In the book of Jude we learned about the wells without water
who come to steal the faith and spirituality of our walk with God. In their case, the water of the Word is a dry
lifeless thing that does little to bring hope to anyone. I have discovered that many modern college
professors fall into this category, not all, but many. Most college Bible classes include a breakdown of how a specific letter
came to be written. They will tell you
there are three or four Isaiah’s because the style of writing has changed. I have been writing for almost fifty years
and promise you that if you take my works from twenty or thirty years ago and
compare them with my writing today you would think two different people were
involved.
Jesus quoted from Isaiah several times and always said
Isaiah wrote it. He quoted from Genesis
and the other Torah books and gave Moses the credit. I am fifty six years old and my writing style
has changed many times. Moses lived to
be 120 years old, Jeremiah around seventy and Isaiah may well have prophesied
over a period of sixty years or more.
Looking at my life and in scripture (John 8:7), I have discovered
through age that the longer I live the more grace I need. This acknowledgement forces changes upon me
of how I respond to others which forces changes on the way I write and
teach. It does not work the other way
even though most Christians try to live better as we get older. Grace is something whose need increases with
age.
Thirty to forty years ago I would have written a message
about hell and damnation for those who serve Satan and even those who just
struggle with sin. These days I am far
more likely to pray for grace in the lives of those who have hurt me or missed
God. Why? Because the older I get the more I realize I
need grace and have to be willing to share it with others. If Christ is willing to forgive me and be
gracious to me and I am responsible for His death, how much more should I offer
someone else grace when they have merely stolen from me or hurt my feelings?
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James does not specifically say he is the brother of Jesus
but most scholars believe he is the James mentioned by Jesus’ brother
Jude. Now that I have offered a trivia comment,
let’s move on. Remember that the word
translated ‘servant’ is ‘dulos’ which corresponds to the ‘ear bored slave’
found in Exodus 21:2-6 and Deuteronomy 15:12-17. He is stating here that he is a bond slave to
his brother and Lord, Jesus the Christ.
Never forget that Jesus went almost exclusively to the
Jews. Paul went to the Jews as a born
again Pharisee until they actually blasphemed God in their rage and chose to
assault him. He shook the dust off of
his raiment and began to minister exclusively to the gentiles. We are a product of the chosen people turning
their backs on God. They will not always
do so as was explained in Stephen’s soliloquy prior to his stoning (Acts
7:8-15). According to Stephen who spoke
under the leading of the Holy Spirit, Israel always failed God the first time
and succeeded the second time. Had they
let him continue, I fully believe he would have said that when Jesus returns
the second time Israel will embrace Him fully and remain faithful.
James too wrote to the Jews.
We’re fond of saying that Jesus was a carpenter, but in truth, Jesus was
a Rabbi who did carpentry. He had a great
love and fondness for the children of Israel and that love was no less realized
in his brothers and sisters. The very
geographic area of Galilee was a hotbed of trouble for the Romans. They used to say that anyone who came from
Galilee was either a Rabbi with a Torah or a Zealot with a sword. Is it any wonder that Paul call the Torah the
Sword of the Spirit? Jesus even told
Peter to bring a sword though the one time he used it Jesus repaired the
damage. I believe the sword He meant was
more that of spirit than steel.
If you ask why I am pondering this it’s to offer the
understanding that James had a heart for the Jews. They were his people and throughout his youth
and upbringing his big brother Jesus would teach how God cared specifically for
his chosen people. He had not been as
abused as had Paul and had not chosen to abandon God’s people for the Gentiles
yet. Now I know some of you are shouting
me down and saying how Paul probably wrote Hebrews and never abandoned Israel
and you’re right. He never again actively
sought out the cities of the Jews but he did continue to try to reach his
people…God’s people…until his death. At
one point he even suggested he was willing to go to hell if his people could be
saved. All the disciples, with the
possible exception of the gentile physician Luke, had deep seated desire to see
Israel saved. In a few cases they were
successful but ultimately since God had temporarily moved on, so did they.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
The word brethren is ‘adelphos’ which is the basis of
Philadelphia. Philadelphia is phileo
(friendship love) and adelphos (from the womb, a brother or sister). In James’ case he was talking about his
brethren in Abraham though we know it applies to us as well because scripture
says we are spiritual Abraham (Galatians 3:14).
