oasisCHURCH

A New EP on the Horizon

The men's Fight Club meetings have been incredibly fruitful.  We have been using The Song of Solomon as our text and it has really blown much of my thinking wide open.  I have always loved Solomon's song but I have never quite looked at it so in depth before.  The beauty of this biblical text makes my heart yearn and ache every single time I read it.  Well, recently I was looking over the text and I just so happened to have a guitar in my hands.  I started strumming out a chord progression and suddenly I found myself singing one of the lines I was reading.  It was in that moment that something was sparked in me.  How many biblically based "love songs" exist for husbands and wives?  I couldn't really think of any off the top of my head.  Yet here in front of me was one of the most beautiful texts I have ever read in the form of The Song of Solomon and I found myself saying, "I want to write words like this to my wife.  I want to sing songs to my wife that are like this."  Thus began a songwriting project that has been going on for about the last 3 weeks.  My aim was to, more or less, capture the Song of Solomon into a series of songs that were based straight from the text.  In some cases I'm merely quoting the lines directly from the text but I'm also doing a little cutting and splicing to help make the phrases fit.  I'm using the ESV and The Message as my two primary translations.  I'm trying to be very careful to use only the language that Solomon used.  I want to represent this letter as literally as possible but also as fluently as possible.  Sometimes literalness doesn't always translate well to songs so in some cases I've had to shorten several words into one or try to condense a really solid thought into a line that would fit the music yet retain the impact of the meaning of the text.  You'll also notice that in some lines I've changed the gender around.  I feel like God has been gracious in guiding me through this process.  I had started three songs but finished none of them.  Tonight I think I finally finished one and it's really spurning me forward to hammer out the other two that I've begun.   

I don't have anything recorded yet but I wanted to share some lyrics with you.  If you read these lyrics carefully you'll notice that many of these lines come directly from the text.   I hope that what you see here represents the truth of Solomon's words.  I hope they inspire you to pick up your Bible and begin reading.  But above all I pray that these words bring glory to God who designed love, marriage, and sexuality.  The song below is called "Open to Me" which is a line from Song of Solomon 5:2.

Open to Me
I slept, but my heart was awake
A sound, my beloved's at my door
Says open to me my love
Open to me my perfect one...arise

My soul failed when she spoke
I sought but found her not
I called but no answer she gave
My love, where are you now
My love, where have you gone

Until the day breathes and the shadows flee
I will search for you
You are altogether beautiful my love
There's no flaw in you my bride
No flaw in you...open to me....

When I'd found you
Fast I held, never letting go
Then you looked up at me
I was lost...falling into you
Body and soul you are paradise

Until the day breathes and the shadows flee
I will search for you
You are altogether beautiful my love
There's no flaw in you my bride
No flaw in you...open to me....

When I get the chance I'll begin recording these.  Eventually I think I'll have about six songs on this project.  The song I've posted here will be recorded soon.  I'll post the actual song as soon as I have it completed.  If you have any question about why I'm doing this or precisely where these lines are coming from then just email at chad@bethechurch.com

take care

Commentary: James 4:1-10

At War With the Nature of Self

“¹What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ²You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

At some point in your life, no matter who you are, you will find yourself at odds with someone or something. It is unavoidable. But what causes these things? This can be a potentially problematic question to answer intelligently. There are so many varying factors that calculate themselves into any dispute that it is often difficult to pen down the true root of it all. At least that’s what I used to believe. Then the first two verses of James 4 crashed into my life and ruined so many of my carefully thought out perceptions.

Everyone, no matter how unselfish, has a set of needs and wants. It is true that some pronounce this more than others but a theme of self-fulfillment resides within each of us. To properly understand this thought we need to first consider what our conceptions of selfishness are. When the average human being thinks about the nature of selfishness they tend to envision things like this: people who care more about themselves than others, people who insist on having material things no matter what the cost, people who do only the things that they want to do, people who want rewards but don’t want to work for them, people who are unappreciative, people who show no respect to others, etc. But what about something like anger? Is anger a sign of selfishness? This might seem like an odd question. I daresay that when we think about anger our mind doesn’t jump straight to selfish desires or thoughts. But we know, if we think about it for a moment, that anger often springs from self-centeredness. I see this all the time at school. Kids are constantly getting upset because they feel verbally attacked by other kids. One day two of my high school students (girls) were ready to fight one another so I separated them and sat both of them down individually to try and find out what the issue was. It was simple. One had said something about the other which in turn began a war of insults. I asked one girl, “Are the things that she is saying about you true?” To which she responded, “Uh…NO!” So I then asked her, “So what are you so upset about?” She had no good answer. She tried valiantly to come up with one but in the end neither girl could properly explain why they were so livid at the other. Yet if we look at James’ words in verse 1 it should become quickly apparent what was wrong with both of them. Their passions were at war within them. They were selfishly consumed, to the point of intense rage, by the thought that some else was slandering them. So, in an odd tactic of retaliation, the one being attacked immediately picked up a banner of slanderous retaliation. They both became guilty of slander and thereby became guilty of the same crime. They were both impassioned with indignance so they raged within and then turned that rage into an ugly, outward display of hatred. 

Self-indulgence takes the form of many things and they are not always what we might consider the most obvious forms. James’ examples are very straightforward and easy to understand illustrations of how people’s passions war within them. Everything from murder to covetousness can be viewed as an outward expression of how one’s passions war within them. Yet James is not content to stop with these illustrations. He continues by further revealing how the corrosiveness of self truly causes us to fail in our worship and honoring of God. 

The Adulterousness Within Us All

“You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴You adulterous people!”

There is a gospel of prosperity being taught in the world that says, “If you just have faith and ask in faith, you will receive whatever you ask for.” Really!? I’d love to have a brand new baritone saxophone. The one that I want is $9,000.00 bucks. So according to the prosperity gospel if I just have enough faith I’ll get that baritone saxophone. Does the logic of “ask in faith and receive in faith” hold up under what James says in verse 3? Look at verse 3 again before you read on. I find it interesting that James says that we can actually ask “wrongly” for things. How is it that we ask wrongly? If we ask for things only to spend them on our own passions and not for the glory of God then we are guilty of being adulterous people against God. People want things all the time. They even ask God to help them in obtaining many of these wants. Yet the great contradiction is that often time’s people “want” only for the sake of self-fulfillment. This is adultery against God and is, of course, sinful. But you might be saying to yourself, “Wait a minute…didn’t James, in chapter 1, say, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him. But, let him ask in faith with no doubting. For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man and unstable in all his ways.’” Some might see this scripture as proof that if you simply ask in faith you shall receive. But you must also temper that with what James says in chapter 4. 

The question that anyone should be thinking when they are wondering about asking and receiving in faith is this: In what spirit do you wish to receive it? Do you wish to receive it for your personal glory or the glory of God? You can say that you want to receive it so that you can use it to glorify God but God will always know your underlying intentions. No “clever” front of man will ever hoodwink God so don’t think that just because deception may claim the better judgment of some that it will ultimately outwit the perception of the Creator. In light of such knowledge we must search our hearts with a naked honesty so that we would truly seek to be guided by God and not self-motivated precepts. 

Enemies of God

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit He has made to dwell in us’? ⁶But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

Are there truly ways in which we can become enemies of God? James is pretty clear about this in his conclusion of verse 4. “…whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” So if we choose to be a friend of the world we knowingly make ourselves enemies of God. At this point it becomes critical to define and explicitly understand what it means to be a friend of the world. This is really a pretty simple thing to define. Here’s a thought to consider that may help you define what it means to avoid being an enemy of God: Do not love what the world loves. Instead love only what God loves. For example, the world values social status and position. The world loves more wealth than could ever be needed for one person or even a small group of people. The world says certain things are tolerable in certain situations. The world is very flexible. The world says you should be whoever you want to be. The world says that YOU are important above all other things. The world wants to tell you how you can make YOU better. The world wants to inflate your sense of self. If all that were true how could you ever hope to submit yourself to anything when the world has you at its pinnacle. If you want to be an enemy of God then buy right into that philosophy of the world. It will get you nowhere but you’re bound to have a lot of fun along the way. People entertain themselves into hell on a daily basis using this philosophy. Some of them are probably even people who are convinced that they are Christians. 

