After I preached this sermon on the Sabbath, a few folks brought up Gateway’s membership and baptism connection. Where we, the elders of Gateway, require an individual to be a member in order to be baptized (and vice versa). And where we, the elders of Gateway, require a parent/guardian to be a member in order for their child to be baptized (in most cases).

I’m not going to get into the details of why we require membership for baptism (and baptism for membership) in this post. Instead, I want to clear up confusion I caused by not being clear on man-made laws vs man-made laws.

Yup. You read that right. Man-made laws vs man-made laws.

In the sermon, I contrasted the Pharisees’ man-made laws to God’s law. I highlighted how the Pharisees created many laws that became the standard for whether or not someone was a devout follower of God. And if you broke one of their man-made laws, you sinned according to them. They then stacked their man-made laws in their favor so they were always on the right side of being a devout follower of God.

Jesus came along and disrupted their man-made religious expectations. And, because he did so, the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what’s unlawful (i.e., ‘sinful’) on the Sabbath?” That’s a bold assertion. They basically accuse Jesus of sinning.

My point wasn’t to say that all man-made laws are bad. My point was to say that any man-made law that becomes the standard for determining whether or not someone was a devout follower of Jesus is bad. Similarly, any man-made law that becomes a standard for what is sinful or not is bad.

But there are many man-made laws, even religious ones, that do not determine whether someone has sinned or if they’re a devout follower of Jesus.

Some examples.

At Gateway, we require all volunteers who work with minors to have a background check. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

At Gateway, we give all financial donors an end-of-the-year giving statement. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

At both of our campuses, we have a seating capacity in our worship centers. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

And at Gateway, we require those wanting to be baptized (or to have their child baptized) to be a member of the church. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. But this is also a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

Why?

Because we’re not saying that someone is sinning by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’re also not saying that someone is a less devout follower of Jesus by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’ve never said anything close to that. And we never will.

Not all man-made laws are the same. Some man-made rules are good practice, and others become the standard for whether someone is a Christian. Let’s not confuse the two. And let’s all remember that a man-made law isn’t the bad kind just because we don’t like it.

Your pastor and friend,

Josh

DATE: 7-26-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, which is called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be Christian or not — because — the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better. And, today, we’re going to see a side of Jesus that I don’t think many of us think about very often: Jesus the preacher

So, with that, let’s turn to our passage. We’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. We’ll be in chapter six — looking at verses seventeen through forty-nine. Again, that’s Luke chapter six — beginning in verse seventeen. This is Luke’s version of Jesus’ most famous sermon, which is often called the Sermon on the Mount. 

And for full disclosure: The kids are looking at Matthew’s version — but I didn’t think preaching through three chapters would be possible today. So we’re going with Luke’s shorter version. Here’s how Luke records Jesus’ sermon.

Luke 6:17–49 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” 39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Today, we’re going to let Jesus preach to us. And we’re going to look at three points that Jesus makes in his sermon. And I’m going to do my best to let Jesus just speak for himself. 

But, to give us some context, Jesus has just called the twelve disciples to follow him. That’s what Chandler covered two weeks ago. And, just before that, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath — a story I had us look at last week. And, after these events, Luke then records Jesus’ sermon. And if I were to summarize Jesus’ points, I’d do so like this: Those who are blessed by God are to be a blessing to others — that’s point one. Point two is: Those who are loved by God are to love others. And point three is: Those who’ve been forgiven by God are to forgive others. 

God’s blessed ones, bless others. God’s loved ones, love others. And God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. That’s where Jesus is taking us today.

GOD’S BLESSED ONES, BLESS OTHERS

Beginning with his first point: God’s blessed ones bless others. We find this beginning in verse seventeen, where we read…

Luke 6:17–26 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

God’s blessed ones, bless others. The kind of blessing that we all want to experience — regardless of whether you consider yourself to be a religious person or not — is seen at the beginning of our passage where people with diseases are healed by Jesus, as are those with unclean — or demonic — spirits. These are examples of a kind of blessing where we experience the power of God. And who doesn’t want to be blessed by God if that’s what it means to be blessed, right?

And it’s at this point that Jesus begins his sermon. And here’s what he does. Jesus essentially takes everything that we all want — and again, Christian or not — these are things we all want. Things like having lots of money, good food, laughter, popularity, and so on — and Jesus says that these things are not signs of God’s blessing. To which we all want to say, “Now hold on, Jesus. Not so fast, please. I’m struggling to follow you.”

So he goes on to explain that these kinds of things — money, popularity, everlasting youthfulness, fill in the blank with what you see people giving their lives to — Jesus says when these things are what a person lives for — they’ll never satisfy. In fact, when Jesus uses the word “woe,” he’s not using it as a warning. He’s not saying, “Be warned” — he’s expressing sorrow and sadness because he knows that there’ll be many who hear his words and yet will choose to live for these kinds of things anyway. Where — instead of living for him — we live for things that end up disappointing us.

But that’s not all he does. Jesus goes on to say some things that most of us don’t want to hear. Like that being poor and hungry, experiencing sorrow and weeping, or having people hate you, exclude you, and talk bad about you — because you follow him — Jesus says these are signs that you’re blessed by God. Which — in response — we all want to call a timeout. 

Why would these be signs that you’re blessed by God? One reason — and not the only reason — but one reason is that when we’re in these hard situations — all that usually distracts us from finding satisfaction in Christ alone — my way of phrasing this is “finding joy in Jesus alone” — all of that stuff is taken away. And it feels like a curse, but it’s actually a blessing. Because now, some of the competition — the biblical word would be idols — have been removed, leaving us to discover the soul-satisfying joy that’s only found in Jesus. And that — my friends — is a blessing from God. 

So the next time you find yourself — and maybe you’re there now — but the next time you find yourself stripped of something — and it being taken away makes you feel like you’ve been cursed by God — look to see how God might be giving you an opportunity to find greater joy in him than ever before.

Now the other half of Jesus’ first point — that God’s blessed ones, bless others — and now I’m talking about the “bless others” part — comes out of the idea that once we’ve allowed Jesus to define what it means to be blessed — all of these blessing stealers — money, abundance, entertainment, popularity, and so on — can be used to bless others. Where money is no longer what you hope will give you joy — but now, because Jesus is your joy, the money you have is a resource you joyfully use to bless others with. Same with food — you’ll be hospitable and enjoy meals with others instead of shutting people out of your life. You’ll live to make disciples — which is why Jesus saved you — instead of living just to be entertained. And you’ll care less about being popular — or even escaping the ridicule of the world — and instead will love Jesus boldly and obediently for the only Person’s opinion of you that really matters — is Jesus’s opinion of you.

As one Bible scholar has said, “According to Jesus…there are two kinds of people: People who suffer for his sake and have his blessing, and people who live for themselves and will come to an unhappy end.” Which kind of person are you?

God’s blessed ones, bless others — that’s Jesus’ first point.

GOD’S LOVED ONES, LOVE OTHERS

Now we come to his second point: God’s loved ones, love others. We find this beginning in verse twenty-seven, where we read…

Luke 6:27–36 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

God’s loved ones, love others. If you thought Jesus’ first point was hard to hear, well, here in his second point it gets even more challenging. For Jesus challenges all of us as to what it means to love others. 

In Jesus’ day, many rabbis — the Jewish religious teachers — taught that Jews only needed to love their fellow Jews. That the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” only applied to a fellow Jew. So a Jew had to love a fellow Jew, but they didn’t have to love anyone who wasn’t Jewish. And what does Jesus do? He challenges the thinking of the day as to what it means to be a loving person.

And Jesus not only pushes back against who we think we need to love — surely not “those people” — whether, for you, “those people” are Democrats or MAGA folks, Michigan fans or cat people — whoever “those people” are for you, Jesus wants you to love them. And he tells us what he means by loving them. Notice his words in verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight.

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Do good, bless, and pray. 

• To do good is to love with our actions — and we’re told to do good to those who do us wrong. 
• To bless is to love with our words — and we’re told to use our words to bless those who use their words to curse us. 
• And to pray is to love with our hearts — and we’re told to pray for those who abuse us, asking God to rescue them from their sin — even those who’ve sinned against us. 

One author asked some good questions to see how we’re applying Jesus’s words to our lives. He suggests we ask ourselves…

• What good have I done for my enemy? 
• What words of blessing have I spoken to them?
• What prayers of intercession — specifically praying that they would seek forgiveness from God — have I offered for them?

Challenging questions. Questions that force us to face whether we’re really someone who loves others as God first loved us or if we’re someone whose love is merely lip service.

Now, we need to continue moving through Jesus’s sermon, but I know that I can’t skip over the face-slapping, cloak-taking, and begging illustrations that Jesus uses to make his point about love.

So, first, know that the strike to the face that Jesus refers to, culturally, wasn’t an act of violence, which is what I think comes to most of our minds. The back of the hand was used, and causing physical pain wasn’t the goal. The goal was public humiliation — usually resulting in a person being kicked out of the synagogue and quite possibly their community. So this illustration is less about us being willing to experience physical harm for Christ and is more about us being willing, because of the love that you’ve experienced from him, to love Jesus even if it costs you your reputation. 

The cloak illustration is meant to teach us to love people unconditionally — for that’s how God loves us. An example of what this might look like would be: Imagine that our local community turned against us — where the city of Findlay — the residents and even the government leadership — doesn’t like Gateway Church. Instead of pulling back from doing our winter soup drive, hosting mobile food pantries, and the many other ways we love the people of our city — what Jesus is saying is that we keep loving our city in these ways. Even when we’re mistreated, we keep loving — because — God keeps loving us even when we mistreat him.

And, finally, love means we do all of this while expecting nothing in return. And we do so because — with hopeful anticipation — we believe that many of the people who we love in this way will experience God’s saving love through us.

GOD’S FORGIVEN ONES, FORGIVE OTHERS

Finally, we come to Jesus’ final point: God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. We’re in verse thirty-seven, where we read…

Luke 6:37–49 ESV

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” 39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. 

And here we come to something that Jesus said that even non-Christians love to quote: Judge not. 

Now, we like this quote for a variety of reasons. But the main reason we like it is because we want everyone else to stop judging us — while we happily go about judging everyone else. Jesus knew we’d all do this, so he uses the splinter and log illustration to make his point. For most of us — dare I say all of us — we focus on the sins of others more than we do on our own sins. 

Yet there’s an instinct we all have, and when we consider the rest of the Bible, we see that our instinct is partially correct: There are times when we’re to judge others. Here’s just one example from the apostle Paul. He writes…

1 Corinthians 5:9–13 NLT

9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

Here Paul makes it clear that — one — there are people who Christians are to judge — those inside the church. And — two — there are people who Christians aren’t to judge — those outside the church. Why don’t we judge those outside the church? Because God will judge them.

So, based on what Jesus is teaching, some self-reflection questions to answer would be:

• Though I have an opinion about this — what this person should do or how they should be treated — is it my place to make a judgment?
• What’s my role in their life? 
• Is this an “in the church person” or an “outside the church person”?
• Is this one of those rare occasions where it is my place to judge and, if so, what does God’s Word say about this situation? 

But where Jesus’s words really come at us is in the fact that what he’s really telling all of us — Christian or not — is not to be judgmental of each other. For we can be judgmental without ever saying a word of judgment to another person. You see, even when there are times when we are to judge others — say a Christian is found to be cheating on her spouse — though we’re to judge her — we’re not to treat her unfairly or unjustly. Meaning, we’re to correct her lovingly as we call her to repent. Being judgmental is the opposite of that. Being judgmental is — at its essence — to be an unforgiving person. To be a graceless person. To demand perfection — as you define it — with all of the power in your hands to call fouls on others while you stack the deck to ensure no one can ever call a foul on you. 

Yet the Christian is someone who believes they’ve been forgiven by God for every sin they have, are, or will ever commit — that’s the loving-kindness, mercy, and forgiving nature of our God. The deck was stacked against us — we stacked it against ourselves by rebelling against God — and, yet, he forgave us because of what Christ did in love for us. 

And, in being forgiven in this way, we forgive others. And, in doing so, we display God’s transforming power at work in our lives. For not only do we forgive those who’ve sinned against us — we also put to death the judgmental spirit that finds delight in condemning others — a spirit not from our Father in Heaven, but from the father of lies. 

And Jesus’s warning to all of us — about the seriousness of practicing forgiveness — is that he says, “Whatever standard you use in being judgmental of others will be the standard that God uses when he judges you.” And that should terrify all of us. For, as one Christian has stated, “All too often, the people who render the harshest judgments and make the fewest allowances are people in the church — as if we ourselves were not in constant need of saving grace, or had never received any undeserved mercy from God.”

CONCLUSION

There’s much more in Jesus’s sermon that we don’t have time to get to today. I barely mentioned his famous illustration of the speck and the log, much less his words about the futility of the blind leading the blind, or how those who are truly his disciples will do what he says — but Jesus has been our preacher today. And he’s a great preacher — the greatest of all time, in fact. But what will you do in response to hearing his sermon? 

