Author: Jinson Thomas
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The necessity of Love 1 John 4:20-21
A little over a year ago, no one could’ve anticipated a global pandemic of such proportions! So naturally, something like this was going to have a major impact on all of our formal church gatherings – be it our Sunday services, Gospel Communities and peer discipleship groups. Overnight we were forced to move away from our physical gatherings to virtual gatherings from home, which brings in its fair share of challenges. From handling a crying child demanding our attention to completing multiple household chores or dealing with the more frustrating internet connectivity issues – undoubtedly being fully present in a virtual church gathering from home is no simple task. Like many of you, I’m still trying to figure what that looks like while at the same time trying not to lose the point of what the writer in Hebrews is saying when he gives the following instruction:
‘24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.’ (Heb 10:24,25)
But the real question is, how do we stir up each other to love and good works in an online medium? What does it look like for us to encourage one another in a virtual space? So I’ve tried to compile some practical ways in which we can be intentional, present & loving to each other as we gather online over the next few weeks or months.
1. Prepare before the meeting
Preparation allows our hearts to be in a position to receive from God and lovingly encourage one another. Before joining a meeting, preparing could involve praying and asking God to center our heart in the love that God has for us in Jesus Christ. Part of it could be confessing sins & remembering the Gospel. Moreover, also asking God to open up genuine opportunities for you to serve others during the meeting is a wonderful way to prepare our hearts. I’ve noticed how I look forward to our meetings the most when I know that my heart is at rest in Jesus.
2. Schedule dedicated time for the meeting
Many of us are well oriented with multitasking at home. We’ve built up the capacity to perform household chores & care for our families while managing to stream a TV show or watch sports at the same time. Yet, somehow, the same orientation to multitask while joining an online service can hinder rather than help us from being receptive to God & fully present for others. Hence, being intentional in scheduling dedicated time exclusively for the meeting becomes an essential aspect. Of course, this was something we didn’t have to consider while we were meeting physically. Still, it has become such a critical factor due to the number of overwhelming responsibilities and distractions available at home.
3. Participate during the meeting
Sometimes we assume that serving & ministering only occurs while the Word is being taught or during praise and worship. Ministry, however, can take different forms and requires every believer in the local church to participate for the “body” to function properly (Eph 4:11-17). One of the ways by which we can participate in meetings is by engaging in group discussions. This takes place during the fellowship time after formal Sunday gathering and weekly gospel communities. From my experience, I’ve noticed how the reflections on the sermon or the bible studies by other believers have greatly blessed my own heart. Because in those testimonies, we get to learn from each other and witness what God is doing in each other’s lives. Therefore, participating in a group discussion is a pretty big way to minister and encourage each other! Also, being sensitive to moments when we can intercede for a brother or sister as they share their reflections is a great way to minister & build each other up.
4. Turn on the video
This might seem like the most trivial out of the 4 practical tips, but it’s as important as the others. After all, who would want to see the non-glamorous visual of us at home? But in reality, it’s not so much about our presentability as much as it’s about communicating to yourself and to others that you want to be intentionally present for them and with them. I’ve learned from my own experience that turning off the video creates an unhealthy room for anonymity (trying not to be identified in a group) & opens up many more distractions (resulting from not being actively present). Instead, by having the video switched on, we can communicate that we eagerly desire to be present for the sake of others. So much of that gets expressed through the visuals of our face, smile, attitude and gestures!
Finally, I want to say that there can be times when it’s unavoidable to follow some or all of the above points, and that’s perfectly fine. But I’d say this – understanding our high calling to “stir each other up unto love and good works” during these meetings, let’s strive to keep that as an aberration rather than the norm for us. I’m sure there could be many more practical ways to add to this list which can be helpful for all of us. I would love to hear more ideas! Feel free to do whatever is necessary to be intentional, present and loving your church family!
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Assurance in the midst of uncertainty
Good morning church! How’s everyone doing this morning? Ideally, we would’ve loved to have continued with the hybrid model but recent restrictions on public gatherings obviously means that we need to switch back to a full online service.
Even as I say that I just want to be thankful to God for the opportunity to still connect with each other on a Sunday virtually. I’m thankful to God this morning for the Gospel and I’m thankful for all of you.
As a church we have been going through an exciting series titled “Faith filled Friendships” from 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. The Apostle John has so far given us a few different test kits to help us evaluate our own friendship status with God. The first test kit was that “if we say we know God but don’t keep His commands, then we are not telling the truth – in plain words we are liars”. Then the second test kit told us that “if we say that we are in the light but hate our brother, then we are still in darkness”. And so today we come to a third test kit as we read 1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[c]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
I’ve personally always loved going to the doctor. Fortunately for me, the fear of doctors I don’t believe was ever there so I didn’t mind going to the doctor. One of the things that fascinated me about doctors was the part before the tests are taken. Where the doctor turns into an investigator and asks all different kinds of questions. All the way from asking about my medical history, what kind of symptoms I’ve been showing, if I’ve had past allergies to certain medication etc.
Through these various questions, the doctors attempt to diagnose my illness. Similarly in today’s passage, it’s almost like the text is asking us various investigative questions to help us evaluate our friendship status with God based on our response to the worldly values & desires. If we truly are friends with God, then it’ll be also reflected in our reaction and response to the worldly values & desires.
Are we ready for a heart diagnosis this morning? We will be reflecting on three diagnostic questions this morning. Right at the end we’ve got some application points but before that the questions:
1. Do we notice heart idols? (v15)
2. Do we see the deep roots of our heart idols? (v16)
3. Are we trusting in the Gospel today? (v17)
1. Do we notice heart idols? (v15)
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Before we arrive at the definition of heart idols, let’s try to understand what does John mean when he says “Don’t love the world or the things in this world”? Is it meaning that I shouldn’t love my family? Is it meaning that I can’t enjoy eating a plate of biryani? Is it meaning that I can’t enjoy watching sports? Is it saying that “everything is evil in the world, so I need to leave everything and live like a monk”?
