Introduction
In the opening verse of chapter 4 James asks
the question, "From whence come wars and fighting’s
among you"? Then he proceeds to answer the question
V1
come they not hence, even of your lusts
that war in your members? James 4:2 ye lust, and have
not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:
ye fight and war; yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
James highlights the
root cause of strife and unrest in the world at large,
in communities, and in the Church of Jesus Christ. The
root cause being, the heart of man, and the deceitfulness
of its lust for power, position, possessions and for
the Pre-eminence over fellowmen.
The Believer must always
remember that the Old nature is ever at continuous war
with the new nature, for the flesh is ever at war against
the spirit.
James now goes on to
take a closer look at the kind of people whom he has
just condemned and makes it very clear that they are
backsliders and backbiters.
Verse
4 The Carnality that is exposed.
The backslider is a Spiritual
adulterer. When Israel of old turned to Idolatry she
was called the adulterous wife of Jehovah.
Jerm.
3:14 The Lord exhorts His people "Turn O backsliding
children for I am married to you.
In the Old Testament
Jehovah is known, as the husband of His people and Israel
is His wife. In the New Testament the relationship between
the Lord and His Redeemed Church is also defined in
marital language.
2
Cor 11:2 for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Believers, who are part
of the Church, the Bride of Christ, are to be faithful,
keeping themselves pure as they wait for the Lord’s
return and the consummation of the marriage.
Eph
5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph
5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word,
Eph
5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
But alas, James is exposing
the Carnality and the unfaithfulness of those who profess
to be Christians. He charges them with spiritual adultery,
and Idolatry with the world.
Friends, believers who
turn from following Jesus to seek satisfaction and pleasure
at the cisterns of the world, are like unfaithful women
who leave their husbands to have sensual pleasure with
other men.
(Amp)
v 4 " you are like unfaithful wives having illicit
love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage
vows to God.
Verse
5 The Challenge that is extended
The Holy Spirit, whom
God, through the power of regeneration, has placed within
the believer, yearns jealously over what belongs to
God.
The Spirit of God guards
the believer’s relationship with God. He wants
to bring them to the place where there is no divided
allegiance, the place of total surrender to God’s
will and His word, and committed devotion to Christ.
God said to his ancient people!
Exod
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
God is jealous when it
comes to His own people.
A)
His Jealousy is Intense.
Zech
8:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for
Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her
with great fury.
Alan
Redpath---The jealousy of God is the greatest flame
that burns in the heart of deity.
How humbling it is to
realize that God our Father has such a passionate concern
for His own. God’s pure and perfect love yearns
over us.
And the sovereign God
longs to be loved by His own redeemed people. When we
fail to love Him and love the things of the world, the
Spirit is grieved.
B).
His Jealousy is Infinite
God’s jealousy is
one of His attributes; therefore, it is infinite and
eternal. He is jealous over those whom He has loved
with an everlasting love.
Dear Christian, God was
jealous for you even before you drew your first breath.
He was jealous when you took those first steps of conscious
sin. He was jealous every time that you rejected His
offer of mercy and chose to stay with the world’s
crowd.
He is jealous over you
since you accepted His grace, and is ever concerned
about your spiritual well being. He is jealous for you
in every sin that you commit or temptation that you
yield to.
C).
His Jealously is Intimate.
V
5 The Spirit who dwells in us.
God’s jealously
is not activated by remote control but from within us,
from the depths of our inner being, for that is where
the Holy Spirit dwells. And if we are sensitive!
We
will hear His gentle voice
Soft
as the voice of even
That
checks each fault, and calms each fear
And
speaks to us of heaven
And
every virtue we possess
And
every conquest won
And
every thought of Holiness
Are
His alone?
Look at the challenge
that is extended
James
4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain,
The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
The Truth of the Word
of God and the Teaching of the word must never be labeled
as meaningless. The warnings and the exhortation of
scripture are not mere empty words.
Old Testament Israel
had to learn the hard way that God is not mocked or
His word ignored.
The scattering and the
suffering of the Jewish people stand as a solemn warning
to every generation, that the scriptures do not speak
in vain and they are not to be taken lightly.
When a believer relegates
Jesus to second place, counts God’s word as being
irrelevant, and sets their affections on the world by
following their own lust, that person is heading for
serious trouble.
