(Through the Bible) James — Zac Poonen

James: Faith That Produces Works

Let's turn to James chapter 1 in terms of When the letters of the New Testament were written as far as we know James was probably the first book of the 27 books of the New Testament written and That's significant.

That the very first book if this is the first book of the New Testament is written before the Gospels. The Gospels were written Mark was probably written the first of the Gospels was written about two years after James, I think and if this is the first book of the New Testament as we Think it possibly could be.

It's interesting that it speaks about faith that produces works. That's the subject of this book faith that produces works. Because I think James saw how when faith was being preached for all those 20 years.

Since the day of Pentecost after which he wrote this book. He could see how so many people just like today had misunderstood faith. It was almost as though faith meant how I live doesn't matter. The main thing is to believe in Jesus and so James had this burden inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about Faith saying that faith must produce works and some of the things he talks about in the first chapter.

He speaks about faith Producing victory over temptation in chapter 2. He speaks about faith producing love Towards all men so that you're not partial towards anyone and in chapter 3. He speaks about how faith will make you your tongue controlled will be gracious in your speech and In chapter 4 he speaks in 4 and 5 he speaks about how faith can bring purity and patience into my life a Separation from the world etc.

So he talks about a number of things in these chapters and All based on faith and he's trying to say that if your faith doesn't produce these things then your faith is not real. It's like the test of a currency note.

You got a 500 rupee note from the bank and you go to the Reserve Bank and say I'd like to check this get this checked is this a genuine note or not and the Reserve Bank puts it under a machine and says Yeah, it's true or it's false.

It's good to know now. Because we're gonna accumulate a lot of wealth and we want to know whether it's real or not. We talk about faith faith faith faith. Here's a free checkup take it to James and Check whether your faith is real.

So let's look at this letter. With that in mind. First of all, he speaks about the test of our faith. He says brethren you want to find out whether this currency note you got is real. You want to find out whether your faith is real?

Trials as the Test of Genuine Faith

Okay number one. Verse 2 chapter 1 verse 2 consider it all joy. When you encounter various types of trials. If your faith is genuine when you get into trial, you'll say well praise the Lord. That's just putting them Currency note under the machine to find out if it's real or not.

Are you afraid of trial? Are you afraid of putting the currency note under the machine? You're afraid you may find out that it's false. It's a counterfeit note. Isn't it better to know it now lest you get more notes like that.

Isn't it better to know now if your faith is false? I Mean I Would like an earthquake when I'm laying the foundation of a house. Not after I've built the whole thing. I'd like to know right at the foundation level whether it's strong.

That's good. It's test. God brings you to a test. Now praise God that test whether I got faith or not. That's what he says. Consider it all joy that it was tested and If your faith was faulty. If your foundation was faulty, it's good.

You discovered it before you build so many stories. Now itself you can rectify it. So the earlier in your life that you go through trials the better it is for you. That you discover whether your faith is genuine or not.

You say I trust the Lord and you get into some small financial difficulty and you start complaining. Or you get into a little sickness and you start questioning God's love. Or you get into some opposition from men and you lose your faith then you discover that what you had was not genuine.

So consider it all joy when you go with encounter various trials because The testing of your faith, this is a test of your faith and it will produce patience. We saw that in Hebrews faith and patience go together.

They are like two legs faith patience faith patience always. I need patience along with my faith endurance and If I allow this endurance to complete its work in me. It will make me perfect and Complete Lacking in nothing.

Look at this goal perfect complete Lacking in nothing. Do you want to reach there? The way is through trial. There's no other way to get to that place where you're perfect complete lacking in nothing.

I haven't got there yet. So I know that I have to go through more trials in my life because I haven't got there yet. Perfect complete lacking in nothing. I find many things lacking in my life even today.

But if I've acquired something today, it's because I've gone through many trials till today. But I've got a lot more to go through to reach that goal of perfect complete lacking in nothing. Make this your goal.

This is God's goal for you and You can't get there except through trial where your faith is tested and don't get discouraged if you discover that your faith was not genuine. Thank you Lord for showing it to me.