As a white man who God has seen fit to place in
predominately black ministries I often have a unique perspective on racism and
the equality of man. I find it odd that
white men who developed a technological edge early in history consider that
very technology to make them superior to other races who for the most part were
far more advanced in mathematics, cosmology and many other mental disciplines
due to the relative ease of living compared to the northern latitudes where
life itself was a great struggle. The
barbarians who laid waste to so much history and culture did not come from the
south, but the North. War against nature
and the southern peoples was the great educator for the Anglo Saxons.
It is quite obvious that white superiority was only a
technical distinction, never a cultural one.
Even today, the concept of culture in the Black, Asian and Middle
Eastern communities is far more established than in the white community. You might ask why I’ve even brought this
out. My reason is that in Christ we are
brethren. We are the beloved from the
womb and the womb is Christ. There is
neither bond nor free, Jew nor Greek, Black nor White nor Asian nor any other
‘people’ based on the flesh. Each of us
has our differences which means that each of us brings our unique perspectives
into the kingdom to enrich all our brethren.
I am not a fool who does not see the hatred in the world
brought by racial foolishness, greed, quests for power and excessive national
pride. According to scripture the people
of earth are headed for a final battle that will lead to an ultimate end and
new beginning. What matters most is that
through eyes of faith I can accept any man or woman who names the name of Jesus
as my brother or sister, no less beloved than my natural sister who came from
the same womb as I did. I don’t tighten
up at the idea of ‘those people’ coming
into the church. They are my beloved
brethren, bought with a great price and the redeemed of the Lord.
To say that someone is less than human or should not be
allowed to marry or raise a family when we are genetically compatible, can bear
children together and carry the eternal spirit of God is ludicrous in the
extreme. In the beginning we ALL came
from the same natural womb and were one flesh and one language. God made the divisions for a purpose and that
purpose has been fulfilled. We were to
populate this entire Earth and we have now done so. They have fulfilled their need in that
respect. Now is the time to unify under
one banner, the Cross of Christ. If you
believe anything else you lack faith.
Notice it says to count it all joy when we fall into various
temptations. Another way of saying it
is, “Brothers and Sisters of the faith, consider it an occasion of joy when you
are surrounded completely with godless temptations. These temptations are not come to make you
stumble in your faith but to exercise your faith by the power of God Himself so
that patience may be developed and become mature in your life.” Why do I need patience?
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5-- If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58 gives a good description of what
patience looks like. I am in a position
of building patience right now. It would
be easy and the most natural thing in the world to worry or fret over things. The thing is, I believe God and trust His
direction and leading in my life. Paul
said, “Be ye steadfast, unmoveable (anchored, fixed in Him), always abounding
in the work of the Lord.” I love the
final part. “Any labor you do in the
service of God is not in vain. Every
ministry of His living Word will go out and accomplish the task assigned
it. It cannot and will not return to God
without bearing fruit.” One of you might
plant; another might water, but God alone will bring an increase. NOBODY was ever cursed by God for producing SMALL
fruit. The only one cursed buried his
talents and never used them for the honor of God. He was cursed for not producing any fruit and
would not even apply his gifts to the ministry of another man.
Patience is not the same as refusing to apply your gifts to
God. Scripture says to do whatever your
hands find to do, heartily and with great zeal to God. You can fill an ocean with a teacup if you
keep at it. The time of patience is a
time of growth. It is a time where God
is teaching you lessons and revealing His will for your life. Once He has finished this work you will
discover all your lessons have been worked together into a powerful and
complete whole.
It’s possible that you might wonder if the end will ever
come or if you will ever succeed. God
does not penalize us for seeking this understanding. He says we may ask for wisdom and He will
give us this wisdom. God is not a stern
faced angry king who looks for opportunities to punish us. He is a loving Father who rejoices in our
faith and watches us press toward the mark of the calling He has placed on our
lives. When the Word says, “Many are
called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14),” it shows how few of us actually
take God up on His magnanimous offer.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let
not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.
You might ask, “How do I do that? How do I pray without wavering?” The first thing you need to remember is that
faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not
seen. If you have something you use
it. I own several spiritual gifts and
use them all the time. I have a
relationship with God and use it all the time.
