James 4:11-17
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Today we are going to continue with our verse by verse Bible study series through the book of James.
And in our Bible verses today, James is going to talk about 5 DIFFERENT Topics.
And because of that, I have titled our sermon this morning…..
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NEW TESTAMENT NUGGETS OF WISDOM!
Sometimes even the little things that children say are full of wisdom!
I want you to listen to some wisdom from children, and these phrases are all REAL WORDS spoken by little kids!
One little girl said this…
Permanent markers are not good to use as lipstick.
Never trust a dog to watch your dinner.
Never tell your Mom her diet's not working.
Don't pick on your little brother while he’s holding a baseball bat.
One of the main ways that we can receive God’s wisdom is through the writings of the wisest man in the world, a man named King Solomon.
And King Solomon wrote down many of his wise sayings in a book found in the Old Testament called the book of Proverbs!
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Proverbs 1:1 - “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel”
And each one of the proverbs in the Bible include God’s wisdom provided for you as His precious child!
And we see the purpose of the proverbs, and the benefits of applying them in the following verses of Proverbs Chapter 1!
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Proverbs 1:2-5 To know wisdom and instruction,To perceive the words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; 4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
But today we are going to look at what I am calling
“NEW TESTAMENT NUGGETS OF WISDOM!”
And if you are taking notes this morning, in our Bible verses we are going to take a look at…
5 New Testament Nuggets Of WISDOM
Would you please open up your Bibles with us to the book of James Chapter James 4:11-12 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of 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 one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
So the author, a Pastor of the early church named James, begins this section by once again talking about our tongues and the words that we speak.
And notice the warning that James gives us about our words here at the start of verse 11… Do not speak evil of one another,.
Speaking Evil of other people can take a number of vicious forms.
Angry words, harsh responses, gossip, insults, cruel jokes, all of those hurtful words could fall under the sinful umbrella of speaking evil.
James continues here in verse 11 by saying… He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law
And in this truth, James brings us the first of our 5 New Testament Nuggets Of Wisdom.
And that is…
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#1-Do not “SINFULLY” judge one another.
(REPEAT)
#1 Is IT ALWAYS WRONG to judge other believers?
The answer to that question might surprise you, but the answer is NO!
There are times when WE SHOULD JUDGE and even point out the sins of our fellow believers as long as we can do it IN LOVE!
Listen to what Jesus said about how believers SHOULD JUDGE over in… (SLIDE)-
John 7:24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
STORY:
Tell about when
But we do need to be careful that if we do judge the sins of other believers, we are doing it because we love them and we are trying to help them… that is judging with what Jesus calls… righteous judgment.
Now let me give you two reasons why we SHOULD NOT speak evil against people and judge them sinfully.
#1- As we read here in verse 11, when we do that we are doing what James calls… speaks evil of the law , and that means we are in sin.
So what is THIS LAW that James mentions here that we are breaking if we speak evil of people and judge them un-righteously?
This is talking about BREAKING THE LAW OF LOVE!
Listen to how the ENTIRE LAW is summarized for us in the New Testament book of…
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Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
A 2nd reason that we shouldn’t judge people sinfully is that only God knows all of the details about their situations and their hurts and struggles.
Look at what the Bible says about that in verse 12:
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James 4:12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
God is the judge, and God alone knows all things.
And we can also rest assured that God will eventually right every wrong that has ever been done!
And that also means that God will JUDGE and He will RIGHT EVERY WRONG that has ever been done against you!
Listen to what the author of the Book of Hebrews says about that over in…
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Hebrews 10:30 - For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
But don’t forget that OUR MAIN JOB isn’t to judge our husband or wife or our children, but to love and encourage them.
Our main job is not to criticize and judge our brothers and sisters in the church, but to love and encourage them.
And when we do that, when our first response is love and forgiveness instead of slander and judgment, it helps make life and our relationships run much smoother.
Let’s continue on by reading verses 13 to 15 together.
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James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
So here in verse 13 the Bible is bringing up business… our work and the money that we make.
And listen to the wisdom that we are given here in verse 13…Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
James here is talking about what we do for our income, our jobs… and our approach to our jobs.
Now the reason that the Bible brings this up is that GOD CARES about our work and our businesses, and God wants to be involved in our work and in our financial decisions.
And in this Biblical truth, we find another one of our New Testament Nuggets Of Wisdom. (SLIDE)
And that is…
(REPEAT)
#2- God should be involved in your business! (work)
The Bible teaches us that the main reason that we should let God be involved in our work, is that ultimately as Christians we work for Him!
Listen to what the Bible says about that in
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Colossians 3:23-24 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
Here is the problem, there are many people even Christians, that have all of their work plans and future plans already decided, and many times they don’t seem to include God in their planning.
Now there is nothing wrong with making plans, as long as we are letting God direct us in our planning, and asking God for His will in it.
So James, still talking about our future plans, gives us an important reminder here in verse 14, that life is short. Do you see that warning in your Bible?
Check out how James put’s this in VERSE 14… …
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James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away
Have any of you noticed that life fly’s by and that we are all getting older?
