The
book of James
How
to live the Christian Life
Sermon
8
You
can’t sit on the fence
James 4: 11-17
James 4:11 (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone
who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law
and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in
judgment on it.
So lets break this down in two 2 points! 1) Don’t slander
a brother, 2) and Gods law and where we fit in.
1.
(Vs
11a) Brothers and sisters, do not
slander one another
·
We have beat this horse up, but it needs
reminded again
·
Be careful what you say about, or to one another
·
Be careful how you talk to the world about your
brother and sisters
But there is more
to it, it's a commitment to God, it's shows where your heart is, and Commitment
to Gods people is part of what God expects from you!
·
Are you
committed to your Church!
Acts 2:42 (NIV)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
o Are
you willing to put the petty BS a side and be committed to your church
o Are
you willing to submit to teaching and learning all God has for you
o Are
you willing to break bread with your family and spend time with them and learn
where God is working in there life
It takes commitment to a local body of believers to grow
you and there will be some in that body that will test your tongue. But you
must remember God use all his children for His glory. (All my kids are
different and special in my eyes)
·
Are you
committed to other Christian’s?
Galatians 5:13 (NIV)
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use
your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve
one another humbly in love.
Romans 12:10 (ESV) Love
one another with brotherly
affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
·
For us to be “Jesus with skin on” the world has
to see something different
·
For us to find Joy in this life, we must honor
God, and each other so we can find Joy. The world is Dark, we need to be a
place where the LIGHT is shined!
·
We have to safe place to go where we can let our
guard down, and just hang with some folks who will loves us right were we are,
but love us enough to want to HELP, not bitch at, not talk behind there back,
not look for the speck in their eye. But genuinely care about them and want
them to be more like Jesus!
John 13:34: that’s
what this whole church was founded on; to love others like Christ loved us.
That’s a big task; them are some big shoes to fill, everyday you need to think
about how much Jesus loves you, he died for you! Is that not the ultimate
sacrifice? So we should at least be able to find something nice to say to our
brothers and sister in the fight to save souls!
·
The Law
Leviticus 19:16 (NIV)
Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that
endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.
o Here
is what James is saying, if you slander or speak against a folks your not only
breaking the law, your judging the one who made it
o So
it's not bad enough we are breaking God law, we are judging Him
o We
need to understand that when we break civil law, it's a don’t get caught know
one knows!
o When
we break Gods law, he sees everything, he knows everything so when we judge
other and say I am above the law God see it
o It's
almost like giving God the finger and you know!!
When we willfully disobey God by judging and speaking
against one of His children it's like a slap in the face. Parents think about
that in your gut felling when one of your kids really disappoints you. That’s
how you make God feel when you talk bad a bout your brothers and sisters.
James 4:12 (ESV)
There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to
save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
·
God is the only Judge for His people, we cant
condemn, or pass judgment that’s for God and God alone
Jesus said: Matthew 10:28 (NLT) “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they
cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in
hell.
·
Only God can condemn us to hell
·
Only God can give us salvation
·
So who are we to pass judgment or speak bad
about anyone? Paul says it this way:
Romans 14:4 (NLT)
4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s
servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand
and receive his approval.
Unlike us God is trying to make us better, he loves us
unconditionally, wants what’s best for us as he molds and shapes us. Sometimes
that means to expose our sin or brings sin in our life to light so we can deal
with it. So when God does that instead of tearing Down we lift up. I remember
when my Mom would put a woppin on me, my brother would always look out for me
and make sure I didn’t do the same thing again, we are brothers and sisters we
are to make sure we don’t slip in to sin, not pass judgment, but to help each
other through it!
Now we deal with
the pride and arrogance in knowing what’s better for us than God!
James 4:13–16 (NLT)
13 Look here, you who say, “Today or
tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do
business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your
life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a
little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If
the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise
you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
·
As many of us have experienced lately we never
know what tomorrow brings
·
And way to many of us plan like it's never going
to end
·
We worry about:
o Cars
o Houses
o Jobs
o And
bills
·
We don’t worry enough about
o Our
relationship with God
o Our
kids
o Our
spouse
o Our
friends and family
·
Life is short kids!
o Make
sure you hug the ones you love
o Make
sure you have done all you can to have the best marriage you can
§ I
have people married from 20 to 50 years in a small group still learning about
their spouse, so why aren’t you
o Make
sure you go to everything your kids do
§ My
dad NEVER missed anything I did
o Make
sure your relationship With Jesus is solid
§ I
don’t want to worry where you went
§ Store
up in heaven not here
o Build
a legacy here honoring God, and build a crown in heaven at the same time!
·
Seek God
in all you do
o Jesus
taught his disciples to pray to the Father, In (Matthew 6:10)
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
o In (Matthew 26:39–44)
With tears and sweating blood, Jesus prayed those words himself three times in Garden
of Gethsemane
o In
the book Move it says that there are 4 stages that Christians can live in:
I want to read the descriptions for each for you:
Exploring Christ:
The people in this segment have a basic belief in God, but they are unsure about Christ and his role in their lives.
Growing in Christ:
The people in this segment have a personal relationship with Christ. They’ve
made a commitment to trust him with their souls’ salvation and for eternity, but they are just beginning to learn what
it means and what it takes to develop a relationship with him.
Close to Christ:
The people in this segment depend on Christ every day. They see Christ as someone who assists them in life. On a daily basis,
they turn to him for help and guidance for the issues they face.
Christ-Centered:
The people in this segment would
identify their relationship with Christ as the most important relationship in
their entire lives. They see their lives as fully surrendered to Jesus and his
agenda, subordinating everything to his will and his desires.
Folks you need to be MOVING toward Christ centered!!!
Most churches today are filled with Christians, who never make it out of the
first two. Churches are to worried about offending people and losing their
money, they wont speak Gods word into their lives. In order for you to continue
moving toward a life where Christ is the single most important person in your
life you are going to have to step out of your comfort zone, you are going to
have give Jesus more than a couple hours on Sunday and Get in the GAME! You are
going to have to get involved in a study, read your bible at home, talk to your
wife or husband about making a commitment to Jesus for your family and getting
plugged in! The time is now, because your life could be over tomorrow!
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