really to pray: to know that we are not only communing with God, but are constrained to express in prayer the yearnings of the heart of God Himself. That is the “effectual fervent prayer.”

James then gives the example of Elijah, 1 Kings 18:42-45 “And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”[12]

He had his weaknesses, as all humans do, but God heard the prayers of Elijah. James is emphasizing Elijah’s effort in prayer, that is why God sent the rain when he asked.

“with a nature like ours” The same man who is mentioned in 1 Kings 18, (a righteous man of prayer) is also the same man in 1 Kings 19 – who runs scared for his life from Jezebel.

He is emphasizing that what Elijah did was not “a magical performance of a superhuman being but the act of man in all regards exactly like ourselves, who simply used prayer as we can likewise use.”[13] Elijah dared to take God at his word.[14]

Elijah’s prayers “resulted in the refreshing rain coming down to the earth, so the prayer of the righteous believer can result in the refreshing and healing of a Christian afflicted by sickness caused by sin.”[15]

Our Response to the Wandering Sinner (v. 19)

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The very last verse of the book of James deals with a brother in Christ who has wandered from the “truth.” They have believed the lie of the world and have been enticed away. The Greek word for wanders has the “picture of one who is lost in the mountains, who has missed his path. . .”[16]

1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

This last verse speaks of going after someone who has gone astray because you love them (not in judgement, or spite, or to show them that you are right), but simply acknowledging that they are headed into a dangerous area, and you love them enough to pursue them.

The verse is not saying to accept the person’s sin and flaws, but when the person repents the love for them is going to give you ability to see past their previous mistakes. Proverbs 24:24-25 “Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, 25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.”

The church is not a country club, a fraternity or sorority, or Kiwanis – membership is open to all based on one condition, and it is one that everyone who calls themselves a Christian must hold to, repentance. All of us have sinned and fallen short, and we all must repent and turn to the forgiveness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:18 “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” Our collective ministry is to go after the wandering world and reconcile them back to God. In the instances of Jesus’ healing mentioned earlier, Jesus was going to them, or passed by them as “he was going.” Jesus took the initiative, we must take the initiative.

Also, there is no incentive to go after a wandering brother for you, the benefit is that the person may return. Love for someone else is the sole motivation, and this comes from our being aligned with the purpose and calling of Christ. James says, “will save his soul from death”

This life is filled with pain and suffering, and many times it is the result/consequence of our sin. When we reconcile a sinner back to the Lord, we are saving them from this eventual pain and suffering.

“James presents the joy of the winner of souls who throws the mantle of love over the sins of the repentant sinner, the joy of the Shepherd who has found the lost sheep out on the mountain and is returning with him in his arms, the joy of the Father who welcomes the prodigal boy home with the best robe and the fatted calf, the joy of the presence of the angels that one sinner has repented and turned unto God.”[17]

The end result of the wanderer being restored to the Lord, and that he is not remembered, not branded, as the person who sinned and wandered away, the sin is remembered no more.

______________________

[1] Clifton Allen, Gen. Ed., The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Publishing, 1973) 136.

[2] Pray is given as a present tense of durative action. Robertson, 186.

[3] Lehman Strauss, James, Your Brother (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1980) 208.

[4] “The expression “elder” designates persons entrusted with leadership and teaching in the church (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2; 16:4; 20:17; 21:28; 1 Tim. 5:17-19; Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1,2; 2 John 1).” Pheme Perkins, Interpretation A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, First and Second Peter, James, and Jude (Louisville, Kentucky; John Knox Press, 1982) 136.

[5] Allen, 137.

[6] Ibid, 138.

[7] Herbert F. Stevenson, James Speaks For Today (Westwood, New Jersey; Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966) 95.

[8] Peter H. Davids, New International Biblical Commentary, James (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishing, 1989) 122.

[9] Stevenson, 96.

[10] David P. Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) 307.

[11] Nystrom, 307.

[12] Elijah’s prayer was for God’s people to turn back to Him, and he did this by praying for a drought. God’s people would suffer during this time. It is given as an example and is linked to other Christians who are praying for other sick or wayward believers. Therefore, one may pray for hardship to come upon someone in order to get them to turn back to God.

[13] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 72.

[14] Strauss, 222.

[15] Nystron, 308.

[16] Allen, 196.

[17] Ibid, 199.

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James The Power of Patience James 5:7-12

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

The Power of Patience

James 5:7-12

Introduction

Two frogs fell into a tub of cream. One looked at the high sides of the tub which were too difficult to crawl over and said, “It is hopeless.” So he resigned himself to death, relaxed, and sank to the bottom. The other one determined to keep swimming as long as he could. “Something might happen,” he said. He kept kicking and churning, and finally he found himself on a solid platform of butter and jumped to safety.[1]

Prayer

The Necessity of Patience (vv. 7-11)

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Remember that the book of James is written to the church that has been scattered from Jerusalem to various parts of the Roman Empire because of persecution. The scattered church and this process of reestablishing their homes, businesses, and lives would have been very stressful and demanding. “In times of hardship tempers are apt to wear thin and ‘grumbling,’ not merely against oppressors but against one another, is only too likely to occur.”