No, that’s an extreme unbiblical understanding of the created world. When God created the world and everything in it, He declared it to be “good” in Genesis chapter 1.
But something happened when Adam and Eve sinned against God. Something changed in the dynamics. These very same good things that God had given us to enjoy & be reasons to praise Him now became ultimate things for us! That’s heart idolatry.
Here’s what Pastor Tim Keller says about Idolatry: “Idolatry means turning a good thing into an ultimate thing. We say “unless I have that, I am nothing”.
Some of us would think “I don’t bow down before a carved image made of wood or stone”, but that’s just half of the story. If we’re honest, we’ll admit that we regularly and consistently bow down before the heart idols of people, pleasure, position and possessions. These things in itself were good things as God created them, but in our sin we have made them out to be ultimate things.
In culture, we’ve made the word “idol” to be an aspirational thing: “Indian Idol” “American Idol” but in reality heart idolatry for a person, for pleasures, for position and for possessions is dangerous and harmful. Why? Because it controls (enslaves) our heart.
It consumes our thought life. It controls the choices and decisions we make to the extent where we will do anything to get it even if it means going beyond God’s wise and protective boundaries.
That’s what loving the world means – it’s heart idolatry (making good things out to be ultimate things) & we must know that’s in the polar opposite direction of being friends with God. James 4:4 speaks about this in a much more direct, confrontational way when it says:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Now one of the questions that might come to our minds is that – if I have heart idols right now, does that make me an unbeliever? Is my faith not genuine? Is that what this verse means: If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (v15)
No, it means that a true, genuine believer when he/she is confronted with their heart idols will want to repent and get right with the Father. True believers can’t remain in unconfessed sin.
True can’t remain in unrepentance? Why? Because if God is truly our Father, He will not leave us in a pit of sin. He may discipline us out of His love but He won’t let us be as we are. Secondly, if we are truly his children we can’t go on resisting God’s loving pursuit & call to turn back to Him.
The Spirit in us will convict us & bring us back into the loving arms of our Father. The Spirit constantly tells us “Go back to your Father, enjoy the safety and security in His arms”. Eg: Prodigal Son
At this point – can we just pause and ask ourselves what are our heart idols right now? What’s something or someone that has consumed our thought life over the last week? What’s is something or someone we have made out to be ultimate things – saying that we can’t live without this.
2. Do we see the deep roots of our heart idols? (v16)
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[c]—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Many times when we evaluate our idols, we end up only looking at the surface. So we say things like: “social media is my heart idol, food is an idol” etc. These are true but what we need to understand is that all these idols are extremely deep rooted. In v16 – I think the apostle John is exposing the roots of all of our idols. It can be categorized in 3 ways:
- Self-gratification (Desire for flesh): Being controlled and shaped by our appetites & cravings of the body. In essence what we are communicating is “my life & purpose is all about satisfying the pleasures of my heart. I won’t stop until all those pleasures are satisfied”.
- Self-accumulation (Desire for eyes): Being controlled and shaped by our hunger for money & possessions that attract our greed. In this case, we communicate “my life is all about making loads of money, becoming rich and buying whatever I want to buy. I won’t stop until I get what I want”.
- Self-sufficiency (Pride of life): Being controlled and shaped by the security and stability of our earthly resources, skills and knowledge. In this case, we communicate “I’m a self-made individual. I will do whatever it takes to secure my life on the basis of resources, skills and knowledge so that I’ll never need to be dependent on anyone else.”
And this is not new deep roots that just popped up in our life suddenly. I must tell you that these are age-old sinful deep roots that was there in the Garden of Eden. Here’s what it says in Genesis 3:6:
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
- Good for food – Self-gratification
- Delight to the eyes – Self-accumulation
- Desired to make one wise – Self-sufficiency
I would argue that every sin that we commit is a product of one of these or all of these deep-rooted idols. And that’s the heart of rebellion – it’s saying “God, You should not be in the center of my life. You should not dictate what I should or should not do. It’s my life and I chose to live it my way for my pleasures and goals. I can figure this out apart from You”.
Why am I saying all this? To help us realize that merely dealing with the surface level idols isn’t solving the problem. For example, if I say I have a “food idol” – merely taking steps to discipline my eating habits will not remove the root of “self-gratification”. One of the symptoms of COVID-19 that we all know is fever. Now what would happen if we just took a Crocin to treat it? The fever will subside temporarily but that doesn’t do anything to the infection that’s there on the inside. That needs to be treated differently and we need the help of doctors and physicians to help us with that. We can’t self-medicate. Similarly these heart idols are too deep for you and I to do anything about them by ourselves. We really need God’s rescuing grace for this. “Grace” precisely means God doing something for us that we can’t do ourselves. We need grace.
3. Are we trusting in the Gospel today? (v17)
17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
“Whoever does the will of God” abides forever. What is this will of God that John is telling us to do? John 6:28-29 – 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
The disciples were like us – practical people. “Tell us what works should we be doing.” Jesus tells them what you need to do “is believe in me”. But this believing in Jesus is not a passive activity. It’s not something we do intellectually, no believing involves commitment & surrender. Eg: believing that the chair I’m sitting on can hold my weight. So what do we believing Jesus for. 3 final applications:
- Believe in Jesus’ finished work:
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:5)
First thing we need to realize regarding our heart idols is that on the cross, Jesus Christ paid the entire penalty meant for all the deep-rooted idols in our lives. There’s not a single idol which hasn’t been covered by the blood of our Savior. He paid it in full! So when we are made aware of our heart idols, it’s not something to become fearful or anxious about but rather realize that the payment for these idols have been made by Jesus in full. We can repent immediately as a result of that. We don’t need to delay because the payment is made.
- Believe in Jesus’ intercession
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:15,16)
Many times in our lives we will be overwhelmed by the extent of our heart idols. Especially when we see repeated patterns of it. But here’s what You are I need to know. We aren’t left alone to deal with our idols. Help is available right now. There is someone (Jesus) understands the temptations of these heart idols. It’s a big statement to know that in every respect Jesus was tempted as we are but without sin.
