James 1:19-27

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

These verses really do contain some powerful “Good Works” – remember – this series is Genuine Faith, Good Works and some of the most powerful good works that we as born-again believers can perform are contained in these verses. Verse 18 – we were brought forth by the will of God and by the Word of Truth.

The Word of Truth, this implanted Word, is the Word that we need to be hearing and doing. The more we hear, the stronger our faith comes (Romans 10:17) – we need to feed our faith every day. Read our Bibles, particularly our New Testaments, we need to play quality sermons from reputable ministers, play their podcasts, watch their video clips - expose ourselves to the ministry of the Word of God. This is so important,

Very important to read your Bible every day!

So, doing good works, based on the Word of Truth - We covered verse 19 last week…

Verses 20, 21 - 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

The more and more we lock into the Word of God, the Word of Truth, the less and less will we be prone to hasty, careless speech, outright wickedness and angry behaviour – none of which pleases God. The more we eradicate this behaviour from our life the more we please God and the further we grow in spiritual things. We learn what to say, how to say it, what to do, how to do it – all of this instruction is contained within our Bibles. The saving of our souls is a progressive cleansing process, a progressive renewing of our mind process, a progressive sanctification process, ultimately all coming together in the completion of our Salvation as Gods saving work for us believers that try to honour the Lord with our lives.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

If we fail to put into practice that which we have heard and read, the whole exercise becomes self-deceptive. We think we know what we are doing yet the doing is not a part of us. That’s self-deceptive. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

When you look into a mirror – you see your own self that is reflected back to you. I have a wife and four daughters that had to get ready for church every Sunday morning – five ladies to get out the door and into the car and only two bathrooms….

James 1:18

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James had grown up with his half brother Jesus. He saw him grow up, start a religion, perform miracles all around the place, expound the scripture like no other, die for it and then God Himself raised his half brother Jesus, back from the dead.

James knew they - these new believers – were at the forefront of Christianity. It was no longer JUST all about his half brother Jesus,- no it was about what Jesus now meant to them all as the Messiah, who Jesus is and how Jesus still functions in the earth today. James knew they (meaning “the brand new born again church”) were the pioneers, the forerunners of this new belief system. A new belief system so grounded in, and based on the fact that GOD and Jesus WANTED to do this – this is how unspeakably valuable, unbelievably priceless that every person is, that they went through with it all – what became the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, James’ very own half brother.

James knew in his heart and mind that this was the greatest gift of all that could ever come from the Father of lights – but he didn’t dwell there, no, James went on the say (James 1:18b) - that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. This new body of Christians, this new body of believers, those who we call the very “early church” were the start of a global change, that would never stop, even if you died – eternity had arrived – the greatest gift of all that came down from the Father of Lights.

James knew that as a “firstfruit”, as a pioneer, as a forerunner of a new global distribution network of God’s own truth that the work had only just begun. It’s more than a movement, it’s more than a new religion, - it’s the coming together of heaven and earth, the reconciling of humans back to God, the forever life-changing, eternal opportunity for the forgiveness of your own sin – literally a new creature in Christ Jesus – does this remind you of:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Whilst the book of James doesn’t really speak much about salvation itself – he does touch on aspects of that most certainly in James 1:18.

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James knew that the real work – those good works that us believers are now called to, required to participate in, that help create trust towards Christians, that help to raise doubts in the minds of UN-believers when you do good to them and for them with no thought of gain for yourself – just the fact that you care about them…that’s why you help them… that we lay down our life for others as James saw his own half-brother Jesus do… please understand that just doesn’t mean to die for someone else – no, Jesus did that for us all already – our version of laying down our life is to invest TIME in someone else – that is time of your life that you can never get back – you could have spent it on you, but you spent it helping or caring for someone else – that’s a piece of your life that has been laid down for someone else – SELFLESSNESS – read Philippians 2

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Right in the midst of James’ explanation and warning of the process of our own desires, that have not obviously been renewed and refocused to love and desire what it is that God approves of and wants in the believers lives, James inserts this blatant warning about deception.