God does value those that He has chosen to be conformed to the image of His son. James is very clear about this. He makes this clear in the form of a plea of sorts by saying, “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit He has made to dwell in us.’ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” God made the spirit that dwells within those whom He has chosen for adoption as sons of glory. He yearns over that spirit. He has given grace in that spirit and that grace has come through Christ. It never ceases to amaze me that even though humans as a collective civilization are very insignificant in the grand design of the universe, God still prizes and cherishes those whom He has called his own. He has known them throughout time. He has known them before their existence. He has written us into his story. Why? I’m not sure but He has. All of our joy should begin with the fact that God is a sovereign, reining, risen, unrivaled, and uncontested king. He is majesty and glory forever and ever and ever and ever.

Grace to the Humble // Opposition to the Proud

I want to take a brief moment to discuss the closing statement of verse 6. As a reminder it says this, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James is making reference to Proverbs 3:34 which says, “To the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.” We must wrench from our minds the portrait that God has disdain for nothing. It’s not true. God does oppose things and He also opposes people. If you need further proof of that read some of the verses surrounding Proverbs 3:34. How about the verse before it which reads, “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.” How about this statement in verse 32, “For the devious person is an ABOMINATION to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.” Read those verses and then tell me that God is not a distinguishing God. Eyeball those words and then say with unshakable confidence that God embraces all. God does oppose those whom do not love Him. Proverbs even tells us what such people receive, “The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace (3:35).”

Do not think that it is impossible for you to ever be an enemy of God’s purpose. It is very possible and the consequences are toweringly terrible. Therefore we must do something. The answer is simple yet complicated. In verses 7 and 8 of chapter 4 James makes the most crucial statement in the entirety of his letter. Everything up to this point has been a crescendo up to this one statement.

Submission

^“7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

Take a moment and briefly define the word “submit” to yourself. If you came up with something like, “The act of yielding yourself to the power and authority of another,” then you did well. The act of submitting to anything means that you are letting go of all your thought and regard for own sense of control or power. This is far from an easy thing to do. This is acutely true when it comes to submitting to the sovereignty of God. To resist the devil is to resist the world and all the schemes that the enemy has laid in it. A vast amount of people in the world have so many vested interests in the world that it is difficult for them to relinquish their illusions of personal control and authority. Even many self-proclaimed Christians have trouble doing this. It’s easy to see why. When you weigh the temptations of the world against the authority of God one of two things happen. 

One: You see that the world meets your wants, or at least such potential exists, and in the world there is very little expectation of you so you’re open to travel the minutes in whatever pedestrian fashion you choose. This sense of autonomy is very appealing to many people. They’re not really bound to anything except that which they choose to be. So they go seeking the fulfillment of self and have many indulgences that bring temporary relief into their life. They fill up the tanks of their time with things that will soon be depleted and usually, only when it has been far too long, they end up wondering why it is that they feel so unfulfilled. Yet all they’ve ever known is the pursuit of self. Some will continue that pursuit until they shed their mortal coil. Others begin to realize that something is wrong with their meticulously painted self-portrait. They may put their finger on it and they may not. Does this sound like a tragically sad existence to anyone else? 

Two: The authority of God is vividly on display in the Bible. What he demands from us is made more than plain. When people begin to see this and embrace it a glorious change begins to occur. God opens the eyes of those whom He has predestined for adoption as sons and daughters in Christ. Such people will see and do what the word says. They will pursue the ways of righteousness and have no desire to sin against God. This doesn’t mean that they will never again sin, nor does it mean that the desires of the world will not bombard their better judgment. But for those whom God has awakened from sleep, they will always desire to do the will of God. They will repent when they fail. They will be in constant submission to God. They will be in a constant state of growing into maturity. They will be an evident voice for God and all glory will be sought not for self but for God. 

When James says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God,” he means that in light of all that he has said, submit yourself to God. In other words, rejoice in suffering for you know that these trials test your faith and produce steadfastness in you. Do not solely hear the word. Be doers of the word. If you don’t you will be deceiving yourself. Avoid anger for it is unrighteous. Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness. It will only deteriorate you and make you fail in your worship of God. Visit orphans and widows. Keep yourself unstained from the world. Do not show partiality as you hold the faith in Jesus. If you show partiality you have become a judge with evil thoughts and you also show yourself to be a transgressor against God’s law. Works will be produced out of faith. Those who truly have faith will have the display of doing God’s word all over their lives. If your life is lacking of the works that God has called you to do then your faith is dead. Realize that your tongue is a fire and a poison. Choke the wickedness from it and let only the word of God roll off of it. Though you cannot fully tame the tongue ask for God to help you discipline it. Let the wisdom that comes from above reign in your entire being. This wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Do not quarrel against one another. Control your passions, which are at war within you. Do not ask for currency from God to spend on your own passions. This is adultery against your creator. In light of all these things, submit yourself to God. 

The last paragraph was my attempt at summarizing all that James has said thus far. Consider those words with great care. James gives us such a clear portrait of what it means to be in submission to God. If you read over that list of things and find yourself saying, “Yeah…I genuinely feel like I do all of that,” then you are doing well. But if find yourself saying, “I do none of these things,” then there is something that you should do. This next bit of advice comes from James himself.

The Face of Humbleness

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. ⁹Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

The first time I ever read these passages I didn’t think twice about them. It wasn’t until I began memorizing this letter that I began to truly consider what James was meaning. The language in verse 9 was, I admit, somewhat troubling to me. When I think of the word wretched I think of an ugly old lady from the cover of a book of ghost stories that I used to have when I was a kid. This ugly old lady had a yellow tint to her eyes. Her teeth were haggard, discolored. Her nose was big and bulbous. To make matters worse her nose was crowned on its end with a big hairy mole. She had this wicked grin on her face that said, “Come to me children so I can put you in the oven.” It still gives me a slight full body trimmer just thinking about it nearly 20 years later. So needless to say I think about a very terrible look when I think about the word wretched. However, this isn’t really an accurate depiction of the word at all. A wretched person is one who is actually characterized with great misery or sorrow. I’ve seen gut wrenching mourning. I remember being 17 years old, sitting across from a woman who had just been told that her son was going to die. I don’t ever want to hear again the noise that came from his mother as long as I live. It was the kind of noise that immediately brings sorrow into the whole body. The kind of sound that depletes you and renders you barely able to move. Great tragedy is what comes to mind when I think of the word mourning. With mourning often comes weeping. The combination of these three things (wretchedness, mourning, and weeping) would make for the most miserable person that I’ve ever witnessed. Yet this is how James advises sinners to cleanse their hands, and the double minded to purify their hearts. This got me to ask myself a question. To what depth and breadth does the nature of my own sinfulness affect me? 

