Lessons for Life with James Long, Jr.
Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join James, a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life's biggest questions and helps us find God's solutions to life's struggles. Learn the power of living by God's grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are on a search for freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!
Lessons for Life with James Long, Jr.
Breaking the Silence: Standing for Truth in an Age of Compromise
In a world where God-ordained institutions are under attack, Christians need a roadmap for resilience. The Book of James offers us five principles to stand firm, encapsulated in the acronym S-T-A-N-D. We'll discuss how these principles can help believers view trials as a gateway to spiritual growth and maturity. By focusing on God's sovereign plan, we can transform chaos into opportunities for our faith to thrive, resisting global pressures that aim to stifle our religious freedoms and moral compass.
Words hold immense power, and today, we're harnessing that force for truth and love. With insights from James, we explore how the tongue, though small, can steer our lives toward wisdom or destruction. This episode is a clarion call for believers to act with conviction, letting their deeds speak louder than words, as demonstrated by Abraham and Rahab. As we reflect on the historical courage of figures like Sipra and Pua, we reaffirm our commitment to be lights in the world, praying for strength, integrity, and positive growth within our communities. Join us in the journey of being beacons of hope and resilience.
ABOUT JAMES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE
Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join Dr. James Long, Jr., a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life’s biggest questions and helps us find God’s solutions to life’s struggles. Learn the power of living by God’s grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are in search of freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!
Links
Website – https://jameslongjr.org/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/drjameslongjr
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/drjameslongjr/
Apple Podcast – https://jameslongjr.org/applepodcast
Google Podcast – https://jameslongjr.org/googlepodcast
as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think sometimes we have gotten very silent on moral issues that are significant, and I think sometimes as a church, I'm not talking about the chapel, I'm talking about the church in general. I think sometimes we're late on speaking to some things and it's only after things have been so entrenched around us that we actually speak up. So that's kind of the idea where the title comes from this morning Breaking the Silence, standing for Truth in the Age of Compromise. Because there are moments in history where people are called to take a stand. There are moments in history where people are called to break the silence and to actually stand out, because silence can be complicity at times and when faith remains hidden, it can't impact the lives of others, and oftentimes what we find is that our world is shaped by the nations and what is left there. God calls us to live to try to transform society, but it's also he is calling us to be transformed in our own hearts and our lives. He calls us to be courageous in the midst of the struggles that are there. The Bible gives us countless examples of people that took a stand and took a stand for faith in the midst of the trials and the difficulties. One other song leader that I like is Keith Green. Keith Green was a songwriter and he passed away I think in 1983. And he had an album that's how old I am and the name of it was no Compromise. And in the picture up there there is this bowing down. All these people are bowing down to these idols and this one guy is standing as this idol is passing by, and the title of the album was no Compromise. I want you to think about people that chose to say no in the midst of the prevailing evils of their time. They refused to compromise their convictions. They're risking everything to follow Christ. I think of Zipra and Pua, these two Hebrew midwives. In Egypt, the Pharaoh had made a decree that any newborn baby boy was to be killed, but they defied him. They stood against him and they said no, I'm not going to do this. They refused to participate in what they would say as genocide. I'm not doing this. I am standing against this tide. Even the most powerful leader was saying yes and they were saying no, we're not doing this. I am standing against this tide. Even the most powerful leader was saying yes and they were saying no, we're not going there. I think of Moses, that little baby that they that saved. That Moses stood against years later stood up in front of that Pharaoh the most powerful man of the universe at the time, and they said he said no, let my people go.
Speaker 1:Queen Esther faced life and death decisions. She was threatened with her people were going to be threatened with annihilation. And what did she do? She said I could stay in my palace and be safe, or I can go out there and take a stand. And she says if I go, if I perish, then I perish. She took a stand for truth. She took a stand for justice. She became an instrument in God's hands to save a nation. We know that about Daniel.