And during these times of difficulty, we are to be patient. The words patient, wait, and steadfast in verses 7-12 is used seven times. To be patient is to endure without complaining (see v. 9). The word complains or grumble means literally to groan. To verbally make a sound in reaction to life’s situation. But the grumbling comments are made against fellow believers. To be steadfast is to resist the temptation to take your frustration with life out on another believer – to blame them for problems the church was encountering.

Hebrews 12:1 “. . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, . . .” Long distance runners know they have to run at a certain pace, and they have to build up endurance in order to go the long distance. (“testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:3)

The church only has to wait “until the return of the Lord,” and it seems that the Christians in James’ day thought Jesus’ return was overdue.[2] The church knows that when Jesus returns then the persecution and hardship will end.

The doctrine of Jesus’ return is a core biblical Christian belief, so what happens when it gets ignored or pushed back in importance? What happens when the church forgets about Jesus’s return? When we hold to the belief that Jesus could return at any moment, then we live each day as if it were the last day you will live on this planet. You are not promised another day to live for the Lord, or to get your stuff together – we have today, this moment.

If you knew for certain Jesus was coming tomorrow and that those apart from the Lord would be separated from you fand Him or all eternity you would make the drive, make the phone call, make the effort that you have not done up to this point – because you think you have all the time in the world.

“Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast” – The term “blessed” is reserved for those who have been found faithful to the end.[3]

The Example of the Farmer

To help us understand this idea of waiting James gives the example of the farmer and how he has to wait. In Palestine there were two rainy seasons. The early rain was when they would sow the grain (Oct.-Nov.) and then the late rain (April-May) that stimulated the growth for the maturing of the crop.[4]

The farmer needed these two rains in order to have a good crop. He had to wait for the rain to come. The farmer has to trust that the rain is coming – but it is the rain’s coming that determines the success of the crop. “If the farmer could not hope for the rains, all the plowing and planting and weeding would be futile.”[5]

The two rains are analogous to Christ’s first advent and then His second coming. When Christ first arrived as an infant and then leading to his eventual crucifixion that planted the seeds of the gospel and the plan of salvation for all of mankind – then after he was raised from the dead, he promised to return and gather the harvest – two rains, two appearances of Christ.

T. Robertson said, “Some of them no longer had a taste for the slow work of plowing, sowing, and reaping, forgetting what Jesus had said of the gradual growth of the kingdom of God from seed to harvest.”[6]

There is much to do at each stage of the process, the soil must be prepared and fertilized, the seed must be sow, the plants must be watered, there has to be proper levels of sunlight and temperature. Animals have to be kept off the plants, and the when the farmer has done all he knows to do he has to give the plants time to grow.

We live in a day when you can text someone in Brazil and get an immediate response, even pull them up on your phone and talk with them on video. If you want to know an answer you can google it, and know instantly the circumference of the earth, or the molecular weight of a gas.

When it comes to life we want it right now – the early church had to be reminded to be patient. How much more in our day, do we need to be reminded that Christ is faithful, we just need to be steadfast.

“The term parousia (presence, coming) was used in the first century to refer to the arrival of kings or highly esteemed persons, and it was used by Christians to refer specifically to the return of Jesus in glory.”[7] People were mocking the Christians as to why Jesus had not returned, and even. Other believers were grumbling about the Lord’s delay.

So Peter responds with 2 Peter 3:8-10 “8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” The Lord, like the farmer, is waiting to return until the harvest can be as many people as possible. If the farmer harvests to crop too soon, he is shortcutting his eventual total crop.

“the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth” The fruit that the farmer grows and waits for is described as precious (valuable) fruit.[8] This is a reminder that there is something worth enduring the persecution, the waiting, hardship, bickering within the church – it is all worth it because the fruit being produced are souls being saved.

Desmond Doss, Hacksaw Ridge Soldier, saved 75 souls without ever carrying a gun – illustration “Lord please help me get one more.”

We as believers and followers of Christ have the unique privilege of watching the crop grow. Those of us who have been at it a while, remember when the seeds were just planted in a person’s heart, then to watch the tiny sprig of green show above the soil, then even to see the plant in its maturity.

“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” In Mark 1:15 Jesus [and John the Baptist] say, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” When we establish our hearts, we are to renew our courage and confidence in the work of the Lord. Doing church work, seeking to faithfully follow the Lord, can be exhausting and sometimes very discouraging, and at other times we see why there is time given to someone – God’s grace in their lives. We need to grow as people, others need to grow as people.

For the early church there was persecution and they were forced to move around. They were tired, discouraged, feeling abandoned, and even betrayed by other believers. But, the Lord could return at any moment, all that has been foretold that needed to happened before He would come back has been accomplished.

Isaiah 35:3 “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

“Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” With Christ’s return coming at any moment, now is not the time to grumble, we are to be patient. James tells us that if we do grumble against our brothers in the Lord, then there will be judgement against that type of behavior.

Christ is the judge, and he is close “at the door.” Jesus even says in Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” That either a terrifying concept or a delightful picture – it depends on your relationship with the Lord. Are you ready to open the door when the judge on the universe knocks on the door?