When you sin, what is your immediate reaction? Is it one of repentance or is it one of water off a ducks back? I have to admit that I never had a moment in my life where I was truly in a state of wretchedness, mourning and weeping over the sins that I had committed. I had never tried to purify my heart in this way. Then one day I blatantly sinned. I lied to someone and I did it with premeditation. I carefully constructed the lie in my mind before I delivered it. I did this because I knew that the truth would corner me into a place of guilt. So to avoid this I made up a lie to help everyone in the situation feel better. When I delivered the lie I used my few years of experience in theater to help me deliver a winning performance. It all worked like a charm. The lie was promptly bought. I felt a moment of inner relaxation because the tension was past. Nobody was in trouble. Everybody understood the fictional situation that I had created and no one was the wiser. For about three hours I continued to feel good but then it fell on me like a mountain…the reality of what I had done began to set in. I had sinned and felt fine with it. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!! When I replayed the incident in my mind I found myself saying, “Somebody tackle me. Don’t I see what I’m doing?” In that moment I just broke down. I literally began to weep. I didn’t even know how to open my mouth to God. I knowingly sinned against him. I mourned and became wretched over what had happened. It was one of the first times in my life that I had felt humbled before God in this particular way. It was a powerful moment for me and I have not yet, nor will I ever, forget it. I think about it every time the urge to sin pops into my mind and it halts me. I’m not saying that I’ve found a one-time cure for sinfulness for myself. But what I am saying is in that one moment I finally understood what it meant to really cleanse my hands and purify my heart. I finally understood what James meant by being wretched, mourning, and weeping. 

We must abhor sinfulness in our lives. We must identify and smother the life out of it. We must humble ourselves before God in the ways that the Bible calls us to do so. We must bear the weight of what it means to submit to God and then do it. If you are out there reading this and you realize that you’re stuck to a sense of self-autonomy and control then simply let it go and submit yourself therefore to God.

In the next section of this commentary we will be examining the aftermath of James’ vertex here in chapter 4. We will begin to see how he winds down his brilliant letter and we will be further challenged by the ever-unflinching words of this strong and steadfast servant of God. 

5 Days Before Passover

Christ and his disciples woke from a night a great fellowship with Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  From Bethany Christ began the 2 mile journey towards Jerusalem.  Before arriving in Jerusalem Christ and his disciples stopped in Bethphage on the Mount of Olives.  Jesus sent ahead two disciples with these words, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."  The disciples did as Christ said and all happened as Christ said it would.  Then, when the disciples had returned with the donkey and colt, Christ sat on them and began his ride into Jerusalem.  There was a frenzy outside the city as Christ approached.  Many people spread out their cloaks on the road before him while others cut branches from trees and laid them on the road in front of Christ.  They celebrated with loud voices saying, "Hosanna to the son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!"  The disciples were shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  Some of the Pharisees who were in the crowd were repulsed by the words of the disciples and shouted to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."  But over the noise of the crowd Jesus said to them plainly, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."  Commotion ran wild throughout Jerusalem as many in the crowd asked, "Who is this?"  People were responding with immense enthusiasm saying, "THIS IS THE PROPHET JESUS, FROM NAZARETH OF GALILEE!!!" 

Yet in even in all this Jesus lamented for Jerusalem as he was preparing to enter.  Jesus knew what was to become of this glorious city.  He knew how it would fall and how those in it would be crushed under the feet of their enemies.  Yet Christ was also bringing a different kind of victory into this once great and mighty city.

Christ pressed forward into the temple only to meet an appalling sight.  The temple was filled with all manner of unrighteousness.  So Christ tore through the temple overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling animals while he shouted, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers."  A great shudder went through those in the temple.  Jesus began to teach and heal.  The Pharisees were dumbstruck in many ways and were uncertain of what to do with this peasant king from Galilee.  In one day Jesus had managed to turn Jerusalem inside out.  There was a buzz in the city about this king.  Some were saying and asking, "Could this man be the messiah?"  Christ had entered Jerusalem in triumph like the great kings of old.  Great things were being done by Christ.  For many, they felt as though a great hour of redemption had arrived.  Many believed that Christ would overthrow the Roman occupation in the city.  Many believed that Christ would restore Jerusalem to its former glory as it was in the days of David and Solomon.  So many different kinds of rumor and conjecture were in the minds of both those who believed and those who were yet skeptical. 

What a day it had been for Christ.  As he left Jerusalem there must have been a sense of grandeur in those following him.  It must have really seemed like things were about to change in unimaginable ways.  No one knew what new change the next day might usher in.  All, that is, except one.   Things were indeed about to change but as is often the case, the way that God defines great change and the way that we define great change are often vastly different.  What lay ahead for Christ in the next 48 hours was something that many, judging from the events of this day, would never have guessed.  Who could have predicted that the man who was called king one day would soon be called a villain in the next.  I'm sure these things all weighed on the mind of Christ as he made his way back to Bethany that night.  But we have no account to tell us what Christ shared with his disciples that night.  Perhaps he told them little.  Perhaps he merely enjoyed another night of celebration and fellowship with them knowing that dark and difficult times lay ahead.  No one can say fore sure. 

6 Days Before Passover

This post will begin a daily chronicle of the last days of Jesus as told through the Bible.  We will consider where Jesus was in these final days, who he was with, and how he spent his time.  We will talk about what he taught, what he suffered, and what he triumphed.  We begin six days before  the most glorious event in the history of grace. 

The Jewish holiday of Passover was quickly approaching and Jesus traveled to the town of Bethany on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives.  Jerusalem lay less than two miles away.  Jesus had been to Bethany before.  It was here where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  So Jesus went to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  Jesus was received with love in their home.  Martha served dinner.  Lazarus reclined in fellowship with Christ.  Mary, for reasons not clearly known, lavished affection on Jesus.  She took a pound of expensive ointment that had been made from pure nard, an aromatic Himalayan plant, and rubbed it on the feet of Jesus.  I imagine that there may have been a stillness in the room as she did this.  It may not have been clear to those present why she was doing this.  Yet still, the wonderful fragrance of the ointment filled up every corner of the room, intoxicating the senses of most within its reach.   Then Mary, with great tenderness, wiped the feet of He who was from the beginning.  What a scene was here. 

But then, the voice of cynicism.  Judas Iscariot scoffed at this gesture from Mary saying, "Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?"  Yet he said this not from compassion or love of the poor but rather because his heart was twisted with the sickness of greed.  Jesus responded in both a firm and curious way, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.  The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me."  Judas said no more and the night carried on. 

Not long after this a crowd began to gather outside the home of Lazarus.  Many had come because they had heard that Jesus, who gaining great renown, was staying at the home of Lazarus.  Many also came to see Lazarus.  The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead had not gone unnoticed.  In fact, many Jews were believing in Christ because of the miracle that had been performed through Lazarus.  Naturally people wanted to see Christ and the one that he had raised.  While excitement filled the air, something sinister was also brewing in its undercurrent.  That night the chief priests hatched a plot to kill Lazarus.  They must have felt that they had to do everything in their power to stop people from following this miserable peasant from Galilee.  Not only would they try to get to Jesus, they would also try to get to those who were spreading his message.  This is merely foreshadowing of what was yet to come.  Many of those gathered to see Jesus and Lazarus had no idea what was coming next.  Only Christ truly knew what was about to happen.  He knew that tomorrow would not just be another day.  He knew that in tomorrow lay Jerusalem...and in that, the start of something tragic and triumphant. 

Pondering Heaven

If you had to describe heaven to someone right now, what kind of language might you use? For many Christians the description often seems to run something like this:  "Heaven is place of eternal joy and comfort.  Those who have believed in Christ as Lord and Savior will one day go to heaven.  In heaven there will be no suffering.  There will be no sickness, no pain, no hate, no anger, no war, no sin of any kind.  Those in heaven will tread upon streets of gold.  We will breathe life anew.  We will be without stress, fear, or anxiety of any kind.  We will be reunited with all of our loved ones in Christ.  All will be beautiful and all will be loved.  Heaven will be more than just an echo of perfection, it will be perfection and it will be eternal."   The variations of this description are many but similar threads seem to run through most.  What, if anything, is curiously missing from the italicized description above?  Some Christians may stare at this description and say, "Nothing at all."  Others might stare at it and say, "You've left out the most important thing!"

Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not escape from sickness, pain, hate, anger, war, stress, fear, anxiety, and what we see as our physical inadequacies?  Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not the paved streets of gold?  Do you realize that the true joy of heaven is not a reunion with those whom we have loved and lost?  So what is the true joy of heaven?  I believe that every Christian should start their description of heaven with some semblance of this sentence, "The true joy of heaven and the great yearning for heaven should be in this realization:  We will be able to stand in the presence of God and worship him for eternity.  We will have the opportunity to give God glory and honor and praise for all time." 

I'm leaving this post short on purpose.  I would like for you to consider the minimal amount that has been said here.  I want you to generate questions in your mind then I want you to ask them here.  Do you agree/disagree with what's been said?  What can you add to what's been said?  How can we consider heaven from a biblical perspective and grow in our understanding of God's gloriousness in heaven and earth?  Enough from me.....your turn..........    

Hebrews 1:3 - A New Song

This is one of the new tunes that you've been hearing once in a while during our times of gathered worship on Sundays.  Chris posted the lyrics in another post but I'll go ahead and post them here again.

A dying son birthing righteousness
For the Father, for His Father’s renown
All have fallen low
All have failed to see
But mercy through grace
From the Father, to honor Him as He

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see
Without Him

For all You are
All in joy should raise all the praise that you deserve
For Your splendor, Your immaculate renown
Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see Without Him

All hearts open here
See the grandeur, greatness, vastness of the King
You’re astounding; breathtaking
You’re astonishing; awe-inspiring
That’s You, I love you Lord, that’s You
That’s You, I love you Lord, that's You

......I hope you enjoy this recording

Download Hebrews_1_3.mp3

Current Events: The Lost Tomb of Jesus

If you follow television much, particularly channels like the Discovery Channel or the History Channel, you'll see many interesting specials.  I have to admit that I have an almost unhealthy addiction with the Discovery Channel.  This past Sunday a new film was aired on the Discovery Channel.  The film was/is called "The Lost Tomb of Jesus".  Now you might be thinking, "Have they found the tomb that Jesus was buried in before his resurrection?"  Well...no. 

In 1980 a tomb was discovered by a construction crew in Talpiot (a suburb of Jerusalem).  This was actually quite a common occurrence during the 80's.  During the 1980's construction crews unearthed hundreds of tombs which contained thousands of ossuaries (small boxes that contained the bones of the deceased).  During the time of Jesus it was common for families, with the means to do so, to build tombs for their departed family members.   A freshly deceased body would be laid out on a rock in the open air to help it decompose rather quickly.  Once the body had decomposed the family members would take the bones, put them inside a small box (ossuary), and then place them inside the family tomb.  Well, in 1980, in Talpiot, a tomb was discovered with ten Ossuaries inside of it.  Several of the Ossuaries had inscriptions on them.  These inscriptions were as follows:  Jesus, Son of Joseph;  Maria (the Latin form of Mary);  Mariamene (the Greek form for Mary);  Matthew;  Judah,  Son of Jesus; and Jose, a diminuitive form of Joseph.  The original official report of this find was written by a man named Amos Kloner and he found nothing remarkable about this discovery.  His reasoning?  The following is a quote from an article in Newsweek magazine, "The cave, it was said, was probably in use by three of four generations of Jews from the beginning of the Common Era.  It was disturbed in antiquity, and vandalized.  The names on the boxes were common in the first century (25 percent of women in Jerusalem were named Miriam or a derivative).  The original report does not speculate on family relationships nor does it make any connections between the inscriptions and the figure countless Christians through two millennia believe physically rose from the dead and, according to tradition, 'ascended into heaven'."  To this very day Kloner believes that there is nothing significant about the discovery of the cave in Talpiot. 

Enter an Emmy award winning journalist (Simcha Jacobovici) and a major Hollywood filmmaker (James Cameron).  Simcha actually has quite an impressive biography and he has two Emmy awards (one from 1995 and 1996 for Outstanding Investigative Journalism).  Simcha has fallen under some heavy fire from scientists, archaeologists, and theologians for his controversial views of Biblical events and general historical perspectives.   Some seem to think Simcha is a hack whereas others seem to think he is a certifiable genius and a brave innovator of his generation.  I can't really say.  I've never seen any of his documentary work (except the one being spoken about in this article).  So as far as the credibility of Simcha Jacobovici goes, I cannot render an intelligent opinion based merely on one work that I have viewed by him.  James Cameron needs little to no introduction for anyone who has had a pulse in the last twenty years.  Cameron is responsible for some of the biggest films in popular culture over the last 21 years.  Cameron is responsible for films such as the 1st and 2nd Terminator movies, the insanely successful Aliens, the thought provoking under water drama The Abyss, and the epic Titanic (which won the Academy Award for best picture in 1997).  Simcha and Cameron have combined their respective disciplines to bring us The Lost Tomb of Jesus.  The filmmakers seem to assert the opinion that the Talpiot tomb that was discovered in 1980, which was sighted as not historically relevant by Amos Kloner (the head archaeologist overseeing the cataloging of the Talpiot tomb in 1980), is actually the lost family tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene (the wife of Jesus according to the assertions of the film), a child of Jesus and Mary Magdalene (according to the film) named Judah, Matthew, the tax collector and disciple of Jesus, and Yose (a nickname for Joseph) i.e. the younger brother of Jesus.  The claim here is that Jesus did not physically arise from the tomb and ascend into heaven as the gospels and the book of Acts asserts.  Rather, the body of Jesus, to be more precise his bones, were actually buried in this tomb in Talpiot. 

As you can imagine, the recent documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" has raised more than a few eyebrows.  I watched the bulk of the documentary when it aired on Sunday night and found myself largely unaffected by it.  The whole theory presented by the filmmakers, in my humble opinion, is so full of holes and partial conclusions that it is nearly impossible to take any of the information presented in the documentary as credible.  My opinion on this documentary is obviously not a flattering one but it is not simply because I'm a Christian.  It just all seems like bad science, bad archeology, and bad theology rolled into, as one critic of the documentary put it, an "archeoporn" film.  There is far too much information to go into regarding the intricacies of the Talpiot tomb so what I wanted to provide for you were several links that will lead you to information about this new documentary.

Here is a link to the documentaries official website:  www.jesusfamilytomb.com
Here is a link to a Newsweek Article Regarding the Film:  Raiders of the Lost Tomb
Here is a link to a Christian critic's viewpoint of the documentary:  Alpha & Omega Ministries Article

I was trying to find an objective source to support the documentary but I didn't really have a whole lot of luck in the time I spent searching.  View the material for yourself.  Pray and use great discernment.  Do not be shaken by this documentary.  I encourage you to watch it.  Stand firm and steadfast in the word of God.  He is true and unshakable.  After you check out the material, maybe even poke around on the web to see what else is being said about the documentary and the Talpiot tomb in general, register your thoughts back here.  It should prove for some good conversation. 

all my love

chad

Commentary: James 3:13-18

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

 What is wisdom? 

 I believe that there are two kinds of wisdom: The wisdom of humanity and the wisdom of God. Verses 13-18 show us the inherent fault in the wisdom of humanity. Humans, in their natural state, are sinful and fallible creatures. Some self generated wisdom may actually be good but eventually our fallen state will prevail and we will, somewhere along the line, pervert wisdom. So how do we distinguish between Godly wisdom and human wisdom? The verses cited above are going to help us understand how to do that very thing. James’ words will also help give us a clear perspective on how to exercise that wisdom in a way that glorifies God and edifies others.

 The Meekness of Wisdom

 Verse 13 reveals something very important about showing ones works. When James asked his opening question, “Who is wise and understanding among you,” I immediately answered that question in my own mind. Several people from the fellowship of Oasis leaped into my brain. Why is that? I think it is because such individuals personify what James says after his question. Such people, by their good conduct, lead lives that reveal the work that they are doing for God’s glory and they are doing it in a manner that is representative of the meekness that must dwell within a person if they seek to show their works with Godly wisdom. Such persons do this not because they have some desire to see their name lauded among their peers, but rather they long to see God’s glory revealed even further. But there is also a warning bundled with the wisdom that we find in verse 13.