If I need something that I do not possess or has not been manifested in
my life then I need to proceed as if I do possess it. That is the crux of walking in faith.
Many walk in fear and withhold tithes or failing to minister
when they have the gifts to do so. I
myself can fall into this trap. When you
approach God for an answer to prayer He says to do it without wavering or
ducking in and out of certainty. Having
done all to stand, stand therefore (Ephesians 6:13-14). There are too many in the church who have
spiritual Bi-polar disorder. Today
they’re strong and tomorrow weak. They
are tossed about with every wind of doctrine, unable to stand on the word of
God unless someone is currently agreeing with them about it. God says He cannot work with these people. He needs those who continue forward, often
with knees knocking, presenting the Gospel to the lost and dying.
9-- Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is
exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the
grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning
heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace
of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his
ways.
Have you ever felt less important because your bank balance
is less than someone else’s? Ever seen
some actor or wealthy business man and thought, “What I would be able to do for
God with that money or fame.” In reality
you do not need wealth or fame to do God’s will for your life. If it is a requirement, God will place it on
your shoulders after making sure it does not cause you to stumble from the
path.
In California the giant redwood forests often become choked
with weeds and weak trees. Quite often a
lightning strike will start a fire that burns up thousands of acres of brush
and often kills many animals. Looking at
it from our limited perspective it seems like a tragedy full of blackened
forest and soot everywhere. In truth
only the weak trees are harmed. The huge
redwoods shrug off the heat by allowing a small amount of their bark to burn
off while the thin branches of brambles and weeds and the wood boring insects
are cleared out leaving nothing but ash fertilizer and the composting bodies of
small animals behind.
In a few years the trees will be much stronger and
healthier, receive more sunlight and have reaped the reward of a great
gift. The scars will remain though,
stark reminders of letting the weeds of life run unchecked and unhindered. You can’t grow strong and tall with drug
addicts and alcoholics cluttered all around you. Your life force will be drained if you allow
others to suck you dry, always taking and never adding to your life. Every so often God allows major trials to
swarm over your life and when it ends, so long as you have kept your faith and
focus, all the leeches and weeds of life will have fled from you.
Wealth and power are fleeting but a man who fears God will
stand forever.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when
he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised
to them that love him.
This first sentence could also be written, “Blessed is the
man to faithfully endures his time of proving.”
These seasons often come and we might try to run in fear but God Himself
is standing over us holding our crown.
He is far from the angry man on a throne that some preach. God stands at the finish line holding our
prize while Jesus fires the starting pistol and the Holy Spirit runs along
beside giving us strength and endurance.
We have no excuse to fail because God has placed all in our hands.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But
every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death.
There is a great deal of confusion about words used in the
Bible. In one case above God says we are
to endure temptations faithfully, but immediately after that He says that He
does not tempt us. Let’s take this verse at face value. God does not tempt us with sin. Our temptations come from our own lusts. God may have allowed the evil of Satan to enter
the earth but He did not create Satan’s disobedience. Many of us might accuse God of placing Satan
here to make us stumble but there are at least two problems with that
idea.
The first is that God plainly states he does not make people
stumble and that we stumble due to our own lusts and desires and
weaknesses. We know that God cannot lie
so this statement must be true. God does
not tempt us with beautiful women, handsome men, illegal drugs or excessive
money. We tempt ourselves by allowing
our own flesh the freedom to get carried away with these lusts. Does it strike you odd that we refuse to pay
our tithes and cite our inability to pay our bills but when Christians have
inherited vast sums of money or won the lottery (I won’t get into that), they
balk at paying tithes on the inheritance or winnings? We lust and we fear and these things prevent
us from reaping the rewards from a gracious God.
The second point here is that we will judge the angels (1
Corinthians 6:3). I really hope you can
grasp this concept. God has made us part
of a MUCH larger community than just mankind.
Our part in this community is to judge beings who are more powerful and
longer lived than we are. Our
relationship in Christ is something the angels look upon with wonder. All the whining we have done about God
leaving Satan here to make us stumble forgets the very real responsibility that
we have to grow up to. We are judges of
angels. Satan will stand before a human
court. Even the faithful angels will
stand before us and explain their actions.