• Have his words offended you?
• Have his words brought some conviction, but no lasting change?
• Has what he said challenged you to grow in your commitment as his follower?
• Or have his words encouraged you, for now you see a bit more clearly as to what it means to be blessed, loved, and forgiven by your God?

One thing I know for sure is that you can’t hear Jesus preach a sermon and leave unchanged. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word to us today. Your Word spoken to us through your Son. 

Holy Spirit, help us all to better see and believe what it means to be blessed, loved, and forgiven by you. And help us all to obey what it means to live as those blessed, loved, and forgiven by God.

And, Jesus, our being blessed, loved, and forgiven are all possible because you not only are a great preacher, but you fulfilled every word you spoke. And you did so because you knew that our obedience to your words would never save us, because we’re unable to save ourselves. So you perfectly obeyed on our behalf so that your work — including the work of giving your life on the cross — would be the work that saves us. 

Father, Son, and Spirit — may many respond to you and your Word today. And I pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having heard from Jesus the preacher, may you go and do all that he’s said, knowing that you are blessed, loved, and forgiven by him. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 7-19-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. As Chandler explained last week, during the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for all of us — especially those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry — to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be, because the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better? 

So, with that, let’s turn to our two passages for today. We’ll begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and then we’ll turn to the Gospel of Luke. In Matthew, we’ll be in chapter twelve and, in Luke, we’ll be in chapter thirteen. So go ahead and find Matthew chapter twelve — we’ll begin in verse one.

Matthew 12:1–14 ESV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” 9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

And, now, turn with me to Luke chapter thirteen. We’ll begin in verse ten.

Luke 13:10–17 ESV

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

What our passages highlight are — one — God’s law — two — man’s law — and three — our merciful Lord. 

There’s a dispute, as I’m sure you noticed, about God’s law — so we’ll look at it. And Jesus’ response to his challengers points out that they’ve missed the point of God’s law by making up their own manmade laws — so we’ll look at their manmade laws. And what I hope we’ll all walk away recognizing — because this is the point of our passages — is that we have a merciful Lord. Jesus is full of mercy towards us lawbreaking, messed-up people.  

GOD’S LAW

So let’s begin with God’s law, and the specific law that’s at the center of both of our passages, which is the Sabbath law. The Sabbath law is found in the Big Ten — that’s the Ten Commandments — which are found in the book of Exodus, chapter twenty. The commandment about the Sabbath states…

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The command’s pretty straightforward. It says to work for six days and — on the seventh day — to rest. No work’s to be done on the seventh day. 

• You don’t work. 
• Your family members don’t work. 
• Your servants don’t work. 
• Not even your animals are to work on the Sabbath. 

Now think about this. This law protected the vulnerable — servants, children, even animals — from being endlessly exploited by those in power. That’s quite the statement about God’s concern for all people, and God’s concern for all people should influence the way we treat those who work for us — either as employees or direct reports — God’s concern for all people should influence how we treat those who serve us through their work — from waiters and waitresses, to teachers and nurses, mailmen and women, those who fix our roads, and so on. Sunday lunch should not be the shift that waiters and waitresses dread the most — it should be their favorite time of the week because they’re serving the people of God who know how their God wants them to treat those who serve them. 

Now, and I think this is obvious, the Sabbath command is based on God’s creating rhythm. When God created all that exists, he worked for six days, and then he rested on the seventh day. This is how it’s recorded in Genesis.

Genesis 2:1–3 NLT

1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

So there are two reasons for this Sabbath law. First, and this is the obvious reason, God wants us to rest! This isn’t to say that work is bad — but God knows that the inclination of our sinful hearts will always be works-based salvation. Meaning, many people believe that the way we find salvation — or rescue from this sin-infected world — and even when a person doesn’t acknowledge sin, they still see the results — that this world is messed up and no one’s like, “I bet this is the best there is” — so we’re all — religious or not — Christian or not — we’re all trying to figure out how to be saved from this “this isn’t what it’s supposed to be like” world. And most people are trying to save themselves by their works. 

Either literally — like some of the millionaires and billionaires trying to reverse engineer aging — or spiritually — like the millions, if not billions, of people around the world who believe that if they do more good than bad, whatever god or spiritual being that’s out there will find them acceptable in the afterlife, which leads to the second reason for the Sabbath law.

Listen to what the book of Exodus later says about the Sabbath.

Exodus 31:12–17 NLT

12 The Lord then gave these instructions to Moses: 13 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. 16 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. 17 It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”

You see, God’s Sabbath law is meant to show us that — though work is important — our work isn’t ultimate — and our work definitely won’t save us. Thus, the command to rest shows us that our salvation’s in God’s hands. And resting shows this because, in resting, we demonstrate that we trust God’s plan of salvation — that the world, including our salvation, doesn’t hinge on what we do, but on what God has done. God wants us to rest — to trust him. To believe and live as if he’s the one who makes his people holy — we don’t make ourselves holy — thus the Sabbath was to be a holy day dedicated completely to the Lord. 

Now, as this last passage of Exodus shows us, breaking the Sabbath law had significant and severe consequences, such as being cut off from the community or even death. Significant and severe consequences indeed. And these significant and severe consequences made this specific law — the Sabbath law — central to the Jewish people’s identity. Which leads us to our second observation: man’s law.

MAN’S LAW

Let’s go back to our passage in Matthew. We’re in verse one again. 

Matthew 12:1–2 ESV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

A few verses later, after Jesus had entered a synagogue, we read…

Matthew 12:10–12 ESV

10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Question for you. In the Exodus passages we read earlier, do you remember anything about not plucking heads of grain or healing someone being mentioned? No. 

Another question for you. Is there any other Bible verse the Pharisees would’ve had in mind to make their case that plucking heads of grain or healing someone was a specific violation of the Sabbath law? There’s not.

But here’s what the Pharisees were referring to. The Pharisees had an oral tradition of rules and regulations that many viewed as authoritative as God’s Word, which was just the Old Testament for them. In their oral tradition, the Pharisees had some thirty-nine different categories of work that couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. Again, these weren’t biblical laws or commands — these were manmade laws and rules.

Here’s an example. But first, another passage from Exodus.

Exodus 16:29 ESV

29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

The bread referred to is the manna from heaven that God gave his people to eat while they wandered in the wilderness. On the sixth day of the week, God supplied them with two days worth of bread. But what I want you to notice are the words “remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 

This was interpreted as a “no travel” rule on the Sabbath. So the religious leaders made up a law that no one was allowed to travel on the Sabbath. But what exactly does that mean — to not travel on the Sabbath? Is it traveling if you go from one room to another in your house — after all, the biblical command says to remain in your place? And, as any parent of a child in trouble knows, when you say stay in one place you mean right there on that spot.

Now, I know they were living in tents when this command was given, but eventually the Jews had homes, so how does this “no travel” command apply at home? Can you go to your neighbor’s house, or is that traveling? How far can you go before you break this “no travel” command? 

Now, when it comes to manmade rules and laws — including the ones we make today — including the ones you live by — our heart’s natural desire is to define these rules and commands in a way so we always pass the test. Because when we always pass the test, we’re our own savior. We’re doing things the “right way” — our way, usually. That’s what the Pharisees did with this “no travel” command. They came up with their own manmade rule. You’re gonna love it. You’re gonna think it makes total sense. 

The Pharisees interpreted the “no travel” rule to mean that you could travel up to three thousand feet from your house. Three thousand feet, and you haven’t broken the Sabbath — no travel — law. Makes total sense, right? I mean, of course it’s three thousand feet and not three thousand and one — that’d be way too lenient. And two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine would be way too restrictive. 

But — wait — there’s more. If, at three thousand feet from your home, you have a place where you store your food — maybe it’s a little shed or something — well, as everyone knows, the shed is an extension of your home. So now you can go another three thousand feet from it without breaking the Sabbath command. But, go any further, and you break the Sabbath law. 

I’m sure you see how easy it would be to manipulate the rule so you never break it, right? But at that point, whose rule are you following?

There was a no-spitting rule on the Sabbath. Because if you spit, and your spit dented the dirt, that was considered plowing the ground. And plowing was a no-no on the Sabbath.

They had a rule about the words you could write down on the Sabbath. Short words were OK. Long words were not. And what you all want to know is what counts as a short word versus a long word. Well, I’m not going to tell you — I’m just going to let you wonder about it — and whether all the acronyms in our text messages count as short words even when they’re really long ones in disguise.

And I know that this all sounds completely ridiculous to us. We’d never be that ridiculous with our rules…

Well, anyway, plucking heads of grain was another of those manmade rules for the Sabbath. But in our verses, the disciples were just making lunch, which is Jesus’ point. And what about the guy with the hand — does anyone want to argue that healing someone should be a crime while rescuing a sheep gets a pass? Surely not. Much less the ridiculousness of how far one can travel without actually traveling.

But I’ve got an important question for all of us: What kind of manmade laws have we elevated to a similar level of importance, as the Pharisees did in their day with all of their manmade laws? If, as I’ve said a few times now, our heart’s natural inclination is towards works-based salvation, what works — or laws that must be obeyed — have we put on equal level with their three-thousand-foot traveling rule? 

• Maybe it’s some rule about how any true Bible-believing, Jesus-loving Christian will always votes for the ____ political party.
• Or some rule about the sins that really upset God are the sins those people commit, not the respectable sins we commit.
• Or some rule about how much a person should read their Bible and pray, or how little a person is expected to read their Bible and pray. After all, our rules can be either super strict or super lenient, but they’re still manmade.

Maybe you don’t consider yourself a Christian or a religious person, but you’ve got your own set of rules you expect others to follow. 

• Maybe it’s a rule about believing that traditional marriage is oppressive, and those who don’t follow your rule are a problem.
• Maybe it’s a rule about self-identity and how we’re able to create whatever identity we want for ourselves. But the real rule you want everyone to follow is that we must accept each other’s self-proclaimed identities. That man identifying as a woman must be treated as a woman — that’s your rule. And when people don’t play by your rules, it infuriates you.

Religious or not, when we write the rules and police them, we end up being more like the Pharisees than we’d ever admit. As one person has said, “The Pharisees were self-appointed guardians of public morality.” A description that would fit many in the world today, religious or not. Self-appointed guardians of public morality. People who believe they’ve got the rules that everyone else must follow.

Now, when the Pharisees tell Jesus that his disciples — and by implication, Jesus as well — are doing something unlawful on the Sabbath, what they’re implying is, “Jesus, we’ve caught you sinning.” That’s how serious their accusations are against him. And, for those who follow Jesus, you know that one of the core tenets of our faith is that Jesus was sinless. Yet here the Pharisees are implying that he has sinned. Based on what? Not God’s law, but their manmade ones.

And when we do an honest assessment of the culture of our day, we see how much in common we have with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. For just like them, when someone violates our manmade laws — whether it be manmade laws of the religious or irreligious kind — the accusations are just as condemning — and often just as misguided as the Pharisees were in accusing Jesus of sinning. We never see it this way, of course — we’ve got that in common with the Pharisees too. But that’s what Jesus is trying to help the Pharisees, and us see: To see what God’s law — including his law about the Sabbath — really means.

OUR MERCIFUL LORD

Which leads us to our merciful Lord. 

Matthew 12:3–8 ESV

3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

When Jesus asks, “Have you not read,” he’s not asking a yes or no question. He knows the Pharisees would’ve read and been aware of the Old Testament passages he mentions. What Jesus means by “Have you not read” is “Don’t you understand what these passages mean?” And they don’t understand. So Jesus explains it by quoting another Old Testament passage: “I — meaning God — desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

You see, the Sabbath is not only about rest and worship, it’s also about mercy. And the religious leaders, because of their manmade laws, had eliminated mercy from the Sabbath. Our passage from Luke highlights this as well. 

Luke 13:10–17 ESV

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

Whether it’s the man with the withered hand, in Matthew’s passage, or the woman with a physical disability in Luke’s passage, the religious leaders had no room for mercy for these individuals. They were using the Sabbath as an excuse to not be merciful towards them. 

What’s worse is how the religious leaders use the man’s situation as a test to trap Jesus. Think of how demented their thinking must have been: “Oh, here’s someone physically crippled. Let’s see if we can use his suffering to trap Jesus. Cause everyone knows that Jesus loves to show mercy towards those who need healing.” 

Do you see what’s going on? Instead of showing mercy, they want to give God a sacrifice. For they want to kill the one who shows others mercy on the Sabbath. And they think they’ll please God if they do so.

Yet Jesus, our merciful Lord of the Sabbath, is showing us all what it really means to obey God’s law. For all of the law, including the Sabbath law, can be summed up this way. Jesus was once asked, “What’s the greatest commandment — or law?” Here’s his response.

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

To which one Bible scholar has said, “Any interpretation of the law that limits our ability to serve God or to love our neighbors — as the Bible, including the Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments) defines love — must be wrong, because love of God and love of neighbor are the essence of the law.”

• Jesus, in allowing his disciples to pluck heads of grain on the Sabbath, was demonstrating love for them. For loving someone will include making sure their bodies are well nourished.
• Jesus, in healing the man’s withered hand, demonstrated love for the man. Showing the man and those watching that all people are valuable in God’s sight and are to be shown mercy.
• And Jesus, in healing the woman, demonstrated love for her and the crowd — resulting in her and the crowd rejoicing in and glorifying God, which, I believe, is a fulfillment of a promise God gave his people about the Sabbath centuries earlier.