"For
he that sow to the flesh will reap corruption"
Verse
4 The Carnality that is exposed.
Verse
5 The Challenge that is extended
Verse
6 The Comfort that is experienced
James
4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Bless God He has the
cure for all our ills and for all our failures "he
giveth more grace"
Grace, Grace, God’s
Grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.
God gives saving grace,
sustaining grace, and continuous Grace according to
our need. In grace He welcomes back His backslidden
children, but notice, who receives His grace –the
humble.
Those, who humbly in
repentance seek Him for forgiveness, He will restore.
James 4:10 humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up. Oh the Comfort that
His Grace and love He bestows on the repentant backslider.
His
love has no limits His grace has no measure
His
power has no boundary known unto man
For
out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He
giveth and giveth and giveth again.
How easy it is for any
believer to become a backslider.
Illustration. A man had a fine canary whose song
was unusually beautiful. During the summer, he thought
that it was a shame to keep the bird inside the house
all the time.
So he placed the cage
in a nearby tree, so that the bird could enjoy the sunshine
and the fresh air.
Many sparrows frequented
the tree and were attracted to the cage. At first the
canary was frightened, but soon enjoyed his companions.
But gradually he lost the sweetness of the song. By
the end of the summer his "singing" was little
more than the twitter of the sparrows. Spending his
summer in the wrong environment caused the canary to
lose his finest song.
Backsliding is the easiest
thing to do--you do nothing. Samson got in with the
wrong crowd and was asleep when he lost his strength.
The devil will be satisfied
with you if you are satisfied with him. Backsliding
usually begins when knee-bending stops.
Backsliders soon become
Backbiters and are usually guilty of criticism, condemnation,
and complaining.
The
Puritan Preacher Thomas Brooks wrote— We know metals
by their tinkling and men by their talking.
James would have agreed
with this statement, for, no less than six times in
this epistle he deals with the danger of the tongue.
Ch1:
19 he urges believers to be swift to hear and
slow to speak.
(1:26).
He urges that the tongue be bridled. For the tongue is an extension of the heart, so that
it reveals the inward motivations; therefore the believer
is to "speak and act as those who are to be judged
by the law of liberty"
2:12.
He explains that the tongue is small but capable of
accomplishing mighty things if properly harnessed (3:1-5).
He also reminds us of the capacity of the tongue to
cause great harm, as a raging fire, therefore it must
be controlled
James
4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He
that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth
his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the
law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer
of the law, but a judge.
1.
The Exhortation that is given
Speak
not evil one of another, brethren
James is speaking to
the "brethren" that is the family of God.
He makes it very clear that it is a grievous wrong,
when a Christian speaks evil against another Christian
To speak against another
is not just an issue of slander it is a sin. To slander
someone is to misrepresent their character, or to tell
open lies about someone. It has the intent of malice
due to some bitterness or resentful spirit.
This kind of speech has
no place "among" Christians. To intentionally
lie and misrepresent someone else for the purpose of
damaging their reputation or position demonstrates a
spiteful heart, filled with bitterness and evil. But
the term that James uses goes beyond just speaking slanderously
about someone.
It literally means, "to
speak against people with the intention of pulling them
down".
The person speaking puts
himself in the position of being above others, better
than others, so that he can tear other people down.
He assumes the position
of near perfection, so that he thinks that he has achieved
so much and gained such status that he has a right to
pour scorn on others without feeling the least tinge
of sorrow.
This person thinks that
he has an accurate estimate of another’s motives,
aims, and thoughts, so he can level his criticisms.
Speaking evil of others can take on many forms; the
worst evil is speaking an out-and-out untruth. God warned
Israel of old.
Exod
20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
Lev
19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer
among thy people:
Friends, lying slander
and tale bearing originated with the devil and those
who engage in such folly are just tools in his hand.
Satan is the father of lies and the accuser of God’s
people.
Satan just loves to get
God’s people into the business of accusing and
slandering, of tale bearing and resorting to lies.
Col
3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put
off the old man with his deeds;
The carnal heart propagates
lies. It finds faults with others. It judges others.
It engages in tale bearing and often guilty of distorting
the truth.
The daily prayer of the
believer should be that of the psalmist.
Psa
119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me
thy law graciously.
Let us not be guilty
of doing the work of Satan, who is the adversary and
the accuser of God’s people. The Apostle Peter
was one, who had been weighed down with faults and failures.
