Pressure Points - October 26

Assurance And The Aim Of James

Good morning. If you're our guest, we're just delighted you're here. I'm Barke Osigian and I'm one of the pastors here. If you're a guest, we want you to know from the outset that we believe that the moment you place your faith, your trust in Christ alone as savior. You belong to him forever more and he belongs to you forever more. God's desire is that you would know that you would have the confidence to know that you belong to him through simple faith in the promise of what Jesus has promised according to what he has accomplished in his death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf.

Now, what why that's important is as we get into our study this morning, we are in the book of James. And James is writing to believers and he's not writing to them about how to get saved. He's already He knows that they're saved. He knows they've placed their faith, their trust in Christ alone as savior. That's why he calls them brethren, beloved brethren, 15 times in this short letter. But what he is doing is he's talking to fellow believers about growing up in their faith. In other words, God's intent is not that we should stay baby believers, that we should grow up and begin to act maturely in Christ.

In fact, all the apostles agree with this. Peter puts it this way, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. Uh Paul says it this way in Ephesians 4:15, speaking the truth in love, we including himself are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ. God's desire is that we would grow up in our faith. And we have to understand why this letter there's this letter has a context.

Scattered Believers And Pressure Points
We find that after the martyrdom of Stephen, all of the believers basically have been chased out of Jerusalem except for the apostles themselves. All have gone out to desperate areas. Why? Because the religious unbelieving religious rulers are persecuting them.

Steven even to death. Stone him to death. So now they have left their culture. The Romans didn't accept them from the very beginning. And so now they are struggling. They're under pressure. That's why we've entitled this series pressure points. Some of them are short on groceries. Some of them need some clothing. And what we find out is whenever we find ourselves under pressure, we tend to turn on each other. Exactly the opposite of what God has called us to do.

I was uh watching a football game. Terrible football game last night. Yes. Congratulations. Whoop whoop. Um so there's this team from Texas that went down to Baton Rouge. They drove eight and a half hours to misbehave. It's unbelievable. And they absolutely slaughtered my precious tigers. Slaughtered them. Now, the first half, okay, okay, we're getting there. We're doing okay. Second half just wiped them out. Now, the camera every now and then would show the sidelines. And sure enough, one of our uh best defensive players player was he's actually not dressed out because he's on injured reserve. He's our uh linebacker. And every now and then they turn and show what the guys were doing on the sideline and he was chewing on his brothers.

You know why? Because they're under pressure. Things aren't going well. And that's what happens to you and to me. That would that's what happens even in the church of the living God. That's what happens. Now, it shouldn't happen, but it does happen. In fact, from the very beginning, James says, "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." He's saying, "I know you're under trials. I know you are." Then he gives him the instruction in the very first chapter. He says, "All right, everybody, listen. Now, listen. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger."

Because the anger of man does not match up with the righteousness of God. So, what we know is there's some backbiting. There's some fighting taking place. And so, he's writing to his fellow believers say, "Guys, y'all need to calm down. I need you to understand God's intent is that you would grow up in your faith."

Trials, Tongues, And Growing Up
And from chapter 2, verse 14 to the end of the chapter, he's talking about y'all need to be mature. You need to grow up in your faith. Then the first half of chapter 3, he's talking about listen, you need to speak up, but only the right way. Understand the power of the tongue. Understand the problem of the tongue if you don't let the Holy Spirit be in control.

Understand the purpose of the tongue to speak out blessing. We're just saying that Jesus over my family. Jesus in the streets. I want to speak blessing over the people of God and even those who don't know him yet that they might come to know him.

So these three messages we could say is, you know, grow up, speak up, wise up. That's where he is today. He wants us to wise up and he's going to talk to us about wisdom.

What Wisdom Really Is
Now wisdom is not having a bunch of information. If you've ever known a philosophy professor, philosophy, love of wisdom. That's really what the word means. Love of wisdom. It's two words put together, two Greek words means love of wisdom. More often than not, they can't tie their own shoe, but they can really talk you into a circle. It's not about having a big vocabulary. It's not about having a lot of information.

Wisdom, both the Hebrew and the Greek, Chokmah and Sophia, is about skill in living, applying accurate knowledge correctly at the very moment it needs to be applied and to actually put it to use. You don't just talk about it. You don't just quote it. You act out on it. And so, he's going to talk about wisdom.

Now, uh I don't know if you know this, but cholesterol. Did you know there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol? Did you know that? I went to my doctor and for the first time ever said, "Hey, you've got you got some cholesterol issues and you know, put you on a statin." And I'm going, "I don't do statins." So I get my blood test from somebody else and they look at it saying, "No, no, you've got good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, but your good cholesterol is doing way better. You're fine. You're fine."