Isaiah 58:13–14 NLT

13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. 14 Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

After she was healed, the Lord was her delight and the delight of many in the crowd because of Jesus’ display of God’s love and mercy. A woman who’d been crippled by Satan’s cruelty — and by the lack of compassion from the religious leaders — was healed by the love and mercy of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Earlier, I mentioned how this summer series is meant to help us all get to know Jesus better. We all have our ideas about him. Some of our ideas are informed by the Bible, and others aren’t. But today, I hope we’ll all leave here with a better understanding of what it means to say that Jesus is merciful and loving. 

For the same mercy and love that Jesus demonstrated to his disciples when they were hungry, and the same mercy and love Jesus demonstrated to a man with a withered hand and to a crippled woman, is the same mercy and love that Jesus has for you. 

Jesus knows you. He knows what you’ve gone through, are going through, and will go through. He knows the decisions you’ve made, the times when you’ve acted independently and as if he doesn’t exist, he knows about all of your manmade rules that you judge everyone else by — he knows everything about you — and — wait for it — he loves you anyway. 

He knows your troubles. He knows the guilt you’re carrying around. He knows the shame that you can’t seem to shake. He knows how Satan has been tormenting you. He knows the stress you’re experiencing because of grief in your life. He knows your sorrow. He knows the physical pain you wake up with every single day. Jesus knows all of this about you and — wait for it — he loves you. For he sees you with merciful eyes. 

A follower of Jesus from centuries ago once said that mercy is “a voluntary sorrow which enjoins itself to the suffering of another.” Jesus — because of his love for you — volunteered for suffering. To experience the sorrow — not only of others — but he personally experienced sorrow and suffering when he gave his life in love for you. For though God desires mercy, not sacrifice, a sacrifice was required for us to be recipients of his mercy. And Jesus gave himself to be our sacrifice.

No matter who you are, no matter why you came here today, no matter how many years you’ve been following Jesus or if today’s the day of your salvation — may you know, experience, taste, and see God’s love and mercy towards you in Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, merciful, kind, loving, and faithful one to your people. Thank you for the words you’ve spoken to us today. Words of life. Words of hope. Words that stir delight in our souls. Words that compel us to rejoice.

Spirit of God, for those experiencing troubles right now, for those carrying guilt or shame, for anyone who’s being tormented by Satan or experiencing stress because of grief in their life, for anyone in the midst of sorrow or experiencing physical pain — Spirit help them to believe that Jesus knows all of this about them personally and that he deeply loves them. May they know that Jesus sees them with merciful eyes. 

And, Jesus, we experience mercy because you experienced suffering and death. And you did so voluntarily. And you did so because you love us. May all of us respond to your mercy today — some for the first time — others of us for the hundredth time — for your mercy is new for us every single day. And your love for us will go on for eternity. 

To all who hear my voice, may you rest in God’s love for you and his mercy towards you in his Son, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go, may you know, experience, taste, and see God’s love and mercy towards you in Jesus Christ.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

1. If God is not a person, how can he know you, and know your past and future?
2. How can he hear/answer prayers when he was never a human?
3. How can you know God is real when no one has ever seen God, and that Jesus was just a miracle?
4. How can I answer questions that my kids ask?

Nathan, thank you for your questions. Here are some of my thoughts in response to your questions.

First, regarding your statements about God not being a person and never being a human, as Christians, we believe that in Jesus Christ, God did become man. So Jesus throws a wrench into both of your statements about God.

Additionally, Jesus, in being God, both shows God as a person and a human. And though there are many miraculous things about Jesus, Jesus is more than a miracle. He is God. To demote him to a miracle is to not recognize his divinity (or Godness).

One final thought about Jesus. Though no one has ever seen God the Father, in the gospel of John we read…

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18 NIV)

In Jesus, though we haven’t seen God with our eyes, we can know what God is like.

Second, though not human, the Father and the Spirit are the other two persons who, along with Jesus, make the Trinity. Early on, the early Christians had to wrestle with two truths: 1) There is only One God, and 2) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God. This is where the doctrine of the Trinity comes in, which articulates our belief in One God who is Three Persons.

Third, regarding God knowing our past and future, this is part of the doctrine known as God’s omniscience or that God knows all things. Isaiah 46:9-10 state…

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God!  I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. 

About God’s knowledge of us as individuals, Jeremiah 1:5 states…

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 

The first half of the verse applies to all of us, while the second half (being appointed a prophet) was specifically for Jeremiah. My point is that in these verses, and many more, we find ample evidence that God not only knows all things, but he knows each of us intimately, and because of his knowledge, he is able to hear and answer our prayers as he sees fit.

Finally, regarding how to answer questions your kids may ask, the greatest piece of advice I can give you, especially if their questions are spiritual or faith-based questions, is to read and study the Bible so you can give them answers based on the truth. I know it’s a big book and can be intimidating for many. That’s why also being part of a Bible-based church and getting into biblical community with others to read and study the Bible are also key.

DATE: 7-5-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND INTRODUCTION

Each week, we take time to pray for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. 

Today’s entire sermon is essentially one long pastoral prayer as we recognize the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation’s founding. And this is quite the weekend — not only for our nation — but for pastors. You see, there’s a bit of a dilemma that we pastors face. 

On one side, there are pastors who will be holding very patriotic services today. Where there will be more celebration of the US than of an empty tomb. And that’s a tragedy. On the other hand, many pastors will ignore this important weekend for our nation and continue with church as usual. Also a tragedy.

My concern is that no pastor will come out of this weekend unscathed. Much like other times in our recent history — whether COVID, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Palestine, or Charlie Kirk’s assassination — no matter what a pastor says or does, he’s sure to be scrutinized. Some in the church will think the pastor goes too far — and they’ve got biblical verses to back up their claim. For others in the church, the pastor won’t go far enough — and they, too, have biblical verses to back up their claim. As I said, it’s a dilemma.

Because of all this, some pastors have chosen to use a guest speaker this weekend. At first, this was a tempting option — why not have someone else preach this weekend? But my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do that — so here I am, and here we are. 

And the best I could come up with is to set aside this weekend and allow Scripture to be the basis for an extended time of prayer for our nation. 

But — before we turn to prayer — I want to say something about patriotism. You’ve probably noticed these boots that I brought out with me. These are the boots I wore in combat as an infantry soldier in the US Army during my deployment to Afghanistan. If any of you think that I’ve gone too far today by acknowledging our nation’s birthday, just remember these boots. I am a patriot — and I’m not ashamed of it. And for anyone who may think that I didn’t go far enough in celebrating our country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday today, just remember these boots. Though I am a patriot, there’s a line where my patriotism ends — while my devotion to Christ continues.

Late last year, an article titled “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country” was published. The author of the article also wrote a book titled In Defense of Christian Patriotism. It’s a well-balanced book — much more balanced than most books on the topic of Christianity and/or patriotism. 

In his article “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country,” the author makes three points. First, healthy patriotism rightly orders loves. Rightly ordered loves is the idea of putting in rank order what deserves your love the most. For example, in response to being asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus said…

Matthew 22:37–38 ESV

37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

This means that our love for God is to reign supreme. All other loves are to be submitted to — or under — our love for God. Including our love for our country. 

A biblical example of someone who disordered his love for country over his love for God is the Old Testament prophet, Jonah. The author of the article states, “Jonah was unwilling to obey God because he put his loyalty to country above his loyalty to God. Such disordered patriotism should be avoided.” As you probably know, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people of this foreign nation about God’s coming judgment with the hope that they’d repent and respond to God’s mercy. But Jonah’s love for his country — and his hatred for the Ninevites — led him on a whale of a tale adventure where he learned some lessons about his disordered loves.

The author’s second point is that healthy patriotism gives thanks. As the apostle Paul tells us…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The author goes on to write, “In America, we can be thankful for freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement. Millions of people worldwide would love to live in a country as free and prosperous as ours. Only by God’s grace have we been given the gift of living here. We live in a land where we’re not only free to worship this Sunday, but we can choose from various faithful congregations with like-minded believers. I often wonder what our brothers and sisters around the world would say about our ambivalence toward patriotism. I wonder if they’d say it sounds strangely like ingratitude.” 

Thanksgiving is where we’ll begin our time of prayer in a moment.

Finally, the author says that healthy patriotism seeks renewal. The Old Testament example of this is an often misquoted verse today. 

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 ESV

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

You usually hear verse fourteen quoted without verse thirteen. Verse thirteen is about God punishing his people for their rebellion and sin. Verse fourteen is his promise of what will happen when they repent. Though this promise was for Israel, the principle remains for God’s people today. If we desire renewal for our country — something which all Christians should desire — humility, prayer, and repentance on the part of God’s people will be key. Something else that is key for our nation’s renewal is us — God’s people — being the answers to our prayers by — as the author states — “roll(ing) up our sleeves and help(ing) make it (the US) better. We’ll get involved in faithful local churches. We’ll support public policies that promote the common good. We’ll serve in the public square where appropriate. And most importantly, we’ll pray for a move of God’s Spirit in America. We’ll pray that the Spirit convicts people’s hearts of sin and their need for salvation. Loving our country means praying for its revival.”

So we’re going to demonstrate love for our country today by being biblically patriotic as we pray for our nation. Indeed, “God, bless America…” is a great way to pray for our country.

THANKSGIVING

We’re going to begin our time of prayer by being thankful. As I read earlier…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We’re going to thank God for our country right now. Thanksgiving doesn’t need much explanation. We all understand what it means to be thankful. Ed Grable — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: ED

REPENTANCE AND RETURN  

Now we turn our focus to repentance and returning. Our country is affected by sin. And sin — all sin — both personal and corporate sin — needs to be repented of. And all who’ve turned away from God — to chase after sin — need to return to him. “God, bless America with true repentance” is a good prayer for our nation.

As we read in the book of Acts…

Acts 3:1–21 NLT

1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. 17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

And as the apostle John tells us…

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And lest any of us think we’re above the need to repent and return, we remember this moment from the life of Christ. 

Luke 13:1–5 ESV

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

We’re now going to pray a prayer of repentance for our country. For individuals to repent, that we’d repent, and for our nation’s repentance of our corporate sins. Kevin Snyder — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: KEVIN

INTERCESSION FOR LEADERS

Now we turn to the leaders of our country. “God, bless America with godly leaders” is a prayer I hope all of us can get behind. For we’re told in Scripture…

1 Timothy 2:1–2 NLT

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Though we’re a nation without a king, the principle still applies: Pray for those who are in authority. Whether you voted for them or not, we’re commanded to pray for them.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

God’s people should pray for our nation’s leaders to have hearts guided by our God. For this time of prayer, for our nation’s leaders, Scott Sharpe — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: SCOTT

THE CHURCH’S PURITY AMIDST CULTURAL DECAY

Now we turn to the church. In the midst of the cultural decay in which we live, God’s church is to remain pure and holy. And — make no mistake — this cultural decay has found its way into the church. Into our church. Thus, we should pray, “God, bless America with a pure and holy church.” 

Listen to this warning from Scripture written to a local church.

1 Corinthians 5:6–13 NLT

6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

God’s people — throughout our history — have struggled with judging the sin of those outside the church while accommodating the sin of those within the church. And often — to our shame — the sins we condemn of unbelievers are the same sins we’re indulging in ourselves in secrecy. For we live in a time that’s summarized by these words.

1 Timothy 4:1–5 NLT

1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

And…

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

We must recognize the times in which we live, pray that God’s church remains pure, and then live holy lives.

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So…

Ephesians 5:3–11 NLT

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Christ died for his bride — the church. He died for her purity. He gave his life for her holiness. And the standard is high — perfection. Thus, we’re not to let in even a hint of immorality among us. 

To pray for the church’s purity, Terry Jolliff — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: TERRY

GOSPEL ADVANCEMENT

Finally, what better way to ask God to bless America than by asking for the gospel to continue to advance in our nation. For we must never forget when…

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And until the end of the age comes — the day when Christ returns — we’re to…

Colossians 4:2–6 NLT

2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

To close our time of asking God to bless America — by praying for the gospel to continue advancing and changing lives in our nation — Dana Fought — one of our elders — will lead us in prayer. 

FINAL ELDER PRAYER: DANA

COMMUNION

Having spent time praying for our nation, we now turn to the Lord’s Table. 

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore, we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

Leader: We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore, we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite those who will be serving us to come forward. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the bread trays — there’s a gluten-free option in the center. 

If you’re not TAKING communion today, know that no one is judging you. We would appreciate it if you could help by passing the trays to the next person in your row. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the Resource Center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

PRAYER (TRANSITION FOR WORSHIP TEAM)

Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic — and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us — he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us — he knew both joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world. Raised from the grave, he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Treats in the cafe)

May you be God’s blessing to America. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SERMON TITLE: God, Bless America…

‌SCRIPTURE: multiple

SPEAKER: Josh Hanson

DATE: 7-5-26

TURN MIC ON / WELCOME

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND INTRODUCTION

Each week, we take time to pray for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. 