I want to share with you…
5 signs to help you know that you are getting older! READY?
#1.- You know you are getting older when… you sit down in a rocking chair and you can’t make it rock.
#2.- You know you are getting older when… you sink your teeth into your food, and they stay there.
#3.- This one is for men only…
You know you are getting older when… You have more hair coming out of your ears than you have on top of your head.
#4.- You know you are getting older when… People call you at 7:30pm and they ask you, "Did I wake you up?"
#5.- You know you are getting older when… You have a party at your house and the neighbors don't even realize it.
The Bible is very clear, our lives here on the earth are flying by, and our days will be over before we even know it.
And that is why we need to make every year, every day, and even every hour count.
And how do we make our time COUNT here on the earth?
By doing God’s will!
We make our TIME COUNT by living our lives according to GOD’S PLANS and on God’s TIMELINE!
And look at what James says about that here in verse 15 ”
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James 4:15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
So this verse bring us to the HUGE TOPIC of…
GOD’S WILL and How we can know what God’s will is for our lives!
Don’t you want to know what God’s will is for your life?
Let me tell you some good news, God WANTS YOU TO KNOW His will for your life.
In the big areas of life and in the little ones, in the spiritual side of your life and in the work side, God has a plan and a purpose for you and He wants you to know it!
But just as God has a will and a plan for our life, our own sinful and selfish nature also has a plan and a will for our lives.
So our key is to know God’s will for us, and then let GOD GUIDE OUR PLANS! Amen?
And in this, James brings us another one of our New Testament Nugget Of Wisdom. (SLIDE)
#3- Let God guide your plans.
If we want to know how to follow God’s ways, and ENSURE that God is guiding our plans, Jesus gave us a simple formula on how we can do that.
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Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
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#1-If we will first make God’s Kingdom our priority and not ours.
#2- If we will first seek God’s righteousness, that means that we make the effort to obey God’s word, and keep unforgiven sin from cutting off our connection with God.`
#3-The result will be that… all these things will be added unto you, and that includes God’s will for your life.
Now this process needs to start with us simply taking the time every day to seek God’s will for us through prayer and the scriptures!
Some Christians spend all of their time and their prayers asking God to bless THEIR PLANS, and their pray for God to prosper THEIR WORK, without first asking God… What is your plan for me God?
God loves you and He has a good and perfect plan for your life, but each one of us need to keep SEEKING FIRST God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and the result will be… that God’s will will be revealed to us.
We will finish up this morning by reading verses 16 and 17 together.
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James 4:16-17 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Here in verse 16 we have ONE MORE warning about our words.
James put’s it this way… But Now, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
And in this, James brings us another one of our New Testament Nuggets of Wisdom. (SLIDE)
#4 - All boasting and bragging is evil! (sin)
(REPEAT)
The truth is that as Christians we don’t have anything to brag about, and let me remind you why!
According to the Bible, everything that we have and own… has been given to us by the loving and generous hand of our God.
Our jobs and our money and our families and our homes and our church, all of it has been given to us by God!
Listen to what the Bible says about this in… (SLIDE)-
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
So how can we keep from bragging and boasting?
We need to try to stay HUMBLE and THANKFUL!
Finally, here in verse 17 James brings up a new kind of sin that some of us probably didn’t even know existed.
In verse 17 James tells us that …
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James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
As Christian we call these types of sins… SINS OF OMMISSION!
And in this, we find our final New Testament Nugget of Wisdom. (SLIDE)
And that is…
(REPEAT)
#5- Be careful about committing sins of OMISSION!
Now in sins of COMMISSION we sin because we DO SOMETHING SINFUL, but in these sins of OMMISSION, we sin because WE DON”T DO SOMETHING that God wants us to do.
Let’s say that God puts it on your heart to help someone, to give them some food, or make them a meal… and you know that it is God that wants you to do it because the Holy Spirit won’t leave you alone about it.
But you say NO! I’m not going to do it because I would rather stay home today and watch my favorite TV Series on the TV!
Since you refused to do the Good work that God put in your heart, you are committing the sin of OMISSION!
God has good works for each one of us to do, and He places them in our hearts so that as we obey Him and do the good works, God’s name can be honored, and we can give Him the credit and the glory!
Those are our five Biblical truth’s that I call… NEW TESTAMENT Nuggets Of Wisdom!
Each of our New Testament Nugget was different, but each one contained God’s TRUTH and WISDOM designed to help you and instruct you!
So I want to encourage you this morning to remember these Nuggets and put them into practice in your own relationships and decisions this week.
And if you want to read more of these Nuggets of Wisdom go to the book of wisdom Proverbs, read through the book of Proverbs, it is filled with 31 chapters of Godly wisdom, one for each day of the month!
And I love what wise King Solomon wrote about the importance of putting God’s wisdom to work in our lives.
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Proverbs 8:32-33, 35
32“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
35 For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;
And F2S Family, that is today’s good news about NEW TESTAMENT Nuggets Of Wisdom!