Do you know that wisdom, which is spoken about many, many times in both the Old and the New Testament, in fact, in the Old Testament, there's a whole section of books called the wisdom literature, Proverbs being the key note there, but it's not the only one. But there's two types of wisdom that are described in the Bible.

There's earthly wisdom and there's godly wisdom. And as we go along, we're going to see in this passage that he highlights the two and he says, "Listen, you need to recognize the two for what they are so that you're operating in godly wisdom, not in earthly wisdom." One wag says this, "Wisdom is a quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it." Another one says this, "A wise man learns from mistakes of others because nobody lives long enough to make all of his mistakes himself."

There was this uh professor that was at a faculty lounge and most of the faculty was there and an angel shows up and he's talking to the dean of the faculty and he says, "You know, you've been so selfless in the way you've served others. God sent me here to give you a blessing. And you have a choice to make. You can have infinite wealth. You can have infinite beauty or you can have infinite wisdom. What's your choice?" He says, "I choose wisdom." And poof, the angel leaves. And he's standing there with this halo of glow over him and all the fact look say something. He said, "I should have chose the money."

God's desire is that you and I would understand that there is wisdom from above and there's also earthly wisdom and we want to make the right choice.

Two Kinds Of Wisdom
So, I thought what we'd do is we'd read just these few verses together and then we'd break them down. We're in James 3:es 13-18. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness. Some of your translations will say humility of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder in every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Jesus once said this in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it to the full." How are we as those who already belong to him through simple faith? How are we going to have life to the full in the here and now? Because that is what he's talking about in John 10:10. He's talking about life to the full, not just in the sweet by and by, but the here and the now. And we're going to have that by exercising wisdom.

Jealousy, Strife, And Demonic Drift
So, let's see what he says here. First, he says, uh, recognize wisdom's work. Look in verse 13 again. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the humility of wisdom. So what we find out is wisdom involves at least two things.

First we find out it involves an attitude, an attitude of humility, an attitude of God, I need the wisdom that you provide because what I got ain't no good. I want your wisdom. I want to know how I can skillfully walk through this situation in a way that glorifies your name. And even in the first chapter verse 21, here's what it says about attitude. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness in humility, receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

Now, we're so used to the idea of saving souls by leading them to Christ. We read this in the English and we think, "Oh, he's talking about getting somebody saved for eternity." That's not at all what he's talking about. This phrase, "Save your souls, whenever it shows up, both in the Old and the New Testament, references saving the physical life in the here and the now." He says, "Listen, you've received the word of God. The moment you place your faith to trust in him, you were indwelled by and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. You belong to Jesus forever more. And oh, by the way, the Holy Spirit has made sure that there's a text for you to know that you would hear from God by literally reading his word. So listen, in humility, receive the word implanted and do it.

Preventing Conflict In The Church
Well, that's what he says in just the next few verses in chapter 1, verse 22. He says this, "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving themselves." Listen, I love Aana. We have Aana here, by the way. Approve workman are not ashamed. We're teaching young ones. My children all went through Awana and they learned they memorize key scripture in context and every now and then we'd have a little contest where they all get up here and they have the buzzer beater. You know, can you can you quote the verse? Do you know where it is? Got to be word perfect. But you know what? Having a verse down word perfect is not wisdom. It's doing it that's wisdom.

It's putting it to use. So that's why he says, "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Verse 25 of chapter one goes on, "But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This one will be blessed in what he does." What in the sweet by my no here and now. You want to be a bless have a blessing from the Lord. Know his word and live it.

Put feet to your faith and you'll be blessed in the here and the now. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5:16. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven." Wisdom is not just knowing the scripture. Wisdom is doing the scripture.

And so he's telling us about the wisdom from above. Philippians 2:3 says this, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves." You want to know the key to wisdom? humility. I'm going to humble myself under the instruction of the word of God and I'm going to do it. That's where wisdom comes from. That's skill in living.

Proverbs puts it this way. Proverbs 11:2, "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.

Now, you know, when this shows up, right? When the scripture tells you one thing and you're tempted to go in another direction, then you humble yourself under the word of God and say, "No, even though the entire world is telling me this is the way to go, I'm going to go this way."

That's skillful living. So, we look at we recognize wisdom's work. Now, we want to recognize wisdom's rival. Wisdom does has have arrival. Look what it says here in verses 14 and following. But if but if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly natural. Listen, demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder in every evil thing. Do you realize that when you have that inclination within your heart to be jealous or to be bitter, if you don't choose to put it aside by the power of the Holy Spirit, you have invited demonic influence in your life. It's literally what it says. demonic. Jealousy and bitterness is demonic.