But when Jesus forgave him and restored him he wrote
1
Pet 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of
sins.
Paul was concerned about
the Church at Corinth and he wrote to them
2
Cor 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not
find you such as I would, and that I shall be
found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be
debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults:
Today, many churches
have lost their testimony in the community, because
these things were rife in the fellowship. They are the
downward spirals of decline. A decline in the Church
that commenced with backbiting, whisperings, and strife
Prov 25:23 the
north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry
countenance a backbiting tongue.
Backbiting drives away
the rain of blessing, and giving heed to a backbiter
will only help him continue to do the work of the devil.
Let us always remember that the quality of our speech
is an indicator to the quality of our spirituality or
the lack of it.
James
3:5 even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth
great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire
kindleth!
James
3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:
so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature;
and it is set on fire of hell.
The tongue has the power
to direct, to defile, and to destroy. The tongue has
also the Power to delight. It can speak of blessing
it can speak of cursing.
Illustration. On a hill, in an English churchyard,
stands a drab, grey slate tombstone. The quaint stone
bears an epitaph. Beneath this stone, and a lump of
clay, Lies Arabella Young. Who on the twenty-fourth
of May, "Began to hold her tongue"
1.
The Exhortation that is given
Speak
not evil one of another, brethren
2.
The Condemnation that is declared v
11,12a
When
there is backbiting.
1.
A Partnership is spoiled
(Brethren speaks of a
family relationship)
The person, who is the
object of the other’s tongue is one who has also
been redeemed by the blood of Christ, united to Christ
by the Holy Spirit, sealed together in the body by the
Spirit, able to enter into the presence of the same
Father, and destined to spend eternity together in heaven.
2.
A Principle is smashed v11
James makes it clear
that if one speaks evil of their brother in Christ,
or take upon him to judge his brother; he is actually
speaking against the Law and is judging the law. The
law that James is referring to is the Royal law of liberty.
James
2:8 if ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
When we fail to take
heed to God’s law, we are judging God’s law
to be of no importance. When we set ourselves up as
judge, we are demeaning the word of the Lord.
Friends, who among us
would dare to pour scorn on or put down what God has
revealed and commanded? Yet to speak against a brother
is of such seriousness that it is a gross neglect of
the law, and even an attack upon it. Jesus summed up
the Father’s requirements
Mark
12: 29 the first of all the commandments is, Hear,
O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31
And the second is like, namely this; Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these
When
there is backbiting.
1.
A Partnership is spoiled 2. A Principle is smashed
3.
A Prerogative is seized
There is this charge
of judging the law. What he means by this is, that the
person who speaks against a brother is claiming to know
more than God.
V 12 There is one law giver" God’s
law has not been given for our opinion, but for us to
obey
John
5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed
all judgment unto the Son:
All judgement for the
believer will take place at the judgement seat of Christ
where we must all appear
1
Cor 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby
justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
1
Cor 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels
of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise
of God.
Our responsibility is
not to declare laws or commands, but to obediently follow
Jesus Christ.
Let me point this out
in practical fashion. You and I have plenty of obedience
to take care of without infringing upon God’s responsibility
to judge.
If we are spending time
speaking against one another, then we are surely neglecting
our obedience. So just concentrate on obeying Christ
and stay away from the judge’s bench over the law
of God.
There is one lawgiver
and He can save or destroy.
1.
The Exhortation that is given
2.
The Condemnation that is declared v
11,12a
3.
The Question that is to be answered. V12
Who art thou that
judgeth another?
Having spoken of the sovereign God’s
authority as judge, James says, "Who are you to
judge another"?
Matt
7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own
eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull
out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is
in thine own eye?
Jesus is saying, that
there is none without fault, therefore judge yourselves
and you will find that will keep you busy. Someone has
rightly said, "That the critic who starts with
himself will have no time to take outside contracts"
God is on his throne.
He has established the moral criteria for all humanity
and he will judge the world in righteousness. So, why
then should we think that we could improve upon what
He is doing or help Him out by speaking against a brother?
William
Norris, the American
journalist, who specializes in simple rhymes, that portray
powerful truths, once wrote:
"If your lips would
keep from slips, Five things observe with care: To whom
you speak, of whom you speak; and how, and when, and
where!"
Rom 14:13 Let us
not therefore judge one another any more: but judge
this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an
occasion to fall in his brother's way.
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