Verses For The Week

 Romans 12:10 -- "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

John 13:34 -- "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

The Weekend Sermon -- Mark 2:18-28

      Thank you for reading the message today. I hope that your day is going well. I am doing well today, and thankful for the opportunity to post the sermon.

     Today, we are once again studying what the Lord has to teach us from the Gospel of Mark. In our message for this week, I want to focus on two sections from Mark. In the first section, Jesus is asked by some why His followers did not fast. Fasting was and is an important part of the Jewish faith. 

     Jesus said that it was not appropriate for His followers to fast while He was with them. There would come a time when He was not with them any longer. Then they would fast. 

     The Lord then went on to say that one doesn't put a new patch on an old garment. That will cause the garment to tear. In the same way, Jesus said new wine is not put into old wineskins. If that happens, the fermentation process will cause the old wineskins to burst.

     Shortly after these events, Jesus and His disciples were walking through the fields. As they were walking, the disciples were taking some of the heads of grain and eating them. The Pharisees said that that was not a lawful thing to do on the Sabbath. To this Jesus responded that the Sabbath was for man and not man for the Sabbath. Jesus made it clear that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. 

     So, what is Jesus getting at in these two passages. Jesus is saying that when He entered into the world, when God became man and dwelled amongst us, things were going to be different. The old ways and the old covenant was replaced by what He was bringing into the world. He was making a new covenant and a new way. 

     Jesus was bringing a new spiritual dynamic. It wasn't about the old laws and regulations. His teachings would be the basis of doing what is pleasing to God. 

     One other place in the Gospels where we see Jesus doing this is in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus will say something like you have heard Moses say followed by but I say. For instance, Moses said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus ended that and said we should turn the other check. 

     When Jesus came into this world, He was the Word made flesh. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity came among us in the person of Jesus Christ. He inaugurated a new way. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is God's final word. He is the ultimate word and what He has told us is far superior than anything that came before. That is why Jesus said that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He came to show us what God is really like and how we can please Him in what we do. 

     Jesus also brought in grace and truth. By His atoning death on the cross, He has made a new covenant through His shed blood. Now, those who put there faith and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross are in Christ and they are redeemed through and by Him. 

     We are not made right with God by falling the old covenant with its laws and sacrifices. We are made right with God through the death and resurrection of His dearly beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is Lord of all. He is the superior one. He is the great one. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Whatever He says, we do. His way and His path are what we follow. 

     Jesus has come into the world, and He has made all things new. All praise honor and glory belongs to Him. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I am feeling some better, and I thank you for your continuing prayers on my behalf. 

     Please keep praying for a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Pray for peace in Lebanon. Pray for peace in the entire Middle Eastern region which is enflamed with tension. We also need to keep praying for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. 

     Pray for those affected by the storms and tornadoes here in the US. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Cambodia and Kosovo. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday and the next chapter in the James commentary on Wednesday. May God bless you all. 

James: A Commentary -- Chapter 3

 

James 3:1

     Starting off in chapter three, James gives a stern warning to those who think that they want to become a teacher of the word of the Lord. He says that not many should want to become a teacher. The reason is that those who are teachers of the word are going to be held to a very high standard at the day of the judgment of the Lord.

     The Bible is clear that all people will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in order to give an account of what they have done with their lives. For the believer, this has nothing to do with one’s eternal destiny or salvation. We are saved by grace through faith and not of works. For the believer, this judgment is a judgment about what our reward and position will be in the world to come.

     Those who have been given the privilege of teaching and instructing others in the faith will be judged at a high standard. The reason of this is that people’s lives and destinies are in their hands. A teacher is responsible to make sure that they are telling the people what is right and true in regard to the things of the Lord.

     A teacher must also teach by example and not just words. A teacher or pastor must lead an exemplary life. When people see someone who is in authority in the church go down the wrong path or act in a hypocritical manner, that is a turn off. It causes people to not want to come to Jesus or not want to follow the Lord. That is not something that anyone wants to have on them when they stand before the Lord at the time of the judgment.