Speaker 1:When Daniel faced the decision, the king had said nobody can pray to anybody other than me. And he said no, I'm going to continue. He didn't compromise his faith. What he did was he continued to pray openly, as he had always done, despite the fact that he knew that he could die for this. He chose to do the right thing and pray to his God. He chose obedience over obedience to humanity and, of course, his friends Shadrach, meshach and Abednego. They knew that they were commanded to bow down to this idol and they said I refuse to, I will not bow down. They were not going to bow down to that image and even though they may have gone to a fiery furnace, they said I know my God can deliver us, but even if he chooses not to, I'm still not bowing down. I think of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was standing there and saying repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. He is crying out in the wilderness. And then, when he was in prison, he stood before that king that was living any sinful and sexual life and he says what you're doing is wrong. He defied the king, he defied that person, even at the risk of his life.
Speaker 1:The apostles in the early church. They carried on a legacy forward. Peter and John said we need to obey God rather than man. Throughout history we've got people like Polycarp. Polycarp was this early church leader. He was threatened with death and I love this quote. He said this 86 years. I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I bless me? My king who saved me, or William Tyndale, the reason why you have a Bible in your hand in the English language? William Tyndale, his life mission was to translate the Bible into English. He says if God spares my life, I will cause a boy that has driven the plow to know more of the scripture than thou dost now. And he eventually was executed.
Speaker 1:Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who I was mentioned before. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor, a theologian, nazi Germany. He spoke against the atrocities of the Hitler regime, the real Hitler regime. And Bonhoeffer spoke these words Watch, this Silence in the face of evil itself is evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. See what these men and women knew. They knew what was at stake. They knew that they were called to a higher standard, a standard that was not causing them to bend to the wills of what was happening around them. They didn't worry about the fear of man or the fear of death. They said I have a fear of God. I'm going to stand before him and I'm going to honor him.
Speaker 1:We live in a world that has traded truth for convenience, compromise is expected, where faith is relegated to a private thing. You can have your private beliefs, but keep them private. Don't ever share that out with anybody. And far too often I see that we are living in a world where Christians are thinking, sounding or acting like the world rather than the word. And if we're looking at the world, we're looking at the problems in this world and we're thinking, sounding or acting just like the world is, then what is different about us? See, you're called to be a light and you're called to be salt in this world. The world needs truth, and truth that may cost you and me, every single one of us, and there are times of pressure and there are times of persecution that may come upon us, and that stuff that they were dealing with, all those people I was talking about, that was real persecution. What do we deal with? Maybe somebody doesn't like us, maybe somebody unfriends us? Let your faith be visible, let your faith be courageous, let your faith be uncompromising. God has you at that specific place for such a time as this. God has you in exactly the places. He has you connecting with people, because he wants to use you as a bright light to this world. But when you relegate that light under a bushel, why are you here? Why am I here?
Speaker 1:God ordained three basic institutions the family, the church, it and they were supposed to be working under his authority, under his sovereignty, and each one of them is to be a reflection of him. None of us are called to look to those institutions as the ultimate. We're supposed to look to God as the ultimate, and it's not surprising to me that Satan has looked to thwart each one of these institutions. He has looked to thwart the family, and that's the agenda of today destroy the family. He has looked to thwart the state. The state has now become the God. It's replaced God and now people look to the state as God. It doesn't matter who wins on Tuesday, christ is still king. So he looks to destroy the family. He looks to destroy the state. He also looks to destroy the church. That is where he can't win and we won't allow him to, but Christ will clearly not allow him to.
Speaker 1:The world wants to restrict speech, wants to reshape what is acceptable and what is right. The world wants to grab the education system and influence future generations of morals and cultural things. The world wants to now attack the church, whether it's through subtle pressure or through outright persecution, which some churches have experienced. Please don't let them do that. See, when we fail to do that, we're risking losing the role as light in this darkness. So today I want to take some time to go through the book of James. I want to pull out five principles from the book of James that I think will help us in this time. I'm going to use the word stand S-T-A-N-D as the framework and we're going to look at how we can stand in the midst of the troubling times. Why James James is so relevant today?