Now. Give me the real thing. And God will give you the real thing and so in those trials When you lack wisdom verse 5, what should you do? Go to God and say Lord. I need wisdom. Here's a trial come here.

My parents are treating me like this. What do I need now? I need wisdom how to reply to them. What should I say to them? Here now Lord, I'm in a difficult situation. I'm alone here and all these enemies of the gospel are troubling me.

What shall I do? You know what you need wisdom? What should you do if you lack wisdom? It says ask God and there's a wonderful thing written here. It's very clear in the living Bible. It says and God will not scold you.

You know the meaning of scolding. I think all of us have received scoldings from our parents or teachers. Especially teachers are great at scolding. Why did you do this or why didn't you do this and We have all experienced that.

But God it says never scolds. You know that God never scolds anyone. He corrects, but he doesn't scold and a godly father will correct his children, but he won't scold them. Scolding is despising a person.

Oh you stupid fellow. You're good for nothing you donkey and various names people call others. God never does that. He says son what you did is wrong. I Have to punish you for that to teach you a lesson.

But I'll give you some wisdom. God is always so gentle and gracious. So God never scolds you don't like you don't have wisdom in some situation go to God. He won't scold you. Let's say I'll give it to you.

But there's one condition. When you go to God You must ask for what you ask in faith. Because if you don't ask in faith verse 6 You're like the waves of the sea sometimes this side sometimes that side have you seen have you seen on a beach?

How the waves come in to the beach and then what happens it goes right back? And then it'll come in and it'll go back and He says a man who doesn't have faith is like that. He's like that Trusting the Lord when he loses all his faith, then he comes in and has faith and he loses his faith.

He says if you ask God like that I'm not sure he'll give me yes. He'll give me no. He won't give me yes. He'll give me you'll never get anything. I often say There is one promise in the Bible. For all those who are who don't have faith you know what that promise is a Promise for those who don't have faith.

Read it in verse 7. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. Yeah, it's true. The promise for all those who don't have faith let not that man think that he'll receive anything.

He won't get forgiveness. He won't get baptism in the Holy Spirit. He won't get an answer to pray. He won't get anything. Don't fall into the category of verse 7 because such a man is double-minded unstable.

Then he goes on to say if you're a man of faith, he's all speaking about faith that works. Faith will take you through trial and If you are a brother who is very poor and If you've got faith, you will have a glory.

I may be poor my I don't have so many clothes as that other rich brother has. I Don't have a big fancy house like he has. I've got only a cycle. I don't have a car like he has. But he glories. I'm a child of God.

He doesn't sit there envying his brother. He says that's up to him. But I'm a son of God. I'm a son of a king. That's what the Brother who's very poor Glories in he doesn't want other people to feel sorry for him.

Oh poor man is living in a hut. I hope everybody sees I'm so poor. No, he's not a son of a king. I'm a servant of the Lord. I've got a dignity about me and I'm actually wealthier than all of you because I've got wealth up there in heaven.

That's the position of him poor brother who's got faith in the same way a rich brother who's got faith. He look around at his house and his property and his car and his umpteen clothes. And he will say all of this will pass away.

All of this will pass away like the grass. One day it's there verse 10 and it disappears. All these things that I have will pass away. So whether you're poor or rich it tells you here what you should say if you're poor.

Glory in your high position in Christ. If you're rich keep telling yourself. That your clothes and your house and your property and your car and everything that you have is all going to disappear one day like the grass.

Because the Sun will rise and the grass is withered and the flower falls off and the beauty is destroyed. So to the rich man in The midst of his pursuits. He himself will fade away if he lives for those things.

A Rich man who lives for those things he himself will fade away but if he's rich and he doesn't live for those things those things will fade away and he will remain and So another mark of a man who is Got faith is that he perseveres under trial.

Victory Over Temptation and the Origin of Sin

It continues to speak about this thing, but in a different context now. He's talking about temptation to sin. The earlier trial was speaking about difficulties in life. Now he's talking about temptation to sin.