We can’t seem to get along with one another and fuss about foolish
things like skin color, sex (male or female) or who’s the boss in a marriage
but we WILL have to come up to the spiritual relationship ordered by God.
Look in the mirror beloved.
Who do you see? Is it Jack the
giant killer or Judas Iscariot? This
verse is simply about walking circumspectly before God and possessing your
vessel in faith and assurance that God will judge your failures and honor your
victories. We know He has sent His
angels to help us and His Holy Spirit to abide with us and comfort us. How can we possibly lose unless we fail to
press in. In God we are stronger than
superman, smarter than any computer, miraculous, gracious and loving. Apart from Him we cheat on spouses, solicit
sex from the same sex, call evil good and good evil and quit at every sign of
demonic attack.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
This entire chapter is filled with promise and
assurances. Corinthians tells us that
God has divided His wonderful gifts up and spread them through His kingdom body
(us). These gifts are lifetime
gifts. Even if you fail your ministry
the gifts remain. Talents come and
talents go but the gifts and love of God remain forever. He is our Heavenly Father and does not turn
away from that position. His heart might
break to send us to Hell but that is the level of His honor and power toward
His Holy Word. He never gives up and
never fails. God makes promises, never
excuses. A story in the news today said
that the openly homosexual representative from Rhode Island had made peace with
God years ago and today defeated the Catholic church. It seems his success winning the election in
that state means he defeated the church of God.
How foolish. Every genius level
debater in the world can gather together to explain why God is wrong and He
will STILL keep His Word. God continues
to insist that any foolishness on His part is greater than the wisdom of men (1
Corinthians 1:21-25). We MUST learn to
live with that knowledge and flourish in it.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
By the express ‘will of God’ the Father we are begotten as
the firstfruits of His creatures. Do we
know the will of God? The only place
that phrase is used is in the New Testament.
Because of His Spirit we can know the will of God internally. Mark 3:35 says the will of God makes us
brethren. Romans 8:27 says the Holy
Spirit makes us pray God’s will. Romans
12:2 says we ought to have our minds renewed by the Word of God so we might
know His will. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, 2
Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1 Colossians 1:1 and 2 Timothy 1:1 and we see that
Apostles are called by the will of God.
2 Corinthians 8:5 says we serve both God and those He has placed over us
by the will of God. Galatians 3:3-4 says
Jesus surrendered Himself by the will of God.
Ephesians 6:6 says we are to do the will of God ‘from the heart.’ Epaphras continued to pray for the Ephesians
that they might remain in the will of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 says it is His will that we be sanctified and do not
fornicate and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says that it is God’s will we remain
thankful in all things. Hebrews 10:36
says that after we are perfected in patience we will have observed to do the
will of God and will obtain the promises.
1 Peter 2:14-15 says that if we obey the will of God by obeying God
ordained leadership we will put to silence foolish men.
There are more but I think you get the idea. We are God’s express people, created to serve
and honor Him. He will get His honor
whether we obey or not but it is better to obey than sacrifice our future.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift
to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.
It is said that we have two ears, one mouth and a million
opinions. Our mouth speaks out of the
abundance of our heart (Matthew 12:34). Your
mouth is a willing slave to a heart that is either surrendered to God or living
in sin. Since life and death is in the power
of the tongue, God expects us to speak words of life, hope and peace, not words
of doubt, hopelessness and rage. We
wrestle against principalities and powers so if we choose to wrestle against
flesh and blood, we have left the will of God and have catered to the will of
man. God’s righteousness is life and
peace. His will is life and peace. His efforts are toward life and peace. When will we stop pressing into sin and flesh
and focus solely on the Spirit, life and hope.
Scripture says we ought to be swift to hear. Does that mean that I’m not to put earplugs
in so I can hear all the sounds around me?
Not at all. I am supposed to hear
the words which are spoken to me, really hear them. Those words will allow me to understand the
person speaking because they will be speaking out of their hearts. They may be cursing me or even blaspheming
God but if I do not hear the words coming out of their mouths then I cannot
know how God needs me to respond.
The very first thing I need to remember is that I am not
God’s protector, He is mine. He has
saved me and empowered me by His power and word. I am supposed to be dead to petty rages and
angers so that I can hear clearly even into the motivations and know what
drives the person to speak the way they do.