The Example of Job

“You have heard of the steadfastness of Job[9]” – James gives Job as an example of patience during a time of hardship. In the opening chapter of the book of Job Satan slanders Job saying to God that the only reason that he follows Him/God is because he has blessed “the work of his hands.”

Satan said to God, “But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” Job questioned, but he continued to love and follow the Lord – even when his own wife said, “curse God and die,” and even when the world around him was crumbling.

“and you have seen the purpose of the Lord” – The end result of Job experiencing total loss and devastation was that Job was restored, God “blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” (Job 42:12) We are able to see (even though Job would never know) behind the spiritual curtain of what was going on in Job’s life.

Job’s “supreme triumph was this: that despite testings so severe that, beside them, all that we experience pales into insignificance, he did not fail in faith. He clung to the integrity of his trust in God; his deep inward certainty of the character of God; and that ultimately vindicated. God is living; God is Lord; God is just and righteous – and would show it: that is what mattered more than life itself to Job. That was patience.”[10]

We are “to remain faithful and not yield to the temptation to abandon God in the belief that he is less than a God of love and mercy, they will see for themselves the goodness of God as Job did and ultimately be able to praise him for his kindness and compassion.”[11]

The Need to Keep Your Word (v. 12)

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

“But above all, my brothers” James now begins to sum up the book, so he says, “finally,” or “to sum up,” my brothers.

Matthew 5:34-37 “But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

James says again and again throughout the book, that the words that you say are of great value – he has warned that our words should have weight, and not be empty clichés, like saying to a starving man, “go in peace, I will pray for you.”

In verse 12, he is warning against making oaths by something (God, heaven, your own head, etc.). For the Christian when we speak it should be truth, and there is no need to swear by something – simply when we say “yes” or “no” that is enough.

“An oath could be seemingly convincing yet no be binding upon the swearer. Consequently, bargaining became a battle of wits between subtle-minded people, in making oaths and detecting their loopholes. Inevitably, oaths tended to become increasingly extravagant and complex.”[12]

Part of this word play was to swear by God but the Jewish people were forbidden to say His name so they were creative in swearing by God by associating the swear by the things of God (i.e. the Temple, the gold in the Temple, the alter, Heaven, etc.)

To involve God and His name in the daily deal making in the market place was wrong. This was to “violate the spirit if not the letter of the first commandment; it was to associate the High and Holy One with the bickering of bargaining: with sordid squabbles and petty gossip.”[13] Jesus and James are saying stop trying to get out of things, or to get on over on someone – just speak clearly, “let your yes, be yes and your no be no.”

We looked at a some material that we go through in the New Attenders Class and part of our discussion we ask the question, what is the difference between a member and an attender? It is one word, commitment. If you are a member of Bellevue Baptist Church then your commitment is to the Lord and His church Bellevue Baptist Church.

Now is the time to “establish your heart” in the work the church and seeing people saved.

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[1] Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, Robert Morgan https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/two-frogs-in-cream

[2] Clifton J. Allen, Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1973) 134.

[3] David P. Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1997) 287.

[4] Allen, 134.

[5] George M. Stulac, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 1993) 171.

[6] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1959) 178.

[7] Allen, 134.

[8] Stulac, 170.

[9] This is the only reference to Job in the New Testament (Allen, 135.)

[10] Herbert F. Stevenson, James Speaks for Today (Westwood, New Jersey; Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966) 88.

[11] Allen, 135.

[12] Stevenson, 89.

[13] Ibid, 90.

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James Deo Volente James 4:11-17

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

Deo Volente

James 4:11-17

Introduction

Mathias Rust had clocked up only 50 hours of flying time before commencing his journey that took in the Shetland and Faroe Islands, Iceland, Bergen and Helsinki before flying to Moscow.

Rust’s flight was risky. Just five years earlier a South Korean commercial plane had been shot down after it strayed into Soviet airspace. Rust himself was tracked by three separate surface-to-air missile units and a total of four fighter planes were sent to monitor him, but none of them were given permission to attack.

Rust approached Moscow in the early evening, and after passing the “Ring of Steel” anti-aircraft defenses continued towards the city center. Abandoning his idea of landing in the Kremlin, he instead touched down on a bridge next to St Basil’s Cathedral and taxied into Red Square. Within two hours he had been arrested. He was sentenced to four years in a labor camp for violating international flight rules and illegally entering the Soviet Union, but was released after serving 14 months in jail.

In a 2007 interview, Rust claimed that he hoped his flight would build an ‘imaginary bridge’ between east and west. What it actually did was massively damage the reputation of the Soviet military for failing to stop him. This in turn led to the largest dismissal of Soviet military personnel since Stalin’s purges, and allowed Gorbachev to push ahead with his reforms.

In more recent news there was a Facebook encouraging people to raid area 51 in Nevada. Over a million people responded saying that they were joining the effort – “they can’t stop all of us.”

In the first part of James chapter 4 he is writing to show where fighting and quarreling comes from in the church; it is our own worldy passions and desires that blind us to the consequences of our hurtful actions that we cause in our own efforts to have what we want (power, prestige, position).

Then James gives 10 commands that we are to do in order to get right with the Lord again (humble ourselves, resist the devil, etc.) which leads to God lifting us up and placing us where He wants us to be, not where our sinful hearts wants to be. In other words, we were wanting to place ourselves in positions, but we should allow God to be the one that exalts us.