Speaker 1:James was speaking to people that were under great pressure. He was speaking to people who were suffering persecution. The world was caving in on these people and he was reaching out to them to say that you can have a vibrant hope, a living faith, and that you can have peace and hope in the midst of the chaos and the confusion that is around you. That is what James is writing to. He says that your faith doesn't just have to survive, but it can thrive in the midst of this. He said that your faith could be visible, not hidden. Your faith could be active, not passive. Your faith could be visible, not hidden. Your faith could be active, not passive. Your faith could be unshakable and unwavering. That is the faith that he has called you to, that Christ has called you to by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that's what he wants to do in you and through you.
Speaker 1:So, lord, I pray that you would give us a living courage. I pray that you would give us an uncompromising faith. I pray that you would help us an uncompromising faith. I pray that you would help us to face any opposition, knowing that in you we can stand. So, father, the truths that we speak about today are probably not going to be new truths to many of us. I pray that they would be a refreshment and a hope and a peace and a reminder of the things that we are called to do, like those heroes that we saw in the Old and New Testament, those heroes that we've seen in church history. Father, I don't know how many of us are ever going to be called to lose our lives for you, but, father, help us to be willing to lose something for your son because he lost everything for us. In Jesus' name. We pray Amen. So the S in the stand is to stand firm in trials. Stand firm in trials.
Speaker 1:Elder Ed read for us the first section here in Romans. He read here that a Paul is a servant of Christ Jesus and called to be an apostle. I'm not Paul James. That doesn't make sense. James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes dispersed Greetings. He's talking to these 12 tribes, the Jewish nation that has been separated, and they have been dispersed because of persecution. They are experiencing persecution Now. The persecution was coming upon them first economically, and then it was relationally, and then eventually it was going to become physical and it was going to lead to eventual death of some of these people. And some of these people would just say I think that was part of the way that God was going to spread his good news to the world. He says I want the gospel to go from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth, and what God was using it was you using the evil of the time to spread his gospel message throughout the world. And I think that's what he was doing here.
Speaker 1:And James is writing to these people and he's saying I don't want you to be overwhelmed, I don't want you to be afraid, I want you to know that you can stand firm in the trial. And we heard it earlier. He says, verse two count it all, joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials. He means that I want you to consider this. I want you to think as you see this situation. I want you to start with the mindset that God is sovereign. You are under his hand. Nothing is happening outside of God's sovereign plan. He's got a great plan for you and he can redeem the struggle that you're going through.
Speaker 1:See, james' challenge to us is this that you can stand firm in the world that's going chaotic and confusing. You don't have to compromise, you do not have to give in. You could be prepared for the adversity that's coming, but it's that adversity, the discomfort, the trials, the difficulties are urging you to trust God. He wants to make you strong and mature. He wants to make you complete through this trial. He wants to use this trial for his glory.
Speaker 1:But it talks about counting it. What does it mean? It means that you have to actually think about this trial and see the trial, but see the greater person beyond the trial. Don't look horizontally. You look vertically. You look at God, who's sovereignly in control. See, this is where faith shines at its greatest. Not in the comfort, but in the courage that you and I have under the pressure. So that's when your light is really shining. What God does, for some reason, is he chooses to allow the pressures that you go through to hone you and to grow you and to make you more and more like him.
Speaker 1:Suffering produces what Perseverance and perseverance, what Character and character, hope. That's what Paul said in Romans, chapter 5. God wants to use these trials that we're going through and the difficulties that we're going through to teach you to stand firm. And this perspective is so important. It's so important to know this, because trials do more than just test us. Trials will transform you. That God will use the difficulties that this nation is going through, the difficulties that this county is going through, the difficulties that this state is going through, the difficulties that are in your life and in your marriage, and the struggles that you're having. He will use each one of those because he wants to push you to rely on him. He wants to build spiritual muscle, he wants to build endurance in you, and that's why he says that it will produce a perfect and complete work. Lacking in nothing, he requires maturity, and maturity means that we are growing in faithfulness, growing in obstacles. So, rather than seeing the obstacle, I want you to see this as an opportunity of what God wants to do in you and through you.