 Verse 14 warns us that if we show our works out of selfish ambition or if we do anything out of jealous motivation then we will be guilty of being false to the instructions of God’s truth. This is sin. God’s great truth, his powerful presence, and his undeniable status as Lord of Lords, King of Kings, stand out like a glaring light in a deep darkness to say that the things that God has accomplished and will accomplish are the only things in this life that are worth boasting in. Should we fall into the trap of boasting out of jealousy or selfish ambition, we will find ourselves steeped in something wretched. Verse 15 describes this trap as earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. To be knowingly guilty of any of these things would be to set ourselves up as enemies against God’s purpose. I hope that no Christian alive would say, “I can live with that.” But this isn’t just a lesson for the believer. This concept is universal whether a person believes or not. The truth of God is not affected by unbelief. So this lesson is relevant to all. I would hope that it would be a call to those who don’t believe to wake up and consider the consequence of defying the God that the Bible describes.

 Jealousy and Selfish Ambition

 Verse 16 says, “For where jealousy and selfish-ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” I want to take a brief moment to draw out these two concepts to illustrate the cancer that lives inside each of them when they are in the hands of human beings.

 Let’s first begin with the word jealousy. You might be thinking, “Doesn’t the Bible speak of God’s jealousy towards us?” You’re right. As a matter of fact there is a verse in chapter 4 of James (verse 5 to be exact), that says that God yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us. So why is it that God’s jealousy is acceptable and human jealousy is not? We learned earlier in James that God is the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. God is perfect. He perverts nothing. He is holy. He does not quake or quiver at anything. He is not variable. He does not change. All that flows from him is good because He is righteous and sovereign in all things. Therefore, God’s jealousy is holy and righteous not perverse and wrong. Humans do not possess all these Godly qualities. Whenever the Bible speaks of jealousy in the hands of humans it is always bad (Acts 13:45, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:20…just to name a few). So we must guard ourselves very carefully when it comes to something like jealousy. Do not allow jealousy to make you boast and be false to the truth.

 Selfish ambition is something that I can relate to very well. There is a span of 4 to 6 years of my life (late teens to mid twenties) where I was desperately lost in a pit of selfish pursuits. I sought out the comfort of alcohol only to find a lot of empty bottles and hazy memories. I sought out the comfort of women only to find emptiness at the end of every brief encounter. This stage of my existence was like a weird stage of limbo. Though I was enrolled in a specific program at college, I felt like my life was aimless in many ways. I was having a lot of fun but in retrospect that fun never really took me anywhere. I remember my last few years of college well. I was working two jobs. I taught music lessons in the evening and I worked a sometimes brutal day job of manual labor. During the days I used to daydream about being far off somewhere. I used to dream about having lots of money and doing all the things that I’d always wanted to do. My entire day would be consumed by such thoughts. Some days it would bring me down but then it was always easy to round up a few of the guys, get drunk and reminisce about the good old days. So many wasted days chasing selfish ambition. Selfishness is really the dark side of ambition. Ambition in and of itself is not a bad thing. Ambition can actually be quite a good thing if it is motivated by a will to do God’s work. So whenever you desire to do something in ministry or other pursuits I think you have to ask yourself the question, “Is this about me or is it about God?” Justifying our motivations can be tricky and we need to be on our guard against deceptions. This is yet one more reason to be steadfast in the word of God. It is also further evidence that our lives need to daily revolve around the business of the Father’s work. We must invest our lives into God.   

 The Wisdom From Above

 Verse 17 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” 1 Corinthians 13 is a long list of what love is and what it is not. James 3:17 is a list of what wisdom is and what it is not. I draw out the comparison of these two verses to point you to the fact that the Biblical authors were intensely passionate about being clear in their presentation of God’s instruction for His people. One of the best ways to do this is to give people a list of do’s and don’ts. You can go through 1 Corinthians 13 one item at a time and if you are lacking in any one of those areas it may be a red flag that you don’t understand the Biblical perspective of love. The same concept applies here in James. You can go through James 3:17 one item at a time and if you are lacking in any one of the areas presented, then you may not have a Biblical understanding of wisdom.

 Is your wisdom pure? In other words, is your wisdom free from bias? Is your wisdom free from conceit? Is that wisdom developed in a spirit of prayer, worship, and humility before God? If it is not then it has no hope of being pure.

 Is your wisdom peaceable? Are you patient, caring, and loving with your wisdom? Do you seek to reveal the heart of God in your wisdom? Do you seek to make peace with your wisdom? If you do not do these things it will be impossible for your wisdom to be full of peace.

 Is your wisdom gentle and open to reason? Do you remain teachable in your wisdom? Are you stubborn or gentle in the way you display your wisdom? Is your mercy full of wisdom? Do you seek only to bear good fruit from your wisdom? Is it your desire to make the riches of God’s glory known with the wisdom that comes from Him? Are you impartial or fair in your wisdom? Do you seek all sides of things before you render counsel? Is your wisdom born out of sincerity? Do you genuinely care about the purpose of God and how he reveals himself in your life and the lives of others? If we have missed any of these things, we have missed the wise counsel of James regarding Biblical wisdom.

 What is the true purpose of wisdom?

 To begin this thought I want to take back to the time of Solomon. 1 Kings 3 tells the story of God coming to Solomon saying, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon’s response is remarkable. Please go to 1 Kings 3 now and read it so that you can truly appreciate the depth of the great king that was Solomon. Solomon’s request to God comes in verse 9, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” God was so pleased with his response because he asked nothing for himself. He asked only for the ability to lead God’s people as God desired it to be done. God granted Solomon’s request. He also gave Solomon that which Solomon did not ask for. God gave Solomon wealth and honor such as the world had never seen. The true nature of wisdom is not about personal honor or gain. True wisdom reveals the great vastness of God gloriousness. Wisdom should serve the purpose of God. Wisdom should be concerned with the Father’s work. So when we seek wisdom we must first understand that its fundamental purpose is not to serve us but rather to serve God.

 Make Peace

 Verse 18 brings this riveting chapter to a close like this, “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” In all things we must seek the righteous will and discernment of God. We must sow that into our everyday actions. Some may say, “Isn’t it a bit contradictory to talk about a harvest of righteousness sown in peace by those who make peace when the early Old Testament is filled with so much war that was directed by God?” It is true. There are difficult parts of the Old Testament that can cause us to struggle with this notion of peace. Why did the Israelites have to take the promised land by force. Could God not have made it all happen through diplomacy? I’m going to stop myself with that thought because I think such thoughts do something to a person. I think what happens when such thoughts are brought to bear is that people, in some way, begin to elevate themselves to a place of honor and wisdom that they do not deserve. I will always encourage people who think they know how to do things better than God to simply go to the closing chapters of Job and read. It is so preposterous, almost laughable if it wasn’t so tragic, for anyone to think that they have something to laud over God in His sovereignty. What I do know is this. The design that God spun into action has worked itself out according to the counsel of His own will. This design has made grace available to all who put their faith in Jesus. It seems to me that His design is working out rather well. Colossians 1:20 tells us that Jesus is making peace by the blood of His cross. If Jesus is making peace by the blood of His cross, do you not think that it might be at least a little bit wise to seek to be the kind of person who sows peace? This is yet one more example that James provides us with that proves to us that mercy will always triumph above judgment. Remember James earlier words, “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.”