James then goes on to discuss two other places we should not place ourselves 1) in place of judgment over other people, and 2) that of providence of our lives.

Prayer

Placing Yourself As the Judge of Others (vv. 11-12)

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[1] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers”[2] – (lit. to speak down on) “means to talk against a person in his absence; it indicates speaking about the individual in a malicious way in order to influence the opinion of others against him.”[3] Whether its true or not is not the point – it is the unspoken person’s intent to be malicious.

The law was clear that, as a follower of God, one was not supposed to speak evil against anyone, especially “brothers” in the faith. Leviticus 19:16-18 “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. 17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” So when someone “speaks against a fellow-believer, therefore, he is in fact not only setting himself up as a judge of his brother, but also of the law.”[4]

The laws job is to show whether or not a person is in right standing with God (or not), therefore when a person does it, instead of letting the Word of God do it – then you are placing yourself over the Word of God, the law, and by putting yourself over the Word of God, you are saying that it is not adequate to do its job, so I am going to help it out.

This was the same trap set by Satan for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The trap is to get man to think he is in a better position to determine what is right and wrong for his life (or his brother’s life) – instead of his Creator; Genesis 3:6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

Invictus BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

If you are a Christian, you are not the master of your fate, God is. If you are a person of faith, then you are not the captain of your soul, Christ is. If you are the captain, then you are in grave danger. Who is the captain of your soul?

Among religious people there is the constant temptation to place oneself above another person. Luke 18:9-14 “He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“In the pursuit of goodness beware lest you assume the role of the self-righteous judge.”

Besides sinning by judging others, you are actually hurting yourself by putting yourself in a place you should not be. Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Your life will be better, your relationships will be better, when you let God be God, and you focus on being kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving.

The dogmatic, intolerant, and bigot all say they are standing for some higher good, but the truth is that they see themselves as being better and therefore judge of another person, or group of persons.

James says by doing this you are saying you are better or higher than God’s law because you are acting as their judge – but there is only one judge of all of humanity and you are not that person. “The cruelty of the self-righteous is most terrible because it is dressed in the garb of doing good.” [5]

Romans 14:10-11 “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” There is a place where judgement will take place, the “judgement seat of God” but you and I will not be sitting in that seat, we will be bowing before the throne thinking about our lives.

There is a difference between judging a brother and discerning their behavior as being unbiblical or undesirable for you and your family. Ex. Boy picking up your daughter for a date. Then the young man says, Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Planning Your Life Without the Lord (vv. 13-17)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

In verse 13 James is saying, that there are business owners who are laying out their business plan, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” We get the word emporium from this type of business plan.

“There is no harm in planning to make money, or in traveling for that purpose. The harm lies in the complete ignoring of God in all their plans.”[6] You are making plans for tomorrow, but you don’t know anything about tomorrow.

Not only are we limited in our knowledge of the future, our very being is temporal and finite “you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” God on the other hand is omnipotent and eternal. He knows everything, and He has always existed.

James has already told us that “if we draw near to God, then He will draw near to us.” And if we “humble yourselves before Him, then he will exalt you.” James’ command is that in all of our life’s plans (personal or business) we should be guided by God who knows everything and is eternal in His nature – our abilities are limited by our fragility, lack of knowledge, and the time we are on this planet. Our plans “offer only false hope and false confidence.”

By saying, ““If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” we are acknowledging that we are submitting the Lord’s will first, and His will for our lives. It does not mean that we should repeat this phrase every time we discuss planning and the future, but instead seek our the Lord’s will and see if it matches what we desire to do.

The phrase “If the Lord wills” was a play on the pagan Hellenistic phrase, “if the gods will”[7] – It is where James is playing with a very common worldly phrase to make the point that even the world believe that their gods influence their actions and decisions – don’t you think that we who believe in the one true God, should believe that as well and shouldn’t that belief influence our business and life planning?

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” “Here sin is defined negatively. Not only is it sinful to do and say things that are wrong (sins of commission), but it is equally sinful to refuse to do what is right.” It is when we do not do that which has been commanded (sin of omission).[8]

This also refers to the refusal to relate faith to all of life. There should be no separation between sacred and secular in the life of the Christian. Our seeking after and following Christ is vital in every factor and every decision of our lives. If we don’t do this it is a sin for us.

Matthew 4:1-4 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

The farmer plants the crop, gathers the grain, mills the grain, adds oil and leaven, makes the bread, and eats the bread – then the next day plants the crop, gathers the grain, mills the grain, adds oil and leaven, makes the bread, and eats the bread, etc. To live this way is to survive – this “go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”

Then doing this again and again with no direction from the Lord, having no purpose but to trade and make a profit is pointless. Jesus says that man must have bread, but it is “every word that comes from the mouth of God” that gives the work of making bread purpose and meaning. So it is not just a sin against God to leave Him out of the direction of our lives, it is a sin against ourselves because this way of living destroys us.