Once I know the truth of their motivations I can pray accordingly for
their deliverance. It is only then when
all is revealed that I can truly say I have heard that person, not merely
hearing their words but the heart behind the words. I can’t do that if my emotions, prejudices
and mistaken beliefs are in the way.
Once I have really heard that person I need to pause long
enough to allow God to speak to MY heart before I speak. What good is it to understand what motivates
that person to say and do the things they do if I am simply going to respond
from MY emotions, prejudices and beliefs.
If I have spent sufficient time in God’s word and in prayer and have
learned to discern His still small voice then I can respond as He wills rather
than how my flesh wills. This process
takes time because we rarely walk in the Spirit always. We must not allow our emotions to make us
stumble during this process.
If we have gone through these steps, hearing accurately and
completely, listening for God’s proper response and speaking that godly
response, then it is even less likely we will let anger or wrath overcome
us. Scripture says that he whom the Son
sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). In
this case we are free to respond as God wills, not colored by our own
prejudices and pains. Never forget how
Moses was prevented from entering the promised land because he allowed his
frustration toward the children of Israel to make him sin in his words and
actions.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to
save your souls.
Hebrews 12:1 says to lay aside every weight and the sin that
so easily comes against us. James 1:21
says to lay aside all immorality and excess of willful sin and possessing your
souls in humility and meekness, receive the word of God which has become an
INTEGRAL part of your souls. The Word of
God is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. That word in the form of God’s commandments
and the person of Jesus is able to save your soul. This is why the foolishness of preaching is
able to save men’s souls because preaching must be filled with God’s Word.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a
doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was.
Faith is an action.
The Word doesn’t tell you to pay tithes to give you a warm fuzzy
feeling; it tells you to pay tithes so you will pay tithes. The same things go for sex outside of
marriage or marriage with the wrong sex.
God’s Word is alive and powerful.
If you only hear the word and then do your own thing you deceive
yourself into thinking you’re okay with God.
You’re not okay with God because grace does not make willful sin
okay.
If you look at your life through God’s Word and see all your
flaws, God expects you to work on them and cease from sin. If you do not, you are like the man who sees
his sin and rather than ceasing in sin they wave the blood of Jesus at it and pretend
it’s gone. You don’t even realize that
God has expectations for you. You do
like Israel did during the time of the Judges and every man will do what is
right in their own eyes. That’s not good
enough. God expects us to do right ALL
the time according to ALL the Word.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and
continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Think about it. God’s
law is the mature and complete law of LIBERTY.
This liberation frees us from sin and the false freedom of anarchy which
does what it wants no matter who is hurt or trampled upon. It is a false freedom because God will send
us to hell if He must and He will keep His Word and bless all our actions if we
obey.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is
vain.
The world is full of religious people. The middle east has often been thrown into
great turmoil because of them. Even the
crusades were a time of violence and rage against people and not a spiritual
battle. Religious people rarely bridle
their tongue. Their words are often
harsh and unbending but their grace and mercy are non-existent. God often tells us to fight the GOOD fight of
faith. We are to love our enemies, to
listen to their words and through our Lord discover a way to reach them where
they are. Had it occurred to him,
Solomon would have said that fighting against mankind is vanity. The weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal so
why fight one another?
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father
is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world.
The word pure is the root of our English word
CATHARSIS. When you have become filled
with pain and sorrow there is a catharsis, a releasing of the poisons that
pollute our souls. Our religion is not
one of holding in anger and pain while letting people walk all over us. It is about forgiving in the strength and
love of ALMIGHTY God who strengthens us.
Scripture says that He will keep us in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on Him. When we continue to gripe
and fuss and nag because of the pain in our souls it pollutes our health and
corrupts our thoughts.
For this reason God expects us to show mercy to one another
and release (forgive fully) the pain we have been carrying. Yes they hurt you. Yes they have cost you finances as well as
joy. None of this matters if God fills
your souls with His peace and sets you free.
Comfort the widows and those who have lost loved ones. Comfort and help raise the orphans whose
parents are gone. Your grief over your
petty losses is nothing compared to theirs.
Their loss has torn their hearts asunder. Will you help put it back together through
the wisdom and love of God beloved?
Bishop J
