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James 3:6 & 10 6-And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 10-Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. I recently saw a small sign posted on an office door that said "If you didn't hear it with your own ears or see it with your own eyes, don't invent it with your small brain and spread it with your big mouth!" How true! Gossip can be lies, exaggerated truth, or complete truth. Some think that it isn't gossip if it is true. The fact is, it's gossip if it isn't any of your business, or if the telling of it does nothing but harm or bring down another individual. How many times have my family and I been traveling home from Church, and instead of talking about what we learned from the Bible that morning, we talked about something negative that pertained to an individual or something not even related to the Bible? Many! I believe it's safe to say that if you are honest with yourself and God, you have done the very same thing. I know this because of what God's Word says about the tongue. He says "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." James 3:8. We all fight this battle. We gossip about others and others gossip about us. This is not an excuse, it's a fact. One we need to do something about! The next time someone approaches you with, "Did you hear about so-and-so?", just try this. Tell the person, "Wait, let's go get so-and-so so that we can make sure this is true." You'll be amazed at the response you get! However, it works both ways. When you are about to say something about so-and-so, ask yourself, "What if they walk up while I'm saying this?" Ask yourself what the outcome is going to be. Examine your motives. If our desire is to please God rather than to get revenge or vindication, most of our comments about others will be silenced. Think of this; To protect our ears, God only gave us a few tiny hairs. To protect our eyes, a thin piece of skin. However, to hold back the tongue, He gave us two rows of teeth and two lips. A double gate! Use them! James 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Today there is much uproar concerning homosexuality and abortion, and rightly so. Both are sin. One is an abomination and the other is murder. As Christians, we should not keep quiet on these issues. We must proclaim what the Word of God says. However, we are quick to condemn and cry aloud when two people of the same sex want to live as a married couple, but we turn a blind eye to the growing divorce rate. Is divorce no longer a sin? God's Word still says it is. This article is not meant to condemn those who have a divorce in their past and have repented and asked God's forgiveness. I'm addressing the fact that so many in the church today are sounding the battle cry against homosexuality, and again, we should, but they are not the least bit concerned with the fact that people, often Christians, are divorcing their spouses. Why is it wrong for homosexuals to live as they do, but it isn't wrong for heterosexuals to abandon their vows to one another and to God? We are outraged at the murder of a pre-born baby, but when the news anchor tells of another stabbing or shooting victim in our state or town, we are only concerned if it's someone we know? Is not murder of any kind a sin? God calls us to true holiness, not selective. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;" 1 Peter 1:15. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" The same Bible that says homosexuality is a sin says that God hates putting away.(Divorce) The same Bible that says murder is wrong says that gossip, lying, and being spotted by the world is wrong, too. If we are to live for God as He desires us to so that we may be a faithful witness for Him, we are going to have to see all sin for what it is. SIN! God hates it! Christ died for it! We must hate it as well. All of it. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. I can't tell you how many times I have personally heard this verse taken out of context by pastor's, preachers, and other Christians. It seems that many in the Church today believe that this is the magic cure for our nation. If the U.S.A. would just follow this command from God, they believe all of our ills and woes would vanish. Nice thought, but not at all Biblical. Here's why. I. Israel Is Not The Church. And vice-versa. The Old Testament deals with a physical nation of people and God's promises to and dealings with them. The OT is full of principles that the Church can apply to everyday life and service to God, and it should be studied in depth because of the vast wealth of information it provides on the nature and character of God. However, it does not deal with the Church. II. We Can't Isolate One Verse. The rest of 2 Chronicles 7 deals with the dedication of the temple by King Solomon. It tells of animal sacrifices that were made. If you are going to say that verse 14 applies to the Church, then so does the rest of the chapter. Are we then to institute animal sacrifices in our services? Of course not. Let's look at 2 Chronicles 7:19-20. I have added notes in bold parenthesis along the way. God says, "But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land (Israel) which I have given them; (The Jews) and this house,(The Temple) which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations." (Which He has done to the Jews.) It is a poor method of Biblical interpretation to take one verse out of context and apply if where it does not belong. The principle that we can apply to our lives today is this. God wants His people, Jews and Believers, to serve only Him and not other gods or idols. Would it be great to see a whole nation obey this commandment and get caught up in a great revival? Of course! However, God never promised that. He did not make His promise to anyone other than the nation of Israel. God's promises to believers are found in the New Testament which deals with the Church age, the age we are living in right now. If you are concerned for your country, the greatest thing you can do is carry out the Great Commission and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners who are on their way to a burning Hell. Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." You can't be a true Christian living in the United States today and not be grieved by the state of our nation. Sin abounds on every hand. Things that were once never spoken of in public are now glorified everywhere we look. However, as God's people, we must not let the state of our country cause us to react in an un-Biblical manner. It is vitally important that we keep our hearts and minds fixed upon our God-given responsibility. That responsibility is to preach the gospel to the lost so that they can be saved. It seems as though more and more Christians are giving themselves to political change rather than spiritual change. God never told us to go out and change our nation. He never told us to get the right men into places of government. He told us to tell sinners how to be saved. It's sad to see Christians complaining about the state of our country while ignoring the fact that it is our fault we're seeing so much rampant sin in our communities! Had the Church been staying true to God's Word, much of the problems we see today would have been stayed for a longer period of time. How ridiculous is it that the Church turned it's back on God and now it expects government to pass laws to clean up the mess?! Trying to save a nation is like trying to bail out the Titanic with a thimble. It isn't going to happen! God's Word promises us that one day He will wipe out the governments of the world and Jesus Christ Himself will rule and reign for a thousand years. Therefore, what matters is reaching the lost with the gospel before it's too late!!! Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Matthew 6:19-20 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: . I would encourage everyone reading this article to vote when there is someone your conscious and your Biblical convictions will allow you to vote for. Too many have died to give us that right. If you can, don't let anyone take your rights from you. Stand up for them! However, we must understand that above all, the most important responsibility we have is to our Saviour, and He told us to go out and tell sinners how to be saved! I don't believe that anything is going to save this nation, but Christ is still saving sinners! Amen! (Right about now, someone is quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14. We will deal with that in our next post.) Ephesians 5:15-17 "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." The Apostle Paul, while under house arrest in Rome, wrote this exhortation to the church at Ephesus. One can't help but wonder if Paul longed for the freedom that the recipients of his letter still enjoyed. He was unable to journey from town to town as he once had done and preach the glorious gospel of Christ. I'm reminded of how many times I've been told by an elderly individual that I should cherish the time I have with my children, because it goes by so quickly. Could it be that Paul's thoughts were traveling that road? Could it be that he desired to encourage the saints at Ephesus not to waste valuable time? The phrase "redeeming the time" means to "buy up; rescue from loss; improve opportunity." Simply stated it means "Every second is precious. Don't waste the time you have doing things that won't make an impact on eternity." Our soul's desire should be to live a life that brings glory and honour to the Saviour. One way that we do that is to labour for Him. Tell me, are you actively seeking opportunities to win souls to Christ? I'm not talking about "Lifestyle Evangelism" that says people will come to Christ just by your example. I'm talking about obeying the command of Christ to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mr16:15. Romans 10:17 says "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Therefore, it is the preaching and teaching of God's Word that leads people to Him. Not living a good life in front of them, however that is very important! Ask yourself this question-"How do I spend my time?" Do you spend it online or in God's Word? In front of the television or on your face before Almighty God? Are you seeking the pleasures and treasures of this life or are you seeking to do the will of God? One day, the saved will stand before Jehovah God and give an account for the work they did for Him. This work does not save us, for that is the work of Christ alone! Amen!! However, this work is our Christian labour as servants of the Most High God!!! (I encourage you to take the time to read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25.) What, then, will your report card look like? Perhaps the conversation when you stand before God will sound something like this: God-"Why didn't you read my Word?" You-"Lord, I had television programs to watch!" God-"Why didn't you seek my face in prayer?" You-"Dear Lord, I had to improve my Facebook status!" God-"Why didn't you tell sinners about me and tell them how to be saved?" You-"Oh Lord, I had so many things that I just needed to get done!" What will you say? Where will you stand? Will you be ashamed and found lacking? Or will you hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Mt25:21. Romans12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." If you read Isaiah 53, you read the account of the crucifixion some 700 years before it took place. Christ, God Himself, left Glory to die for sinners who deserved the wrath that awaited them. The sinless for the sinner. The perfect for the imperfect. The worthy for the unworthy. The pure for the defiled. We in no way deserve the sacrifice that God made for us. In the text above, the apostle Paul pleads with the Roman believers to do what is reasonable. What he is saying is, "In light of what God has done for you, it's only reasonable for you to live your life fully for the Lord!" Christ bore our sin. If you have been born again, He has given you eternal life. The least you can do is give Him all of you. It's reasonable to ask a nurse to take someone's vital signs or prepare a bandage because nurses have been trained to do so. It is also reasonable to expect a teacher to teach a child how to read just as it is reasonable to expect a mechanic to fix a leaky radiator. All of these things are reasonable because of what has been done to teach them these skills. Therefore, in light of what Jesus did on the cross and continues to do for us even now, it is reasonable that we surrender all to and for Him. Our text says we are to be holy and acceptable unto God. Sadly, many Christians are living lives that are far from holy, and they are doing things, even the name of God, that are not acceptable to Him. Let us always strive to be a living, or continual, sacrifice unto our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It's the least we can do! |
AuthorGrant Utley is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Terre Haute, IN. Archives
June 2015
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