How do we face the future/life when the outcome is uncertain? James tells us to trust God, and not our humans plans. Jesus uses the building of a house as plans for the future. Matthew 7:24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like aa wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like aa foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

God must be in charge of the planning, His glory in our lives is the ultimate of these plans, not our glory, power, or prestige. And ultimately there are three ways of facing the future:

1) recognize that life is fleeting so seize the most while you can; carpe diem, “gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” “let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Get the most while you can because this all there is. (Hedonism)

2) recognizing that life is fleeting, avoidance of all that would potentially bring us pain, life is what brings us pain so avoid relationships, love, meaningful relationships, causes, and don’t give yourself to something that is meaningless and ultimately painful. Wall yourself up with brinks, so that no one gets in. (The Stoic)

3) recognizing that life is fleeting, “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” There is a God, and we are linked to the eternal. If we live this life, all the relationships with those around us have value, and significance.[9] (The Christian)

___________________________________

[1] This is in the present durative indicating that some of them had been doing precisely this thing (Robertson, 156).

[2] “The New Testament Greek word katalaleo is translated “back-biter,” and it means one who speaks against another.” (Strauss, 169).

[3] Clifton J. Allen, Gen. Ed., The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Publishing, 1972) 129.

[4] Herbert F. Stevenson, James Speaks For Today (Westwood, New Jersey; Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966) 81.

[5] Buttrick, 59.

[6] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1959) 160.

[7] George Arthur Buttrick, Gen. Ed., The Interpreter’s Bible Study, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 60.

[8] Lehman Strauss, James Your Brother (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1980) 181.

[9] Buttrick, 60.

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James Getting Rid of Chaos in the Church James 4:1-10

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days
A Study of James
Getting Rid of Chaos in the Church
James 4:1-10

Introduction

James chapter 4 continues to discuss conflict and strife within the church, and ultimately where it comes from. The conflict is originating when the people and its’ leaders love the world while also saying they love God – worldliness and a love for God cannot co-exist at the same time. Something has to give, if not, then there will be constant conflict and chaos in the church.

Prayer

I. The Cause of the Chaos (vv. 1-3)

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The Revised Standard Edition of the Bible translates verse one as “what causes wars [ESV says quarrels], and what causes fightings [ESV says fights] among you?” This helps us to see that wars are longs standing disagreements, or “chronic hostility.”[1] And fights or fightings are clashes or disputes that arise suddenly, or “[2]acute hostility.” So whether it’s the Hatfields and the McCoys or Wyatt Erpp and the brothers at the OK Carrol – church was a place to keep your head down.[3]

In this book so far, James has addressed several issues that are going on in various churches that have been scattered due to persecution (false teachers, hollow religion, empty words, empty actions, earthly or demonic wisdom, jealousy, and selfish ambition.) Because of these various sinful issues, the church seems to be embroiled in conflict and has come to a stop, a standstill. “Satan’s strategy is to get us fighting among ourselves instead of waring against him.”[4]

James says that we have passions, and that they wage war within us. “It is the passions, or more properly the decision to cultivate rather than control the passions, that have contributed to the problems within the church.”[5] Whenever we decide to feed the wolf instead of starve the wolf then there will inevitably be problems.

But even when we decide not to retrain our passions, they will never be satisfied because they are sinful and separate from God. James has identified several items that people say they desire (power, prestige, position) ultimately a higher status in life – but this is not what they really want. “When one’s body, mind, and spirit are not fully yielded to God, life become one vicious circle of seeking but never satisfying.”[6]

What all of us ultimately want is what we think these things will bring us (wholeness, joy, purpose, to be fully known, peace). Seeking things that we think will bring us wholeness, apart from God’s will and direction only leave us wanting more, because only God can satisfy that longing within us.

“You desire and do not have, so you murder”— The first murder took place when Cain wanted what Abel had – to be accepted by God, which led to a fight and eventual murder. Genesis 4:6-8 Cain’s offering the Lord was rejected, so “The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

He couldn’t have what he wanted, so he fueled that passion instead of controlling it, which led to him kill his brother. You can’t have what you want, so you fuel the passion, and you take the ultimate measure to get what you want. People are willing to take the ultimate step because they believe that it is this final ultimate step that will give them what they desire (but it never does).

“There is a sort of chain reaction within man’s soul, just as James describes here: lust, incapable of satisfaction, leads to sadistic impulses, which, heated by a vision of pleasures beyond reach, turn to violence, cruelty, and murder.”[7]

Often times, when a person in the church is seeking to satisfy this desire (power, prestige, position) people become means to an end – we all desperately need genuine friendships and authentic relationships with other people.

But if we follow the ways of the world, then people become disposable means to get what we want, and then discarded when we are done. “His deepest satisfaction come in interdependence of friendships and fellowship. Loneliness is hell. But these satisfactions cannot be enjoyed by one who is willing to collaborate with others only so long as they can use them for his own personal ends.”[8]

“You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive” So we have this craving to fulfill the passions in our hearts, and James gives two answers why God is not answering our prayers to have it fulfilled: 1) we simply don’t ask, we aren’t praying or talking with God about it.

This may be because in our hearts we know that it goes against God’s ways, His will for our lives. When you pray try telling God what you want, and the reason why you want – then ask the Holy Spirit to test what you are saying is true, to reveal to you your true motive.