Today’s entire sermon is essentially one long pastoral prayer as we recognize the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation’s founding. And this is quite the weekend — not only for our nation — but for pastors. You see, there’s a bit of a dilemma that we pastors face. 

On one side, there are pastors who will be holding very patriotic services today. Where there will be more celebration of the US than of an empty tomb. And that’s a tragedy. On the other hand, many pastors will ignore this important weekend for our nation and continue with church as usual. Also a tragedy.

My concern is that no pastor will come out of this weekend unscathed. Much like other times in our recent history — whether COVID, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Palestine, or Charlie Kirk’s assassination — no matter what a pastor says or does, he’s sure to be scrutinized. Some in the church will think the pastor goes too far — and they’ve got biblical verses to back up their claim. For others in the church, the pastor won’t go far enough — and they, too, have biblical verses to back up their claim. As I said, it’s a dilemma.

Because of all this, some pastors have chosen to use a guest speaker this weekend. At first, this was a tempting option — why not have someone else preach this weekend? But my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do that — so here I am, and here we are. 

And the best I could come up with is to set aside this weekend and allow Scripture to be the basis for an extended time of prayer for our nation. 

But — before we turn to prayer — I want to say something about patriotism. You’ve probably noticed these boots that I brought out with me. These are the boots I wore in combat as an infantry soldier in the US Army during my deployment to Afghanistan. If any of you think that I’ve gone too far today by acknowledging our nation’s birthday, just remember these boots. I am a patriot — and I’m not ashamed of it. And for anyone who may think that I didn’t go far enough in celebrating our country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday today, just remember these boots. Though I am a patriot, there’s a line where my patriotism ends — while my devotion to Christ continues.

Late last year, an article titled “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country” was published. The author of the article also wrote a book titled In Defense of Christian Patriotism. It’s a well-balanced book — much more balanced than most books on the topic of Christianity and/or patriotism. 

In his article “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country,” the author makes three points. First, healthy patriotism rightly orders loves. Rightly ordered loves is the idea of putting in rank order what deserves your love the most. For example, in response to being asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus said…

Matthew 22:37–38 ESV

37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

This means that our love for God is to reign supreme. All other loves are to be submitted to — or under — our love for God. Including our love for our country. 

A biblical example of someone who disordered his love for country over his love for God is the Old Testament prophet, Jonah. The author of the article states, “Jonah was unwilling to obey God because he put his loyalty to country above his loyalty to God. Such disordered patriotism should be avoided.” As you probably know, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people of this foreign nation about God’s coming judgment with the hope that they’d repent and respond to God’s mercy. But Jonah’s love for his country — and his hatred for the Ninevites — led him on a whale of a tale adventure where he learned some lessons about his disordered loves.

The author’s second point is that healthy patriotism gives thanks. As the apostle Paul tells us…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The author goes on to write, “In America, we can be thankful for freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement. Millions of people worldwide would love to live in a country as free and prosperous as ours. Only by God’s grace have we been given the gift of living here. We live in a land where we’re not only free to worship this Sunday, but we can choose from various faithful congregations with like-minded believers. I often wonder what our brothers and sisters around the world would say about our ambivalence toward patriotism. I wonder if they’d say it sounds strangely like ingratitude.” 

Thanksgiving is where we’ll begin our time of prayer in a moment.

Finally, the author says that healthy patriotism seeks renewal. The Old Testament example of this is an often misquoted verse today. 

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 ESV

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

You usually hear verse fourteen quoted without verse thirteen. Verse thirteen is about God punishing his people for their rebellion and sin. Verse fourteen is his promise of what will happen when they repent. Though this promise was for Israel, the principle remains for God’s people today. If we desire renewal for our country — something which all Christians should desire — humility, prayer, and repentance on the part of God’s people will be key. Something else that is key for our nation’s renewal is us — God’s people — being the answers to our prayers by — as the author states — “roll(ing) up our sleeves and help(ing) make it (the US) better. We’ll get involved in faithful local churches. We’ll support public policies that promote the common good. We’ll serve in the public square where appropriate. And most importantly, we’ll pray for a move of God’s Spirit in America. We’ll pray that the Spirit convicts people’s hearts of sin and their need for salvation. Loving our country means praying for its revival.”

So we’re going to demonstrate love for our country today by being biblically patriotic as we pray for our nation. Indeed, “God, bless America…” is a great way to pray for our country.

THANKSGIVING

We’re going to begin our time of prayer by being thankful. As I read earlier…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We’re going to thank God for our country right now. Thanksgiving doesn’t need much explanation. We all understand what it means to be thankful. Ed Grable — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: ED

REPENTANCE AND RETURN  

Now we turn our focus to repentance and returning. Our country is affected by sin. And sin — all sin — both personal and corporate sin — needs to be repented of. And all who’ve turned away from God — to chase after sin — need to return to him. “God, bless America with true repentance” is a good prayer for our nation.

As we read in the book of Acts…

Acts 3:1–21 NLT

1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. 17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

And as the apostle John tells us…

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And lest any of us think we’re above the need to repent and return, we remember this moment from the life of Christ. 

Luke 13:1–5 ESV

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

We’re now going to pray a prayer of repentance for our country. For individuals to repent, that we’d repent, and for our nation’s repentance of our corporate sins. Kevin Snyder — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: KEVIN

INTERCESSION FOR LEADERS

Now we turn to the leaders of our country. “God, bless America with godly leaders” is a prayer I hope all of us can get behind. For we’re told in Scripture…

1 Timothy 2:1–2 NLT

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Though we’re a nation without a king, the principle still applies: Pray for those who are in authority. Whether you voted for them or not, we’re commanded to pray for them.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

God’s people should pray for our nation’s leaders to have hearts guided by our God. For this time of prayer, for our nation’s leaders, Scott Sharpe — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: SCOTT

THE CHURCH’S PURITY AMIDST CULTURAL DECAY

Now we turn to the church. In the midst of the cultural decay in which we live, God’s church is to remain pure and holy. And — make no mistake — this cultural decay has found its way into the church. Into our church. Thus, we should pray, “God, bless America with a pure and holy church.” 

Listen to this warning from Scripture written to a local church.

1 Corinthians 5:6–13 NLT

6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

God’s people — throughout our history — have struggled with judging the sin of those outside the church while accommodating the sin of those within the church. And often — to our shame — the sins we condemn of unbelievers are the same sins we’re indulging in ourselves in secrecy. For we live in a time that’s summarized by these words.

1 Timothy 4:1–5 NLT

1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

And…

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

We must recognize the times in which we live, pray that God’s church remains pure, and then live holy lives.

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So…

Ephesians 5:3–11 NLT

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Christ died for his bride — the church. He died for her purity. He gave his life for her holiness. And the standard is high — perfection. Thus, we’re not to let in even a hint of immorality among us. 

To pray for the church’s purity, Terry Jolliff — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: TERRY

GOSPEL ADVANCEMENT

Finally, what better way to ask God to bless America than by asking for the gospel to continue to advance in our nation. For we must never forget when…

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And until the end of the age comes — the day when Christ returns — we’re to…

Colossians 4:2–6 NLT

2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

To close our time of asking God to bless America — by praying for the gospel to continue advancing and changing lives in our nation — Dana Fought — one of our elders — will lead us in prayer. 

FINAL ELDER PRAYER: DANA

COMMUNION

Having spent time praying for our nation, we now turn to the Lord’s Table. 

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore, we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

Leader: We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore, we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite those who will be serving us to come forward. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the bread trays — there’s a gluten-free option in the center. 

If you’re not TAKING communion today, know that no one is judging you. We would appreciate it if you could help by passing the trays to the next person in your row. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the Resource Center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

PRAYER (TRANSITION FOR WORSHIP TEAM)

Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic — and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us — he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us — he knew both joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world. Raised from the grave, he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Treats in the cafe)

May you be God’s blessing to America. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-28-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

Today, we’re finishing our series in the book of James. We’ve been learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and has been showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

But before we get to our final passage, I want us to reflect on what we’ve learned from this book. James has taught us…

• Where good comes from.
• And what true religion is.
• James has challenged us about our prejudices.
• And has taught us what true saving faith is.
• We’ve learned a lot about the words that come out of our mouths.
• Just as we learned where division comes from.
• We’ve heard words to those who are rich, arrogant, and impatient.
• And — as we heard last week — James even taught us an important lesson on prayer.

Which leads us to our passage for today. If you have your Bible, we’ll be in James chapter five — looking at verses nineteen and twenty. We’re in James chapter five — beginning in verse nineteen. There we read…

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James has taught us many important lessons throughout his letter. But — here — in his final words — I think he may have saved his most important lesson for last. For here, James teaches us how to restore those who are wandering — who are abandoning the faith. And I have five observations for us from his words of wisdom on restoring the wanderer.

OBSERVATION 1

For my first observation, we’ll go back to verse nineteen. There we read…

James 5:19 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,

My first observation is a truth we need to believe: We’re to treat the wanderer as a Christian until they prove otherwise. Meaning, we’re to believe that the wanderer is a Christian until they prove otherwise. I say this because James starts off our verses with the words “my brothers.” “My brothers” is another way of saying, “My fellow Christians.” And then he says, “If anyone among you.” So his sentence could be rearranged to say, “If anyone among you, my brothers,” does what? Wanders from the truth.

So those who are wandering — and we’ll get to what it means for someone to wander next — but those who are wandering, according to James, should be considered as fellow Christians. And we’re to treat them as such until they prove otherwise.

If you’ve been around Gateway for any amount of time, you’ve heard me say something along the lines of, “It’s easy to say ‘I’m a Christian.’ It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you live — ‘I’m a Christian’ is what most people think is all it means to be a Christian. But claiming to be a Christian and being one are not the same.” 

This is the idea that James is getting at — because — I think that our default — when someone wanders — is either to think, “Well, I guess they never really believed to begin with.” Or to think that Christians can lose their salvation. The first may be true about the individual. The second is impossible for the true believer in Jesus.

Instead, when we see someone among us start to wander — again, we’re assuming here they’ve made a profession of faith — that they’re in the “my brothers and sisters” category — when we see someone start to wander, we’re to assume that they’re a follower of Jesus and treat them accordingly as we try to restore them.

• Treat them as if God’s Word is the final authority in their life — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.
• Treat them as if God’s Spirit is living in them — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.
• Treat them as if they ultimately desire to honor God in what they believe and how they live — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.

That’s observation number one: Assume that they’re a follower of Jesus and treat them accordingly as you try to restore them.

OBSERVATION 2

Now we turn to my second observation. I’ll read both of our verses again.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My second observation is this: We need to know how they’re wandering from the truth. We need to know how they’re wandering from the truth. There are two ways that people wander from the truth: Doctrinal wandering and behavioral wandering. Now, I know that behavior is tied to what someone believes, but I’m separating the two because there’s a distinction between them when it comes to recognizing how someone is wandering from the truth.

So what is doctrinal wandering? Doctrinal wandering is when someone starts to hold unorthodox views. Orthodox means right or correct doctrinal beliefs that Christians have held for two thousand years. Our Essentials of the Faith is an orthodox statement of faith — it aligns with historical church doctrine.

Orthodox doctrines include the belief that the Bible is divinely inspired, that Christ is fully God and fully man, that God is Trinitarian, that faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice is necessary for salvation, and that Jesus will return — to name a few.

As you can probably tell by the word, unorthodox doctrines, which is one of the ways that people wander from the truth, unorthodox means not orthodox. These are theological doctrines that disagree with two thousand years of church beliefs. And there are many unorthodox views that have caused wandering in recent years, including same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and many beliefs about identity — whether sexual or political — that are causing people to wander from biblical truth in our day. In fact, we’re warned of this kind of wandering in Scripture.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Now — of course — people who are wandering from the truth — because of unorthodox views — don’t believe they’re wandering. They think they’ve become enlightened. That they’ve discovered the real truth. That orthodox views are old-fashioned, bigoted, or maybe even hateful and oppressive. But God’s Word is clear. It teaches correct and right doctrine regarding marriage, human sexuality, and identity, which are by no means all of the ways people are wandering from the truth in our age.

But doctrinal wandering is just one way that people wander from the truth. There’s also behavioral wandering. So what is behavioral wandering?

Behavioral wandering can be small things, like no longer worshiping regularly with a local church. It’s a slow drift. Something else comes up in life that becomes a higher priority than gathering with God’s people. Sports. Children’s activities. Sleeping in. After all, one thinks, “I can podcast sermons any time, so why do I need to gather with a local church?” Because God’s Word expects God’s people to gather together regularly — that’s why.

Similar behavioral slow drifts can happen with other steps in our discipleship process — worship is just one step — there’s also connect, serve, and go. Where someone was once actively involved in a Life Group, but it’s been years since they’ve been in one. Same for serving — you said you were just going to take a year off — and that was years ago. And going — well — who has time for something like that?