Yes, Jesus as our perfect Savior didn’t yield to sin but he understands the full force of temptations. So that’s why He is the perfect person to pray for us and ask the Father for the right and appropriate help that is needed. All those times when you’re weary and disappointed, remind yourself and each other – “Help is available because my Jesus is praying for me right now”.
- Believe in Jesus’ second coming
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (Heb 9:28)
The first two applications dealt with reactively responding to our idols. This one is proactively responding to it. What I meant by that is if we know that our bridegroom is definitely coming soon, then in eager expectation we should take radical steps to not put ourselves in positions of compromise.
Would anyone of us ever approach a bride-to-be (someone who is about to get married) just a day before she’s about to get married and ask her to put on her bridal gown and come and play in the mud? No matter how brave you may be, no one would dare to put forward that suggestion because you’ll get a solid beating.
Her wedding dress is prepared for her to wear on the day when she gets married to her husband and she’ll do everything she can to ensure that it remains clean. The Bible calls us the bride of Christ. Brothers and sisters, our wedding bells are going to ring soon. On that wonderful day when Jesus will rid us completely of every single heart idol. So today we will take steps to keep our wedding clothes ready and clean for that upcoming day.
Good morning church! Hope everyone’s doing good this morning. Just wanted to welcome our friends who have joined us online via Zoom & Facebook Live & our friends who are at the church hall this morning. We pray that the service this morning encourages your heart to move toward God.
As a church we’ve been going through a series titled “Faith-filled Friendship” from the letters of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. So far we’ve explored quite a bit on what does Friendship with God actually look like. This morning we find ourselves in 1 John 2:28-3:3 where we will try to unpack what does it mean for us to not only be friends with God but also relate with Him as our Father. Brother Saju covered a very similar topic a few weeks back so I’ll be building upon what brother Saju shared with us. Let’s look to God in prayer.
To start with I’ll piggyback on one of the themes that brother Saju asked us a few weeks back. When you and I think of God as Father, what are some thoughts that come to your mind? Do you think about God being distant and absent most of the time? Do you think God have an angry & condescending face toward you? Or do you see think about God as someone who spoils you? Many times these ideas about God come from our broken experiences with our own parents or in our own parenting.
And yet having a right perspective of God being our Father is so essential.
What if I told you that your response to temptations, fears, anxieties & pressures of life today are closely connected to what you think about God & what you think about yourself?
And I’m not referring to our Sunday declarations where we’ll sing that “God is our good Father & we are children of God”. I’m referring to our street level daily lives where we are either living as orphans or as children of God & that has a massive impact on our lives. Therefore, it’s not a small matter. We need to know what it means for us to be children of God. 3 main points from the passage:
1. We’ve been given a new NAME
By new NAME I’m not suggesting that we need to change our names, but rather to remind us that we’ve been given a new identity, a new position in the family of God. We are no longer orphans.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
– 1 John 3:1
3 things about our new Name:
- Undeserved Name – “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”
As believers one of the things that we need to frequently remember is that becoming a child of God is an undeserving gift – it’s not something we could have earned or achieved. It’s not due to our popularity or talent or family background or potential or good looks which made God adopt us. In fact, we have more reason as to why “we don’t qualify & are absolutely unfit to be His children”.
Ephesians 2:1-3 plainly states: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Imagine going to the most dangerous jail cell in the world where it holds criminals who have committed the most heinous of crimes and then deciding to adopt them as your family members. Most people will say that is not a good idea & yet isn’t it amazing that God in His love chose to adopt those who were once “children of wrath”. It’s an absolutely undeserving gift.
- Costly Name –“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”
I love the expression of great love being “given” to us so that we can become children of God. When these bible passages are talking about love, it’s not talking about worldly love which is self-centered; where we love someone because they love us back. Biblical love is sacrificial – it’s loving someone even when the other person is not in a position to love back – it’s unconditional. And this kind unconditional love gift came at the expense of Jesus’ own life.
For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
– John 3:16
Jesus was the only man who lived a perfect life in the sight of God and then He took the punishment was meant for the “children of wrath”. He bore our sin & shame and died in our place. Three days later he rose from the dead so that whoever turns away from their life of sin & trusts in Jesus and what He did for us, they will become children of God.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
– John 1:12
It’s a costly Name! The price penalty to buy this new Name came at the highest cost of Jesus’ blood.
- Intimate Name – The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1b)
In this verse, John is telling us that the hostile, opposing response that an unbelieving world has toward God will now be directed toward us as His children.
Although this is a sad reality, but I also want to say that it tells us that our identity is so intimately tied to God’s identity in Christ, that the world responds to us in the same way as it does to the Father. In Acts 9, when Saul as an unbeliever was on an aggressive violent mission to drag Christian believers from Damascus and bring them back captive to Jerusalem, his life had a 180 degree turn when He encountered Jesus.
I find it so interesting that Jesus asks him “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus didn’t say why are you persecuting the believers or why are you going after the church? No, it was a direct attack on Jesus himself & He needed to intervene. Isn’t it amazing that we as believers have the same privilege? Our name is intimately tied to God’s name.
When I was in college, I volunteered at the VISA Home for 3-4 months. Some of you know that VISA is an orphanage started by a believer called John Abraham (not the actor). During those months, I received insight into their ministry up and close.
Once I remember, one of the kids received a note from the school. I glanced over and saw that it was addressed to the child and I was amazed that the surname of the child stated “John Abraham”. At that point I realized what a big deal that was. These were children whom he met at Railway Stations in Mumbai. When he met them, they didn’t have a home, they didn’t have a loving family, no safety, no food and no education. He brought them home & then adopted them as his own giving them his own name. Whatever the child did from that point on – good or bad, he was taking the responsibility on himself by becoming their father.