 In the next section of this commentary we will begin delving into the dangers of worldliness. The word “worldliness” may conjure up a few things in your mind but I would first challenge you to go to chapter 4 of James, read it, then reflect on how the Bible defines worldliness. Not every traditional definition of the word will hold up under the hefty scrutiny of the Bible.

 More is coming soon…

 All my love

 Chad

      

Commentary: James 3:1-12

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

A WARNING TO TEACHERS

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” The opening to chapter three seems like something of an odd transition from “For as the body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” But we must first need to understand where James is heading with his opening statement. James is going to break into an examination of “the tongue”, a.k.a how we use our words. James is beginning with a specific example, i.e. teachers, and from there he’ll transition into a more general discussion on the tongue.

Anyone who wishes to assume a place of instruction to the church body, at any age level, must first come with a great reverence for the nature and word of God. James isn’t saying, “Don’t become teachers.” This would be a foolish statement and it would be contrary to the rest of scripture. What he is saying is that if you desire to teach then you must first understand the full weightiness of what it means to teach God’s word to others. If you take it lightly then you could do immeasurable amounts of damage even if you have the best of intentions. Most people are designed to follow but few are designed to lead. We would probably all agree that it takes a certain kind of person to lead and this is not a position that many people aspire to. There is a great and unique kind of gravity that comes with teaching others. If you mess it up then you will have much to answer for because if you’re leading people away from the light of God’s truth rather than leading them toward it, not only are you committing sin, you are leading others down a path of self-indulgent sinfulness. I think this is why James says, “…for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” If you have sinned in your guidance of others and have in turned caused those who trust your word, not so much the explicit word of God, to live non-God centered lives, then woe to you when the deeds of your days are counted and judged. I have taken this warning very near to my heart ever since I have started teaching. Anyone who teaches must take careful pains to preach only what God’s word explicitly details. This is what I mean when I say teach with reverence. So with every word we speak about God we must do it in the spirit of venerating the vast greatness of the Lord that is ruler of our lives. 

ALL STUMBLE  

Verse 2 gives support for verse 1. You can almost imagine a question between verse 1 & 2. What other reasons should cause us to tread with great caution when we seek to teach? Verse 2 would be the perfect response to that question. This verse illustrates,very aptly,the natural fallibility that exists in the verbal dealings of all people. “For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his entire body.” There is no area of our lives where we can say that we are perfect. It is in fact a mere statement of truth that we all stumble in many ways. Our usage of language is no exception to this rule. It is true that we may exhibit great discipline in varying areas of our lives but there is always a place in everyone’s existence where they exhibit very little self-discipline. One of the most commonly found undisciplined areas of our lives is our usage of language. By language I don’t mean ill use of grammar or bad dialect. I’m simply referring to how we speak. What do we talk about? What do our words dwell upon? How do our words affect others? This isn’t just discussion about gossip. That is a short sighted perspective of this section of James. While gossip could certainly be, and most likely will be, discussed in this section, it is not the overriding theme of importance to grab onto.

The great point of realization in this section is that the tongue is a like a rogue member of our body that can easily and greatly cause us to fail in our worship and service of God. We must first acknowledge that our tongue is a natural force of failure. From there we must proceed to the question of, “How do we combat the nature of the tongue?” James responds to this by giving us many illustrations of how the tongue is weak. We must first understand the nature of a thing before we can truly know how to challenge it. So let’s discover that nature.

DEFINING THE NATURE OF THE TONGUE

The latter half of verse 2 says that if someone does not stumble in what they say then they are perfect and able also to bridle the entirety of their body. This implicates that the tongue is responsible for much sin that goes on in our lives. Ask yourself if you find this implication to be a mere illustration of truth or a gross overstatement of what the tongue can do. If we could “tame the tongue” could we really better combat the nature of sinful flesh? James seems to be indicating that this is true.

Consider James first of two examples: “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.” This is a very practical illustration. Many of us have probably seen horses guided around by bits that have been harnessed into their mouths. If the horse is tame you will see for yourself that the horse’s whole body is guided, essentially, by that bit in their mouth.

Example 2: “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.” This is yet another highly practical illustration. Ships are huge but without the guidance given to them by their rudder (which is comparatively smaller than the whole ship) they would be at the mercy of the seas that drift them.

The point of these two illustrations is to serve as a support for what James says in verse 5, “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.” From this point forward James is going to transition his message to a broader audience and deal specifically with how the tongue affects our lives. Though the tongue may seem like a small and insignificant part of the body, we must realize that it can be a giant in the worst and best ways. Words mean so much to people and I think that many of us underestimate how important our linguistic abilities are to our every day existence. If I suddenly could not speak tomorrow, my career as a teacher would be over. I would no longer be a worship leader. My whole structure of communication would change. My life wouldn’t, by any means, be over but a major transition would have to occur in my life in order to communicate with the speaking world around me. It is so vital that we take care with our language. We must seek to glorify God with our language and this is vastly more difficult than most people realize or are at least willing to admit.

The Tongue Is A Fire: “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell.” The metaphor of the tongue as a fire is quite true. Our words can be so consuming and damaging to others that there is a very real danger that the things another person says to you can do permanent, or least hard to repair, damage. What’s worse is that James tells us that the tongue is a harbinger of unrighteousness. The thought of being sinful in any area of our lives should trouble us. We must always take great care to speak only in God’s perspective of truth. If we fail to do that then we open up our language to a filthy causeway of unrighteous usage.

What is James implying when he says that the tongue is “set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell”? I believe that James is trying to illustrate how the tongue can infect your whole body and your entire course of life. The detrimental affect of this is that it gives sin an opportunity to rule in every area of your life. This causes us to be false to God’s truth and to fail in our worship of Him. This is a state of being that no Christian alive should desire to be in. Sin is a horrible, powerful, and pervasive device of the enemy. The enemy can use sin so effectively and this is evidenced very sharply in the case of misuse in language. To combat this we must seek God’s word to understand how we can glorify God through language. We must seek to understand how language helps reveal the righteousness of God. We must also develop a great care and patience for when and how to speak. All of our words must first proceed from a love of God and a desire to see His will accomplished in the world. If our words begin to proceed from anywhere but there we should immediately stop ourselves to refocus on the majesty of God and how we honor him with our words. It is only then that we should proceed forward in speech. This is vital to choking out the sinful nature of the tongue. Our goal in this struggle should be to discipline our tongue so that it could serve the greater and higher purpose of God.

There is yet one more thing in this verse that must be addressed. James uses the phrase “set on fire by hell” at the conclusion of verse 6. What, precisely, does this mean? When we consider the word “hell” our mind may automatically jump to a few different places. We may think of a place of eternal separation from God as well as the dominion of Satan. The Bible teaches us that Satan is the father of lies and that every word that comes from his mouth is a lie (John 8:44). Jesus says that from the beginning Satan was a murderer and a liar. We see in the book of Genesis, chapter 3 to be exact, that Satan (the serpent) came to Eve and deceived her with words. Satan made a compelling, though false, argument and tempted Eve to sin and Eve led her husband into this sin as well for both ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The cataclysmic effect of this is well known to both Christian and non-Christian alike. Words continue to be a colossal tool of the enemy. I’m sure it delights all that is evil every single time that we sin with our language. I’m sure it delighted Satan in the garden when Eve fell for his repartee of deception and I’m sure that he was doubly gratified when Adam fell into this snare. The external danger of words is as deep and darkly seeded as the internal danger. The story of Adam and Eve shows us the external danger, and consequence, of words. Speaking lustfully of a man or woman who is not your spouse would be an example of the internal danger, and consequence, of words. Some people say that words are only words and that they cannot harm you. The Bible is quite clear that this is a foolish and dangerous perception of language.