 

James 3:2-8

     In these verses, James is going to tell us what gets most of us into the most amount of trouble. This applies to leaders and to all Christians. To all people really. The things that we say are what get us into the most difficulties. Not being able to control our speech leads to quarrels, hurt feelings and many other disastrous consequences. The things that we say can fracture relationships causing people who were once friends to never want to speak to each other again. And that happens all because people are too quick to speak when they should be less quick to speak and quicker to listen.

     James is emphatic. If a person can control what they say, that person will be more apt to be able to keep the rest of his or her life in line with the principles and the precepts of the Lord.

     Staring in verse 3, James gives two examples of how a small thing like the tongue is to the human body can affect something that is much larger. For instance, a bit in a horse’s mouth allows the rider to make the horse slow down, speed up or turn to the left or to the right. Also, the rudder on a ship is tiny. Without it, the ship is not able to turn. It would be tossed to and fro and never get anywhere.

     The tongue is small, yet James likens it to a fire and to deadly poison. It can set a forest of lives on fire with the little nasty spark that flies out of it. People make boasts and threats and say horrible things to one another causing vast amounts of damage.

     James says that an uncontrolled tongue it a world of evil and is set on fire from hell. An uncontrolled tongue is the devil’s tool to make people look at some Christians and not want to be one. We have to get control of what we say, and that can only happen when our hearts are yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.

 James 3:9-12

     In verses 9 through 12, James goes on to tell us about the power and the potential hypocrisy of the tongue. James says that with the same tongue we will praise the Lord in church on Sunday, and then we go out in the world and assault people with the words that come out of our mouths.  James lays it out clearly. It should not be this way.

     What James is saying is that someone who is really trying to follow the Lord will get control of what they say. A spring cannot produce both fresh and salty water. A fig tree cannot produce olives, and a grapevine can’t produce figs. So, a person who is filled with the Spirit will not have speech that is praising the Lord at one moment and cursing people the next.

     What we need to do is learn by God’s power to speak words that heal and not words that hurt. Jesus said to let our yes be yes and our no be no. We need to mean what we say, and we need to use our words to help people in life and to help them know more about Jesus. Our speech needs to express the love of the Lord that is overflowing within our hearts.

James 3:13-16

     In verse 13, James moves us on to a discussion about earthly wisdom and the type of wisdom that comes to us from Heaven. We are told that if a person lives a good life with good deeds marked by humility, that is a sign that someone possesses true wisdom.

     Good deeds done in humility means that we don’t go around pointing out to every one all the good that we’ve done so that our good works are seen by people and we get the praise of men. Someone who does good deeds in humility is someone who is taking the words of Jesus seriously and is doing good deeds to be seen by the Father who is in Heaven.

      Those who are leaning into the so-called wisdom of the world are those who boast about what they do and are filled with selfishness and the ambition to be recognized by others as a significant person in the world.

      James tells us that the wisdom of the world is demonic. It is not spiritual. It is a denial of the truth. He tells us in verse 16 that envy and selfish ambition are at the heart of sin and evil practice. When a person is filled with envy towards what others have, they desire to get it, and they will be willing to harm others in order to obtain that which they wish to possess. A person filled with selfish ambition is only thinking about what is good for them. They are not loving their neighbor as themselves. On the contrary, they are hating their neighbor because they can’t stand that someone else should have more than them. They are filled with pride thinking that they are the best thing that has ever hit the universe.

James 3:17-18

     In these final two verses of chapter three, we are told what the characteristics are of the true wisdom that comes from Heaven. It is pure and peace loving. This means that it is not focused on oneself and the fulfillment of selfish desire. To be peace loving means that we desire that no one be in conflict, and we seek the path of peace and non-violence.

     The wisdom of Heaven is characterized as being considerate, submissive and full of mercy. We are willing to be those that forgive, and we don’t have to have our own way all the time.

