James 3

Transcript

James 3 Commentary

Welcome to World Events And The Bible. I’m Brandon T. Ward. We’re going to continue in the book of James today. We’re going to go to chapter three.

Let’s have a quick summary though. What we learned in James chapter two. To not respect persons. Don’t treat anybody differently because the way they appear, you know, their clothing that they put on was given the example and that sort of thing. The other one is love your neighbor as yourself.

I mean, if we all can do that, we’d be doing pretty good to fulfill everything that God has asked us in the Bible. To help your family, help your family out, help people in need out when you can, if you’re able. Don’t ever get taken advantage of, you know, but there’s a lot of people who just truly do need a little bit of extra help in life.

There’s nothing wrong with helping them out. It’s good to do that. That’s putting your faith in action. Right? We learned that over and over again. Faith without works is dead. Right? So apply a little bit of works to your faith. It’s going to go a long way. It’s going to go a long way. All right, well, let’s begin chapter three.

Let’s say a prayer first heavenly father. We ask you for wisdom and understanding of your word in Jesus name. Amen. All right, so let’s do it.

James chapter three, verse one. My brethren be not many masters. This is teachers. Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Look judgment begins at the house of God. First, Peter chapter four, verse 17.

So you want to think about that. Don’t be in a rush to go teach, because when you do, I mean, you’ve got to remember. You’re going to be judged first because you’re telling people that the Bible says this, that, or another thing. I mean, so I take it very seriously. You know, like when I’m talking to all of you about the Bible.

It’s a very serious thing, but at the same time, no matter who has told you what about the Bible, me or anybody else, you always got to go fact check it. Because a lot of times people will cherry pick verses to make it mean what they want, you know.

And there’s so many Bible verses that are cross referenceable in the Bible. So just because you find a single verse that kind of sounds and fits in with your belief system, you better cross reference it. And to make sure that you have it in context.

I’ve seen over the years. So many times people will do that. And when you first read a specific verse or something, oh yeah, it means this, that another thing we’ll, you’ll turn out.

You’ll find out what Jesus was talking about. He mentioned the same thing, a few other different times, and doesn’t mean exactly what you thought.

So, judgment begins at the house of God, but we’re all going to be accountable for what we believe. And think about it, you may not be a teacher or anything like that. Right.

But when you go and you talk to somebody about the Bible and you’re telling them about it, you’re kind of a teacher in that regard. It doesn’t mean be all scared or anything like that. It just means be aware of it and take it seriously. This is a serious, all right. This is the book of life right here we’re talking about.

Taming Our Tongue

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Verse two. For in many things we offend all. In offend means, stumble. In many things that we all stumble. If any man offend not in word. If he doesn’t offend by his, his blabber, his mouth. The same is a perfect man or a complete man, and also able to bridle the whole body.

So what James is really getting at. If you can keep from letting your mouth mess you up, then you’re basically going to be a perfect man. A complete man, because the mouth is what really does us in.

You know, remember when we learned swift to hear slow, to speak, slow to wrath, right? Because it’s the mouth that’s going to destroy us. It’s the words that we’re going to say out of anger or malice or something like this. All right. So if you’re able to contain your mouth, we’re being told it’s going to go a long way to our whole self to make us a better person.

Verse three. Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body with just a little bit. We’re given an example here. We’ll explain it in the next verse.

Verse four. Behold, also the ships. Big ol ships on the ocean. Which though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds.

You can’t see the winds. Yet are they turned about with a very small helm. This word helm, it means rutter, okay. Whithersoever the governor listeth. The governor’s the pilot.

So you have this huge ship on the ocean. The winds are blowing the ship. And it’s just going to keep on going and whichever way the wind is blowing, right.

Except for the fact that the pilot of the ship, the captain, he can control it by adjusting just that little rudder in the back of the ship. All right. I’m going to explain after this verse actually.

Verse five. Even so the tongue is a little member. So the tongue is a little member of our body. Just like that rudder. Just like the little bits that we put in the horses mouth, right?

And it boasted great things. This means it’s like arrogant, it’s egotistical. It doesn’t boast great things in a good way, in a bad way, always blabbing on about what you have. And this, that another thing. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth.

You know, I had to look this up a little bit. Matter is like forest. And so it’s saying, how a great forest fire can be set by a small fire, you know, and that’s kind of what our mouth does at times. If we’re not careful. Our mouth is the smallest member of our body. We got head, some arms, legs, but you got this little old tongue there, and it can do way more damage than all of that.

Cause a lot of times you say something and it’ll hurt somebody’s feelings, you could hurt someone deeply. Right. And you can apologize for it and be sorry. And you truly could be sorry, but it still hurts that person. And even though they forgive you, they’re still going to remember it, you know?

So you always want to think before you speak, so swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, right? All right.