I want to leave this section with one final note and it is a historical side note that I believe will help you better understand the biblical usage of the word “hell”.  In the original Greek the word translated as “hell” in the bible was the term Geenna or Gehenna. This term actually referred to a geographical location near  Jerusalem. It was a valley where the filth and dead animals of the city were dumped and burned.  This particular usage of the word, depending on what translation you’re reading, occurs over 10 times in the New Testament. Those reading it would have understood that “hell”, known to them as Gehenna, was referring to a terrible place of wretched stench and death. This, however, does not indicate that the Bible never speaks of a literal hell. The Bible speaks explicitly about a real hell and not just real world locations that we can view today on a map. Consider 2 Peter 2:4, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment;”. Though hell is being translated from the Greek word genna, the context makes it obvious that the hell being referred to is a place not necessarily of this earth. It is difficult to know the full breadth of hell because the Bible gives us somewhat limited descriptions of it. Granted, the Bible has given us more than enough context to understand the general severity of hell but like most things, reading about it and seeing it with your very own eyes are two entirely different things. Though this may not contribute greatly to what we’ve been discussing here in James my hope is that you will find some of this information helpful in discerning the Biblical perspective of hell. Hell is something that many people have questions about and it is our duty as Christians to be as informed as humanly possible about things such as these.

Can The Tongue Be Tamed? “For every kind of bird and beast, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” The answer to the question which opened this section is this: No. Verse 8 of chapter 3 very clearly says this. So the question then becomes, “If we can’t tame the tongue then what hope do we have of controlling it?”

The original Greek term that is translated as “tame” is the word “damazo” which means to tame, curb, or restrain. Notice the word that is not used in these definitions. You don’t hear the word “discipline”. Being tame and being disciplined are not at all the same thing. To be tame means to be changed from a wild or savage state to a docile one. Discipline is the act of training oneself to behave in accordance with rules or expectations. While we cannot tame the tongue I do believe that we can discipline the tongue. One of the primary lessons to draw from the entire letter of James is the fact that we must discipline our lives. James is urging us to live up to an expectation. He is urging us to understand what God expects of us and then do whatever those expectations require. The tongue is no different. But how do we do this?

Before we can truly combat something we must first be able to identify what it is that we are to combat. Therefore, if we do not first understand the nature of the tongue how can we ever hope to discipline the slithery thing? That is why James draws some distinctions in these verses. Human beings are capable of taming many things. Birds, varying beasts of the forests, reptiles, and sea creatures are all example of things that can be tamed and have been tamed by human beings. Yet the ability of humans to tame things should not go to our heads.  Though we can tame many things outside of the body, so many people have an immensely difficult time disciplining their personal faults. Why is this? In a way it’s a mystery, yet in another way, if we are transparent enough with ourselves, we will see that many of our failures to discipline aspects of our character have largely to do with our own ignorance, stubbornness, and foolish pride. This has certainly been true in my own history and I can tell you that this admission is far from easy for me to make. It is essential for us to first understand that the tongue is a fire, a deadly poison, and a herald of unrighteousness. Coming to grips with those things will help us understand what we are up against. This will, in turn, help us understand exactly how and where we need to discipline our tongues. Comprehending the nature of the beast will assist us in killing it day in and day out.

Duality Must Not Exist In The Tongue: “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things out not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” The lesson here is exceedingly simple yet very difficult in application. All the examples in verses 9-12 show us how a lack of discipline in the tongue can create a tremendous contradiction in the life of a Christian. How can we say, “God is glorious and wonderful,” yet in the same day also say, “I know this is terrible to say but that woman has never been faithful to a single man she’s ever been with…she’s always been kind of a whore.” How can we bless God then turn around and curse one of His created ones? It doesn’t make sense. This simply must not be. We can look in nature and find that certain things just don’t go together. A spring will not pour forth both fresh and salt water. It simply doesn’t work that way. Fig trees don’t produce olives. Nature doesn’t work like that. Grapevines don’t produce figs. It is logistically improbable. A pond won’t be half salt water and half fresh water. Things such as this do not occur. Why then should blessing and cursing exist in the same mouth? The Bible says that it shouldn’t.

Before I close out this section of the commentary I want to talk briefly about the word “cursing”. In the original Greek this word was “katara”. The definition for this word means to execrate, imprecate, or curse. I had to look the first two of those words up. To execrate means to utterly detest, abhor, abominate, damn, or denounce. Those words, hopefully, give you a better idea of how this word is defined. To imprecate is to invoke or call down evil (curses) upon a person. A curse is the expression of a wish that evil, doom, misfortune, etc. would befall a person. So when you see, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing,” please don’t be foolish in thinking that this is referring to the usage of profanity. I’m not saying that profanity is or should be acceptable but I also don’t think it needs to be a place of stumbling either. I occasionally use a profanity but I have to admit that this study of James is convicting me with a stronger passion to rid myself of that part of my language. From a cultural perspective we know that profanity is not tolerated in school systems and it is not acceptable in public places of business, not to mention the myriad of other places where it is considered taboo to use profanity. Therefore I have more often asked myself the question, “What is the point of using profanity at all?” Profanity is an extraneous part of language. There is no setting I can conceive of where profane words are the only possible choice of vocabulary. So why use them? I find myself unable to answer that question. Considering all that has been discussed here, it makes me take a much harder look at the turns of phrase I choose to exercise.

In the next commentary I will be concluding chapter 3 with a discussion on wisdom as defined by the letter of James. We will be specifically covering verses 13-18. Ask yourself a few questions:

(1) What is wisdom?

(2) Is there a difference between earthly wisdom and the wisdom that comes from God? If so what is the primary difference?

(3) What kinds of things cloud our perception of wisdom?

Those are just a few things to get you started. We will delve into some of these in a few weeks. 

    

   

 

Commentary: James 2:18-26

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder! ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; ²³and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"-- and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Faith and Works are Inseparable

James’ illustration in verses 18-26 are a very practical and logical extension of the point he began arguing in verses 14-17. In my previous commentary I illustrated the point that you cannot talk about faith without also taking about works because the two are integral to one another. In light of what James says it is necessary to re-evaluate your personal definition of faith. Most people that I know seem to characterize faith as only “belief”. While that may be one vital component of faith we must also force ourselves to consider the biblical perspective of faith. Sadly, faith has been ill defined by much of Christian culture. I say ill defined because when you ask numerous Christians to define faith they can generally only speak of believing in something. This reveals a lack of biblical foundation in understanding faith. I think James recognized that this gap could occur. So in order to clearly and cleanly illustrate the true nature of faith, God gave James the wisdom of verses 18-26.

James Imagines and Responds to Objections on this Teaching

Verse 18 is an example of an objection that James is well aware may occur when this teaching of faith and works is heard. James understood that someone may say, “Hey, you think your faith is so great but my works stand out as my testament of righteousness.” Then James responds to this objection by simply saying, “Show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works.” In the latter half of verse 18 James is merely stating the fact that it is a logistical impossibility to demonstrate your faith apart from your works. James seems on the verge of beating a dead horse. He just keeps finding different ways to say that you cannot illustrate faith without works. I think there is an important reason that James is adamant about making this distinction as clear as humanly possible.

Consider, for a moment, the audience that James is addressing. In chapter 1 James greets “the twelve tribes in the dispersion”. He is writing to Israelites in exile. Why would it be important for James to drive home the inseparable nature of faith in conjunction with works? The reason is simple. The Israelites lived their lives by “laws”. Their whole lives were centered around accomplishing what the law required of them. So they had a very high emphasis of works forming the entire basis of righteousness. However, the very notion of Jesus being the supplication for righteousness would have blurred and confused this idea for many of the Israelites. So James is logically beginning where their confusion is likely to begin. He is beginning to show his audience that works has never been meant to stand on its own apart from faith, or vice versa. James will show them a bigger picture of their understanding for works and bring it back to a very old biblical ideology, an ideology that has existed since the beginning of creation. That ideology is this: Faith and works, which are inseparable, are both key components of what it means to humble yourself before God and honor Him as the King that He truly is.