     Good fruit in our lives is produced by the wisdom from Heaven. It creates in us a sincerity of heart that is focused on the things of God and upon doing His will.

     As James closes out in verse 18, he reiterates that the followers of the heavenly wisdom are peacemakers who sow in peace. I so much wish that Christians where much more known as peacemakers. Christians should not be known for violence, war and hatefulness. We must be the peacemakers that Jesus called us to be in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

Verses For The Week

 Jeremiah 17:14 -- "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise."

Psalm 30:2 -- "O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me."

The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 2:13-17"

      I am glad to be posting the message for the week. This is an important week here on the blog. As of this week, I have been posting on this site for 15 years. I thank the Lord for the opportunity. 

     For the past few weeks now, we have been engaged in a study of the Gospel of Mark. It is going to take us some time to get through this book, but I know that we will learn from the life and work of the Lord Jesus. 

     In the last message, we learned about Jesus healing a paralytic man who was let down through the roof by his friends. Jesus healed him and forgave him of his sins. Right away, the religious authorities took a dislike to Jesus, and that would continue throughout the course of His life and ministry. 

     Today, we are looking at Jesus call of Levi who in other Gospels is called Matthew. Levi was a tax collector. In the context of Jesus' day, that meant that he was one of the most despised people in the land. Tax collectors were seen by the local population as collaborators with the Romans. Tax collectors were also seen as crooks who took more than they were supposed to in order to line their own pockets and live an extravagant lifestyle at the expense of the common people. 

     One day, while Jesus was teaching, He saw Levi at his tax collection stall. He called to Levi to come and follow him. Immediately, Levi left everything and followed Jesus. 

     That evening, Levi hosted a big dinner for Jesus and his disciples. Levi invited over some of his tax collector friends. Of course the Pharisees and religious leaders didn't like all of this one bit. They criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. However, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners."

     There are a couple of things I want to focus on in this passage. First of all, Jesus called everyone to come and follow Him. What I mean by that is that He called all types of people. We already saw that He called ordinary fisherman to be His disciples. Now He was calling a despised person to come and follow Him. 

     The Pharisees did not think that a tax collector and other sinners would ever be acceptable to God. They didn't even attempt to get them to come to the Lord and do the right thing. They just excluded them. In Jesus' time, those in certain occupations and those who were sick were considered to be less and looked down on. However, Jesus didn't look down on or despise or reject anyone. He came to seek and to save those who were lost. He saw something in Levi that would make for a good disciple, and He invited Him. 

     We don't want to be like the religious leaders of Jesus time and exclude anyone from the grace, love and mercy of the Lord Jesus. He said that whosoever will may come. He also told us, "Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. All and whosoever includes everyone. Jesus invites you, me and the whole world to come to Him and receive His love and forgiveness. No one is excluded from the love of the Lord Jesus. 

     Levi immediately followed Jesus. He didn't wait around. That should be our response on two levels. For those who don't yet know the Lord, if you feel the Spirit calling you to faith in Christ, now is the time to respond. Now is the day of salvation. Come to the Lord immediately. For those who are already followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to be ready to do what the Lord is telling us to do right away without delay. Don't procrastinate in doing the Lord's will for your life. Don't waste time. Obey the Lord right away. 

     The final thing that I want to point out from this passage is what Levi did after he came to follow Jesus. He invited others to know about Jesus as well. Once we have experienced the love, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, we need to tell others about what Jesus has done for us. We don't want to keep the good news to ourselves. We want to obey the Great Commission and go and tell. 

     If you don't know Jesus, come to Him today. If you are being called to a task or mission by the Lord, respond now. If you haven't been telling others the good news about the Lord Jesus, start right away. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     There are supposed to be some bad storms in my area this week. Please pray that they won't be too bad. 

     War has come again. I know that it is distressing. Let us keep praying for peace. Pray that all sides in the conflict in the Middle East right now will lay down their arms and work for peace. Continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Let us all meditate for peace and goodness in the world. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in China and Tunisia. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday, and I will post the next section of the James commentary on Wednesday. May God bless you all. 