For me that was such a beautiful picture of the gospel right there. When we were lost as orphans with no spiritual protection, impoverished & dying, dirty in our spiritual mess, God reached out to us through Jesus Christ, picked us up and made us his children by giving us a NEW NAME. The day we put our faith in Jesus, he declared “You’re no longer an orphan; You’re mine”.
And one of the struggles that many of us go through in some form or the other is the craving for the approval & validation of others. It could be our parent’s approval, or it could be the approval of our spouse, it could be the approval of our boss or teachers, or the approval of our pastors, or it could be the approval of friends.
We know it’s a problem when our security and joy is dependent on the appreciation or criticism of others. And the gospel frees us by telling us that we’ve received a NEW NAME.
The gospel gives us the security telling us that we are fully and completely accepted and approved in Jesus. The one whose opinion truly matters (God) has given His approval.
2. We’ve been given a new LIFESTYLE
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:29)
What John is telling us is that if we truly have become children of Holy God, then holiness would become part of our DNA. Why? Because God’s Spirit in us produces a heart that desires holy living.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:14-16)
And as I was reading through this and evaluated my heart, I realized that when I think about “holiness” or “set apart”, I can be selective about the areas of holiness in my life. But that’s not how God sees it. The passage from 1 Peter says “be holy in all your conduct”. Therefore, setting apart of our lives is all-encompassing.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1)
But does practicing righteousness and holiness mean sinless perfection? No, it means that if we are children of God, we can’t be okay if our relationship is not right with God. Life is not okay for us if we are not experiencing joyful fellowship with the Father. Remaining in unconfessed sin isn’t a trivial thing for us that can be overlooked.
Just take a look at how the Psalmist describes his life when he was in sin:
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5)
It’s miserable to be in sin but the true believer longs to confess and be right with God. If the relationship with God is real and genuine, then someway or the other repentance will be sought because the relationship matters.
Let’s take a moment to pause for a minute – If you had to think through what are some places where you see selective holiness in your life right now? Or selective unholiness? What would true repentance look like for you?
3. We’ve been given a new HOPE
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
As children of God, we are in a WIP mode (Work In Progress) – the end goal is to become fully like Jesus. But let me clarify that being like Jesus does not mean being identical to Jesus. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man so we can never be Jesus identically. But being like Jesus means that when He returns our perfected humanity will match his.
Brothers and sisters, being made like Jesus is a wonderful thing – because that will fully be reversing the effects of the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, their physical and spiritual lives got corrupted with sin.
Aging bodies, sicknesses & diseases, physical death & spiritual brokenness are all the disastrous results of the Fall. But here’s the amazing thing – through Jesus all the broken effects of the Fall are being reversed. Which means that our perfected body which we will receive when Christ returns won’t age, won’t experience sickness, won’t experience death & decay and moreover will be fully cleansed from the presence of sin!
And that’s the hope for us brothers and sisters – maybe right now is a season when you’re experiencing the frailty and weakness of the physical body, you need to know that the finished product when Christ comes again will be totally free of that.
Maybe right now you’re in a season where you’re despondent over your patterns of sin, you need to know that the finished product when Christ comes again will be pure and perfect without an iota of sin. Without knowing and believing this truth, our lives will be hopeless and purposeless especially when we see the brokenness of our current lives.
This past week I heard a story of a woman went to the silversmith. Not sure if it’s a true story but I thought the illustration made a lot of sense. The silversmith held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’
Similarly, God is so serious about His commitment in this relationship as a Father that He won’t stop until Jesus Christ is fully seen & made in us. He gives us a New Name, He gives us a Brand New Lifestyle and He gives us a New Hope.
Good morning church. We have been going through an exciting series titled “Faith filled Friendships” from the letters 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. Right now we find ourselves in 1 John 2:12-14 where we see the apostle John encouraging & reassuring the church because they were in a season where they were deeply unsettled in their faith. Some of the church members whom they had closely fellowshipped with, prayed with, laughed with and cried with had abandoned the faith.
They were being influenced by heretical teachings which denied that Jesus came in the flesh. More than that, despite their denial of Jesus, their immoral lifestyle and their lack of practical love, they were making big claims saying that they know God and belong to Him. You can imagine how that would’ve left the community of believers shaken, uncertain about everything that they were taught. As I relate to this, I think about the recent stories of popular Christian pastors & leaders who have “fallen from grace” & shockingly caught in a lifestyle of sexual immorality.
And all of this happened simultaneously while they were claiming to know God and engage people with conversations about God. And I can imagine how something like this can disturb and unsettle believers who have been impacted by their ministries. People may end up thinking – “If I followed these people and their teachings, then what can I say about my own faith?”
Maybe some of us are currently in a season where we are deeply disturbed by the brokenness and the sin of someone we looked up to in the faith. Or maybe we are disturbed by our own spiritual state seeing our selfishness and thinking this is not the way it was meant to be.
And I want to tell you that there is hope. It’s in the midst of this spiritual confusion, where John passes on this love letter from God. More than the flowery words and the flattering words, God communicates his love to His people is by telling them their identity: who they are in Christ. Not only is knowing our identity an assurance for us as believers but our identity – knowing who we are in Christ gives us the motivation to live radically obedient lives. From this passage I believe there are at least 3 identity statements that God wants to remind us this morning:
1. We are forgiven in Christ (v12)
I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven
for his name’s sake.
If you’ve been in a church or been among church people for a while you would’ve certainly heard the word “forgiveness” because it is one of the central themes of our Christian faith. But at the same time, as a result of overusing the word “forgiveness” in our vocabulary, we sometimes lose the essence of what it exactly means.
The definition of forgiveness is “to let go; cancel a debt; refrain from imposing a debt of punishment”. In other words, it’s basically saying “You deserve this punishment for what you’ve done, but I’m going to cancel the punishment. I’m going to let go”.
Okay, so the obvious question here is what was the size of our debt?
Angie and I were watching this documentary on Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi & we were startled at the debt that these men needed to pay back to the Banks. We’re talking about thousands of crores! Since they can’t pay back the amount, they are going to be tried and sent to jail. What if I told us this morning that our moral debts and are offences against God surpass Vijay Mallya’s & Nirav Modi’s financial debt?