Speaker 1:Verse 5 is interesting because verse 5 says if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask who gives. Let's ask God, who gives generally to all, without reproach, and it will be given to him. What James is doing is he's giving you a practical step which, very honestly, very few of us do. How often is it that we actually go vertically? How often is it that we, before you go into the voting booth on Tuesday, spend some time in prayer, maybe outside that voting booth? There's going to be a long line. It's a long line, and we wait outside. Hopefully it's warm that day and hopefully there's going to be a long line. It's a long line and we wait outside. Hopefully it's warm that day and hopefully it's not raining, but we wait outside.
Speaker 1:Why not spend some time just praying praying for our nation, praying for our leaders, praying that God brings the person that he would want into that area. See, to obtain wisdom is to endure the trial with joy. The reason why you can endure this trial with joy is because you're seeking God's wisdom and seeing that God has a reason for allowing this trial. I could see it, god. I may not see everything, but I could see that your hand is at work here, because you've done it in the past. I know you'll do it in the future. I know you're doing it right now.
Speaker 1:Today, we must admit when we go to this way, we admit our need for God, we admit that he is sovereign, that he's in control. We trust his guidance in our lives. Verses 6 through 8 is interesting. He says but let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind, for that person must not suppose they will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. See, he introduces a condition. He says that, yes, you have to do the activity of asking, but you have to ask in faith.
Speaker 1:And faith is so important. We need to ask God without doubting, and doubting. Is this level of instability in our lives that we doubt that God loves us? We doubt that God is there for us? True faith isn't always understanding everything that God knows and everything that God is doing. That's not true faith. True faith is that I trust you, god, even when I don't know what's going on. See, standing firm in trials requires unwavering faith. When it comes to God, we need to believe not only that he has the power to handle this, but he also has the goodness, he has the favor and he has a purpose for the pain that we're going through. And when you do that, it anchors you. It anchors you because you become anchored and you are steady and you are secure and that God is working and my confidence is growing and that God has the ability to manage the situation, no matter how hard the trial is. I know that he can strengthen me. I can know he can endure, I know that I can be shaped through this trial. Do you believe that Step number one is to recognize that we need to stand firm in the trials? Step number two is also important.
Speaker 1:Now, the end of chapter one, he goes on to talk about temptations and then he talks about hearing the word and then doing it, the word, which is so important. He says it's not enough to hear the word, you need to actually put that word into practice. All of that is important in standing firm in the trials. The second thing I want you to see is that James tells us that we need to take action in faith. Take action in faith. See, it's not enough to stand firm in the trials, where I keep my feet firmly planted on God. Now I need to actually move. I can't just be passive, I need to be active. Each one of those characters that I gave you from the Old Testament wasn't just that they stood firm on a belief, they actually moved forward. Moses went to Pharaoh, daniel continued to pray, shadrach, meshach and Abednego stood up, peter and John and Silas actually preached the gospel. Each one of them were doing something that's so important. So I think the second thing that James tells us is that we need to take action.
Speaker 1:In the beginning of chapter two, it's interesting that he talks about partiality. We're living in a culture today where people are looking externally at somebody because of their race or their gender and therefore they make it valuable in and of themselves, and James is saying wait a minute, you're looking externally for the wrong reasons, that the people that you're looking at externally, that may look like you or whatever it may be in and of themselves, may not be a brother and sister in Christ, maybe the ones that are actually hurting you. So if you look at people who are rich or poor and you say that this rich person should get a great seat down front, but the poor person should be sitting in the back. There is something wrong with the partiality I think we have a lot in our society today. But then James talks about at verse 14, that we have a problem when our faith has no actions. He says what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but doesn't have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them go in peace, be warmed and well-filled, without giving him the thing that he needs for the body, what good is that? And so what James is arguing is that genuine faith leads to action. It leads to you doing something when you take a stand in faith. Now you need to act through that faith, and that's what he was doing. He was talking about serving one another. He says that as you see this brother or sister, he gives a clear explanation when you see that brother and sister in need, what are you going to do about it? It was so good to be able to see the meal train come out. Meal train came out for Pastor Zach and Anna and that thing. I looked on it like 15 minutes later and it's like ding, ding, ding ding. It was filled.