This plays out in my mind this way – “You are making good progress, don’t let yourself be derailed by a fleshy desire getting in the way of powerful spiritual forward momentum”. Any lost time is a real tragedy and something we must be so conscious of avoiding. Sinful practices equate to wastage of life itself. So much time and energy lost pursuing wrong things.

It's critical to think of sin participation as a form of a deception. And James is saying “don’t be deceived”!

He then follows that up with:

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. When good things happen, we aren’t “lucky”!

Absolutely not – it’s either a blessing of God and our Lord Jesus Christ or it’s a harvest from our worthwhile seed sown. Remember Colossians 3:16-17

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:23-25

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Mark 4: 26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Ephesians 6:8 - 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Friends, we will never escape the process and system of seed/plant/harvest.

There is no such thing as “lucky” it’s either a blessing of God and our Lord Jesus Christ or it’s a harvest from our worthwhile seed sown.

Once again, a genuine faith is Christ Jesus helps us understand these processes well, for not only our own benefit but also to ensure we definitely bring benefit and value to other peoples lives. That is the Christian way.

Amidst all of the problems, trials and the enticing of sin – BE REMINDED that good things are God engineered.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

The Father of Lights - the God that created all light – light be and light was! – the Father of lights is unchanging in his Character – Jesus Christ, the same yesterday today and forever – God doesn’t change like the transition from day to night back to day – God doesn’t change like a moving shadow – be grounded in the truth that our Good God wants good things for His people!

Many people have a problem with that – you need good, useful things – so you can do good works – James goes on and in verse 27, mentions visiting widows and orphans in their affliction – why – in their affliction? So that when you arrive they are not afflicted any more – you are there to practically help not visit and chat!

There’s a fascinating truth I’ve been meditating on in Genesis 1:26-28

Verse 28 – the very first two words ever heard by a human ear:

BE and FRUITFUL

To BE or BECOME the person that does and achieves all these things in V28 and do it from a fruitful and useful perspective.

DO SOMETHING – USEFUL!

James 1:12

12 Blessed is the man (the person, the individual) who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

(Those that have developed a level of steadfastness, remain there and hopefully increase in character from that level. This is a truly excellent example of a Good Work emanating out from a genuine faith in Jesus).

Trials, difficulties, problems – they are all going to come:

• Some from the Lord as a test of character
• Some, self-induced, from our own bad decisions
• Some, self-induced, from our own flawed character
• Others, again self-induced, from our own incorrect attitudes
• Even more difficulties and trials, self-induced from our own wrong speech
• Some from incorrect expectations – our own and from others – this list just goes on…
• And let’s not forget satan attacks – the spiritual warfare that goes on around us. Often that’s at a minimum as we do a better job of upsetting ourselves and creating problems for ourselves through our own failings at learning and obeying God’s Word – we are more effective at attacking ourselves than the devil is.

Psalm 39:4-5

4 Lord, make me to know my end and [to appreciate] the measure of my days—what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].

5 Behold, You have made my days as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!

Hence again, the need to be truly conscious of where we fit in the Divine planning and processes that are unfolded everyday here on earth.

Again, this reiterates our need to develop correct perspectives that are scripture based, formulate those into correct priorities to live out, that are scripture based and convert all of that into effective good works, bringing value to others, from God’s perspective.

All of this will come with it’s fair share of problems and difficulties – face that fact. Life is hard, people are harder! However as we endure, are steadfast and persevere through the trials a reward is accumulating in heaven for us – not actually based only on WHAT we have achieved but HOW we have achieved – ultimately coming from our deep love for Jesus and our Heavenly Father as led and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Let’s remind ourselves of 2 Corinthians 5:10

10 For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] (his reward – JA) according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering [a]what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has [b]achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].

James 1:12 –12 Blessed is the man (the person, the individual) who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Part of our reward is the crown of life to those who love God – remember Jesus added some clarification to this idea of Loving God/Loving Jesus that and said “if you love me, keep my commandments”- in short OBEY the Word of God.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

God, being unreservedly good does not tempt people with evil. We understand clearly that it was satan who tempted Jesus, not God. Matthew Chapter 4 this is laid out. Jesus defeated every one of those temptations with the Word of God, strategically used to overcome the devil.