James Commentary -- Chapter 2

 Here is James 2

 

James 2:1-4

 

     We are now going into chapter two, and this chapter has a lot in it that is relevant for our day and age. We start out the chapter with an admonition for James that Christians should not be ones who show any type of favoritism. But, before we start studying what that means for us today, I am struck by how James refers to Jesus. He calls Him our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

     Jesus is ours. That is something that we have to really let sink in. He belongs to us and we belong to Him. We are united together by His grace. He is glorious. He lives in glory right now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. One day, He will come and all of His glory will be revealed to all as every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

     Now, let us get into the heart of the section. James gives his readers a stern warning against showing any type of favoritism. He does not want people to favor any other believer or visitor to the congregation based on their wealth or their status.

     If a person is rich or poor, they should be treated the same way. If a person is dressed well or poorly, they should be treated in the same respectful and honorable way. There should be no discrimination, and there should be no favoritism shown.

     This passage reminds me of something that I have seen in some church meetings. Those that are big donors or so-called VIPs are given reserved seats at the front of the church. This is in direct contradiction to what James Is teaching here. That sort of thing should never be practiced in any church.

     I believe that we can go further with James’ idea. There should be no type of racism, sexism, ageism, ethnicism or any other type of discrimination in the church or amongst God’s people. The church is for all. Jesus saves and came to save everyone. We are all one in Him.

     If anyone teaches that one race or ethnic group is better than another, that is a sign that that person’s teaching is not of God. All people from every tribe, nation, and group will be worshipping the Lamb around the throne.

James 2:5-7

     Now, getting back to James most contextual criticism.  James does not want anyone to discriminate a poor person in favor of a rich person. James says that God has especially chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom. That is powerful. That means God has a preferential regard for the poor. He does not want anyone causing any type of hurt or oppression against them.

     James goes on to talk about the fact that the rich are often oppressors. In fact, most of the time, those who are very wealth became that way by not following the teachings of the Lord and by oppressing their workers and those in marginalized groups.

     We are not to dishonor a poor person, and we are not to show favoritism to a wealthy person. The worst examples of this that I have seen are pastors who will go visit wealthy members of their congregation in the hospital, but you never see them at the bedside of someone who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together.

James 2:8-11

     James is really driving home his point now. He goes back to what he heard the Lord Jesus say. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He said that we are to the love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Then he added that we are to love our neighbor as ourself.

     In this section, James makes it clear that to show favoritism or to discriminate is a violation of the law that we should love our neighbor as ourself. It follows right along with what Jesus said when He told us that we are to do unto others as we would have done to us. In other words, we are to treat other people in the same way that we would like to be treated. If we don’t want people to discriminate and be prejudiced against us, we should not act that way to others.

     According to James, we are lawbreakers if we show favoritism, and if a person breaks the law in one area it is the same as if he has broken every law. One is just as bad as the other, because they are all violations of the standard of a holy God. Not committing one sin but committing another makes us guilty of all. That is why we need a Savior.

James 2:12-13

     We are to act as people who will be judged by the law of God. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that we are under the law. It means that Jesus is the judge. The Bible says that everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in order to give an account. Christians will be judged at this judgment, but not for salvation. It is a judgment of rewards. What we have done with our lives for the Lord.

     In light of the fact that we will give an account to our Savior, we need to live according to His commandments and teachings. We need to be doing what He has told us to do. In fact, Jesus spoke about this just as James is. He told us that we should live in such a way that we would not be ashamed at His coming.

     In verse 13, James talks about mercy and judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And aren’t we thankful for that. God is merciful to us and has forgiven our sins. He has forgiven us and given us a new life in Jesus Christ. When we come to Jesus, He takes our sins, and we receive His righteousness which allows the judgment of the Lord for our sins to pass over us.

