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James – Above all – 9
But above all things, my brethren, swear not…
James 5:12a KJV

You had begun to count the barrage of important words to the congregation. “FINALLY,” says the preacher after a lengthy sermon, as our dull ears and glassy eyes slowly return, “point number nine.”

Peter, Paul and others frequently conclude with ‘finally,’ James closes his letter, ‘above all.’

In conclusion

Before we examine this specific closing of James and the concluding nine verses, consider a few closing points of other pastoral letters.
- Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. – Paul, in his second and final letter to the church at Corinth.
- Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. – Paul’s brief closing to his church at Ephesus
- Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things. – Paul’s closing to the church at Philippi
James closes: Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear… so that you won’t fall under judgment.

Other first generation church leaders also include similar phrases as if to say, ‘last, but not least.’ Their letters also emphasize some of same points to remember as does James.
- Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. – Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae
- Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. – First letter of Peter to the church, echoed by James’ concluding sentence.
- Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires – Second letter of Peter to the church. Early in his letter James makes a similar point:
  - If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. – James 1:26
James 5:

Oaths

12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.

James does not prohibit oaths; rather he calls out those who take oaths, vows or solemn promises lightly.

If a Christian’s oath is the fruit of God, then our words must convey pure truth. NO guarantees by god, as unbelievers see the Lord, and NO guarantees by earth and NO oaths by any other authority outside your own true word.

Yes equals yes and your no equals no. Simplicity. And truth by your own personal guarantee of your own words. Does this not go back to the opening point of James’ letter to the church?

My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
James 1:19-20 CSB

Don’t get God involved in your words to another. By your words you will be judged. – Matthew 12:37

Prayer

13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray…

What believer in Christ does not suffer? All sometimes suffer hardship, sickness, troubles and many evils.

Pray, beloved brother, James urges in his letter. Pray, beloved sister. Yet he also points to the encouragement from others in our church family, because their joy reflects the Lord to us.

Are you cheerful? Then sing praises to the Lord.

(Are you? Then do you?) Those brothers and sisters who suffer hardship feel your joy in Christ. At times you also need to hear the joy of beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Here James points to leadership roles of encouragement by our local church. His corporate letter tells all who are sick to seek the anointing and prayer of our local leaders, the elders who shepherd us. Though the anointing oil does not heal the unknown mysteriously; the Lord, in answer to prayer, may heal the one who believes, if it is His will.

Mark relates good news of such results by those sent out into surrounding towns by the Lord Jesus.

So they went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Mark 6:12-13 CSB

Once again, before the Lord’s half-brother repented of his disbelief, James most likely knew some of these who experienced miraculous healings. James continues:

The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
James 5:15 CSB

Jesus forgives a lame man

Perhaps you recall a healing by Jesus in a public event where James may have been among the crowds outside the house.

Luke 5:

17 On one of those days while he was teaching… sitting there … from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. 18 Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed… because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.

20 Seeing their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

… Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

25 Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

James 5: Do you need healing?

James 5:16

Above all, remember that God judges and that the Lord answers prayer.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

James points to Elijah, whose prayers God heard and answered because of his righteousness.

Are we not cleansed of our sin in Christ Jesus, dear brother?

Confess your sins and be cleansed by the righteousness of Christ. Pray for the sick among you.

Community

19 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth…

James closes with this: IF any among you.

He does not begin by asking us to judge others, our neighbors or the world, but simply points this directly to application to the community of our church by saying, ‘if any among you.’

Christians tend to be quick to speak and slow to listen, as James cautions earlier in his letter.

strays from the truth

This closing call to truth is not to the grey-edged truths of the world which are not truth at all. His pastoral call to us is to that higher absolute truth of Christ Jesus.

Do not stray from truth. But if you do — and some of you will — bring your brother or sister back into the love of our church community.

and someone turns him back…

We all know the Way, the Truth and the Life. To bring someone back to Jesus will require their repentance.

But who will go to a brother in the Lord asking for his repentance?

It is not an easy thing to confront another in truth and love. (All the more reason we should limit this to the community of our church.)