11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

If we understand that we are like the grass, temporary and subject to the seasonal dictates of a short life of less than say 100 years then we also should easily understand the second part of this verse: “So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits”. What does that tells us:

1. No one, absolutely no one will be able to subvert the system,
2. No one, absolutely no one will make it out of this life alive.

That being the case, you may as well go all in and devote yourself to reading, learning and living God’s Word as you go about your daily life.

It’s absolutely critical we read our Bibles daily. Get a paper Bible that you can write it. Don’t rely on your phone or tablet or device. Get a quality Bible – an ESV is a great Bible - I use an ESV study bible as well as a large print, red letters ESV as that easier to read when I’m preaching.

Get a good quality Bible and read it every day. If you can’t afford one, go to a local Christian Church and ask them if they have one that you can have. They’ll give you one for sure.

Genuine Faith Good Works life key no.9 – “Be fully aware, no one, but no one beats the system – no one makes it out of this life alive. Your days really are numbered – make each one of them count.”

James 1:12

12 Blessed is the man (the person, the individual) who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

This is a really interesting verse and is a second reference to trials and being steadfast – first being in verse 2. James 1: 2 -

Blessed is “to be envied, empowered to increase, empowered to prosper”… think about it this way – to be envied and empowered to increased is the person who remains steadfast under trial.

Think about that next time things aren’t going well! It’s when we stand up to these tests and trials that the benefits start to accumulate – we become better at solving problems, we meet others that also solve problems, we are encouraged by seeing people under stress or pressure actually succeed and come out from it all – we get stronger as we go. It really is true that with a correct attitude and approach, that which does not kill you makes you stronger!

For the Christian, this carries an extra reward of getting God’s attention across the process. When we truly understand that our fleshly bodies are nothing but grass, our lives a mere vapour, then and only then I believe, are we able to truly craft out the correct perspectives and formulate more God-aligned priorities.

Psalm 39:4-5

4 Lord, make me to know my end and [to appreciate] the measure of my days—what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].

5 Behold, You have made my days as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!

Hence again, the need to be truly conscious of where we fit in the Divine planning and processes that are unfolded everyday here on earth.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

The Amplified Bible expands this a little for us and reads this way:

9 Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position [as a born-again believer, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God];

This is a fascinating verse – the perspectives that we hold MUST be based in truth. A person in very humble circumstances may consider themselves to be a lessor person than someone who is, for example, wealthier. In fact James brings this comparison to the forefront with verse 10:

10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

I love the passages in Isaiah 40 that James is quoting here – again from the Amplified Bible:

Isaiah 40:6-8

6 A voice says, Cry [prophesy]! And I said, What shall I cry? [The voice answered, Proclaim:] All flesh is as frail as grass, and all that makes it attractive [its kindness, its goodwill, its mercy from God, its glory and comeliness, however good] is transitory, like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely [all] the people are like grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

We need to have an accurate picture of who we really are – our value as people before a Holy God is not about being poor or rich – yes those things impact our natural worlds but the most important perspective is God’s Word and what the Word of the Lord says about people, how to treat them, how to interact with them and most importantly how to consider them.

Both poverty and riches bring circumstantial pressures. Both poverty and riches possess within them, a proclivity, or a tendency to often, somewhat effectively, redirect the persons focus away from God and more toward their own circumstances in the natural.

The person in lower circumstances needs to consider themselves in the light of God’s Word, then take God’s Word, renew their mind to the Scriptures and speak faith, act in faith trusting the Lord will honour that, support that and help them in that. I guarantee their circumstances will change.