Why the harsh nature of verses 19 & 20?

“¹⁹You believe that God is one. You do well; even the demons believe – and shudder! ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”

One thing that you can say about James is that he wastes no time with words. In contrast someone like Paul uses many metaphors. James, however, seems to cut straight to the point. Imagine that someone outside of Oasis wrote a letter to our church. Imagine that this person is someone that the leadership of Oasis trusts implicitly. Then imagine that this person wrote a letter to Oasis to address a concern that he/she saw within the infrastructure of the body. Next imagine that something like verse 20 is contained in that letter. It is quite obvious that James is eager to defend God’s word when someone has either perverted it or misunderstood it. Here James calls the one who doesn’t understand this teaching of faith and works a foolish person. Yikes! Yet he will be more brutal than that later on. In the closing stages of his letter, James will refer to certain individuals in the church as adulterous people because they request things from God only to spend it on their own passions. One might ask, “Isn’t this a little harsh? Does he have to speak so hotly with us? Is it really necessary to resort to name calling?” To the one who would ask such questions I would respond like this: James is calling us to abhor our own sin. Sin is a repugnant thing that bears no good. James isn’t calling us names. He is simply illustrating simple truths with very direct language. We’re not use to direct language in our culture. We live in a time of loopholes, excuses, and mindless banter from people that should know what they’re talking about.  When we hear someone speak clearly, concisely, and with blunt force trauma it comes as a great shock to us because we’re just not used to that kind of linguistic tactic. What I hear in verse 20 is not that I’m being called names but rather that this theological truth is so important to grasp onto that if you fail to do it then you will simply be foolish in your understanding of this very important lesson which is filled with the wisdom that can only come from God.

Even God’s Enemies Shudder at His Existence

Verse 19 is the perfect lead into verse 20. James is so adept at knowing when and how to bring human beings back down to their appropriate level. Verse 19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; even the demons believe – and shudder.” In other words James is saying that while it is good to understand that God is the one and only God and there are no other above him, do not become puffed up in your thinking. James then draws out this interesting parallel by saying that even demons, those who are enemies of God, believe that He is the one true God and in this knowledge they shudder. What an amazing thought. God’s enemies shudder at the fact that he exists. This merely shows how great and terrible our God is. I know that seems like an oxymoron but it should bring great comfort to those who love Him. There is a reason why we should rejoice with trembling in our hearts before our sovereign Father. If we have a big, biblical view of God, then it will be nearly impossible for us to stop ourselves from falling to our knees to worship Him in love and with a healthy, biblical understanding of fear. Verse 19 compliments verse 20 by making clear that it is foolish for us to think that all we are special in believing that God is the only God in existence. Even those who stand opposed to God believe that. James is pleading with us yet again to dig further into the understanding that God has made available for us. The purpose of this is to develop and further our understanding of the bigness, the greatness, the righteousness, and the gloriousness of the God that we get the privilege to serve every day of our lives. God is not foolish and neither should His people be. Don’t be content with knowing little of what God’s word says.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Verse 21-23 is used as an illustration to show how faith and works go together. To get a larger appreciation of the story being referenced I would urge you to go back to Genesis 22. This chapter in Genesis tells the story of how God tested Abraham by saying, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” Here’s what is amazing about this story…dramatic renditions of this story have Abraham portrayed as an agonized father leading his son to certain death. Yet the Bible gives no account or support for this. People just assume that they would personally struggle with such a command so why shouldn’t Abraham. Perhaps Abraham was tormented by this request from God but there is no Biblical evidence to support this claim. Abraham simply obeyed. The Bible does not speak of tears shed over the sons body. It merely paints a matter of fact picture of how Abraham believed in God’s demands and that he valued God’s commands more than anything else in this world. But Abraham didn’t just believe God, he acted upon what God told him to do and that is the whole point that James is making with this illustration. James is saying that if a person is truly a believer in God then that person will also be a follower of God’s desires. This entails that a person “do the word” rather than just “hear the word”. Both are crucial but if you hear the word and don’t do the word, then perhaps you have no real idea what faith actually is. Please recall what James told us in chapter 1, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Also consider this story of Abraham and Isaac in conjunction with James 1:2. Abraham valued God more than he valued the life of his only son, a son who the Bible tells us that Abraham loved. To our ears this may sound wrong and unloving. Someone might say, “If Abraham truly loved his son he would never have put him through that whole ordeal.” Actually I don’t think that’s true at all. I think Abraham understood what we all need to understand. God must be first in all things. God must be valued above all things. This does not mean that any person should become a dead beat parent or behave irresponsibly with their child. Abraham was not behaving like an irresponsible parent when he offered up his only son Isaac on the altar. Abraham was doing the most responsible thing he could have done at that moment and that was to follow the will of God. I’ll be the first to admit that this is a difficult thing to grip. As I write these words I struggle a little even though I know it is true. However, this story teaches us about the value of God versus the value that we place on ourselves.

The Regenerated Life Will Have Certain Characteristics

Verse 24 says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” This verse is really the punctuation on the point that James is making here. The example that follows this verse is merely more Biblical foundation for this argument. The bottom line in this whole discourse is that if your faith is alive and not dead, your life will take on a transformed nature. It will be obvious by works that you can show in the meekness of wisdom that your faith is genuine. The evidence of doing the word will permeate every facet of your life. If this is not the case then one must wonder if a persons faith is alive or dead. James gives us pretty clear guidelines to follow. If you’re sitting at home or work and you’re reading this wondering, “Is my faith alive or dead,” then I would urge you to sit down with this entire section of James, pray over what it says, seek the counsel of others and pray with them as well. At that point the answer should be readily apparent to you but only if you are prepared to humble yourself greatly before God. If you find that your life is devoid of doing the word then begin getting intentional about doing what it says.

Rahab the Prostitute

The account of Rahab that is referred to in verse 25 is told in the book of Joshua. The stage for this story is set like this: Moses has passed away and Joshua has risen up in his place. God is about to hand over the promised land to the Israelites after many many years of waiting. Joshua sends out two spies into the land and he gives them instructions to look greatly into the mighty city of Jericho. While in Jericho the two spies lodged at the home of a woman named Rahab. No doubt someone will ask, why are these two guys staying in the house of a prostitute. I have no definitive answer to this question but it may be as simple as the idea that the home of such a woman would be a place where the least amount of questions would likely be asked. Regardless of this, it was somehow discovered that the two men were lodging there. Someone was on to them and it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” The king wasted no time in responding. He most likely sent armed men with a message to Rahab saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But Rahab was thinking one step ahead of them. She had hid the Israelite spies and she had also spun out a convincing story to the kings men. Needless to say, the spies escaped this peril and were able to return to Joshua. But why did Rahab do this? The great renown of the one true God had reached the people of Jericho. They had heard of how the Israelite God had brought them out of Egypt and dried up the Red Sea. They had also heard of how the Israelite God had already led his people to victory in battles against powerful armies. These things made Rahab acknowledge the greatness of God by saying to the two spies, “…for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” Both Rahab and her family were spared in the sacking of Jericho because they believed and because they did what was right in the eyes of God.

Concluding Remarks

Verse 26 says, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, faith apart from works is dead.” I don’t think there is a need for a waterfall of words here. James has illustrated his point through a firm Biblical foundation in the examples of Abraham and Rahab. He has dealt forthrightly with the issues of dead and living faith. Moreover, James has challenged us once again to not be shortsighted, or false in our worship of God. Yet even more difficult road lies ahead. Chapter 3 will take us into the belly of a beast that we all wrestle. The tongue takes center stage in our next exploration of this letter. Go ahead and read the first twelve verses of chapter 3. Be challenged, encouraged, and strengthened by them.