He says in when you are tempted you will overcome and you will receive a crown of life because That's what God has promised to all those who love him so that teaches us that if you love the Lord you will endure in temptation and When a temptation comes don't ever say God.

Why did you send this to me? Because God never sent it. God does not tempt anybody. Very clear in verse 13 Let no one say when he's tempted God is tempting me. God doesn't tempt anyone. Then who is tempting you?

Well, it says the devil tempts us, but the devil tempts us because We have some desires which correspond with the devil's desires. See like the enemy in a war if India is a war with Pakistan Pakistan will send some agents inside India To find out things and to blow bombs in India to make it difficult for us here.

They won't only fight in the battlefront here also in the same way the devil has got some agents inside us who are actually on his side and You got to identify those agents and those are the lusts in your flesh.

You are desire for this and desire for this which are not godly desires, and you don't put them to death. They're on the enemy's side. You'll always be tempted by those desires. So the only way is at least you put put the agents of the enemy to death in your inside your country.

Then you can fight the enemy at the battlefront that's what India does if India will always catch the agents of the enemy and Put them in prison. Then they can fight more freely on the battlefront. The devil has got agents inside you all these lusts.

It says put them to death and Then you'll find that The battle is easier out there so that's what he's saying you're tempted by the lusts within you which are on the enemy's side the enemy is out there the devil and when this desire You know your mind agrees with it and says yes, I think I will yield to this desire sin comes up.

Until that point it was only temptation. Like you know if you're tempted with your eyes The first look is temptation the second look is sin. Like you're walking down the road, and you see something Accidentally which tempts you that's not a sin you got tempted in your mind.

But then you turn around to look again. That is the sin. The first look is temptation and the second look is sin. You can't avoid the first look because we are living in a world where there's so much film.

But After that you decide whether you want to agree with it or not when you agree with it. There is a union. There's a conception like when a man and a woman come together. There's a conception. That's the word used here when my mind Agrees with the lust in my flesh.

There's a union then whenever there's a union There's a conception and sin is born, but otherwise if my mind doesn't agree with it Temptation comes. I say no, I don't want that I Reject it in my mind.

The fact that the temptation comes doesn't mean it's sin. Remember that like somebody said you can't stop the bear the birds from flying over your head. But you can't stop them from making a nest in your hair.

Okay. The birds flying over your head is temptation thoughts coming into your mind so many thoughts. That's not sin. Filthy thought comes. What's that temptation? But if you allow it to make a nest there to settle down there, then it becomes sin.

That means your mind is agreed to it. Yeah, I'd like to have that thought. I'd like to enjoy it and If you enjoy it even for five seconds you sin. But if you reject it, you can't avoid thoughts coming in because that's how the devil tempts.

How did the devil tempt Jesus by putting thoughts into his mind? He rejected it every time saying no, it's written and he didn't sin so don't get discouraged because thoughts come into your mind. Thoughts are temptation.

If you accept those thoughts and enjoy them then you sin. That's a great Liberation for us to understand that that a conception has to take place before sin is born. Every woman knows that a conception has to take place before a baby is born.

If there's no conception, there's no baby in the same way we can have Thoughts coming in but if my mind doesn't agree with that, there's no sin. But if I allow my mind to agree with it, then it becomes sin and the final result is verse 15 spiritual death.

So don't be deceived about this verse 16. Then he tells us in verse 17 that every good and perfect gift comes from above from above. Victory over temptation cannot come from beneath from myself. It has to come from above.

I have to ask him. Whatever God gives is perfect. Good gifts only come from above. Let's ask him for it and especially Since he does not change. There's no variation in him or 17 and. Also, he brought us forth into the world.

So that we might be an example first fruits means like an example among all his creation. Jesus brought me to salvation. We are born again. So that we might be examples in creation and if that is God's will won't he help me to overcome sin?

So that I can be an example to creation. He certainly will any of you who any of you who feel God won't help you to overcome sin. I tell you he will you are the first fruits of creation. You are to be an example in all of creation and you say Lord.

How can I be an example if you don't help me here? I am in this lonely place, and I'm struggling to live a holy life. Please help me. God will help you certainly. Okay. Then he speaks a little bit about our speech.