     Just as we have received the mercy of the Lord, we ought also to be merciful to others. We need to forgive others when they sin against us. Jesus spoke about this over and over again during His time on earth. We need to forgive seventy times seven, He told us. He also said that if we aren’t willing to forgive others, the Father will not forgive us.

James 2:14-19

     The section of James that we are going in to now is one of the most controversial passages in all of the New Testament. Some Christians use this text to prove that salvation is not by faith alone. Others try to explain it away or not deal with what it is really saying. Some, like Martin Luther, want to just throw the whole book out the window.

     Let’s look at what James is trying to get at in this passage. James begins by asking if a person can be saved by faith without deeds. He asks, “Can such faith save them?” James compares faith without deeds to someone seeing a hungry person who tells that person to be warm and filled and then just walks off and doesn’t do anything to help that person.  James says that faith like that, or faith without deeds is dead.

     James says that faith without deeds is dead. It is useless. Even the demons in hell believe, but they don’t have any deeds. James says that he will demonstrate his faith by his deeds.

     So, what are we to make of this? Is James trying to say that we are saved by a combination of faith and works? No, he is not. He is making a statement about the demonstration of true faith. He wants to let his readers know and understand what saving faith truly looks like. True and saving faith is not a mental assent to a list of facts about God. The devil and his angels know the truth about God and who Jesus is and what He did. But, they do not bow the knee to Him. They do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. They are in rebellion. Their acknowledgment of some facts they know to be true does not bring them out of their rebellion against the True and Living God.

     What James is saying is that there are many who have a profession of faith. They claim to be believers in the Lord, but their actions do not demonstrate that they have Jesus as the Lord of their lives. It is an empty profession of faith. They do not have a true possession of faith.

     Jesus spoke about this exact same thing. He said when the end of time comes and people are judged many will come to Him and say Lord, Lord.  Jesus will say to them depart from me for I never knew you. You were a worker of lawlessness. Likewise, Jesus said that when He judges the nations, some will ask when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, etc. He replies that when you did not do good unto the least of those among you, you did not do it unto Me. In other words, you said you were a follower of mine, but you never did anything that I asked you to do. Therefore, your actions revealed that you never really had faith and trust in Me.

     Jesus also talked about the good tree and the bad tree. A good tree bears good fruit while a bad tree can only produce bad fruit. Jesus said by their fruits you will know them. So, Jesus is saying the exact same thing as James. A person’s works reveal what is truly in their heart. Anyone can say they are a Christian. The proof, so to speak, is in the pudding.

     James is certainly not contradicting other parts of the Bible in this passage. We know from the writings of Paul that we are saved by grace through faith. It is the gift of God. Paul tells us that we are saved unto God works. We are not saved by good works, because, as the Bible says, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the eyes of God.

James 2:20-26

     James will now give us two examples from the Old Testament to show us the point that he is trying to get across. First of all, we have the example of Abraham and his offering up of Isaac. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham could have said OK Lord, and then he could have gone out and sacrificed a goat. Instead, he was going to sacrifice Isaac and God stopped Him. The Bible says that Abraham believed that even if he sacrificed Isaac that God could raise him from the dead, but it was dead faith until Abraham had an action behind it. His action proved his faith.

     In the same way, we have the example of Rahab. When the spies went to Jericho, Rahab hid them so they would not be captured. Joshua and Caleb told her that if she placed the scarlet cord out her window, she and those with her would be spared when the city fell. Rahab did what she was told, and she and those with her made it out alive. She could have believed all day, but her action demonstrated that she truly believed.

     If you have accepted Jesus as the Savior and Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within. He works within us to produce the fruit of the Spirit. We also as a child of God have the desire to do what it is that Jesus has taught us and commanded us to do. When we follow the Lord in obedience, we are showing the world that Jesus is truly in our hearts. That is what James is trying to say.

Verses For The Week And Prayer

     We need to be praying for peace in the entire Middle East region. Please be in prayer. 

I Peter 5:7 -- "Casting all your anxieties upon Him, because He cares for you."

I Peter 3:11 -- "Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it."