Or 2) The second reason we may pray but not get the answer we want is because we would use the answer toward our selfish Luke 15:13-14 is the story of the prodigal son who demanded his share of his inheritance before his father was even dead, and left the family home where he then wasted his inheritance “Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.”

The same word for spend in James “spend it on your passions” is used in the prodigal son story as squander. James says that you have asked God for certain things, but those prayers have not been answered because you would then squander it on the passions that you are feeding. “Our fault is rather that we try to gain by evil means what God would give us if we asked him for it in prayer.”

You are asking for abiding satisfaction, found in the world, but you will never get an answer because an abiding satisfaction is only found in a relationship with God – squandering your life on this pursuit only leads to conflict and strife, especially within the church. “wars without come from wars within.”[9] Until we seek peace with God, the war will rage within our hearts.

When they do pray, they are praying “to further their own interests and not to deepen their relation with God or to accomplish his will in the world.” They said outwardly that they wanted to follow God, but their passions and desires on the inside were controlling them.

II. The Course of Chaos (vv. 4-6)

4 You adulterous people! 3 Do you not know that friendship with the world[10] is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?[11] 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

In the Old Testament there were several times over the course of God’s people’s history that they would depart from genuinely worshipping the one true God, and begin to worship false gods. God would then call His people an adulterous[12]

So we may not be bowing down to a stone statue, or giving an offering to a golden calf, but we have a “friendship with the world”[13] The term world here is not a reference to people, John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world.” But the “way of life or style of life of person that is apart from God.

“This present world-system, or present age, has Satan as it’s “god” (2 Cor. 4:4) and “prince” (John 14:30); hence it is declared “evil” (Gal. 1:4). “The whole earth lies in wickedness (1 John 15:19), hating Christ and all who follow Him (John 15:18,19).”[14]

It is when we want that kind of life, that we have departed from the desire to be loyal to God.”[15] When we attempt to live in both worlds, the keep both options alive in be unfaithful.

The world then is the whole human systems, institutions, and traditions that knowingly or not are set against God. “Many people choose friendship with the world without realizing that it means enmity with God.”[16] So James calls them, “You adulterous people!”

The adultery of the church is worldiness.

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

It is our deep longings for pleasure that is directly opposed to our Christian commitments – if we try to live in both worlds, it will tear us apart. “James’ strong plea should [encourage] each of us to look carefully at ourselves, seeking to uncover any hint of love for the world that is competing with our love for God.”[17]

But even when our hearts wage war within us, and we are led astray by our passions, God still “yearns jealously” for us by “the spirit that he has made to dwell in us” and therefore “he gives more grace” so that the Christian may overcome the desire for pleasure that is so destructive (in their own lives and in the church). The Holy Spirit resides within us, and “seeks to make us wholly Christ’s, to bring us to the place where we have no divided allegiance.”[18]

God is just in His jealousy just as a husband is just in his jealousy if his wife was showing some other man devotion that is his. But we should not presuppose upon the Lord’s grace – we approach him with humbleness. Because God “gives grace to the humble.”

III. Commands that Counter the Chaos (vv. 7-10)

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Verse seven opens a series of ten imperatives or commands. This is James’ way to humble yourself before the Lord and to bring your loyalty back to Him. Along with these ten commands are also three promises: 1) that the devil will flee from you, 2) God will draw near to you, 3) God will help you.[19]

Our return from worldliness to the grace of God and overcoming the passions that we have been feeding begins with “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” There has to be a giving up of our will and submission to God and His love and “divine law.”[20] There has to be a recognition that God’s ways are best, and the world with its’ allure is destructive.

Then we are to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” – our natural bent is to resist God, and submit to the devil. Satan flees from us because of the one who draws near to us. God is with us, and will never forsake us (despite our cravings for power, prestige, and to replace Him on the thrones of our heart) still in spite of all the sin, His grace abounds.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” – This is a promise that when we submit and seek to come into God’s presence through our relationship with Christ, that He will move toward us (ex. the Prodigal Son).

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” – James calls Christians to transform their outward behavior (“hands”) and their inner attitude (“hearts”). The hands are what other people see, our behavior. The heart is what only God can see. Growing up there was the phrase, “keep short accounts.” If you know of a sin that needs to be confessed, a relationship that needs to be made right, if the Holy Spirit convicts you are something, deal with it quickly.

Priests in the Old Testament would have to go through a purification process in order to administer the things of God – We who seek to serve the Lord, especially in the church, must keep our whole person clean, and be aware of the whole of life. Psalm 24:3-4 says “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,”

Then we turn to a radical repentance, “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom”[21] Our sin is a serious thing before the Lord, and therefore we should not laugh at or snicker at sin in our lives. When it is before us, it should bring cause us deep sorrow. It is not that we walk around weeping in sackcloth all the time – but we mourn, weep, repent before the Lord and then . . .

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” – When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He lifts us up. When we try to grab position, and wrestle for earthly power, and seek our worldly prestige, the height that we get to is a poor counterfeit for where God places us when He lifts us up.

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[1] Clifton J. Allen, The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1972) 127.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “The gunfight was the result of a long-simmering feud, with outlaw Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury on one side; and Town Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Policemen Morgan and Wyatt Earp, and temporary policeman Doc Holliday on the other side.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral

[4] John Phillips, Exploring the Epistle of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 2004) 129.