Hearing, Anger, and Receiving the Word

He says Let everyone be quick to hear slow to speak and slow to anger now. Most of us are the opposite. We are slow to hear and quick to speak. Now I wanted if you follow this verse I believe it's a help to overcoming anger and Any of you who have a big problem with anger and not able to control your tongue?

Let me give you a little advice to help you overcome anger. What should you do? When people are speaking Learn to listen to them. Don't interrupt them and give your opinion in normal conversation. Many people have this habit somebody speaking and they have to give their opinion immediately.

Hang on. Just listen listen quick to hear and slow to speak and Gradually this becomes your habit. Quick to hear slow to speak quick to hear slow to speak quick to hear slow to speak. You know what will happen in your life?

You will also be slow to anger so try this prescription and See if your disease is not healed. It will be here. When we are slow to speak we'll be slow to anger. And the other thing it tells us don't think that by anger you can fulfill God's purposes.

Never anger never achieves the righteousness of God. You go into some church situation and you're angry with people. That will not accomplish God's righteousness. Anger never accomplishes God's righteousness.

A concern for God's glory. That's what accomplishes his righteousness. Verse 21. Let us put aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness. That means even when you think you're put aside all filthiness.

There's still something that remaining at the bottom. You know, it's like if you take a cup of coffee, which you're drunk and I Say you say this is bad coffee. I'm gonna empty it out and you empty it into the sink.

You think the cup is clean. What do you think? No, you look inside. There's still something stuck at the bottom you empty the filthiness and still there's something remaining of wickedness. It says our Heart and soul is like that.

You think yeah, I've confessed all my sin. Just hang on. Ask the Lord to show you we'll see something stuck inside. Cleanse it out. Don't be so quick to say I have Confessed all my sin. I've made all my restitution.

Ask God to show you. Even after you put aside all what you know to be filthy you'll find something remaining in humility. Acknowledge that verse 21 and receive what God says it'll save your soul and When God tells you something verse 22 do it.

Don't just hear it. Those who only hear and Don't do are like people who go to the in the morning when you go to the mirror to wash your face. You see the mirror. See, there's some Dirt on your face. Maybe you've worked outside somewhere and.

And you don't clean it. And then you go away and now there's no mirror. So you think your face is clean. It's not clean. You saw it in the mirror and you didn't wash it. Sometimes you come to a meeting.

It's like that and the preacher holds up a mirror. God's Word is a mirror. You see your face Lord. So much evil in my heart. I didn't even know that now I see it and Then you go away from the meeting and you completely forget what you heard in the meeting.

This is don't be like that. God showed you something in the meeting. It's like an x-ray. I think if James were writing today he'd have used the word x-ray shows you something set it, right. Set it, right.

Don't forget what God spoke to you in the meeting. Don't forget what God spoke to you when you were reading his Word. God's Word is like it is the law of liberty. It says in verse 25. It's it's come to set you free.

It's not like the Old Testament law of bondage. The New Testament law is the law of liberty verse 25. And then he gives one word it is a very challenging word that has helped me like a challenge for me all through many many years in my life verse 26.

If anyone thinks he's a godly man and he cannot control his tongue. He's deceiving himself. I want to say that to all of you. Please remember it all your life. If you cannot control your tongue. Your godliness is worth zero it says there it is worthless.

Worthless means it's worth zero. All your activity all your work for the Lord all this that and the other everything is worth zero. If you cannot control your tongue. Do you know how important controlling the tongue is in the Christian life?

So often we get a bad testimony because we don't control our tongue and Even when we say something to someone we say it in such a hard way. It's like that. Have you seen how sometimes you see some fault in a person and you immediately point out that?

It's a nature in us. I've seen that sometimes maybe I Made a slight factual mistake and something I said in a meeting. And at the end of the meeting somebody will come to me. He will not say one word of all the blessing he got from that meeting and say brother this one thing you said was wrong.