Verse six. And the tongue is a fire. Boy is it. A world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body. That little tongue can make our whole body, our whole self look bad. And setteth on fire the course of nature. And it has set on fire of hell. And so it is, and these members is like our limbs.

Again, it’s like our limbs, you got this little tongue that could do so much damage more than any other part of our body. And it could just set the whole world on fire, you know, by just what comes out of our mouth. In one moment, we could just slip up and say something too, and it can, it can ruin your credibility. It can ruin you as a person.

Maybe somebody comes to you for advice, and then you blab on when you shouldn’t have blabbed on. And maybe their like, eh, maybe I’m not going to talk to that guy next time. You know, don’t overshare. If you’re talking about the Bible to somebody, just answer their question, kind of move on.

You don’t have to unload on them. Again, it doesn’t matter what, you know. It doesn’t matter how much, you know. What your goal is to do is if you’re helping somebody with the Bible in that case is you’re trying to pull them up. You’re trying to pull them up. You’re not trying to unload on them because it’s just going to go right over the top of their head and then you may share too much and put them off, you know?

So just think about these things and apply all this to your life. You know, maybe you’re a boss at work and you pop off at the mouth a little bit too much at your employees when you shouldn’t, maybe you should be a little bit more calm and cool and collective, you know. Just apply it to your life. All right.

Verse seven. For every kind of beast and of birds and of serpents and of things in the sea is tamed. Oh man has teamed everything. And hath been tamed of mankind. Mankind can tame any kind of critter that is out there. It doesn’t matter what it is, but…

Verse eight. The tongue can no man tame, no one can tame that bad boy.

It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. It’s full of deadly poison. If we allow it to be, if we just let our natural self, you know, our flesh kind of get out of hand at time and we don’t really think with the spirit. Because the spirit is supposed to be looking on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. Right.

But that tongue boy, it’s definitely from the earth and it will just spout all kinds of hurtful things, upsetting things. And you know, you can’t get it back once you say it. You can be sorry for it, but you still can’t get it back. So you always want to remember that.

Dealing with a relationship with your loved one, you know, your spouse or something. I mean, think about those things. The heat of the moment. It could feel good to just rage. Ah, you know, but it doesn’t really go. It doesn’t really do you much good in the long run.

And again, like we talked about, one of the other chapters is when you start doing that, that wall goes up between you and the party that you’re talking to. And then they’re not going to listen to you. You’re not going to listen to them. Everybody’s just blabbing on and hootin and hollerin, and nobody’s getting any problems solved. And in the meantime, everybody’s making sure everything much worse. All right. The situation much worse.

Verse nine. Therewith bless we God, even the father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Remember the first fruits of his creatures. That’s what we are. We’re made after the similitude of God. And we’re over here, with one mouth and one moment on Sunday.

For example in church, oh, Hey brother. I love you. I love me some Lord. This, that, another thing. And then Monday rolls around and you’re over there ah this so-and-so, they can take it in, you know, and you finish that one for me. Okay.

But yeah, I think you kind of get the point. You don’t want to bless God and curse man. It just doesn’t work. It’s counter and it’s counterintuitive to God’s word. All right.

Verse 10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessings and cursings. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. It shouldn’t be, it should not be. You can’t curse man and bless God. It just doesn’t work. We’re going to get more of an education on this.

Listen to this 11th verse. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place, sweetwater and bitter. Have you ever seen a spring that gives a, you know, cool, fresh water and then also spits back out like sulfur water or salt, saltwater? No. It’s one or the other, right. So that’s what we’re supposed to be. You know, Jesus talked a lot about this type of thing, you know you’ll know someone by their works by what they do.

And then he says every bad tree is going to be cast in the lake of fire and all the good ones, you know, they’re going to be there with Christ and everything. Well, we’re symbolic of trees. All right. That’s what he’s talking about. So you can’t say bad things and love God. I mean, that’s a really bad example of a Christian.

You know, if you really love God, that means you’re a doer of the word, right. It means you’re going to do what he’s asking you to do. And you’re going to be a reflection of him. You’re going to be one of the first fruits. Firstfruits of his creation, act like it, right. All right.

Verse 12. Can the fig tree, my brethren bear, olives berries, either a vine figs. So can no fountain, both yield salt and fresh water.

Boy this is like a Frankenstein tree or something? If that was a fact, but no, a vine doesn’t produce figs. It produces grapes or something like that, you know? Figs come from a fig tree. So he just keeps laying out the example here that you can’t bless men with that mouth or bless God rather with that mouth and curse men.

You know, if you’re going to bless God, then Hey, say good things about other men. Don’t be cursing them out, hootin and hollerin at them. Just because you get a little bit upset about something.

Most things, you ever realize it. Most things that we all get upset about in life really don’t matter that much.