Isa 59:1 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
Our offences against God are so many that God’s face is hidden from us. And we don’t have the means or the ability to pay off our debt.
On top of that there’s another problem – God is Just and he can’t simply overlook & pardon our sins. Someone may say…what’s the big deal? Why can’t God just forgive sins like that? Imagine if someone burnt down your house out of anger or envy. You land up in court to get the matter settled. If the judge simply pardons the person who wronged you, how would that make you feel? You’ll feel that injustice is done. No matter how good the intentions of the judge is, justice must be served. If that’s the expectation from an earthly judge, can God who is Holy and Just simply forgive sins? Forgiveness is never cheap. Somebody needs to pay. There is always a cost to forgiveness.
That’s why at the end of v12 – it says “because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake”. On account of Jesus’ pure life and finished work on the cross is the only way you and I can receive full forgiveness. That’s the only way in which God can tell us “Though you deserve punishment & separation from me forever, I’m going to cancel the punishment. I’m going to let go”.
Col 2:13-14: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Amen! Why is it important for us to know that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ name’s sake today?
Because it fills our hearts with love and appreciation for Jesus. If we’re seeing our hearts lack in love and appreciation for Jesus, it’s because we’ve forgotten how much we have been forgiven. The song “His mercy is more” captures this beautifully.
What riches of kindness He lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more
We need songs like this, we need daily reminders from Scripture, we need daily reminders from each other to remember how much we have been forgiven.
But not only are we forgiven in Christ,
2. We are friends in Christ (v13a)
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is
from the beginning
Who is this person whom John refers to as “who is from the beginning?” It’s Jesus Christ. In 1 John 1:1 – the very first verse in this letter, John introduces Jesus by saying that He existed from the beginning. Meaning He existed before anything else ever existed. Before time and space existed, Jesus was there. Before the universe was created, Jesus was there.
Everything else in creation has a start date & an end date but not Jesus – He has always existed. Not only did Jesus exist, but everything in creation was made through Him and nothing was made without Him. (John 1:3) Not only did he always exist and everything was created through Him, In Jesus all things hold together (Col 1:17). But not just that but In Jesus all things in heaven and earth is going to be reconciled through His blood (Col 1:20).
And the apostle John is saying that this Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer – He saw with His eyes, he heard him with his ears and he touched Jesus with his hands. Oh..wow! What an amazing thing to witness and know Jesus up and close like that.
But wait a second, in this v13 John is saying something else…he is saying that as believers we also can experience the same level of intimacy. Although Jesus is not physically present with us now, He is spiritually present with us always through His Holy Spirit. Many of us would consider ourselves fortunate if we had the opportunity to meet the President of a nation; let alone be his close friend.
Now think about it brothers and sisters – it’s unbelievable to wrap our mind around this – the God who always existed, Created every single thing in creation, sustains creation with His Word and Redeems us by His blood…we get to know Him personally and intimately. That’s mind blowing because who are we after all? We are like a flower that fades tomorrow. We are like mist that disappears overnight and yet God choses to be our friend.
Why is it important for us to know this truth?
Because it fills our heart with humble worship for our Creator God. One of the downsides of lockdown has been the inability to be able to go outside the city and see the hills and the valleys. Trust me there are worship lessons that the hills & valleys teach us.
When we look at the hills and valleys, if we are absolutely honest we would say “Wow what a wonderful Creator my God is” but also humbles us telling us “I’m not as big as I think I am. I’m quite tiny in comparison to this” & yet God is my close friend.
But not only are we forgiven & God’s friends in Christ but
3. We are no longer sin slaves in Christ (v14b)
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
For some of us v14 seems like a strange, unreal promise. More often that not we hear these words spoken to us – “You defeated Christian; you’ll be a slave to sin for the rest of your life, how many times have you tried and failed, God’s had enough of you”. When in fact God in his love letter is telling us something very different. He says “you are strong, the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one”.
I know for some of us it’s really hard for us to believe, but here’s the point I don’t want to miss…this strength & power to overcome isn’t our own. The strength comes by relying on Christ. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Eph 6:10)
I’m not trying to give a romantic picture of the Christian life where believers live such a victorious life that there is no struggle. No, the reality is that there will be struggles with sin till Christ comes again but what I’m trying to say is that in Christ now we can fight!
When we were unbelievers, there was no question about fighting sin. Why? Because we went with the flow, we went with the desires of our heart, but now in Jesus we are recreated to fight sin and we’ve been given the weapons to fight sin too.
I’m a fan of the Bourne action movies. It was every guy’s dream to wake up one day and fight like Jason Bourne. He could tear you down using a ball point pen & single handedly beat up an army of bad guys. But there was one problem, he didn’t know who he was and that to a great extent prevented him from doing what he was trained to do.
It’s only when began to understand his identity – know who he was, was he able to use the skills available for him to fight and survive.
And as believers we often forget who we are & so we automatically assume that we can’t fight sin. But what happens when we fall in sin? We repent and turn back. We repent and turn back. 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Do I really have weapons available at my disposal? Yes, I’ll tell you a couple of them. God’s Spirit & God’s promises. God knows that we are weak and can’t fight on our own so He gave us His Spirit. “He who is in you is greater than He who is in this world” (1 John 4:4). We have a co-fighter; co-soldier – the Holy Spirit. And He’s given us His Word to assure us of God’s promises.
What does God’s promise say “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philp 1:6)”. Even though we may experience momentary falls and stumbling, God has promised to not leave us incomplete. He has promised to finish His work of perfecting and restoring us. We know how the story will end and so today we can fight sin valiantly & persistently. Christian, if you’re down and defeated today, you need to know that you need to stand and fight.
Has it been the effects of something that has happened in the last one year spiritually disturbed you? Maybe it’s someone you looked up to spiritually whose fall from grace has disturbed you? Maybe it’s your own spiritual state which is unsettling you? You won’t find assurance in looking at the faith of other people. You won’t find assurance by looking at your own performance.