And I say I agree. You're right. I was wrong there. But I feel sorry for him because that's all he got from the meeting. All that he got from the meeting was that he saw one wrong thing. Our nature is like that we Tend even in our speech we tend to find fault rather than appreciate.

It's nature and if you don't change your nature if you don't allow the Holy Spirit to change your nature your Usefulness to God will also be zero. Control your tongue allow the ask the Holy Spirit to control it and he says true Christianity.

I Would paraphrase it like that verse 27. It's not just a question of going to meetings. And singing songs reading the Bible and increasing in Bible knowledge. It's practical. It's caring for those who are in need orphans widows.

Helping those who are in need who are in distress. Now if a widow or an orphan is well-off. You don't have to worry about them, but widows and orphans who are in distress. Caring for the poor. It's a very important part of true Christianity.

A true servant of God Will seek to serve poor people more than rich people. He will go to poor churches more than rich churches. He will go to village churches more than city churches. He'll go where people cannot give him money rather than where people can give him money.

That is true Christianity. Caring for the poor. He will fellowship with poor brothers rather than rich brothers. He will seek for fellowship with the poor and the lowly rather than with the great and mighty people.

But do you see that in a lot of Christian workers today? Very rare. There are very few true servants of the Lord, but you can be one like that. Decide that you care for those who are weak and poor in the church and At the same time keep yourself completely unspotted unstained by the world.

He says this is true Christianity. True Christianity is a life that cares for the poor and keeps oneself unstained and Then he goes on on that subject in chapter 2 verse 1 to say How do you treat the rich people and poor people in the church.

Rejecting Partiality and Loving the Poor

One rich man comes with a golden ring and dressed in fine Clothes and you give him a special seat brother. Please come and sit here and a poor man comes in ragged clothes and You tell him in verse 3 why you can sit over there somewhere.

Just find a place for yourself. And he says aren't you evil? When you do that when you treat a rich brother in the church with such honor and The poor brother you treat in a despised way. You're not a servant of God.

You're just like any other worldly person the worldly person also treats that rich man with favor. You know how much of this there is in the church plenty of it. I Saw in my younger days when I went to different churches all denominations.

I saw one thing I Mentioned this before that the rich people and the influential people were always board members in the church. But is it because they were spiritual? No. They had high positions in society.

And so they were given honor just like here. Please come and sit on our board. Because you're a rich person and the poor man. Ah. You can't be a board member. You don't have any influence. You don't have any money.

You may be spiritual but we don't care for that. What type of church are you going to build with that type of attitude? Won't be the church of Jesus Christ. I'll tell you that He says when you do that you sin you've done things with evil motives.

Do you know that God has chosen verse 5 the poor people rich in faith? Do you know that God has promised his kingdom to these poor people? Verse 5 but you dishonor the poor man. What do the rich people do when they sit on your board one day?

They get offended with you and they drag you to court. Yeah, only a rich person can drag People to court because you need money to go to court. A poor person can't drag anybody to court. Jesus and the poor disciples couldn't drag anybody to court.

How is it churches drag other people to court today because they are rich and These rich people are the ones who blaspheme the fair name by which you've been called. Then you're not loving your neighbor as yourself.

If you love your neighbor as yourself verse 8, you will not show partiality, but if you show partiality verse 9 you are committing sin. Do you know that any person who shows partiality is? Committing sin.

It's a sin to show partiality in the church or anywhere. Because don't say you've done so many other good things. He says for example, if you don't commit adultery, but you commit murder verse 11, aren't you a sinner?

Of course, so in the same way, he says partiality is a sin like adultery and murder. That's the point. Just like murder is a sin adultery is a sin partiality is a sin. What would you think of a pastor who commits murder and adultery?

I? Think just the same of a pastor who shows favoritism to some rich person. What would you think of a preacher who lives in murder and adultery? I would show. I would say a preacher who shows partiality to rich people is As good as a preacher who commits murder or adultery no difference.

So he says Be careful. In verse 12 and 13 he's speaking about judging. Don't judge people by their external appearance whether they are rich or poor. When you do that you're being merciless you're being merciless to that poor man and If you are merciless To poor people and to those who have perhaps somebody has sinned has fallen don't be merciless to him.