20 let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

James’ question to those of the church is really more like:

Do you care at all if your brother (or sister) in the church will go to hell?
Go to him seeking his repentance and ask him to return to the Lord.
We all have many sins in need of covering by our works of grace.
see James 5:20

No Post Script

James writes to the church corporately, perhaps with certain individuals in various churches in mind.

He could have closed with a few personal greetings or asked for a personal messenger to come to him with help of some sort, but he does not. And James could have appealed to the authority given him as one of the brothers of Jesus, son of Mary the same mother. Again, he does not.

Rather, he appeals to all as brethren and himself humbly as a fellow servant of the Lord. James and the church at that time identify themselves as Jews.

Christians are no different than Jews to Rome and the world. Cause any trouble and you are not welcome in this city.

James writes to encourage several congregations throughout the region of the eastern empire of Rome.

Most hearers of his letter are poor, some very poor. Trials of life test your faith in the Lord.

Persist — show the fruit of your joy in the Lord, the evidence of your faith.

Count it all JOY, dear brothers and sisters, whenever you face the challenges of your faith in Christ Jesus!

HOW?

Any trial is an outward circumstance which could challenge your faith. Temptation always lurks inwardly as an enticement to sin. Here is one good way to resist:

…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
James 1:19b KJV

Do what the Law of God says and allow the Lord to judge others. Those rich who dispersed you to hard circumstances in difficult places will also be judged. Do not allow them to lead your church or you into sin.

All must show their works of their faith, bringing each other into repentance before the Lord. God commands peace between believers. Repent and love each other, for the sake of Christ Jesus.

Do you, beloved believer to whom I write, hear the Lord Christ Jesus in our appeal?

James writes to many churches, asking us to build community and faith by our works of faith in Jesus.

Above all, hear the heart of James.

For he was once the unbelieving brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he asks us to show our faith by our works.
May 30, 2019
James – Teachers and Wisdom – 5
Worldly Wisdom~Biblical Wisdom

Wisdom? σοφία sophia

Who comes to mind when you read or hear the word, ‘wisdom?’

Perhaps Aristotle or Plato or maybe even Solomon come to mind.

Did you wonder, who’s the smartest person I know?

Perhaps a contest of quick recall or someone other than our letter writer comes to mind.

Our contemporary thought quickly dismisses wisdom. Yet the Lord gives us all multivarious knowledge and wisdom.

The Greek philosophers who lived and died three centuries before Christ at the time of Alexander the Great had lasting influence on the world. Their worldly approaches emanated from their beliefs in many gods, idols and man-made myths.

Does the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit factor into our answers of the Christian life?

Did Jesus come to mind?

Mark 6: When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things? ” they said.

“What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands?
Mark 6:2

Read just a bit further in the Gospel of Mark and you will discover another who questioned the wisdom and teaching of Jesus.

Teachers and Preachers

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
James 3:1 NKJV

James, although raised in the same household as Jesus, did not believe before the Lord revealed himself in the resurrection. He now writes to the churches about the wisdom from Jesus, who IS the One God.

He must have thought as a young man that he knew the Lord while failing to recognize the righteousness of his brother, the rabbi gaining notoriety in cities throughout Galilee. Now after the Lord’s resurrection, James cautions against teaching anything other than what Jesus taught.

Some time ago I embraced this verse from Job.

I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
Job 27:11 ASV

To this, most everyone I know would say, “Amen.”

Although I include teaching as one of my gifts, speaking for the Lord is a high calling which James addresses.

James 3:

Wisdom from God

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom.

Certainly James had experienced the perfect conduct of Jesus, yet previously he had not believed.

Who could the Lord’s brother think of any more gentle and humble than his own brother? He now suggests this model of Jesus in the teaching of wisdom from the Lord.

17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.

Wisdom from Satan

Don’t miss the seriousness of the contrast James presents if you fail to discern false teaching from some who do not follow Christ.

14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice.

The church both then and now hears many teachings; some faithful to scripture and the Lord and also wisdom opposing the true fruit of repentance and salvation in Christ Jesus.

James asks us to examine our own hearts and evidence of the hidden motives of teachers who would lead the sheep of Christ to the slaughter of Satan.