These are the death-by-a-thousand-cuts behaviors that lead people to wander from the truth. It’s not any one decision that shipwrecks your faith — that’s why it’s so easy to dismiss the concerns of others — “What’s the big deal? I’m just taking a break from Life Group.” But years later, you find that your faith is shipwrecked. As your pastor, let me lovingly warn you: This is a common pattern of how people, behaviorally, wander from the truth. I know you think you or your family is the exception — that you won’t wander completely away. And that’s the exact kind of spiritual independence that our Enemy uses to destroy us.  

But there are other ways one can wander away from the truth behaviorally. For example…

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

And love for money isn’t the only way we wander from the faith — another way of saying the truth.

There’s…

• Adultery
• Porn addiction
• Abusing your spouse or child
• Gambling

Those types of behaviors that end marriages or land you in jail. And — again — don’t forget observation one — we’re talking about professing Christians doing these kinds of behaviors, which is shocking. It’s shocking to them. Shocking to their spouses and kids. Shocking to their church family. But Christians can sin in horrendous ways. 

And I want you to know that we — Gateway — are not immune to such behavioral wandering. In fact, there are situations like the ones I just described that your elders are currently dealing with as we try to follow James’ advice and restore some wanderers who are part of our faith family. 

My second observation is that we must know how they’re wandering from the truth. Are they wandering doctrinally or behaviorally?

OBSERVATION 3

Which leads to my third observation. But — first — our verses once again.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My third observation is another truth we must believe: Believe that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth. God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth. God wants to use you — and, more importantly, can use you — to keep your Gateway family members from wandering away from the truth.

Look at what the author of Hebrews says.

Hebrews 3:13–14 NLT

13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

If we go back to the two ways people wander from the truth — doctrinally and behaviorally — we now come to two questions. And these two questions must be answered in order for God to use you to keep his people from wandering from the truth.

The first question is this: How do we — knowing that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth — how do we keep people from wandering away from the truth doctrinally? Answer: By knowing sound — or true — doctrine as found in God’s Word. 

There’s no getting around this: You are a theologian. A theologian is someone who has beliefs about God, humanity, sin, salvation, and so on. You’re a theologian. The question is: How biblical of a theologian are you? How biblically accurate are your beliefs? Can you distinguish true doctrine from false doctrine? Can you recognize heretical ideas, or will you be duped by them?

Again, there’s no getting around or out of this. Just like you need to be able to swim in order to be a lifeguard who rescues others who are drowning — to restore those who are wandering doctrinally — you’ve got to believe, know, and be able to defend sound doctrine. If you’ve never read my How to Make the Most of Your Devotional Time booklet, I talk in it about how part of my devotional time includes reading a small portion of a theology book. I’ve brought some examples with me of books I’ve worked through over the years. I read a small section each morning — sometimes it’s just a paragraph — it takes two to three minutes at most.

I do this to keep my doctrine sharp. To keep my beliefs grounded in Scripture so that — not only in my preaching — but also during the times when I meet with someone who’s wandering from the truth doctrinally — I’ll be able to — with God’s help — restore them with true doctrine. I’d highly recommend this practice because you’re never going to believe, know, and defend sound doctrine without doing some work. The word disciple — if you don’t know — means learner. So learning is a key part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 

Now — as James has been teaching us — learned knowledge is not enough. For wisdom is not only knowing God’s Word but applying it to life. Some of the most biblically knowledgeable men and women have been some of the biggest fools because their knowledge never left their heads and reached their hearts. But — to answer our first question — how do we keep people from wandering away doctrinally? We must know sound doctrine.

Our second question is this: How do we — knowing that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth — how do we keep people from wandering away behaviorally? Answer: By modeling lives of holiness, obedience, and repentance as we live according to God’s Word.

As Paul tells Timothy…

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

And to Titus…

Titus 2:7–8 ESV

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

And as Peter writes…

1 Peter 5:1–3 ESV

1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Or as Paul says about himself…

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

To which he expands to the Christians in Thessalonica with…

1 Thessalonians 1:6–7 ESV

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Pastors are to set a godly example in their lives. Elders are to demonstrate a godly example through their lives. And all of you are to set a godly example for each other by the way you live by living lives of holiness, obedience, purity, love, faith, integrity, and repentance, so that you may help restore those who are wandering away from the truth behaviorally.

OBSERVATION 4

And now we come to my fourth observation. We’re in verse twenty.

James 5:20 ESV

20 Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My fourth observation is this: We must know what’s at stake. We must know what’s at stake. What’s at stake? Eternal life and eternal death — that’s what’s at stake here. The wanderer is putting their eternity on the line.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Elsewhere we read…

Galatians 6:8 ESV

8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And as we’re warned…

Romans 2:6–8 ESV

6 He (God) will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

And as Jesus himself said…

John 3:36 ESV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Though we’re to treat the wanderer as if they’re a follower of Jesus — ultimately — how they respond to our loving warning will reveal the condition of their heart. And please know that — if you’re ever the wanderer — or if you’re currently the wanderer — know that we’re concerned about your eternity because we love you. God’s people persevere to the end. They won’t do so perfectly, but there will be a Holy Spirit-fueled desire to live for God until your very last breath. We plead with you to receive God’s love through us and stop wandering away from the truth.

OBSERVATION 5

Now, my final observation. And this one may be the most uncomfortable to hear. I’ll read our two verses one last time.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My final observation is this: God uses his people to save his people. God uses his people to save his people. When I first studied this passage, one of the questions I wrote down was this: What does “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death” mean? Doesn’t God do the saving?

Yes, God does the saving. But what James is emphasizing is that God uses his people as the means by which he saves. One person described it this way. A lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree. In this illustration, the wanderer is the tree. The lumberjack is God. And the ax is God’s people.

When a lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree, what cuts down the tree? The lumberjack or the ax? Both cut down the tree, right? The ax can’t cut down the tree on its own — and this is what may make some of us uncomfortable — but the lumberjack needs the ax to cut down the tree too.

Now — it’s not a perfect illustration — God is also in control of the weather and could use a storm to knock down the tree, but I hope you get the point: God has chosen to use his people to save others from eternal death. Just like a lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree, God uses his people to save others.

And this is so important, I want to make sure you hear me clearly: God uses his people to save others. 

If we go back to James’ first words in our verses, how did he start verse nineteen? Did he say, “My fellow pastors?” No. Did he say, “My fellow church staff members?” No. He said, “My brothers.” Meaning “My fellow believers in Jesus.” Meaning you.

Do you realize that one reason God has saved you — if you believe in Jesus — is to use you to save others? Here in the US, we’ve made salvation out to be such an individual event — it’s about me going to heaven — that we miss God’s bigger purpose: He wants heaven to be filled with people who believed in Jesus because you were a mighty ax in God’s saving hands.

What do you think about that? Do you believe that? Are you living like that? How might things need to change in your life for you to live like this?

CONCLUSION

As we finish our time in the book of James — though we’ve learned much about what it means to be wise, and what true faith is, the importance of our words, and much more — as I said at the beginning — I think James left his most important lesson for us until the end. He wants us to know that ultimate lesson that wisdom wants to teach us: That God uses his people — and desires to use you — to be the means by which his wandering children are brought back to him. So friends, my closing prayer for us will be this: May God use you to bring many back to him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, the only God who saves — for your glory and for the eternal good of many people — may you use us as mighty axes in your saving hands. No matter our personality type or natural disposition, may your Holy Spirit, who lives in us, empower each of us to be vessels through which you save others. 

Holy Spirit, we’ll admit that, in our eyes, there’s much you’ll need to overcome. Some of us are introverts and will need you to give us the confidence to talk to others about Jesus. Others of us have a natural disposition to be sourpusses, and we’ll need you to empower us with supernatural joy. Others of us have been such critics that people have learned to fear and avoid us, and Spirit, we’ll need you to transform us into encouragers. Spirit, we open our hands and our lives and say, “Sharpen us into axes you can use to save others.”

And, Jesus, we desire this because you are our great, good, kind, and merciful Savior, and we want others to experience your love. We want our parents, and siblings, and children, and grandchildren, and co-workers, and roommates, and others in our lives to receive your love. We want the world to know that God so loved the world that he gave you, his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in you might not perish but have eternal life. 

Father, Son, and Spirit — use us, we ask to restore a world of wanderers. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having learned what it means to be wise according to God’s Word, may you now go and apply all that wisdom has taught you to life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-7-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you, too.

And — if you’re at our County Road 9 Campus and seeing me on video — either our flights back from our missions trip had some sort of delay — or — I’m never going to hear the end of me being too old and tired to preach while my wife, who was on the missions trip with me, is teaching the kids over in Kidway. So here’s to hoping that this pre-recorded video is just a backup.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend — learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

And — today — James has another practical topic for us: patience. That’s right. After everyone’s favorite topic for a pastor to preach on last week — money — we have another highly requested topic: patience. But let’s see what James has to say to us about the topic.

We’ll be in James chapter five today. James chapter five — looking at verses seven through eleven. We’re in James chapter five — beginning in verse seven. There we read…

James 5:7–11 ESV

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

As he nears the end of his letter, James brings up the topic of patience. And he does so by showing us an endurance that God’s people are to have, as well as an attitude we’re to display, before reminding us of some examples of patience from history. And together they reveal to us the reward for living a life of patience.

Let’s find these in our text.

A PATIENT ENDURANCE

We’ll begin with the endurance that God’s people are to have. We’re in verse seven.

James 5:7–8 ESV

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Be patient. Our first command. And it’s repeated — the command’s found in verses seven and eight. And the bottom line is this: God’s people are commanded to be patient. And being patient is a command that demands our obedience.

To be patient means to be long-suffering — it means to be even-tempered, even while enduring difficult situations and circumstances — even difficult people. And did you know that being patient is one aspect of being a loving person? We know this because…

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind…

This famous statement on love appears between two chapters in which Paul seeks to unite a divided church. The church was experiencing a difficult and divisive situation, so Paul tells them to love one another. And, in doing so, he defines what he means by love. And he tells them, and us, that loving each other is one way patience expresses itself in the church — especially when she finds herself in challenging times.

In other places we read…

1 Thessalonians 5:14 NLT

14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

Oh, how easy it is to be impatient with those who are lazy — even in the church! Warning them — that’s the easy part — but being patient with them — man, that’s hard. 

• It’s the Life Group member who rarely comes prepared. 
• It’s the volunteer who serves with you in Kidway who regularly shows up late.
• Or the people who ask to get by you during the closing worship songs because they want to beat the traffic. 

Maybe laziness isn’t their issue, but the temptation to be impatient with them is still there — just as it is with those who are timid and whom you think need to be more courageous for Jesus. Be patient with them, we’re told. Be patient with everyone, Paul commands.

And we’re to be a patient people because — in being made in God’s image — we’re to reflect, or mirror, or imitate the patience he has with us. And what kind of patience does God have with us?

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Think about this: If God had not been patient with you, the day of your salvation would never have arrived. And, if you’re here today and you don’t believe in Jesus, know that you’re experiencing God’s patience. Which leads us to James’ reason for our patience. 

Our Lord, who is not slow in fulfilling his promises, is returning soon. As James says, “The coming of the Lord is at hand.” The arrival of Jesus is near. His second advent, when he will be present here on earth — physically and spiritually — once again, is near.

After Jesus had told his disciples that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed…

Matthew 24:3–51 NLT

3 His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” 4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. 9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. 15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about — the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. 23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. 26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. 29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world — from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. 32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. 36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. 37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. 45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus, in one of the longest and clearest descriptions of what it will be like to live in the end times, mentions wars and threats of wars, nations rising up against other nations, famines and earthquakes, arrests and the persecution of God’s people — he even says that some of his followers will be murdered because of their faith in him. And, with all of this heaviness, Jesus says, “Don’t be misled. Don’t panic. Instead, endure to the end. Which James summarizes as, “Establish your hearts.”

To establish means to strengthen. And what are we to strengthen? Our hearts. It means to have a firm determination to remain steadfast and faithful. Strengthening is something that Christians are to do to themselves and to other Christians. Like Peter, who Jesus said…

Luke 22:31–32 NLT

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

“Peter, don’t waste what you’re about to learn through failure. Instead, use it to strengthen others.” 

Or take Paul, who…

Acts 18:22–23 ESV

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Like Paul, we’re all called to strengthen other followers of Jesus in their faith. The way we say it around here is that we’re to be disciples who make disciples. And, as we strengthen and are strengthened by each other, we remember and are encouraged by promises, such as…

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

It’s not just that we strengthen each other; God uses his people to strengthen one another. With this in mind, Paul can write…

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 NLT

11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.

God has commanded us to love one another because, through our love for one another, our hearts are made strong. And Christians with strong hearts will endure until Christ returns.

Every generation of Christians has anticipated that Jesus would return in their lifetime. And, so far, every generation before us had to practice patience their entire lifetime — never seeing Jesus’ promise to return fulfilled. Our generation is no different. And it’s not just the eccentric Christians who rent billboard signs with their prediction about the date of Jesus’s return — most of us who follow Jesus have a desire for him to return in our lifetime. 

Yet, even with this desire, fatigue can set in. Where our longing for Jesus’ return turns into doubt, wondering if he’ll ever return. God’s timing and ours are not the same. A thousand years are like a day to him — a day like a thousand years — which is why we must be patient like a farmer.