Speaker 1:Because this is a church of people that are acting, we need to continue to not only act for the body of Christ, but we also need to act in the world. See, practical faith cares and it serves and it responds to those that are in need, and you could tell the health of a church when its members are participating in the body and serving and caring for one another. God is doing things in you and then he's doing things through you, so take that stand for faith. Well, james is continuing to remind us that faith is not just mere words. It's actually doing something, it is active, it's demonstrating love, it is compassion that is there and it's faith beyond just words.
Speaker 1:Watch in verse 18. He says but someone will say that you have faith, I have works. Show me your faith apart from works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Now, james is not arguing that we're saved by our works. What James is arguing is that if you are truly saved, it will come out in your works towards one another. You will have a great love for others, because Christ loved you and he wants to love others through you. He has forgiven you, so he wants to forgive others through you. Real faith is marked by works that reflect the heart of Christ.
Speaker 1:I worry in our culture today that when we are more led by the world rather than the word, that our words and our actions seem so angry and attacking rather than loving and gracious. See, what God wants to do through you is he wants to take a stand for faith and he wants you to take a stand for faith. That is a faith that is acting and is doing something. And he gives you two examples. He gives you the example of Abraham, which I didn't use earlier. In verse 20, he says do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was it not Abraham, our father, justified by his works, when he offered himself as Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works and that faith was completed by his works and the scripture was fulfilled in saying that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called the child of God or friend of God.
Speaker 1:Now James uses Abraham, father Abraham, in the Old Testament as an example of someone whose faith led to radical action. His faith led to radical action, even to the point of taking his own son's life, and he was like are you guys kidding me? God, that's what you're calling me to do? It was radical, and this nature of genuine faith acted boldly, it acted sacrificially and it was one of showing trust in God. No, abraham, I'm not asking you to take your son's life. I'm going to do that for you. I'm going to have my son, the Lord Jesus Christ, years ago, on that same mountain, die on a cross. For every single person that will ever trust in him, I will have my son bleed and die. I will put my wrath upon him. You don't have to do that, abraham. I'm doing that for you. But Abraham was an example of faith because he didn't know that future story. He just knew that God was calling him and he used that as an example of faith.
Speaker 1:Another one that I didn't use from the Old Testament James uses here in verse 25, is Rahab, and in the same way, verse 25, was not Rahab, the prostitute, justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body, apart from the spirit, is dead, so is faith without works dead, and in the book of Joshua there's this story of these spies that go into the land. And Rahab the prostitute knew that her land was wrong and that the God of these people was right. And she says I'm going to reject my people here because my people are wrong. I'm going to go towards the God of the Israelites. And she chose to hide the spies. She sent them off in a different direction. And you know what the beauty is. Rahab the prostitute becomes part of the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ that God can use anyone, he can take anyone, he can transform them, he can change them.
Speaker 1:So step number one in the process is to stand firm in trials, but step number two, it is so important to take action in faith that for us to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, I would just encourage you to say is that the way it's supposed to be? Are the people around me supposed to not know about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I think we're called to take action. I think we're called to be courageous, like these people are. Our faith is meant to be a living force, an act of compassion, an act of courage, an act of conviction. A passive faith is a powerless faith. True faith steps up and it speaks out. Stand, you need to take action. Act with integrity in your speech.
Speaker 1:Chapter 3 begins, the next section where James is giving counsel, and I think this is really good counsel for us today, because we are living in a world that has completely forgotten about how we speak. Well, james says here Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, for you who teach will be judged more strictly, james says here, so that they obey us. We guide the whole body as well. Look at the ships also. Though they are large and driven by strong winds, they're guided by a small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue. A small member, yet makes great boast. How great a forest is set ablaze by a single fire. The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among its members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and is therefore set on fire by hell.