I mean, sometimes, I’ll, when I can think rationally, right. Cause, none of us are perfect, but sometimes you get upset about something. And then when you think about it later, you are like, it doesn’t even really matter. I mean, does that even, will that even matter in my life in five years, time. Three years time. Two years time. You put the time on it for your own situation, but there’s so many times that we get upset about things and it really just does not matter in the long run.

So don’t get upset about it. Don’t get upset about it. And you know it’s a human emotion to be upset, but I just, it’s all about reflecting when you’re in front of people and you’re trying to put on. Not put on, but when you’re putting, trying to reflect God’s light and everything, you always want to remember that you’re trying to do his work.

You’re trying to show people what Christian people are like. You know, and Christian people are supposed to be good people, not people who are swearing and talking bad about this person or that person. Okay. All right. I think we got all that.

The Wisdom From Above

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Verse 13. Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you, let him show out, have a good conversation his works with the meekness of wisdom.

And this conversation this is his behavior, you know. So if a guy has wisdom or gal has a wisdom, they’re going to show it through their behavior, which is their works, right? It’s not about just faith, it’s about your works and how you conduct yourself, how you carry yourself in life and the things that you do.

Verse 14. But if you have bitter, envy and strife in your heart. Boy. Glory, not. Don’t boast about that. And lie not against the truth. This even means to the point of attempting to deceive, you know, attempting to deceive to make yourself look good. Maybe even deceiving yourself by the way that you, the person that you are, trying to justify your own works in your heart. As if they are some kind of good work or something.

Verse 15. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual and devilish.

You see there’s two kinds of wisdom. There’s one from above. And there’s one from here on earth. Earthly wisdom will tell you all kinds of crazy stuff. It’ll tell you everything that is goes against God is a good thing, but the world doesn’t usually say, Hey, this is against God do it.

No, they put lipstick on it and deck it out, make it look real good and tempting and tantalizing to you. And everybody else is doing it. Why aren’t you doing it because you’re a Christian, you’re going to stand by what God said, not go listen to what the latest thing is that you’re supposed to jump into because Joe blow told you to go do it. That’s foolishness.

That wisdom comes from the earth.

Verse 16. For where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work. Envy is a bad thing. You don’t want to go around envying people. Oh, I wish I had what they had. Oh, man. Did you see what they got? Yeah, they probably got a ton of bills to pay for it, but even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter, you don’t be envious of what other people have.

You can appreciate it. You can like it and you should be happy for people when they have nice things or when they’ve accomplished great tasks in their life. Don’t be envious of people because of that.

If it’s something that you want to do, you know, some mission in life, maybe they got a career advancement, graduated college. Whatever it is, something like that. Then you push yourself, pray, pray about it first. Talk to God, see if that’s where he wants you to go. Make sure it’s something that you want to do. And if it is then push forward and go do it. The only one that’s stopping you from doing it, is you. That’s it.

Verse 17. But the wisdom that is from above. Now this comes from heaven. This comes from our father. Remember those gifts, those perfect gifts we learned about earlier. It’s from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easily to be entreated. Full of mercy and good fruits.

Boy, the list goes on and on. Without partiality. No respecter of persons. And without hypocrisy. God’s wisdom comes from above and it’s perfect. It’s perfect.

So when you get just a little dose of God’s wisdom, it’s going to go a long way. Long way to making you a better person helping you out in your life. There’ll be no conflicting, no conflicting beliefs with God’s wisdom.

Where the world, go do this, go do that. And sometimes you’re thinking I’m a boy. I don’t know if I should go do that or not. It’s probably because you shouldn’t.

Verse 18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. And there it is, there it is. Typically, if you’re a righteous person, then things are going to be peaceful for you. You will live a peaceful lifestyle, you know, but it’s all up to you.

Most of the world around us and how we interpret things is all done through our own eyes and it processed in our own mind. And what I mean is. We can make of the world, whatever we would like it to be. If you turn on the news, the news is going to tell you all these horrible, crazy things, and they never tell you any good stuff.

I mean, next to never, but there’s a lot of good things that still goes on out there. So don’t box yourself in, you know, don’t box yourself in and take that wisdom that comes from above. Don’t focus on that wisdom of the earth because it’ll just drag you down every time. All right.

One other thing I wanted to touch on here, it says, and peace of them that make peace. In Romans chapter 12, verse 18, God says, make peace with everybody. If it’s possible. It’s not always possible all the time. That doesn’t give you an excuse to war with people or anything of that nature. It’s just an extra tip there from God. It’s more wisdom from above, but sometimes you can’t get along with people. So then you try to avoid those people. You know, don’t bring things into your life that cause you anger that are going to get you stirred up.

Cause that’s what we’re learning here right now to do that when we become like that, it doesn’t do us any good. All right.

So, Hey, that’s going to wrap up that chapter.

Thank you so much for joining us.