[5] David Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1997) 224.

[6] Lehman Strauss, James, Your Brother (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1980) 152.

[7] George Arthur Buttrick, Gen. Ed., The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 54.

[8] Buttrick, 55.

[10] “No thoroughly selfish person ever had a friend. He may ask for friendship, but he can never obtain it; for he asks wrongly to use it for his selfish pleasures.” Buttrick, 55.

[11] “Although described as scripture, there is no such text in the O.T., the Apoc., or in any Jewish writing that has survived; nor does rabbinical literature contain any parallel.” Buttrick 56.

[12] Jer. 3:20

[13] Matt. 6:24

[14] Strauss, 156.

[15] Allen, 128.

[16] Nystrom, 227.

[17] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Volume 4 (Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2001) 108.

[18] Strauss, 157.

[19] Allen, 128.

[20] Strauss, 161.

[21] Prov. 14:9

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James The Power of A Life Lived With Wisdom James 3:13-18

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

The Power of A Life Lived With Wisdom

James 3:13-18

Introduction

Solomon and his wisdom

Prayer

The Influence of a Wise Person (v. 13)

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

James transitions from the power of our words in James 3:1-12, and now speaks to the powerful example of life lived with wisdom. James asks the question, “Who is wise amongst you?” If you are seeking to hold an office within the church and are doing out of selfish ambition and pride, he is going to call you out. James’ answer to this question will expose them.

If you are truly seeking wisdom, then the question becomes an invitation – you have a desire in your heart – so you set out to attain that aspiration. What that desire is and how you obtain it reveals if you are a wise person. So before we go any further, we have to ask, “Do you really want to be wise?”[1]

So with the question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” Job asks a similar question “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:12) and Proverbs 4:7 says it again, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”[2] This is the only time these words are used together in the New Testament – so they point back to their use again and again in the Old Testament.

To be wise according to Clement of Alexandria is “the understanding of things human and divine, and their causes.” It implies thoughtfulness, penetration, grasp of the relations of things, and the right use of knowledge for the highest ends.

The second word (understanding) is used of a skilled person who has gained technical knowledge of a subject. “It implies personal acquaintance and experience, not merely abstract knowledge or intellectual apprehension of the theory of a thing.”[3] It is book learning and applied experience.

James is still going after teachers who are full of empty words and worthless religion. Not only do the words of the teacher (James 3:1-12) have a great impact, so does the life they live. “To be endued with the knowledge of God’s Word is commendable, but such knowledge must be practical in our daily lives; else we are not wise.”[4]

Elders and Teachers were primarily examples, and secondarily teachers. in 1 Timothy and Titus the requirements to hold office are outlined focusing on their character and the ability to teach is one in a list of qualifications.[5]

How do you determine if a person is wise and has understanding among you? You can hear it in their words and you can see it in their lives. “For James, the spiritual and ethical character of the leaders in the church was primary. The status of an official would not compensate for moral defects.”[6] To be a preacher is not enough, he must practice what he preaches.

Lincoln said, “a man may fool all the people part of the time, and some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time.” People have a right to hold the preacher, teacher, or leader to the standard of the gospel – here is no room for hypocrisy.

“By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” James also says that it’s not just about words and deeds, but gentleness and modesty you exhibit verses “arrogance and passion.”[7] So a person may be doing the work of God, but they are going about it in a sinful manner.

“The problem James is addressing, then, is not that there are teachers spreading false doctrine (as would be the concern in Paul’s letters). James is addressing the problem of arrogance, which can be present even when the correct doctrine is being taught.”[8]

The commentator George Sulac said, “I can be correct in my doctrine down to the most esoteric details; I can attain a consistency in my orthodoxy which surpasses others’; I can gain a reputation for my thorough grasp of theology and be regarded as a protector of the faith; and my teaching may still be earthly, unspiritual, of the devil, resulting in disorder and every evil practice by stirring up suspicion, slander, distrust and contention within the Christian community.”[9]

We are to go about the work of God “in the meekness of wisdom” – We typically don’t like the word meek because in our day it tends to hold the meaning of weak. But when James uses the word he wants us to think of humility. We are to live at peace with others, our deeds that we do resulting from a following of Christ are to be done in humility. The opposite of humility is “jealousy and selfish ambition.”

There are two ways of life, shown as two types of wisdom, and they are shown in contrast to each other. The meekness of wisdom, or wisdom from above compared to “demonic or earthly wisdom.”[10] “the man who is genuinely wise remembers his moral responsibilities toward others.”[11]

Wisdom From Below (vv. 14-16)

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

The first time the word “wise” is used in the Bile it is in connection with Satan tempting Eve. He directed her attention to the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate . . .” Satan has always, since the beginning, offered a false wisdom.[12]

If one follows the wisdom from below, then this wisdom is expressed in “jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts” jealousy is “a devotion to one’s position coupled with an insensitivity toward the views of others.”