Speaker 1:What James begins with is that you have power in your tongue. Once again, I am encouraging you that when you start to speak like the world and you're saying the same things as the world, that is not what God wants you to do. As you look at candidates and you say the things that the world is saying about that same candidate and you're using the exact same tone. You're using the exact same words I'm just encouraging you to say is that the way Jesus would be responding? Is that the way Jesus would be talking today? Is that what he would be tweeting today? Is that what he would be putting on his Facebook page today? I encourage you to use your tongue, that tongue, as a powerful weapon for truth, not just attacking other people. Attack policy is all you want, but attacking people is clearly not what we're called to do. And James is using this imagery of this immense power that the tongue has and he compares it to the bit in the mouth of a horse and that you could steer that horse based on the bit. Or he compares it to a little fire or a rudder. That rudder on a ship can move the ship, or a fire can reset on blaze.
Speaker 1:We live in a world where people say such divisive and destructive things and they hurt people and they don't care. And as Christians, we're called to be people that speak love and grace and truth. The divisive and destructive language is so prevalent today. People use their words to tear down rather than build up, and the principle is clear Our speech should reflect a godly wisdom that is aiming to bring peace and encouragement in the world rather than anger and deceit. If your words are bringing greater anger and greater deceit, then I would ask you to consider is that really what God is asking you to? I can tell you for certain it's not. God calls us to speak with integrity.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 9 here. It says this with this we bless our Lord and Father and with it we curse man who remained in his likeness. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing my brothers. These things ought not to be for. Does spring for so? Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh water and salt water? Can a fig tree my brothers bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can salt produce fresh water. What James is saying is this we can't walk out of this sanctuary today singing praise to God and worshiping him with that same mouth and then immediately go onto my Facebook page and start saying such evil things. I just encourage you, my brothers and sisters be consistent with your language. Be a person that is a light in the midst of the darkness that is there. Stand firm, take action, act in integrity and nurture heavenly wisdom.
Speaker 1:James then goes from the tongue to the wisdom that we have, and I was saying that far too often people are based on the wisdom of this world rather than the wisdom of God. And he says in verse 13, who is wise in understanding among you by his good conduct, let him show his works in meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and be false to the truth. Verse 15, this is not wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly and spiritual, demonic. For where there's jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But hear this but the wisdom that is from above is first of all what Pure and peaceable gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. A harvest of peace and righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Speaker 1:I think what we're called to do is to have a heart of wisdom, and the heart of wisdom is I need to be listening for godly wisdom and I need to discern how I think and how I speak and how I act in light of God's word. I need to be grounded on the truth. And when I'm grounded on the truth, I'm going to resist the worldly compromises that are coming at me. If I am sounding more like the world than the word, something's off. If I'm acting more like the world than the word, something's off. If I'm thinking more like the world than the word, then something's off.
Speaker 1:James was saying here that earthly wisdom isn't spiritual, but he's actually saying it's demonic. See, we're living in a world today where Satan wants to usurp the faith, the family, he wants to usurp the church. He wants to usurp the nation and the state. So I encourage you what wisdom are you listening? To Be in the word. When you go into the ballot box on Tuesday, I encourage you to say okay, what policies, what platform? What policy and platform lines most up? And as you take true wisdom that aligns with God's heart and purposes, that allows you to stand for truth even when it's unpopular. Some of you will have to take a stand that is very unpopular to people that are around you.
Speaker 1:God says I want you to use my wisdom, I want you to break silence. I want you to have clarity in this world. I want you to show people of purity. I want you to be people of peace. That is in this world when you allow opinions to sway you and when you remain silent rather than standing for truth. It may be more comfortable temporarily, but it leads to greater problems in life. True wisdom breaks silence and true wisdom seeks truth over popularity S. Stand firm T take action through faith, a act with integrity in your speech N nurture godly wisdom and then D depend on God through humility and prayer.
Speaker 1:It's interesting he begins the fourth chapter and he talks about conflict and worldliness and then he jumps down. In verse seven it says submit yourself, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded, be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to glue. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you.