The rich person must stay humble – profoundly grateful for that which the Lord has given them. They must understand that no one makes it out of this life alive, to strongly develop a reverential respect and fear of God, that they are “a fleshly version of grass” – very little longevity and desperately needing to focus on what they are about whilst the season is there. When it’s growing season the grass really get’s on with it – we have lots of hay farms here in Tasmania. The wealthy or materially rich person must realise that their wealth does not place them in a strategically advantageous position before God. That’s like saying to a billionaire “you need to be impressed with my $100”. No, the person that own the universe is not impressed with our worldly riches and the Lord is certainly NOT impressed when we place our faith and trust in those transient earthly, worldly riches.

Riches have predominantly four main purposes –

1. To alleviate or remove personal shortage – pay your own way
2. To bless and help others and alleviate suffering
3. To support the work of the Kingdom of God
4. To create positive, effective progress and blessings, multi-generationally

We are only here for such a short time – “All flesh is as frail as grass, and all that makes it attractive [its kindness, its goodwill, its mercy from God, its glory and comeliness, however good] is transitory, like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely [all] the people are like grass.

Think about your life as simply a season – you’re alive, able to work, communicate, think, be diligent, plan, strategise, execute those plans – your life whilst you are alive on the earth is just a season to make the very most of whilst you can!

James 1:5-6

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (Who gives) to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and it will be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Asking God for Wisdom, but asking IN FAITH without wavering – I was always perplexed by this wondering if ‘I had enough faith’; ‘was I doubting’, ‘did I have enough faith for a solution’; ‘was I wavering’ – all of these sorts of questions. How do I actually ask God for wisdom WITHOUT wavering - until I realised all I had to do was have faith enough IN God, IN Jesus to ask them for wisdom – wisdom only! That’s all this is – a simple request for wisdom – I’m not asking for the plans for a rocket ship or something complicated – it’s a simple request for wisdom. Don’t overthink this - it’s simply a request for wisdom.

Can I possibly believe that an all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, all-generous God does actually want me wiser? Obviously the answer to that is YES – emphatically YES. Hence, it’s so easy to actually believe that God will answer the request and at some point in time, as I continue in prayer and study of His word, keep going about my daily responsibilities, that solutions find their way to me.

How do you test those possible solutions – that’s a great question and the answer is very simple:

Colossians 3:12-17 – Amplified Bible

12 So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper]; 13 bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive. 14 Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others]. 15 Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always]. 16 Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

We must approach God simply trusting in who He is – look around at Creation itself – the stars in the sky. Remind yourself of who God is. Also remind yourself that what God did in Jesus was so much more powerful than what satan did in Adam. Death entered through that satan/Adam interaction. Read Romans 4, 5 and 6.

Think about death for a moment – may I submit to you that virtually every person has probably killed something, in the course of their life – even if it’s a mosquito or a fly or another insect. Maybe even a larger animal or bird. Those of us with motor vehicles have perhaps hit a bird or a small animal – in Australia there is always a constant amount of wildlife that sadly have been hit by vehicles and are dead on the side of the road. Some people hunt or fish and bring home fish or game they have caught or hunted.

Again, lets look at the context surrounding this verse a little more:

Verse 2

2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

– be joyful when you are dealing with, navigating through a vast array of different and difficult problems of ANY sort or you fall into various temptations.

Now what could some of that vast array of trials or temptations be to individuals or families that have been driven from their lands? All of these produce steadfastness, patience and endurance and then in all of this, if the way forward is still not super clear – then ask God for Wisdom. Some of this could be day-day survival matters, food, shelter, clothing, safe places – re-establishing their family in a new area, cropping, starting a business, trading – there’s so much going on in these peoples lives and all of this pressure and uncertainty James says – “ask God to give you wisdom, from your position of endurance and patience and He will give that to you generously and help you to understand your current lot in life”!

WOW! We tend to so look at life often through the eyes of our very safe largely middle class, very well catered for western world. We have running water, sanitation, endless public and private transport, heath facilities – hospitals doctors, medical centres, dentists – all of our western world extravagances and comfort…yet in so many ways, we are facing life completely bogged down with our first world problems!

Hence the incredible wisdom and instruction packed into future verses about widows, orphans, a genuine Christian faith that systematically produces good works, the rich helping create ways to care for those less fortunate, or less wise.

There is so much we can learn from the book of James.