You will find your assurance by knowing who you are in Christ. “You are mine, You are forgiven, you’re His friend & you’re no longer a sin slave”. Take a few minutes to talk to God and get right with Him. If God’s forgiveness, friendship and freedom from slavery isn’t a reality for you, I want you to know that you can receive that by handing over your life to Him today. Repent from your sins and receive Jesus.
A biblical perspective on one of the most “tolerated” sins
Good morning church! I’m thankful to God for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning. Over the last few months, as a church we’ve been studying through the book of James. And I believe God has been dealing not just with our outward behaviours and actions but also with our hearts.
One after the other we’ve been convicted with challenging passages. But the purpose in all of this is not to beat us down in discouragement but rather to show us how deeply our loving heavenly Father cares about the genuineness of our faith.
He doesn’t want us to remain enslaved by hidden and comfortable sins but wants to address them head on. Today we deal with a very common tolerated sin: the Pride Problem in v11-17. Would you read it once more with me?
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
It’s IPL season and I’ve been following the IPL like some of you. This year something interesting was noticed in these teams. At the start of the tournament the top teams in the league seemed like they were running away with the trophy. The difference between the top teams and the other teams were visibly apparent. But as the tournament reached the last leg, many blind spots were beginning to show in the game of these top teams. The problem was that they relied so heavily on a couple of star players at the start of the tournament, that they overlooked the performance of the remaining players. They just assumed that everyone was playing well and there was no issue with their game. But as it got closer to the playoffs when all teams got more competitive, these star players didn’t shine on the day and it left the remaining team exposed causing a serious blow to their chances of gaining the much-awaited title. They just couldn’t see their blind spots! And similarly I think in church, we focus heavily on and address many other sins like alcoholism and lust & end up overlooking and sometimes even tolerating sins like “Pride” which can cause serious issues in our own personal spiritual life and also in the lives of the people we do life with (our community of faith). What God’s trying to tell us through this passage is that – it’s not something that we need to be comfortable with. It can cause serious damage and it needs to be addressed. But you may ask, what’s the big deal about “Pride”? Are we making a mountain out of a mole hill? James gives us a few reasons:
1. Pride blinds us
Many of us may have played the blindfold game growing up where we were blindfolded, turned around a few times and then left to catch others. And without our sense of sight, it becomes extremely difficult to know where we are at or even find someone else. And similarly Pride blinds our view of ourselves, of others and of God. Let’s look at each in detail:
- Blinds our view of ourselves (v11)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
I’m sure one question that many of us might be thinking of is: what does James mean by speaking evil against one another? He’s using a broad term to describe anything that could damage the reputation of someone else. Looking at the context it directly refers to being critical and judging people around you (where you’re more concerned about the sin in the other person’s life than the sin in your own life). It can take many forms – where we are consumed by pointing out faults in the other person, where we label people as such and such…call people names and come to the conclusion that they will never ever change. [This person is like that only – hopeless, useless]. And so what James is saying that when we do that we become the judge and jury.
James was actually not introducing a brand new subject on pride and judging others. He was in fact building on Jesus’ teaching in Matt 7:1-5.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
What Jesus is telling us that judging others sadly also affects our hearts in a deeper way – we won’t see ourselves as sinful. We won’t recognize our need to repent because we will think that we aren’t as bad as the other person. And that is why pride is blinding!
But not only does pride blind our view of ourselves but pride
- Blinds our view of God (v12)
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
At this point when James wrote the letter, they were all under the rule of the Roman emperor Caesar. Who was the final decisive judge in all matters? It was Caesar. Which means no one could even dare to challenge his decisions. Now imagine if someone decided to setup his own little court to pass his own judgments, what would that mean? Undermining the authority & power of Caesar. Big deal! It’s in that context that James is telling us that God is the ultimate lawgiver and judge. He is the One who has the full authority and power to execute His judgments as He pleases. When we judge someone and label someone, we undermine God’s authority and His judgment regarding that person:
Once I heard a pastor share his experience of when he just got out of seminary and was appointed as a pastor in his first church. Filled with all that theological knowledge and the pride in his heart, he grew to become extremely critical of the members in his church. At one time one of the members in the church confronted him and told him “Brother, even though God is all-wise (he knows everything and He knows everything about me), yet He is not as critical as you are”. When we judge others, we we fail to see God’s purpose in creating them in His image. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s mercy in forgiving them through His Son’s sacrifice. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s power in changing them. God’s character becomes a very blurry picture to us when we attempt to take that position of judge which we truly in no way are capable of fulfilling.
Pride is truly blinding but it also
2. Pride puffs us up
The irony of pride is that it may puff out our chest but leaves us with empty hearts. Let’s see how James explains this to us in the following verses:
- Relies on our own plans and dreams (v13)
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”
Now James is not saying we shouldn’t plan or dream. But he is talking about what gives us security and pleasure each day? When you think about the future, what thoughts calm you down? Is it your trust in your robust plans for your life? Is it your trust in your physical capability or mental faculty or financial stability or social skills or street-smart attitude that gives you assurance? And if we were to probe further- what is the end goal to your plans and dreams of your life? Is it personal happiness and pleasure? Or is it something else? More often than not if we are absolutely honest, we would acknowledge self as the source for security (plans and dreams) and self as the goal of attaining these plans and dreams. And it’s deeply flawed because it
- Ignores the uncertainties of life (v14)
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
I’m sure at the end of 2019, many people would’ve expected 2020 to be a year of opportunity. Many countries would’ve seen it as a year tremendous growth. Many churches would’ve expected it to be a year of blessing but instead we find ourselves at the end of 2020 not knowing the best way to describe how the year went by. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring”. One of the biggest humbling lessons of 2020 for us as believers should be – we don’t have full control of our lives and we don’t have full knowledge of what will happen next.