Speaker 1:So James gives counsel here. He says I want you to be full of humility. He actually says a little bit earlier that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God's command is clear here Submit yourself to him, and when you do that, it's a call to surrender your plans, your desires, your hopes, your dreams to God and let God be the one that is going to lead you and guide you. And that submission requires humility from each dreams to God and let God be the one that is going to lead you and guide you. And that submission requires humility from each one of us. And it's an acknowledgement that God's ways are higher than our ways and his plans are greater than our plans. And when we resist the devil, the beauty is this he will flee from you. And when you draw near to him, seek more of his presence, more of his desire, more of his purpose in your life, he will give you the power and he will give you a greater level of peace. I believe this that when we kneel before God, we will stand stronger in a world that's around us. And the reason why I think we're struggling with standing strong in a world that's around us because we are failing to kneel before God. So what does this tell us? It tells us, first, that God calls us to take a stand in the trials that you're going through. Each one of us are going through trials. I need you to take a stand for truth. Second, he reminded us that we need to take action Now.
Speaker 1:Faith doesn't just sit by. It speaks, it acts, it moves, it reaches out. Your words can bring life or death. Your words can bring spiritual life. It was each one of us that trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ that heard the gospel message through somebody. Somebody used those words to speak truth in this world. I ask you to nurture wisdom. Far too often, many of us are listening to the pundits and the political parties and whatever it is, you're leftist or you're conservative and you listen to those radio stations hour after hour after hour. And I would just encourage you, spend time in the word. Let God's word so saturate your mind and then depend upon him in prayer.
Speaker 1:There's some godly leaders that we have in history. Josiah was one of them godly leader, righteous, and he promoted right things. There's some evil leaders, like Ahab, he promoted some evil things. And Jehu was a mess. He was flawed, but God used him for a reason. You are salt and you are light. Use that salt and use that light to honor him.
Speaker 1:In Romans, paul said this. I close with this Verse 16 in chapter one he says I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation. Verse 16 in chapter 1, he says I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, for it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. Paul said that the gospel does something. It does something amazing it destroys shame, the shame that holds us back from speaking truth. The gospel destroys it. The gospel is a living force, he says. It is the power of God. When you feel weak, god wants to do some amazing power through you and to transform you. The gospel is for every single person that will ever trust in Christ that if you bow your knee to Christ and you say I want him, I know I'm a sinner, I desperately want him. The gospel is for everyone who believes. The only condition is that you must believe and the gospel is there that reveals the righteousness of God. Now God has revealed his righteousness in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Eventually he will reveal his righteousness ultimately as he judges this world. The righteous shall live by faith. So live in this world by faith. Take a stand, take action, act in obedience and integrity in your speech, nurture wisdom and then finally trust in God by having humility and turning to him in prayer. Let's pray Amen, father.
Speaker 1:Probably nobody here in this room has ever experienced like Sipra or Pua. Maybe some of our nurses in this room, maybe some of the medical professionals in this room, have been put into situations like those midwives, where they're called to take a life and they say, no, I don't want to do that. I'm not going to do that, father. I don't know how many people in this room have had to stand up against leaders maybe not as big as Pharaoh, but maybe the leader is a person at their job and they had to take a stand and say, no, I'm not going to do that. I don't know how many people in this room have had to suffer because of their faith and their religious beliefs. Maybe some of them in their families have had to experience that. Father, there are examples around this room of struggles that we have because of our faith.
Speaker 1:I pray that we would have the boldness like those ladies and those young men from the Old Testament, from the New Testament, from church history. I pray that we would have the boldness like those ladies and those young men from the Old Testament, from the New Testament from church history. I pray that we would be able to say, like that church historian, that 86 years I've lived and God has never rejected me. I'm not rejecting him. And, father, I pray that you would help us to stand. I pray for our country. I pray that you would do a work to protect us from greater decay. And, father, for this church, thank you for the growing work that you're doing in us. Through us, help us to be a light to each other but, more importantly, a light to this world. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