Because if you're like that to people one day Verse 13 when God judges you he'll show you no mercy in your life. You know when somebody harms you and you don't forgive him remember James 2 13. You don't show mercy to that man.

One day. God will show no mercy to you. See when somebody does some harm to me there are two voices rising in my heart. Judge him be merciful to him. Judge him be merciful to him. Which voice is going to win?

It says here verse 13 last part mercy must win. Mercy the voice of mercy must win over the voice of judgment. Then in the final day God will be merciful to you also. And then in verse 14 to 26 he speaks about Making our faith produce works in terms of helping people who are in need.

Faith Demonstrated Through Works

You see a brother who is in need of food or clothes? You don't help him your faith is useless. Now I'm not saying that you've got to buy him a car or a scooter. He's talking about food and clothes necessities of life.

We don't have to help a brother to live in luxury but if a brother is shivering in the cold he doesn't have a blanket or His house is leaking and he can't sleep properly at night. What's your saying praise the Lord brother?

We'll pray about that. No, he's praying about it. Give him some money to fix the roof. That's practical Christianity help him. But you say well, I've got faith when I say it's no use of faith. If you don't have works that even that's what he's saying.

Abraham had faith verse 21. But he offered up his son he had works and that's his faith was proved by his words and that's how he was saved. And if you've got faith and it doesn't produce any works like Abraham's that faith is not real faith.

He's putting the currency note under the machine and it says this is not a genuine note. This is not genuine faith. And he speaks about Rahab again. It's interesting Rahab the harlot is mentioned at least three times in the New Testament Matthew Hebrews and James and Then here is a wonderful verse we could say it's the central verse of the whole episode verse 26 as The body without breath is dead.

So faith without works is dead in other words. As I said the other day if we think of the fingers and parts of our body like correct doctrine. You can have all the parts of your body all correct doctrine, but if you don't have breath you're dead.

Controlling the Tongue

So in the same way it says your faith can have so many things of doctrine which are correct, but if it does not produce works. That faith is useless. In Chapter 3 he speaks about the tongue and there's a whole chapter here about the tongue.

In the book of Proverbs, you know, it says a lot about the tongue about wisdom speech. When on the day of Pentecost it was a tongue of fire that came upon people's heads. I Don't know whether the Speech and carefulness of speech has been sufficiently emphasized in Christendom.

I Want to encourage all of you? If you're serious about serving God. Please take this matter of the control of your tongue very seriously. I believe this is one of the main reasons Why many people don't have the Word of God when they stand up to speak it as I told you before there are two reasons.

One they are not faithful with money. That's why God doesn't give them the true riches to speak in the meeting. Second they are not careful with their speech in their private conversation. They joke and play the fool and do so many.

Speak so many idle words and suddenly when they come to the pulpit they expect God to speak through them. God will not speak through them if God is to speak through you in the pulpit He must speak through you when you're sitting with your friends in that room.

If you don't allow him to speak through you when you sit with your friends in your room, he will not he will not Speak through you in the pulpit. That's why the tongue is so important. He says your tongue is like Like the rudder of a ship.

Verse 4 like the bits you put into horses mouths. Have you seen a horse? Have you seen a picture of a wild horse? Without any control you see all the horses that we see that pull carts. They've got a bit and bridle in their mouth by which the Driver turns the cart this way or that way.

But these wild horses you see in pictures sometimes out in the wild. There's nothing in their mouth. They run wild. They are useless. What do you think those horses are accomplishing nothing? Even the horses that take part in a horse race.

They win a medal because they got a bit in their mouth those wild horses get nothing. Horses which pull carts accomplish something you want to accomplish something in your life or you want to be like a wild horse.

Just runs around the whole day and wastes its life. Or do you want to be like a horse that wins a medal? Like those race horses or the horses that pull carts and shift things from one place to another.

Then let God put a bit and a bridle in your mouth today and Say Lord control my speech from today. You see these ships do you know that one of the most important parts of a ship is a little thing at the back called a rudder and When you turn the rudder one way the ship turns.