James 1 (vs 16-27)
Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 06 Feb 2005
Revision:
The golden rule of learning is revision! The first time we learn something, the facts barely “stick” to our brain and are easily forgotten. If we revise what we learned shortly after, the facts are “nailed” into the brain a little more. With each revision the facts are nailed in more and more until they are permanently stuck in our brain. Last week we learned five lessons from the first part of James 1:
This week we learn another five practical lessons from the second part of James 1, namely: The Source of Perfectly Good Gifts, The Partnership with God, The Importance of Listening Skills, The Insufficiency of Listening Skills and The Evidences of True Christianity.
Memory Verse: James 1:22
The Source of Perfectly Good Gifts (vs 16,17): Man is tempted to blame others, including God (vs 13-15), for their problems. Even if man’s problems are primarily caused by his own foolishness and sin, he often blames God for allowing him to be exposed to the temptation! Though man hates to be controlled, when he gets into problems caused by his own sinful choice, he often blames God for allowing him to make choices! Because of this tendency to blame God, we are warned “Do not err in committing this sin!” We are also warned not to err in accusing God of evil because God is good and He is the Giver of “every good and perfect gift.” The recipients of this epistle from James were undergoing terrible persecutions in their exile (v.1) and were probably questioning God’s goodness to them. James had earlier explained to them that their trials were to make them “perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (v.4). In verse 17, James says that God gives “good and perfect gifts” not “nice and easy gifts.” Though there is a world of difference between what is “good” and what is “nice,” few people really know this. The difference can be the difference between God and Satan!Satan offers things that are nice, easy and short-term, while God offers things that are good, not so easy and long-term. Romans 8:28 promises us that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”
God’s gifts are not merely good but they are perfect – they perfectly fulfill their objectives, they are freely available and they leave no harmful side-effects. Therefore, we should seek these perfectly good things through prayer, instead of laboring hard for imperfect solutions and satisfactions.
God is called the “Father of lights” (or the Creator of the heavenly lights) because sunlight is a symbol of life, knowledge and joy. The sun-god is worshiped by many peoples in different forms. God is light (1John 1:5), Jesus Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12), Christians are children of light (1Thessalonians 5:5) and heaven is always light (Revelation 22:5). The difference between the sun and God is that the sun rises and sets each day (ie, “shadow of turning”) and strengthens and weakens with the seasons but God is always the same (ie, “there is no variableness”).
The supreme good and perfect Gift is the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Partnership with God (v 18): God saved us according to “his own will.” Most people accuse God of being unfair because He did not save everyone. These same people are not troubled by the fact that they are born in richer countries and have people from poorer countries working as their domestic helpers. Neither does it bother them that God created them as people and some as chickens, cows or pigs. To be absolutely fair every creature must be exactly alike, eg. a world of identical robots. People allow potters the right to make different articles from a lump of clay but do not allow God the right (Romans 9:21). It is God’s right and business to choose. And our responsibility in this “partnership” with God is to proclaim the “word of truth,” ie, the Gospel (Romans 10:14). The whole of God’s creation will be gloriously redeemed (Romans 8:21,22) and those who are saved are “firstfruits” of this wonderful redemption. “Firstfruits” not only symbolize a sample of the whole but also symbolize that the whole belongs to God (Exodus 23:19a). When we give our leftovers to God, then we believe that what we have belongs to us. But when we give our firstfruits to God, then we remind ourselves that all that we have is really God’s!
The Importance of Listening Skills (vs 19,20): The “wherefore” connects this verse to the previous verse which speaks about “the word of truth.” Therefore, this verse refers particularly to listening to spiritual things. Though men by nature know nothing about spiritual matters, they do not like to listen to spiritual teachings. So they usually get angry when people tell them about spiritual things and would argue, rather than listen (Romans 8:7). Obviously, this attitude against spiritual teachings “worketh not the righteousness of God.” In everything, whether religious or not, we need to cultivate an attitude of listening carefully, then asking questions before reacting. If we do not cultivate this attitude, we will generally get angry first, speak our mind before we listen to explanations! The right attitude will promote a learning culture. Learning by listening is vital in a world that changes so fast that printed information lags behind. Learning to listen is also vital for healthy communications.
In Romans 10:17 we are told that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” rather than “faith comes by reading.” In 1Corinthians 1:21 we are told that “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” We need to be “swift to hear” preaching and teaching of God’s Word because the Holy Spirit empowers the preaching of His Word.
The Insufficiency of Listening Skills (vs 21 to 25): We listen with our ears but we receive into our hearts. Therefore, we need to prepare our hearts for the implanting (ie, “engrafting”) of God’s Word by first putting aside all sinful thoughts (ie, “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naugthiness”).
Then we need to remember that listening is not only insufficient but also deceptive. Unless we realize this, we will feel sufficiently spiritual after merely listening to a sermon – and this deceives us to be mere hearers only (v 22). Furthermore, in our secular classes we are expected to understand (and not do) what we were taught. Therefore the vast majority of Christians are hearers only.
The primary purpose of the Bible is to reveal God to us and its secondary purpose is to reveal our own sins. In other words, it is a mirror (ie, “glass”) that allows us to see our own sins. However, unless we spend time “to improve our condition” after looking at a mirror, it is pointless to have a mirror (vs 23-25). The test of a good sermon is a changed life not an interesting or provoking sermon. The biggest problem is not a failure to understand this simple truth but a tendency to apply the “correction” to someone else (eg. husband, wife, child, parent).
The Bible is called the “perfect law of liberty” because when we obey its teachings we will be truly set free. Many people believe that Christians have no liberty – to drink, smoke, commit adultery, watch pornography, gamble, cheat, worship multiple gods, etc. They do not realize that these so-called liberties make them slaves – sooner or later. Even if God does not bless, obedience to the “perfect law of liberty” is a blessing in itself (ie, “blessed in his deed”).
The Evidences of True Christianity (vs 26,27): True Christianity is evidenced by a Christian’s “walk rather than his talk”! One who is always talking about Christian things rather than doing Christian things has a profitless (ie, “vain”) Christianity that pleases neither God nor men. If we are doers of God’s Word, we will have a life of charity, ie, “visiting the fatherless and widows” (1Timothy 1:5) and purity, ie, “unspotted from the world.”