A farmer has no control over the weather. He or she can’t make it rain or stop raining. But like a farmer, who must trust in God to supply the rain that their crops need for a bountiful harvest, so we’re to trust that God will supply all that we need to endure whatever life may bring our way.

Like his promise that he will strengthen the hearts of his people so that we endure to the end — no matter what we face, no matter how hard our circumstances are — God’s promise will not fail. So we’re to remember his promises and endure patiently as we wait for him to fulfill them.

A PATIENT ATTITUDE

Though there’s much that’s out of our control, much that we’re to entrust to God, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing within our control, which leads us to the attitude God’s people are to display as we endure. Enduring patiently is just one command upon your life if you follow Jesus. We’re also commanded to have a specific attitude while we patiently endure. We’re in verse nine.

James 5:9 ESV

9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

Do not grumble — our second command. The attitude that we’re to have, which displays that we’re being patient as God has commanded us to be, is a no-grumbling attitude. One pastor has noted what James doesn’t say to highlight what he does say. The pastor noticed how James doesn’t say…

Don’t revenge yourself. Don’t punch them out. Don’t harm them.” That would be easier for us to say, “Well, I don’t do that,” because an awful lot of us don’t. A lot of us have enough self-control [to not do those things]. [But] that’s not what James does. He says, “Don’t grumble …” Need I say it? Yes, I guess I do need to say it. This is very easy to do, grumbling. Grumbling is just complaining. Grumbling is scorning. Grumbling is zinging people. Grumbling is griping. Grumbling is always finding fault. Grumbling is nitpicking. Grumbling is complaining all the time. James doesn’t say, “Well, you know what? Grumbling isn’t so bad, just try to avoid it.” He says, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” Grumbling! You’ll be condemned for grumbling. You’ll be judged by the Judge of the universe for grumbling.

I wonder what would happen if we all considered what James is saying here about grumbling? 

Now, this isn’t the first time James has brought up the words that come out of our mouths. And — as you’ve heard me say before — James wouldn’t have found it necessary to command the Christians receiving his letter not to grumble against one another if they weren’t grumbling. A no-grumbling command makes sense only if there was grumbling going on. 

Obviously, the Christians he’s writing to had some serious relational issues with each other. And when we find ourselves living in difficult circumstances, it becomes all too easy to let relational issues be the reason we complain and grumble about one another. And James wants us to see how toxic, poisonous, and terrible grumbling about each other is. James warns us, “The Judge is going to judge you for this.”

In fact, the phrase “behold, the Judge is standing at the door” is meant to make us feel an urgency — again, that Christ’s return is near. And the phrase reminds us that, when Jesus returns, he will return as the Judge.

As Peter said to some Gentiles — or non-Jewish people — about Jesus…

Acts 10:40–43 NLT

40 God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, 41 not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all — the living and the dead. 43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

Jesus is the judge of all — the judge of you and me. 

Take what Paul wrote in his words to a young pastor — and to all pastors today…

2 Timothy 4:1–5 ESV

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

In the last days, which we’re to patiently endure, people will want their ears tickled with ideas that they agree with, they’ll desire echo chambers of ideas that suit their passions, and they’ll desire these things so much that they’ll turn from the truth. And Paul, in stressing the importance of sound, biblical preaching, calls on Jesus — the one who will judge the living and the dead — as his witness as to what pastors are called to do.

Back to Peter. Here are his words explaining what it will be like to live in the end times.

1 Peter 4:1–5 NLT

1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy — their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. 4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

The Judge stands at the door. What kind of attitude will you have when the door opens, and you see him face to face?

PATIENT EXAMPLES

Finally, James gives us some examples of patience. And these examples are meant to spur us on and encourage us in our patience. We’re in verse ten.

James 5:10–11 ESV

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

As an example….take. This is our final command. What James means is, “Remember the examples of patience that have come before you — examples of the endurance and attitude that God expects all of his children to display.”

As an example, take…the prophets. As you may know, prophets were individuals called by God to speak on his behalf. And prophets were often persecuted and suffered for speaking on God’s behalf — yet they were told to keep speaking on his behalf — they were called to patiently endure.

Listen to what one pastor had to say about the prophets. He said…

The persecution endured by Israel’s prophets is a sad litany of rejection and abuse. Moses had to put up with the stiff-necked, rebellious Israelites who left Egypt. Elijah faced hostility from the evil king Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Jeremiah endured opposition throughout his ministry, bringing him such sorrow that he became known as the weeping prophet. Ezekiel endured the death of his wife during the course of his ministry. Daniel was torn from his homeland as a young boy and later thrown into a den of lions because of his faithfulness to God. Hosea endured a heartbreaking marriage, Amos faced lies and scorn, and John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded for his testimony to God’s truth. The patience under trials exhibited by those faithful prophets should provide encouragement for believers to run the Christian race with diligence and faithfulness, no matter how severe the persecution.

As an example, take the prophets. Also…take Job. Job, though an imperfect man, put his hope in God when his life was immeasurably hard. He lost everything — all of his wealth, his health, and his children — the only thing he didn’t lose was his nagging wife and some misguided friends! And after a period of exhausting suffering, what Job learned — and what we’re to learn through his story — is that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

CONCLUSION: THE REWARD FOR LIVING A LIFE OF PATIENCE

Which leads us to the reward for living a life of patience. It’s found in verse eleven. I’ll read it again.

James 5:11 ESV

11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The reward given to those who live a life of patience is the experience of the compassion and mercy of their God. Yes, all who believe in Jesus experience God’s compassion and mercy — even those who live all their days impatiently. But, for those who are patient, they will experience God’s compassion and mercy in a way that the impatient Christian won’t. 

• Like Job, who, in having passed the test, tasted a sweetness to God’s compassion and mercy that he wouldn’t have tasted had there been no test of his patience.
• Like the prophets who, in having passed the test, experienced God’s power and promises fulfilled in their lives — power and fulfilled promises they wouldn’t have experienced had there been no test of their patience.
• So to you, by patiently enduring challenging circumstances and difficult people — and by displaying the attitude of patience which we’ve seen in our text — as you follow the examples of patience that have come before you — so too will you experience God’s compassion and mercy towards you. 

And with this as the goal set before us, I can’t think of any better words than Paul’s with which to conclude this sermon, when he writes…

1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT

23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

Until Jesus comes again, may you patiently endure. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavely Father, what patience you have with each of us. If we’re honest, right now, the patience we’ve received from you far exceeds whatever patience you’ve asked us to give to others. May we, when we find ourselves growing impatient, remember your patience with us.

Holy Spirit, until the day Jesus returns, help us to strengthen our hearts so that we endure with patience. Strengthen our hearts so that we love you and one another more purely. Strengthen our hearts so that others might wonder why we’re so different than the impatient world they’re so used to. 

And, Jesus, we ask this in prayer because our desire is that our lives would make you look beautiful and awesome to those who don’t believe. May those who challenge us the most — those who are the most difficult in our lives — experience your love through us. And we pray this, trusting that you will give us all that we need to love them with a love that is patient and kind. We ask all of this in your name. Amen.

DATE: 5-31-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you, too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend — learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

And — today — just like last week — the topic James has for us is very practical. For he’s going to talk to us about wealth. That’s right. Everyone’s favorite topic for the pastor to preach on: money. And — if our topic isn’t enough to get you excited for today’s sermon, know that — it’s at this point, late in his letter — when writing about wealth — that James uses his harshest language. So don’t blame me, blame James. He’s the one bringing up wealth and riches — not me. I’m just following his lead.

So let’s turn to our passage for today. We’ll be in James chapter five. James chapter five — looking at verses one through six. We’re in James chapter five — beginning in verse one. There we read…

James 5:1–6 ESV

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

In our text, we find some characteristics of those who are rich, we find a warning to those who are rich, and — thankfully — we find hope for those who are rich. Characteristics, a warning, and hope for those who are rich. That’s where we’re headed today.

But before we go much further, I want to ask something important about money and wealth. What do you think is the Bible’s view of money and wealth? 

Did you know that the Bible doesn’t have a disparaging view of money? It doesn’t. In fact, and this may surprise you, the Bible often speaks of wealth as a blessing from God. Take Isaac, for example…

Genesis 26:12–14 NLT

12 When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. 13 He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. 14 He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

Or take King David’s prayer, where he said…

1 Chronicles 29:10–12 ESV

10 Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. (So far so good. But look at what he says next.) 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

Or take this from the book of Proverbs…

Proverbs 10:22 NIV

22 The blessing of the Lord brings wealth…

And…

Proverbs 22:4 ESV

4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.

Now, what we’ve just read doesn’t imply that wealth is always a blessing from God — for wealth can be sought in ways that God disapproves of — and it doesn’t mean that if you follow Jesus you’re going to be rich — no health, wealth, and prosperity gospel here — but what I’m trying to help us all see is that wealth isn’t always a curse. I think, in a reaction against materialism and consumerism — which are problems in the American Church — we’ve tended to make money and wealth out to be irredeemable. Yes, we remember what James warned earlier, when he wrote…

James 4:13–16 NLT

13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

We must guard against being pretentious with our plans — including our financial plans — and instead we’re to trust in God’s sovereignty — in his being in control of all things — including the financial details of our lives. Or to say this biblically…

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 ESV

17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

I say all of this to reveal a tension we find in the Bible. Wealth isn’t evil and — at the same time — it tends to trip up more people — Christian or not — when it comes to finding joy, satisfaction, and purpose in life. And — for those who live for money — regardless if they’re aware that money and riches are what they’ve given their lives to or not — money is always a terrible god. For it’s a god that cannot save, it’s a god that only disappoints, and it’s a god that leaves one at odds with the one true God.

So let’s see what James has to say to us about wealth and money.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RICH

We’ll begin by looking at the characteristics of those who are rich. We find characteristics of the rich beginning in the last half of verse three, where we read…

James 5:3–5 ESV

3 You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

Notice, first, that James mentions the last days. He wants his original readers — and us — to feel the weight of the time we live in. We live in the last days. The last days are the time between Christ’s first coming to earth and his return. In the Bible, we find this period called the last days, the end times, or the end of the age. For example, listen to what the apostle Peter said during one of the first Christian sermons to be preached. These were Peter’s words in response to being mocked by a crowd of onlookers.

Acts 2:14–21 NLT

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants — men and women alike — and they will prophesy. 19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below — blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Peter told the crowd that the last days were upon them. 

Or take what the apostle Paul said when, after reviewing some moments in the history of God’s people, he wrote…

1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT

11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

And as the author of Hebrews begins his letter with…

Hebrews 1:1–4 NLT

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

And as the apostle John warns us…

1 John 2:18 NLT

18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

Those who first received James’ letter, just like us today, lived in the last days. Thus, one characteristic of the rich, which James is speaking about, is that they ignore the time in which they live. They’re careless in how they live. They don’t recognize that the time of God’s final judgment on all things — including them — is at hand. And James calls it a “day of slaughter” for the rich, which — let’s be honest — sounds pretty terrifying.

So, let me ask, how aware are you of the time in which you live? Like the rich, whom James is addressing, are you being careless by not recognizing that you’re living in the last days? Here’s another way to think of this question: How does the nearness of God’s final judgment influence the way you live? 

One characteristic of the rich is that they don’t feel the weight of the time in which they live.

Another characteristic is that they’re wealthy. I left this obvious characteristic for second — because — you don’t have to be financially wealthy to not recognize that you’re living in the last days — you don’t have to have a big bank account to live without considering the nearness of God’s final judgment. So no matter how much is in your bank account, that first characteristic of the rich is something that applies to all of us. 

But now we can focus on actual wealth. James specifically calls out those who gained their wealth by corrupt means. In James’ day, it was common for people to be day laborers. Meaning they worked each day expecting to be paid at the end of the day, so they would have the means to meet their basic needs. But if the rich landowner held on to the laborer’s paycheck — even for a day or two — maybe they wanted to make some interest off of the money before they paid their workers, or maybe they didn’t want to go to the bank or wherever they kept their money that day, so they told the workers they’d be paid tomorrow — regardless of the reason, there were many ways the rich could make life a death sentence for their workers. 

As one scholar says, “No doubt their (the rich…no doubt their) mansions were well protected against the shouts of the workers who had families to feed and nothing to feed them because their pay had been unjustly held back. So James declares: The wages themselves, which you have kept back, are shouting out, and God is listening!” 

Now, I’m going to assume the best about all of us and that none of us are gaining wealth by defrauding others like the rich that James is speaking of. So I’ll let God use his Word to speak to any of us who are gaining wealth by unjust means, as I point out to us a third characteristic of the rich: They live in luxury and self-indulgence. And this characteristic, like the first, is one we may find ourselves uncomfortably familiar with.

Before we learn about this characteristic, I want to remind us of a moment in Jesus’ life that we looked at last week. 

Luke 12:13–21 ESV

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Both James and Jesus are teaching against hoarding. The Bible is pro-saving, but is anti-hoarding. 