- Fails to see God’s will as most decisive (v15)
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
As I was thinking about this verse, I just was reminded that if I truly believed that God’s will is final and decisive for me, my prayer life would look very different. Very often we assume that just because we’ve prayed about a plan of ours, that it’s God’s YES for us. No, I think if we believed God’s will is final, then it requires us to surrender our plan and humbly acknowledge – “God, even if you chose and take another route for me, I will still continue to love, serve and trust You”. That’s what this verse means. It’s not just a cliché “God willing” phrase it involves surrendering our plans and dreams and willing to submit to God’s detours.
- Steals glory from God (v16)
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
When we think about someone who boasts, most of the time we assume it’s someone else. If you’re like me you’re imagining a person who is wealthy and famous who can’t stop boasting about himself/herself. But think about it, if we relied on our plans and dreams, if we are ignorant of life’s certainties, if we don’t see God’s will as most decisive in our lives, what’s going to happen? Eventually we will begin to find ways to steal the glory that was meant for God. We are all glory thiefs. “I did it, my great plans and dreams made it possible and now I deserve to enjoy the fruit of it”. Pride is a huge problem – it blinds us and puffs us up. So what’s the answer?
3. Grace is the solution to pride
One of the verses we read last week powerfully spoke to me. 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Think about it, if I’m blinded by pride & puffed up by pride, how can I change? The only way is when God does something in my heart which I couldn’t do for myself.
I’ve always been moved by the story of the calling of Peter in Luke 5. A huge crowd gathered to listen to Jesus preach near the lake & what was Jesus’ choice of a pulpit? It was Peter’s boat. After Jesus finished speaking, Jesus tells Simon “Take the boat deep into the lake and let down your nets for a catch”.
Peter with a weary and discouraged voice tells Jesus “Master, we toiled all night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets”. They go into the lake and let down the nets and to their shock and joy – they somehow were able to catch such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
They called the other boats to come and help them & these boats began to sink with the weight of the wish. It’s an absolutely astonishing miracle. But I find it interesting that Peter’s response to this whole miracle was falling at Jesus’ feet & humbly confession of sin. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.
He realized he was in the presence of God & that’s what made him aware of his own sinfulness. At the moment, he’s not thinking what’s wrong in the lives of other people, no he realizes how sinful he himself is. And Jesus’ response to this knowing everything about Peter’s life is “Don’t be afraid”.
Think what those words would’ve meant to Peter at that time. “I’m not here to judge and condemn you, I’m not here to embarrass you, I’ve come here to make you my own & I’m going to lay down my life to pay for your sins”. And Jesus also adds one more thing when he says “from now on you will be catching men”. For a person filled with the awareness of his sin, this would loudly to his ears telling him “God’s not done with me yet. He can change me. He can also use me”.
In a very personal way that day, Jesus showed Peter a picture of his grace to a fisherman. And guess what – God does that to us when we read and study God’s Word – where we go back thinking “That message was for me. I need to hear this. I need to repent because of His grace”. Maybe that’s what God is telling our hearts today.
Would you turn to Him and repent of the pride in your heart? Knowing that inspite of God knowing everything about us, He still showed us grace which we didn’t deserve and He continues to love us and work in us for His glory. V17 I believe is a reminder to repent in the light of all that we’ve read and studied.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Good morning church! Hope everyone is doing okay.
As a Church we’ve been going through a preaching series called “Faith in Action” from the letter of James.
It’s personally been such an enriching and challenging series for my heart personally. It feels like each week that I’ve been shaken up from the comforts of my Christian walk & challenged to evaluate the current status of my faith.
I’m sure similarly this series has been a blessing to you all as well. Right now we find ourselves in the middle of James chapter 3 & “spoiler alert” – this is another challenging passage for us this morning – but as believers, that’s a wonderful thing because we know that these challenging passages turn our hearts back to the gospel.
Let’s dive into it and read the passage once more:
13 Who
is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works
in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish
ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not
the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every
vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
“I thought there was nothing worse that could happen in 2020 and then came the power outage!”
Those were the words of a Mumbaikar that was put out on social media referring to the power grid failure on Monday morning.
And those words I’m sure resonated with many people because it has been a roller coaster of a year for all of us.
Everyone is searching for wisdom on how to make sense of this COVID world. So you’ll find many people from young to old who have turned into philosophers giving their two cents on what they think life is.
In other words, people are using the filter of their own experience to make sense of our world. But how reliable and helpful is this worldly wisdom?
Can I really bank my life’s decisions on quotes that I read on social media or pep talk from my close relatives and friends?
Or
Is there a True Real wisdom available from God to help me deal with the twists and turns of life?
Today’s passage from James 3 will help us recognize True Wisdom. Three things about True Wisdom.
1. True Wisdom is not just about knowledge
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. (v13)
Some of us might be surprised by this verse. What does good conduct and meekness have to do with wisdom?
And that’s because the world defines wisdom as just having a good amount of knowledge in a certain subject or field.
So if someone has done his Phd. in Physics & authored many books, by the standards of the world he is considered a wise man.
Similarly in churches, who is typically considered as a wise person?
Someone who has a lot of biblical knowledge. The way the world views wisdom is amoral (unrelated to morality) & in contrast, this passage tells us that a wise person is not someone who just has biblical knowledge but is also living it out in humility!
And when we read through the letter of James, it does seem like the churches he was writing to was going through some kind of tension where there were people who wanted prominence, viewed themselves as superior compared to others and saw the opportunity of being a leader and teacher in a church as a means to get these things.
And through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James is telling the whole church….Do you want to know and identify someone who is wise?
It’s not just by their words but by their lifestyle. Humility will be the hallmark of someone who is wise and understanding among you.
I still remember meeting a 77-year old uncle called MC John in Kerala. It was a time in my journey when I was seeking God’s will in ministry and life. It wasn’t a planned meeting.
We probably spent maybe 30 minutes but those 30 minutes changed my life. In those 30 minutes, I realized that this was a man who spent many good years of his life knowing and living for Jesus and even at 77 he was passionately talking about Jesus.