And if you embrace it, if you embrace that, you've invited captivity to the influence of the evil one in your life. You know, there's times we just need to let something go. Did you know that? I don't know if you've ever seen this this uh you know what a monkey trap looks like. It's a coconut with a hole hollowed out with a hole in it just big enough for a monkey to stick his hand through and it's hooked to a chain and the chain is beaten into the ground. And then something that a monkey would want is put inside the coconut. The monkey goes in and he grabs what he wants and he can't pull his hand out. All he has to do is let go of what's in the coconut and he could pull his hand out. But he won't. That's literally how they capture monkeys. Feel like a monkey.

Selfish ambition. Jealousy. every evil thing. You know, when you find yourself in a conflict, which is obviously is what he's talking about here. In fact, when we get to uh to uh chapter 4, he's actually going to say, "What is it that's causing these quarrels among you?" This this is the whole context talking about the fact they're in this big fight. They're under pressure and now they're turning on each other. You find yourself in a conflict. You can ask yourself a few questions. Do I have a bitter spirit?

God, would you help me check my spirit? Do I have a belligerent spirit? This word selfish ambition could be translated strife. Someone causing strife, initiating strife. Am I belligerent?

You slap me, I'll slap you right back. You know what Jesus said? Turn the other cheek. He wasn't talking about nations. He's talking about individual relationships. You're in an argument. You want to be the peacemaker. You get slapped. You get verbally slapped in the face. You're going to slap right back. You're going to turn the other cheek.

Do I have a boastful spirit? Said did not be arrogant. Do I have a blind spirit? This idea of disorder and every evil thing. It's idea of confusion. Now it's just confusion taking place.
Like I'm blindly striking out. Confusion is happening.

Okay, now I'm going to tell you again. I said this last week because we're in a similar section. Anytime I have a passage like this, invariably there's somebody sitting out there saying, "Who's fighting? Who's in trouble? Who's the pastor talking to?" Answer is I'm talking to all of us. To my knowledge, everybody's doing great. There's no struggles within this congregation. Praise the Lord. Everybody's getting along. Let's look at this as preventative medicine. In James case, no, he was making corrections. What we're doing is we're looking at make let's make sure we don't fall into that same mess. Let's make sure that when we have conflict, we're checking our own spirit.

Philippians 2:4 says this, "Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Y'all know who Joe Rogan is? I know most of you know who Joe Rogan is. One of the biggest podcasts literally in the world. Joe Rogan. I read an article about him recently and uh apparently he's going to church. He's going to church in Austin. Austin. Oh man. He's probably doing really well. He's not a believer. He's not claiming to be a believer. But back when uh just a decade or so ago when the new atheist came out, he had a bunch of them, these philosophers, these atheistic philosophers on his show and he was listening to them. Not too long ago, he had a couple of believers on, well-educated believers, professors who were answering hard questions and explaining the authenticity of the New Testament and the evidence for the historicity of the gospels and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it's tweaked his tweaked his notice. And so, he started going to church. He still doesn't claim to be a believer. But in this article, he says, you know, when I step into that church, I see a bunch of people who want to improve their lives, who look at how they can look out for others, not just themselves, and I'm attracted to that. This is exactly what James is talking about. Hey, don't just look out for your own personal interests. Don't press into selfish ambition. See how you can help one another. Grow up. Speak up. Wise up. Put to use that which you've learned. That's where the wisdom is. Knowing it isn't wisdom. Knowing it and doing it is wisdom.

Wisdom From Above Described
Many of you are aware of the paraphrase of the scripture called the message. Now the message is not a translation. The translation is a group of scholars who get together from different theological perspectives and they look at the Greek and the Hebrew and the Aramaic and they're studying together and they come to an agreement that to the best that we can do as scholars, this is the way this should be translated. And that's why you have different translations because some of them more concerned about sounding more modern and others say, "No, we're going to go word for word." And sometimes it feels a little choppy, but we're going to do our best to go word for word. But a paraphrase is somebody just reading the passage and saying, "I'm going to give you the flow in modern language of what's going on." Now, if you're going to study deep studying to the word, don't study the message. You want to study maybe the New American Standard or the New King James, something that's more close to word to word. But every now and then, particularly in this passage, this guy gets it. I want you to hear it. Verses 14- 16 from the message.

Meanspirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom. It's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart. I got to tell you, he gets it. This is what James is saying. Look, stop the fight. God's got you. Somebody's got needs. Help meet that need. Is God your provider? Do you believe it? Well, if he is, then he can use you to bless others. What did he bless you with? Share it.

It's exactly what's going on with these poor, destitute believers spread throughout the Roman Empire, kicked out of their own Jewish culture. The Romans never liked them to begin with, and now they're struggling. And instead of binding together and encouraging one another and living in community and being there for each other, they're turned on each other like that linebacker on the sidelines jumping on his fellow players. Why? Because the pressure is on. But that's when we have the chance to shine the best. Grow up. Speak up. Wise up. Recognize wisdom's work. Recognize wisdom's arrival. Recognize wisdom's ways. Look at these last two verses, verses 17 and 18. But the wisdom from above, feel the contrast here, demonic, no, but now from above. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Wow, what a description. Here's how the Apostle Paul would put it. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Practical Questions For Peacemakers
You're in the middle of that conflict. That verbal slap in the face comes and you think to yourself, "That hurts." But Jesus took a whole lot more and he's forgiven me. God, by your strength, by your grace, let me be forgiving even in the midst of the strike. May I turn the other cheek and represent you well.