One pastor has said, “People get pretty upset at this point. Here’s why. James is saying it is extremely important for Christians to see there’s a line to be drawn between saving and prudence, and self-indulgence, hoarding, and storing up money instead of putting it to good use. There’s a difference between living a basic life of necessities and conveniences and moving over into the area of unnecessary luxuries and self-indulgence.

Everybody says, “Where’s that line?” People say, “Okay, how many cars can you have as a Christian? How big of an apartment? How big should your clothing budget be?” 

[The Bible doesn’t give us the line.] But this doesn’t mean, “So don’t worry about the line.”

That pastor goes on to say, “You’d better find a way to draw that line. You’d better look at everything in your life and say, ‘Is this really a necessity or is it a luxury? Do I really have to spend my money on this, or could I, instead of spending this on myself, be giving this money away?” Somebody says, “Boy, I’d hate to have to live a life like that.” [But] this is the life that you’re called to.”

Here’s an example from church history: John Wesley. John Wesley founded the Methodist Church. Wesley began his ministry as a simple preacher. He didn’t make much money, but as his popularity grew, so did his income. Records show that when Wesley earned thirty pounds one year, he gave away three. That’s the biblical tithe or giving ten percent of your income to God’s work through the local church.

Another year, Wesley made forty pounds. His income went up ten pounds — from thirty to forty. Now, if he gave three pounds away when he made thirty pounds, how much do you think he gave away when he made forty pounds? He gave away ten pounds. He went from giving away ten percent of his income to giving away twenty-five percent.

Another year, he made seventy pounds. How much do you think he gave away? The answer gets to the heart of what it means to be generous — or being rich toward God. When Wesley made seventy pounds, he gave away forty. That’s fifty-seven percent of his income.

At one point, he made fourteen hundred pounds in a year. It’s easier to ask “How much do you think he lived on” than to ask “How much do you think he gave away?” When he made fourteen hundred pounds, he lived on thirty pounds. He gave away ninety-eight percent of his income.

Now I want to be clear. God isn’t against us spending on ourselves. God’s not against us enjoying his creation — every good gift does come from him after all. But here in the US, we assume that our standard of living should increase as fast — or sometimes even faster — than our income. And I want us to ask, “Why do we believe this?”

Why have we bought into the American cultural idea that our standard of living should always increase when our income does? Why can’t it be that — the more money you make — the greater the distance there should be between the lifestyle you live and the lifestyle you’re capable of living? I’m not telling you what the line is — all I’m asking is if you even have a line. For someone who follows Jesus, a man who was both born and died poor, no Christian should live as well as we’re capable of living. For we follow a generous Savior and are called to be generous with our riches and wealth — especially in our generosity towards God and the work he’s doing through the local church.

A WARNING TO THE RICH

Now we turn to James’s warning to those who are rich. We’re back in verse one.

James 5:1–3 ESV

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

There’s division among Bible scholars about who James is writing to here. Are the rich Christians or unbelievers? Some say he’s writing to unbelievers because James doesn’t use the word “brothers” in these verses, whereas he uses the word in the rest of his letter to refer to fellow followers of Jesus. Others say he’s writing to Christians because — one — the letter is addressed to churches — and two — it’s pretty unlikely that non-Christians would end up reading his letter. Now, if you forced me to choose, I’d say he’s writing to Christians — though his warning applies to everyone, Christian or not.

So with that out of the way — and none of us off the hook — let’s look at his command. You may have noticed how — in most sermons — I’ve pointed out any commands in the passages we’ve looked at. I do this because we’re a people who — generally speaking — like to know what we’re supposed to do. And commands tell us what we’re supposed to do. And, here — in verse one — we find the only command in our passage for today. And here’s the command: weep.

The rich are commanded to weep. And in what way are they to weep? They’re to howl — meaning — this is a weeping with audible, yet unintelligent sounds. And what’s the cause for this howl-filled weeping? The miseries that are coming upon them.

Miseries isn’t a fun word, is it? For starters, it’s plural. And, for most of us, a single misery is more than enough. But miseries — plural — are what’s promised to those who display the characteristics of the rich that we looked at earlier. Do you remember how, at the start of the sermon, I said that James saved his harshest words for these verses? A day of slaughter. And, now, miseries are coming on you.

And it’s at this point that someone may ask, “Isn’t James being a bit too hard on his fellow Christians? How can he say that miseries are coming upon fellow believers? Didn’t his older brother die to keep us from experiencing miseries from the hand of God?” 

I think the answer lies in recognizing that Christians sin. And we sin often. And we can sin in some horrendously huge ways. Like not paying people what they’re owed — even when we know they need that paycheck to make it through the day. So James is warning Christians because — this kind of sinful behavior — when not killed — when not turned away from — when it’s allowed to continue in one’s life — this kind of sin can be evidence that you’re not really a Christian in the first place. So he uses harsh language to wake us from a stupor of comfort that will result in our condemnation.

But James’ warning to the rich continues. And — here — I think we find a teaching of Jesus that may have been on James’ mind when he wrote these words. Jesus once said…

Matthew 6:19–21 NLT

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

That sounds like what James is getting at, doesn’t it? The idea of storing up wealth here on earth instead of storing up treasures in heaven by using our wealth and resources in this life to advance God’s mission of seeking and saving those who are lost. For as Jesus says, “Wherever your treasure is — either here on earth or in heaven — that’s where the desires of your heart can be found.”

The question we’re forced to answer, based on what you do with your wealth, is this: Is the desire of your heart located here on earth or in heaven? If you’re someone who claims to follow Jesus, don’t dismiss this question — that’d be the foolish thing to do when wisdom is asking you such a revealing question. Especially when we remember what James said to us earlier in his letter when he wrote…

James 2:15–16 NLT

15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”— but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

What good does that do? No good. They’re still cold and hungry even though you’ve got the means to help them. James goes on to say…

James 2:17 NLT

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

What good deeds of financial generosity is your faith in Jesus producing? Yes, there are many ways faith produces good deeds in our lives. Serving others. Practicing patience. Sharing the gospel and so on. But these good deeds are not in competition with one another, and doing one doesn’t excuse failing to do the others. Meaning, serving others — a sign of your faith producing good works — doesn’t excuse you if you’re not generous with your money. Just as being generous with your money doesn’t excuse you if you’re not serving others. But since James is focusing on our wealth, that’s what we’re focusing on. 

So, how is your faith in Jesus producing good works of financial generosity in your life? How is it growing you in your generosity, where you haven’t just settled to give the equivalent of three pounds of your income, even though you’re now making way more than thirty pounds a year? How is your growth in understanding God’s love for you — which surely has grown the longer you’ve followed Jesus — how has your growth in understanding God’s love for you transformed you into a more financially generous person? Into a person not storing up treasures that will only rot and corrode with time, but into a person storing up eternal treasure that will last forever?

CONCLUSION: HOPE FOR THE RICH

Now to our final point: Hope for the rich. James has said some hard things to the rich, but there is an offer of hope in our verses. You see, being the kind of person James is pointing us to — a person who has this God-glorifying relationship with riches and wealth — this isn’t natural — it’s supernatural. And because this kind of relationship with riches is supernatural, it’s full of hope. But it’s hope found in a most unexpected place. We’re in verse six.

James 5:6 ESV

6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

In these words, James reminds us that the most grievous act the rich have committed isn’t oppressing the poor, living in luxury, or denying workers their pay — the most grievous act the rich have committed is the moment in history when we condemned and murdered the righteous person. Or — better — the Righteous One, whose name is Jesus.

• Jesus, the one who’s worth far more than any amount of riches we can hoard up here on earth. 
• Jesus, the one who left the infinite riches of heaven to come to earth to be your loving Savior. 
• Jesus, the Righteous One, who did not resist our thirst for his blood, was condemned and murdered by our hands.

And, as hard as this may be to imagine, it’s here that we find hope. For just like the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume during the last week of his life here on earth, when we realize what Jesus is really worth, we’ll generously give up everything we have for him. 

John 12:1–8 NLT

1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus — the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. 4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor — he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. 7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Did you see how much the perfume was worth? It was a year’s worth of wages. Not even John Wesley — in all of his God-glorifying giving — was that generous. He gave ninety-eight percent of a year’s wages. Mary, well, she gave one hundred percent.

But let’s not compare Mary with John Wesley — let’s compare her to Judas. Ultimately, we can take what James wants us all to wrestle with — regarding riches and wealth — and ask ourselves: Who are we more like when it comes to our money? Mary or Judas? Mary, who saw Jesus for who he truly was and put all of her riches at his feet, saying, “I see who you are and what you’ve done. And you’re worth more to me than every cent I have.” Are we like Mary or Judas, who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver?

Yes, that’s a very uncomfortable question, but it’s the question we’ve arrived at. What’s worth more to you? What do you value more? What does your heart truly desire? Jesus or money? God’s love and all that he’s done for you, or riches that will one day rust and corrode?

Mary or Judas? Jesus or riches? Treasure in heaven or here on earth? That’s the choice before each of us. One is the choice of those whose faith is producing good works of financial generosity in their life. Mary or Judas? Jesus or riches? That’s our choice, which will you choose? Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, we’ve faced some hard questions today. Questions of what our heart truly loves. Questions of what we value most. Questions that have forced us to take an honest look, and I’m sure some of us are uncomfortable with what we’ve seen.

Spirit, cleanse us from the sins of hoarding, greed, trusting in riches instead of you, and for storing up treasures here on earth instead of in heaven. Give our hearts that supernatural desire to live a generous life because we have tasted and seen the love you have for us.

And, Jesus, any hope we have is because you, the Righteous One, gave your life on the cross in our place and for our sins. You did so in love. You did so because you knew the price that had to be paid for your people to be redeemed. And the cost was high. A price higher than all our bank accounts combined. 

Father, Son, and Spirit, help us to first believe that we’re really loved in this way. And, second, to respond by living a generous life as we love you in return. For the day is near. We’re living in the last days. May we be found to be faithful — knowing the times so that you’re glorified in our lives. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May God bless you with eyes that see his love for you. For then, and only then, we he be the treasure that your heart desires most. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 5-24-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time, if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus, or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

And for our Gateway folks, I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard me welcome our friends in Bucyrus. As you may remember, their new pastor started back in March, but he has a few family events in May — including this weekend — so they’re joining us today while he’s away.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. We’re learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. Now — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

And if you want to talk about a practical topic, well, our topic for today is right up there in practicality. Our topic for today is arrogance. Christian or not, arrogance is something you’re familiar with. And arrogance is something that — for most of us — is quite the turn off when we see it in other people. While — at the same time — arrogance is something that’s often hard to see in ourselves.

So arrogance is the very practical topic that wisdom wants to speak to us about today from the book of James. So let’s see what wisdom has for us. We’ll be in James chapter four today. James chapter four — looking at verses thirteen through seventeen together. We’re in James chapter four — beginning in verse thirteen. There we read…

James 4:13–17 ESV

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

The reason why we’re focusing on the topic of arrogance is because of the key verse in our passage, which is verse sixteen. It says…

James 4:16 ESV

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Writing to Christians, James says that some of them boast in their arrogance — and he calls such boasting evil. So it’s not just that we’re arrogant — we boast in our arrogance. Boasting means to pride oneself in. It means to glory in. To speak loudly about. But where does all of this come from — the things that we pride ourselves in, and glory in, and speak loudly about — what’s the source of all of this? Our arrogance, James says.

Now, for those who follow Jesus, instead of boasting in our arrogance, we’re told to boast in other things.

Romans 5:1–5 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in (or we boast in the) hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in (or we boast in) our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

To rejoice in is the same as boasting in. And…

Romans 5:11 ESV

11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

And…

1 Corinthians 1:28–31 ESV

28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

That last phrase is repeated in another of Paul’s letters…

2 Corinthians 10:17 ESV

17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Boast in the hope we have in God. Boast in our sufferings. Boast in God. Boast in the Lord. And…

2 Corinthians 11:30 ESV

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Boast in our weakness, which Paul expands on later when he heard these words spoken to him…

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What else are we to boast in?

Galatians 6:14 ESV

14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

And…

Philippians 3:3 ESV

3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in (or boast) Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

What is your life boasting in? The hope you have in God? In your sufferings? In God? In the Lord? In your weakness? In Christ and his cross? Or in your arrogance?

Though we easily see arrogance in our culture, James wants us to look in a mirror. Because arrogance isn’t just something out there — arrogance isn’t just something those people struggle with — once again, James goes straight for us. Straight for you. Straight for me. He wants us to do some honest self-examination of our own arrogance and our boasting in it. And he gives us two ways to examine our lives for arrogance, then offers a solution for overcoming it.

To examine our lives for arrogance, he’ll have us look at our view of our future and our view of our sin. He’s going to force us to ask whether we have an arrogant view of our future and of our sin, for these are two ways to examine our lives for arrogance. Then James will give us the solution for our arrogance. Let me show you.

ARROGANT ABOUT OUR FUTURE

We’ll begin with our arrogant view of our future. We’re in verse thirteen. There, James writes…

James 4:13–14 ESV

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

The question James asks is this: “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?” Why do you arrogantly think that tomorrow’s guaranteed?