Jesus had taught:

“You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
“So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.
Matthew 7:16,20

16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice.

James implies without saying, the fruit of your works clearly demonstrates if you or any are for Christ or opposed to the Lord.

Skirmishes for our Souls

He continues this thought (after the page turn of Chapter 4):

What is the source of wars and fights among you?

Have you ever been drawn into a skirmish of influence in your church? Battles abound both then and now in churches small and congregations larger than a pastor can manage personally. How does a believe discern who is right and who is wrong. James suggests again, look at their fruit (and don’t forget to examine the classification of your own fruit).

Quarrels and Conflicts

πόλεμος – polemos – war, fight, battle, dispute, strife, quarrel

James uses a greek word for quarrel used nine times in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John. The Apostles share in warnings to the churches against the sins which cause all sorts of evil, a clear suggestion that our battle is spiritual.

2 Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?

Conflicts among you, James warns, come from violations or trespasses of God’s Law, citing various Commandments.

4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
James 4:4a CSB

Satan is an enemy of God. Our temptations, passions and pleasures become tools of the enemy when we casually befriend the world. You may recognize the greek word root for these pleasers of self: ἡδονή,hēdonē and its philosophy embracing every evil.

So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.

Judging Christians

James’ question for the church is simple and related to the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of sin. Which do you see in a fellow ‘christian’ and first, which fruit do you see in the mirror?

The Lord is a jealous God.

7 Therefore, submit to God...

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

James appeals to us to look to the Spirit: repent of every sin and be saved.

Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James 8b-9 CSB

Though his words sound harsh, James, who grew up with Jesus, follows with hope. Be like Jesus, who humbled Himself, even to die on a Cross for our sins.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Who are you to judge?

11 Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters…

Other versions say, ‘Do not speak against one another.’

Suppose others hear a follower of Christ speaking against another Christian? James warns of the effect:

Speak evil against a brother and you judge him, and you speak against the law and judges of the law, and you are not a doer of the law but a judge of the law.

What does James mean by “doer” or “fruit?” Evidence of our faith in Jesus.

12 ‘There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save,’ James assures us. It is Jesus, humble Savior and victorious judge who will return. Then he again contrasts as he did in speaking of our untamable tongue.

3:10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

… Jesus is able to save and to destroy.

The Lord Jesus IS the One Lawgiver, able to save you or to destroy you. James asks us:

But who are you to judge your neighbor?

This second time in his letter James again reminds us the command of the law confirmed by Jesus, “Love your neighbor.”
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To be continued...
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May 9, 2019
Festival of the Passover
No holy holiday surpasses peçach, the festival of the Passover, in the calendar year of the jews. In a previous post, Josiah – a Good King also Dies, we discovered that Passover had been completely forgotten by the Judah. The Law had not been read and Kings before Josiah had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

פֶּסַח

We also reviewed the meaning of Passover:

“a sparing, immunity from penalty and calamity.

The root word suggests from application of scripture in Exodus 12 that the Lord will pass over or spring over you when executing judgment. He will halt the punitive action in your case.

A Three-part Festival

Instructions for the Passover

Exodus 12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. 4 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. 5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month…

Preparation

The contemporary photo of an Israeli employee removing prayer notes from the western wall is just one example of a cleansing of sorts, associated with the sacrifice of Passover.

You must be spotless before the Lord. Not better than everyone else, one who does more good works than (perhaps) the one who does not achieve eternal life. Spotless. Cleansed of sin.

His place of worship in Jerusalem must be clean to begin the great sacrifice. Everything washed. Pure. This preparation to come before the Lord is symbolic of repentance.

Are you mostly good?

Not good enough (for no man or woman is good, no not one).

Yet we no longer sacrifice the blood of a lamb, for the Holy of Holies and the altar has been destroyed.

Passover Meal

Exodus 12: CSB/WLC שמות

… then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
Exodus 12:6B

7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Strict regulations also include: (9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn.)

What about now?

Beloved follower of the Lord in this 21st century after the Messiah Jesus, I ask you:

Even IF you strictly observance the Passover today, is your worship any more than symbolism?