Selfish ambition “refers to using any means to support one’s cause or program; it involves pride and personal ambition which will go to any length to be fulfilled.”[13] Aristotle uses the word (self-ambition) to mean, “the self-seeking pursuit of political power by unjust means.”[14]

“unspiritual” is drawn from Genesis 2:7 where God breathed the breath of life into Adam, and he becomes a living psyche. There is the appearance of life, but not the presence of the spirit of God in the person (or at least their argument). James is saying that a person may argue for what they say is right, but in the end they are being, “self-righteous, natural, base, and they have an unspiritual desire for personal status and prestige.”[15]

Whenever people are pushing for their opinion, combined with an uncaring attitude toward others, and wanting to succeed, no matter what then, “there will be disorder and every vile practice.” The results of wisdom from below is unrest and strife. The word for evil here in the original Greek carries the idea of something being blown around by the wind and being worthless. The end result are actions that have no worth.

This wisdom from below has not added to the church, instead it has caused the church to question its direction, and its purpose. When the church doesn’t know where its going, or why it exists, disorder and all types of vile practices” rise to the surface.

This type of wisdom is described as “earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” This is man’s condition apart from God, unregenerate. 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Again, we are looking at a person (specifically as leader) whose life is being expressed. Lived out in front of you – In their wisdom of life, there is jealousy, selfish ambition, uncaring, unspiritual, evil – this example should be abandoned and left behind. “It is wisdom such as that which demons have, not such as God gives (James 1:5)”[16]

Satan, when he was created is described in Ezekiel 28:12 “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” But pride came into his heart and his wisdom transitioned from being full of wisdom to a demonic wisdom, full of “bitter jealousy (of God) and selfish ambition” (he wanted to be in God’s place.)[17]

We also must be careful to discern between earthly knowledge and earthly wisdom. We all benefit from the knowledge of mankind[18] – medicine, science, exploration, technology, etc. but this is not wisdom. Wisdom is what we do with the knowledge. Mankind can unlock the secrets of the universe, but when he opens the door he doesn’t know what to do with it.

Paul gives two passages that help us see these two wisdoms Galatians 5:19-21 is the earthly wisdom list, and Galatians 2:22-23 is the list of the wisdom from above.

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.”[19]

Wisdom From Above (vv. 17-18)

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

The wisdom that is from above is described in Galatians 5:22-23 as the Fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control;”

James is careful in the order that he gives his list of wisdom from above. First it is pure, then it is peaceable – the leader who expresses wisdom from above does not sacrifice purity for the sake of peace. It is not a compromise on the godly standards so that we have peace – because peace without godly standard ultimately leads to destruction and chaos.

In fact, godly men may cause a disruption in the supposed peace because a sin needs to be addressed, or a compromise adjusted. These conversations are never fun, or peaceful.

Also, we live in a pragmatic day, here James urges us to do the right thing first (in purity) simply because it is the right thing to do. We don’t have to be able to see a benefit from a calling, only that it is what we are supposed to do.

How then do we have a “a harvest of righteousness”? This happens when the leaders and members of the church show wisdom from above and not that from below. James also says, “a harvest of righteousness is sown” Usually a harvest is gathered, but here James says the harvest is sown.

Whenever there is conflict in the church, ministries shut down. No real decisions are made, the church stops moving forward – it’s like a car that suddenly just turns off, and so you pull off the road. You are not going anywhere until the conflict is resolved. When those who teach, preach, or lead, use wisdom from above, there is peace, and in that peace comes “good fruits” and a “harvest of righteousness.”

Where there is peace righteousness can flourish.

In Matthew 5:9 the righteous are those that make peace, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The result of living out wisdom from above is peace. When we live in godly wisdom, not only will we benefit, but the community around us will benefit by having peace. Righteousness thrives in peace, and dies in conflict. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.”

“a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” Peace does not just happen in the passage James gives us; a farmer has to go gather the grain, prepare the soil, and make the effort to sow the seed (peace), In the Matthew 5 passage, those who are blessed are the makers of peace – making requires effort, it does not naturally happen, in fact it requires a supernatural effort to maintain the peace.

“The Christian life is a life of sowing and reaping. For that matter, every life is a life of sowing and reaping, and we reap what we sow. The Christian who obeys God’s wisdom sows righteousness, not sin; he sows peace, not war. The life we live enables the Lord to bring righteousness and peace into the lives of others.”

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[1] George M. Sulac, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 1993) 132.

[2] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1959) 125.

[3] Robertson, 126.

[4] Lehman Strauss, James Your Brother (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1980) 143.

[5] Peter H. Davids, New International Biblical Commentary, James (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson, Publishers, 1989) 88.

[6] Clifton J. Allen, The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1972) 124.

[7] Robertson, 128.

[8] Sulac, 134.

[9] Ibid, 135.

[10] Allen, 125.

[11] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 50.

[12] John Phillips, Exploring the Epistle of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 2004) 116.

[13] Allen, 125.

[14] David P. Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) 207.

[15] Nystrom, 208.

[16] Robertson, 132.

[17] Strauss, 144.

[18] Warren Wiershe, Be Mature, New Testament Commentary, James (Colorado Springs, Colorado; David C. Cook Publishing, 1978) 112.

[19] Hellenistic teachers of ethics and rhetoric made their pupils memorize lists of virtues or vices, to be used in moral guidance in learning good conduct and avoiding evil conduct. Buttrick, 50.