Lesson 11: Let's Get Real

James 5:7-20

7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by
heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No,"
no, or you will be condemned.

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should
pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick?
He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil
in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick
person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain,
and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed,
and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if
one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him
from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

The circumstances in which James’ hearers were living were difficult. There were all types of factions against them: Palestinian Jews, Sadducees, the Romans, etc. He is writing to Christians who have paid a great price to profess faith – they’re called “The Dispersion.”

He exhorts his readers/hearers to be not just hearers, but also doers. A judgment will be coming when all wrongs will be made right, but for now we should wait patiently for that day and place our hope in that which we know by faith to be true. This is our hope deferred.

We wait patiently as when a farmer who patiently waits for his crops to grow. Does the farmer do nothing? Of course not. He has done much in preparation and he must be on guard against the weeds and the intruders. He must prune and maintain the crops and keep watch for birds and insects that seek to destroy and steal his crops. The effective farmer is actively waiting. (Click here for a whole list of Farm Sermons by C.H. Spurgeon)

In discussing this patient waiting, notice how James inserts a thought that seems so incongruous with the rest of the verses about grumbling again¬st one another in Verse 5:9. Let’s not skip past this. Idle minds of those who lack in faith and trust are very prone to grumbling against their brothers and sisters, and especially those in authority over them. This is a great caution to pay attention to.

Salvation attributed to the grace of God has been planted in us. But the law of God just exposes us to be law breakers. Having been justified by faith in Christ, the law now becomes a life-giving toward holiness and Godliness. We do desire to do those good works, because of our faith, but our remaining sin battles against us.

James talks about specific actions that depict our faith such as: taming of tongues, care for widows and orphans, and treating of rich and poor with equal respect. James warns us about sinful passions at war within us, against God’s Holy Spirit and he focuses on how short our lives are and how we must not boast in tomorrow.


James discusses fervently that we should confess our sins to each other in Verse 16. Do we confess our sin openly to one another, to the elders and pastors of our church? Are we even aware of the sinfulness of our sin and how much we still need our Savior every single day? When was the last time we were broken by the indwelling sin that still tries to rule our hearts and battles against God’s Spirit in us?

James goes on to emphasize how we should bring someone back to the faith in verses 19-20 through the ways that he’s mentioned. Let’s exhort each other to be authentic about our faith and our walk. Cast away your fear or man. Let’s get real!

Lesson Seven: The Word, Our Words

This week's lesson on James 3:1-12 was particularly convicting to me. In fact, I actually thought for a few mintes about asking Doris to teach, given the first few passages (that would have been irresponsible and I did not do it):

James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because
you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."

Of course, only one person was ever a perfect man, never at fault in what he said, and that one was Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. But as a person who has been asked to teach the Word to other women, I can't help but shake in my shoes when I read these verses -- and then to avoid it or ignore it because it is CONVICTING. However, as we have been learning, studying God's Word takes more work than simply plucking a quote out only to encourage someone or to whack him or her over the head with it.

In our study last night, Brenda had us discuss the power of words for both good and evil. We were reminded:

1- God spoke the world into existance - His Word Is Powerful!
2- Satan deceived Eve by a lie and by challenging God's words - "Did God really say..."
3- Eve bought the lie and that lie led Adam and all of humanity to the Fall.
4- God promised that He would give us a Messiah to save us from our fallen state thru the seed of the woman.
5- Jesus is the Word, and The Word was made flesh and made His dwelling among us. He lived the perfect life and always spoke Truth - He is the Truth, the Life and the Way. He was the perfect man, was never at fault in what He said, and kept His whole body in check. If we trust completely in His atoning death and resurrection for our salvation and if He is Lord of our lives, the we are imputed with His righteousness. That means that when God looks at us, he sees Christ and no longer condemns us for all of our unrighteousness - meaning our terrible words.
6- The Holy Spirit enables us to know God, to understand His Word, to think His thoughts and to speak the Truth in Grace. We are no longer slaves to sin - words that lead to death and the grave. Instead, we have been raised to words of life with Christ.
7- With Christ, we are compelled to speak truth in love even though our old man fights and rebells against the Word that gives life. Christ is seated in the heavenlies making intercession for us and as we submit to Him, He will give us the power of renewed hearts that speak His Truth.

Because we were raised with Christ, and He has given us His precious Word and we have the Word as it is preached to us, our desire should be to grow more like him - keeping a check on our tongues and remembering the power that words have for life and death.

Finally, I was reading today and was reminded that as we behold in the Word of God the revelation of the Lord's holiness, the most I can do, that any of us can do, is to say with the prophet Isaiah:

“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in
the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts!

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" ” (Isa. 6:5)

Let us use our tongues to bear witness to our Holy God, telling of who He is, what He has done, and of His precious promises! Amen.