Can the blood of a lamb (no longer sacrificed) atone for your sin? כָּפַר

11 וְכָכָה֮ תֹּאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מָתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙ בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַיהוָֽה׃
Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.
Exodus 12:11

Christian and Jew alike understand the significance of the events to follow the quickly eaten Passover meal and the account of Moses as redeemer from slavery in Egypt.

Christians ought to understand this same symbolism of the body and blood of the Lamb, the risen Messiah King, as in an upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus shared a last Passover meal with His beloved Disciple family nearly two millennia ago.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mark 14:22-24 KJV

Passover Celebration

14 וְהָיָה֩ הַיּ֨וֹם הַזֶּ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְזִכָּר֔וֹן וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם אֹת֖וֹ חַ֣ג לַֽיהוָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם תְּחָגֻּֽהוּ׃

“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.
- 15 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days.
- On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses.
- Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.
- 16 You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day…
- … and another sacred assembly on the seventh day.
- No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat—you may do only that.
Festival of Unleavened Bread

… You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

Thus, we remember how the Lord used Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, where the Lord led and purified a people chosen to His for entry into a land promised to Abraham as his inheritance. Yet the Lord has used saviors besides Moses to redeem his faithful from the chains of this life.

Other Saviors Redeeming God’s Faithful

We know well the saving of the Jews from Pharaoh. Some would look to Moses or Joshua as their redeemer or savior. Certainly Joseph saved Israel in Egypt until in the generations he was forgotten.

Others see David as Israel’s king triumphant. A few recognize Ezra for bringing back worship in Jerusalem. All of these would give the same glory instead to the Lord God.

One more mention of the unleavened bread in the generation of Abraham may have missed your notice. You may not believe it, though Moses tells it. Once again, it was served quickly and judgment by the Lord followed.

The Doom of Sodom

If any family should have been celebrating a festival of unleavened bread it would be the families of Abraham, who faithful followed the Lord from place to place as the Lord commanded. The Lord’s covenant with Abraham preceded the Law of Moses.

As you may know, Lot, son of Abram’s brother Haran, also followed the Lord to both Canaan and Egypt before settling in the city of Sodom. It was a walled city with a gate like other cities of its time.

Genesis 19:

The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in Sodom’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground…

… He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

Have you ever considered it? Lot prepared a feast of unleavened bread for the two angels who saved him from Sodom.

Lot was unaware of their mission and events which had already taken place between the angels and Abraham.

The Lord appeared to Abraham

18 וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃

Three angels had appeared to Abraham. Lot would only know that his uncle and aunt in their nineties were childless. He had been like a son to them.

16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?

Lot, of course knows nothing of the conversation to follow which has already taken place when two angels come to him at the gate of Sodom.

The Lord had judged Sodom for the sin of all of its residents. Then Abraham intercedes, pleaing for the Lord to spare Lot and his family. Abraham saves them from the sentence of death, all except Lot’s wife who sinned even after the warning of angels.

22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Genesis 19:15 “Get up! … or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

29 וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁחֵ֤ת אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־עָרֵ֣י הַכִּכָּ֔ר וַיִּזְכֹּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיְשַׁלַּ֤ח אֶת־לוֹט֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה בַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶ֣עָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יָשַׁ֥ב בָּהֵ֖ן לֽוֹט׃
So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.
Genesis 19:29 WLC,CSB

A Savior at the gate of Jerusalem

As the LORD in Person
Came to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre,
As the LORD in Person
Came to Moses at Sinai,
The LORD in the Person of the Son With Us
Came to Jerusalem’s gate.
—
The Lord in Person sacrificed
On a Cross beyond its walls,
Jesus, Messiah and King
Risen! in Person,
Jesus, in flesh and blood shed
Our King comes on the clouds again!
Roger Harned

The Lord will return

Will you bow down to your Lord and King?

Or will you yet crucify Him?

The choice of judgment is yours, yet your redemption or just punishment will be His.

Is Jesus your Lord? Or will you justify your sin without Him?
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To be continued... [eternally]
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April 19, 2019