Jesus said this, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you have love for one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."

Some years ago. I have I have eight sisters. Thank you very much. You've been praying for me and I appreciate it. Surrounded by estrogen all my life. I do have three brothers, however, and my eight sisters would get together periodically, almost annually, and they they'd go off and have a girl's weekend. And two of my sisters uh before this girl's weekend had had words, things went sideways, and two of them were at odds with each other, but the weekend's coming. They all land at the Burbo together. And the sister who had offended the other sister said, "I waited to tell you this because I want everybody else to hear it. You need to know I'm sorry." And they all cried together. That's the way it's supposed to happen.

That's what's supposed to happen. Look, we're going to get crossways with each other from time. It happens. We're living in a fallen world. We have pressures of all different kinds and somebody walks in at just the wrong moment and you say something you wish you hadn't have said, but it's too late. It's out there and now she's hurt or now he's hurt and we're going off and times in between and we just kind of let it incubate into a boiling cauldron of trash. But at any moment, at any moment, we can say, "I'm sorry, and everything will be different."

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ Jesus also has forgiven you. The Psalmist celebrates this idea of being in unity in Psalm 133:1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity. How important it is for the testimony of God's people to be those who live in true unity.

All right. So, you're in that bad situation. You're about to have a confrontation or maybe it's pending. Time is up. We got to Okay, we got to deal with this thing. Here's some questions. I want to give some practical questions you can ask yourself. Am I being real before I step into this situation, this conf? Am I being real? That's what it says when it says pure without hypocrisy. Am I exaggerating the situation or I'm being real? What's going on here?

You know, uh when young couples come in for premarital counseling, uh we talk about how to have a good fight. That is a successful fight. That is one where you actually have resolution through the fight and things are fixed. And one example is, you know, the guy, he leaves his dirty underwear on the bedroom floor and she walks up and said, "How many times have I told you not to put there's the dirty pantry right there. It's right there. It's the basket. It's right there. See, mine are in there. See, there it is. But now this is it. You That's the That's the last time you always throw your underwear on the floor."

Well, that ain't true because nobody's that consistent. He accidentally put it in the right place two weeks ago. And so she say you always hyperbole. And he says, "Ah, two weeks ago I didn't." And now we're on to two weeks ago I didn't. Rather than we're dealing with that pair of underwear. Can you just pick up that pair of underwear?

Is it true? Are you being hyperbolic? Let's deal with the issue at hand. We can't go historical. We can't go every other time. No. No. That's already passed. Let's deal with this one. Maybe we can make some headway. You being real? Is it true? Are you being reasonable? I mean, are you are you trying to get a solution to the problem or you trying to win the argument? We talked about this last week. Are you trying to win the argument or you trying to win the person? You really got to decide what's it going to be. Are you being reasonable? That's what it says. Reasonable, peaceful, gentle. The whole idea is the fruit of the spirit. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. God, I need I need supernatural help to respond well. I need you to express yourself through me.

And finally, am I pursuing peace? Am I pursuing peace? Jesus put it this way. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

We want to grow up. We want to speak up the blessings of God. And we want to wise up. Want to recognize wisdom's work. If you're not doing it, you're not wise. Knowing it's not enough. want to rec recognize wisdom's rival. Hey, I still have a principle of sin and flesh within me that I got to do battle with. And when I start getting bitter and belligerent and boastful, hey God, I need to check my spirit. I want to recognize wisdom's ways. Pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Ask God For Wisdom And Live It
Wisdom. Where are we going to get it? James opens this entire letter with an invitation to have the wisdom of God. Chapter 1 verse 5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But where is that wisdom going to come from? Jesus prayed, "Heavenly Father, sanctify them in truth. Set them apart for your holy purposes. Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth.

We find out what the truth is here and then by the strength that God provides. Holy Spirit within we do it. Proverbs 26 and 7 says this, "For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. Lord, may that be true of those of us who call Copel Bible their church home and family.

Closing Exhortation And Prayer
One more time, the message. You want to get the broader picture of it. Here's what he says in verses 17 and 18. Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

I have to tell you, that's a description to my knowledge of this body of believers. As your pastor, I want to tell you over and over and over again, I've seen conflict worked out beautifully. Seen you love each other and care for each other and give to those in need. I've seen you surround each other and take care of each other. To God be the glory.

Will you stand and pray with…