He was like a Bible dictionary quoting verses from all through the Bible but the most remarkable thing that struck me was his humility. His biblical wisdom actually led him to worship.
And that shouldn’t surprise us – right throughout the Bible whenever we see men and women come to terms with the knowledge of God, it leaves them with an acute understanding of their own sin.
True wisdom of God produces humility.
Let’s take a minute to just pause and reflect – some of us either spent few or some of other many years in church circles listening to many sermons, being part of many bible studies,
what do you think all that knowledge is producing in your heart?
Is it producing greater humility in your marriages?
Is it producing greater humility in your relationships at work or with your parents?
Is it producing greater humility in relationships with other believers?
Let’s allow those questions to sink in because it’s important to identify the problem before we look to the solution.
But not only is True Wisdom is not about knowledge
2. True Wisdom is not worldly wisdom
By worldly wisdom I mean wisdom that is shaped by our experiences of the natural world.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
I find it interesting that James directly addresses the Root, Source and Fruit of worldly wisdom in these 3 verses.
First, let’s look at the root – it’s selfishness and bitter jealousy.
When we look at the absolute heart of worldly wisdom, it’s rooted in selfishness. It’s putting yourself forward at the expense of someone else.
Now let’s take a look at the source to see how this worldly wisdom actually plays out from v15:
- Earthly – How our main concern tends to be mostly about our life in this materialistic world – we are only thinking about “my school, my college, my job, my promotion, my marriage, my kids, my retirement” – that’s all that our lives are consumed by.
- Unspiritual – Some other versions actually use the word sensual. Which means that this wisdom is controlled by impulses and the sinful desires of my heart. It’s also telling us that our decision making is heavily influenced by how we feel at that moment. I think it can also include the baggage that we carry from our past experiences in this world. Our past baggage – feelings about people and circumstances shapes our worldview.
- Demonic – I think that’s where some of us might think “Time Out bro James. I know you’re telling me all this is worldly wisdom, but to call it demonic?? That’s taking it a little too far” When James is saying demonic he is not trying to say that we are performing some kind of voodoo or strange ritual, but rather I think whenever NT writers talk about demonic influence in the church, it’s a reference to deception which results in abandoning the faith (1 Tim 4:1). In other words, in my selfishness, I can be so blind that I won’t even know that I’m being deceived by this worldly wisdom. I won’t even know that my heart is being hardened. And so the reason I think James is telling in such real graphic details is to warn us from falling into deception thinking that “okay I have some form of godly wisdom so nothing else matters” – no your heart matters, your lifestyle matters & so all these things are mentioned to warn us and also to call us to repentance.
In v16 – he talks about the FRUIT of selfishness and jealousy. Chaos and every kind of wicked deed is fruit!
When we put ourselves in the throne seat of our hearts and think that the world revolves around us, it can cause serious damage. Sometimes in the form of boasting but also sometimes when we play the victim.
A few weeks back I was having a rough week at work. Long hours, demanding work pressure and plus errors were being pointed out in my work by my managers.
As a result of my insecurity and selfishness in my heart, my interpretation of my team members and managers were as “they don’t understand me, they don’t care about me and how I’m doing & they are just out to get me”.
I remember feeling miserable through that week as I was playing the victim. And God had to remind me once again that the problem is more deep-rooted from within – it’s my own selfishness that is causing me to not believe the best about others.
For me that was another clear example to show how my life cannot be shaped by my experiences or worldly wisdom. Because my experiences are flawed and tainted with selfishness.
Let’s take a minute now to reflect on what kind of wisdom is shaping our hearts and lives?
What’s in the root of the wisdom that you have?
Do you see selfishness and bitter jealousy?
In fact on the basis of this passage, we can conclude that I might be even saying some right things from Scripture but if it’s motivated by selfishness, then that wisdom comes from the world and not from God!
I know this is a weighty subject because it’s dealing with our hearts, but it’s also pointing us to Jesus.
Not only is True Wisdom not about knowledge, and not only is True Wisdom not worldly wisdom but
3. True wisdom is God’s grace
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
When we look at v17, what stands out to us is the phrase – wisdom from above is “First pure”.
In other words, purity of heart is what produces peace, gentleness etc.
Now, who among us can say they are pure by themselves? No one.
In fact, the previous verses spoke about how our hearts and lifestyles are motivated by selfishness and jealousy. So obviously purity cannot be produced from within.
And that’s why the phrase “wisdom from above” is a phrase that screams of God’s grace. Because it tells us about God giving us something precious that we cannot produce ourselves.
Guess what the Bible calls Jesus Christ as the “wisdom of God” – God revealed His wisdom to us not just by telling us about His Son but more than that sending His Son Jesus (pure Lamb of God) to live the pure life we could never live, and then He willingly gave up His life on the cross to pay the punishment meant for our impure lives. He rose again on the Third Day so that our hearts and lives can be purified for Him which He has promised to fully complete when He returns back a second time.
So what does this mean for us today?
Firstly it humbles our hearts that feels superior in comparison to others as a result of our “wisdom” & it melts our selfish hearts craving for prominence among others. How does it do that?
By telling us that our condition was so bad that it required the payment of God’s own Son through His death. Imagine going to court and having your sins listed down one by one.
How do we know the seriousness of the crime? By the punishment that is given – how worse is your condition that it could only be paid through the death and sacrifice of Jesus. Like Paul we should humbly acknowledge “I am the chief of sinners”.
But also Grace tells you that God loves you so much that He sent His Only Son to die for you and me.
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32)
That’s amazing, great love! You are loved by God and He sent His Son to show that. So that creates in us this humble purity which now bears fruit in our relationships at home, in church and also where we work or go to school to. (Share examples)
That’s why we need these reminders daily – that True Wisdom is not knowledge, True Wisdom is not worldly wisdom but True Wisdom is God’s grace – revealed through the Person and relationship with Jesus Christ. Only His Work and His promise can produce genuine purity which produces fruits of righteousness!