James uses merchants for his illustration, but he’s not against those who work in sales. What James is pointing out to all of us — regardless of our vocation — is the arrogance of how we think we’re in charge of our future. The arrogance of thinking we’re in control. The way that we live life as if it’s just going to go on and on and on.

Jesus once spoke about this.

Luke 12:16–20 NLT

16 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

God isn’t opposed to us making plans, but he is opposed to us making plans as if we’re the ones in charge instead of him. He’s God. Not us. Thus, our plans for the future should be made with the recognition that God’s plan is what will ultimately take place in our lives.

Additionally, James tells us that our lives are like a mist, a vapor, a puff of smoke. James’ point is pretty simple: Life is short — which is why he wants us to think biblically about the future. 

Maybe James was thinking of…

Proverbs 27:1 ESV

1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Or how we’re to…

Job 7:7 ESV

7 Remember that my life is a breath…

Or…

Psalm 39:5–6 ESV

5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! 6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

I got quite a few comments the last time I pointed out what a handbreadth is and how it illustrates our life. This is a handbreadth. Four fingers. Each finger represents a quarter of a person’s life. We’ll round the numbers to make this easy math for all of us.

The first finger represents your first twenty years of life. The second finger is years twenty-one to forty. The third finger is forty-one to sixty. Once you pass sixty, this is it — just one finger left. And it’s on the way down. A sobering and humbling reminder of how brief our lives are. 

Don’t fool yourself. Don’t try to say, “Well, I know I’m in my sixties — or older — but I’m still only on finger three.” You’re not! I’m not saying that to be mean to you. Lord willing, I’ll make it to the fourth finger someday. I tell you this because God doesn’t want you to waste your life. And the way you don’t waste your life is by recognizing how quickly it’s passing.

One day, you’re young enough to play soccer with your kindergartners, and — what seems like the next day — though it’s been nearly two decades — you’re twisting your ankle because you’re not as young as you used to be, right? 

About James’ point, one author has said, “This world tells us to live like we’re going to be here forever, urging us to make our plans, acquire our possessions, and work to build our portfolio. But James tells us to submit to God. Don’t live like you’re going to be here forever. Instead, live, plan, and work as if your life is short and you don’t want to waste it. Live like you want to spend your life humbly before the sovereignty of God and ultimately for the glory of God. As the people of God, we ought to make our lives — the mist that comprises who we are for the short while we’re here — count under his sovereignty for his glory.”

ARROGANT ABOUT OUR SIN

That’s how we end up with a “boasting in our arrogance” view of our future. Now we turn to our arrogant view of our sin. We’re in verse seventeen. There we read…

James 4:17 ESV

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

It’s common for people to think of sin as doing what God has said, “Don’t do.” Don’t commit adultery. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. And so on. Where sin, for many people, is defined as doing what God has told us not to do. And, I want to be clear, that is sin. It’s sinful to do something that God has told us not to do. But that’s only one aspect of sin. That’s what theologians have called sins of commission — where we commit sin by doing something we know we’re not supposed to do.

But there’s another aspect of sin — not doing the things we know we should do. These are sins of omission. Where God has given a command to do this or that — a command that, when ignored — or omitted — is an act of sin. James touched on this earlier in his letter when he wrote…

James 1:27 ESV

27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

To not care for orphans and widows or to not keep oneself unstained from the world — to disobey by not doing them — is to sin. Not by what you do, but are acts of sin by what you don’t do.

James also touched on this when he wrote…

James 2:8–9 ESV

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Showing partiality — or favoritism — is a sin of commission. Not loving your neighbor as yourself — even if you don’t show partiality — is a sin of omission. 

Again, in the church culture that most of us are familiar with, sins of commission — lying, stealing, homosexuality, pornography, and so on — are the sins that have gotten the majority of our attention. But sins of omission — not loving your neighbor as yourself, not loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, not being generous and kind and merciful — these sins of omission are just as sinful in God’s sight.

And those who are arrogant don’t see this. They think, much like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

Matthew 15:1–9 NLT

1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”

“Mom and dad, I can’t help you because I’ve been so generous to God’s church” doesn’t cut it with Jesus. Just like “God, I can’t be generous to your church because I’m being so generous to my parents,” or to some other cause or organization, doesn’t work. Similarly, Jesus said…

Matthew 23:23 NLT

23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Obeying one command — to tithe — doesn’t offset when we fail to obey other commands — like being just, merciful, and faithful. Only the arrogant would think that God would wink an eye at disobedience in one area of our lives because of obedience in another.

As we read elsewhere…

Luke 19:11–27 NLT

11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. 12 He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13 Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ 14 But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’ 15 “After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. 16 The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’ 17 “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ 18 “The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’ 19 “‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’ 20 “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. 21 I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ 22 “‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, 23 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 24 “Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ 25 “‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’ 26 “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 27 And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king — bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’”

The third servant was wicked — not because of what he did with the king’s money — commission — but because of what he didn’t do with it — omission.

And as Jesus warns about the final judgment, when we’ll all stand before God…

Matthew 25:31–46 NLT

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ 41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

CONCLUSION: OVERCOMING OUR ARROGANCE

Finally, the cure to our arrogance. Here’s how we overcome our arrogance. We’re in verse fifteen.

James 4:15 ESV

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

The phrase “Lord willing” has been used in various ways by God’s people. Some say it like a magical phrase that guarantees God will make your plans happen. Others say it in a way that seems to express doubt: “I’ll be married some day, Lord willing.” Others think it’s something that must be said in order to show God and others that you know he’s really in charge.

Regardless of your experience with the phrase, know that it is a biblical idea. The apostle Paul uses it.

Acts 18:21 ESV

21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

To others, he said…

1 Corinthians 4:19 ESV

19 I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.

But one thing to note is that Paul doesn’t always use the phrase when discussing his plans. 

Now, neither James nor Paul want us to be fatalists. Where we’re all like, “Whatever happens will happen.” As we saw earlier, the issue isn’t that we make plans. The issue is that we think we’re in charge when we make plans. And what the phrase “If the Lord wills” makes clear is that we’re not in charge. God is. 

It’s not if we say “Lord willing,” then he’ll do what we want. It’s not an expression of doubt. It’s not even about making sure God knows that we know he’s in charge — he already knows what we think. Instead, “Lord willing” is us acknowledging that God is God and we’re not. He’s in charge, we’re not. But just because God’s in charge doesn’t mean we’re free to just sit back and let whatever’s gonna happen to happen. 

Think about it. If that’s what God wanted — for us to just sit back and let whatever’s gonna happen happen — why would he give us commands to obey? His commands are pointless if “whatever’s gonna happen will happen” is the motto he wants us to live by. Even James has given us plenty of commands to obey throughout his letter, so he’s probably not now saying, “I take it all back. Let whatever’s gonna happen just happen. Forget all of those commands I wrote down earlier in my letter.”

Instead, the posture of the follower of Jesus is to be one in which every breath we take, every thought we have, every plan we make, and every action we do is done while acknowledging that God’s in charge. Where we live, aware that we’re alive right now — taking this breath, having this thought, making this plan, doing this action — because God is being sovereignly gracious to me. James wants us to have that kind of mindset. A mindset that when asked…

1 Corinthians 4:7 ESV

7 What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

We won’t boast. For we’re the people who recognize that every good gift comes from our Father in heaven. We’ll live with a mindset that could be summed up with…

Acts 17:28 ESV

28 ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’

Where, with King David, we say…

Psalm 40:8 NLT

8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

And where our life’s prayer is…

Psalm 143:10 NLT

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

As we remember the words of Jesus, that…

Mark 3:35 NLT

35 Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

As we also remember him saying…

Matthew 7:21 NLT

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

Thus, Peter encourages us…

1 Peter 4:2 ESV

2 to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

And we do so knowing that though…

1 John 2:17 ESV

17 The world is passing away along with its desires, [Christians know that] whoever does the will of God abides (or lives) forever.

The cure for our arrogance is knowing and doing God’s will. And, for those who do, the promise — which is guaranteed to them — is that they will live with their God forever.

I’m not sure what your view of your future or of your sin is. What I can guess, though, is that if God’s will isn’t yet the cure for either, you’re probably stressed, irritable, angry, short-tempered, not happy about life, your relationships are a mess, people probably talk about you behind your back (which you’re probably aware of), and you’ve not experienced any sort of lasting joy. And what I want you to know is that all of that can change. It can. If you submit yourself to the will of God, and allow your life to be a “if the Lord wills” boasting kind of life. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, thank you for your perfect will. Thank you for making your will known to us. Your will in saving a people to be your own. Your will for how you want those whom you’ve saved to live through your good commands. Your will for us to repent when we sin. And your will to forgive us when we come to you in repentance. Thank you for your good and perfect will.

Holy Spirit, remind us of your will. Help us to remember — for we are such a forgetful people. Reveal to us sins of commission — where we commit acts of disobedience against your commands. And reveal to us sins of omission — where we omit and don’t do what you’ve told us to do. Purify our hearts and cleanse us from our sin — especially the sin of arrogance.

And, Jesus, we desire pure hearts so that when we boast, our boast is in you and your cross and your great love for people. In this world of boasting — where people are known for their boasting in themselves — may we be a people who are known for our boasting in you. By the words we say and by the lives we live as we live an “if the Lord wills” kind of life for your glory.

And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go living an “if the Lord wills” boasting kind of life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 5-17-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend as we learn from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

And in our verses for today, James is returning to two themes we’ve already encountered in his letter. Speech — meaning our words — and God’s law.

About the words we speak, James has said…

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

And…

James 1:19 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

And…

James 2:14–16 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

And…

James 3:1–2 ESV

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 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 whole body.

And…

James 3:5–6 ESV

5 So 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! 6 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.

And…

James 3:8–10 ESV

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

And…

James 3:14 ESV

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

And…

James 4:2–3 ESV

2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

James has already said much about the words we speak. And about the royal — or the perfect law — James has said…

James 1:25 ESV

25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

And…

James 2:8–13 ESV

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

So James has already written much about our speech — the words we say — as well as the royal or perfect law — meaning the Law of God.

Now, before we get to our verses for today, I want to ask you a question. What part of God’s law do you think doesn’t apply to you? What part of God’s law do you think doesn’t apply to you?

If you’re a Christian, my guess is you may have responded with, “Well, all of it applies to me. Sure, there are some ceremonial laws in the Old Testament that don’t apply to us today, but the law that James is referring to — as we’ve already seen — is the royal law — the big Ten — the Great Commandment — whatever you want to call it — and it applies to Christians today.” Hold on to that thought for a moment.

Now, if you’re here — and you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian — my guess is you probably responded to my question with, “I’m not sure.” There are probably parts of the law that you do think apply to people today, like “Don’t murder,” but there are other parts you’re just not sure about — or you’re sure that some parts of the law definitely don’t apply to you — like those pesky parts of the law that tell us who and who not to have sex with.

Now James’ goal is to teach us how to be wise. And, by wise, he means not just taking God at his Word, but applying God’s Word to life. Thus, we know we’re being wise or foolish — for example, when it comes to the law — not by simply saying, “All of the law applies to me today” — but we’re being wise when we take that truth — that all of God’s law applies to me today — and live accordingly. Being wise means we don’t say “This is what I believe about God’s law” and then go on to live as if we’re above God’s law.

We’ll see how all of this works itself out in a moment — but first, we need to turn to our verses for today. We’ll be in James chapter four today. James chapter four — looking at verses eleven and twelve. We’re in James chapter four — beginning in verse eleven. There we read…

James 4:11–12 ESV

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Christians, don’t speak evil against one another. That’s the command — the only command — in our verses. Don’t speak evil against one another, brothers. 

A few observations.

First, the word brothers is James’ way of referring to the Christians he’s writing to. And the only reason he’d need to command a group of Christians not to speak evil against one another is because — guess what they were probably doing? Speaking evil against each other!

Can you imagine? Christians speaking evil about other Christians? Unbelievable. Oh, wait, pretty believable.

Our second observation is that the kind of speech James is referring to is slander. He uses a similar phrase three times in verse eleven — speak evil, speaks against, and speaks evil. This is when we speak degradingly or defamingly of a fellow believer. It’s where we make malicious charges against someone else, attacking their good name and reputation. And, obviously, this is something Christians can do to other Christians as well as to non-Christians. This is also something that non-Christians can do to Christians. Slander is a sin that doesn’t care whose mouth it comes out of. Thus, God’s people are warned not to be slanderers — and not just here in James.

About those who serve in the church, we’re told…

1 Timothy 3:10–11 ESV

10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

Just as…

Titus 2:3–5 ESV

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Christians are not to be slanderers. However, we’re to anticipate being slandered. This is why the apostle Peter writes…

1 Peter 2:12 ESV

12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you (or when they slander you…) as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

And…

1 Peter 3:14–16 ESV

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

And the reason why Christians are not to slander others, while expecting to be slandered, is because our enemy — Satan, who’s also known as the Devil — his name in the Greek language means “slanderer” and “false accuser.” Thus, to be a slanderer of others is to imitate the Devil, for his name means “the slanderer.”

Slander is the opposite of godly speech — words of love and blessing. In fact, slander destroys fellowship among God’s people because slander is devilish speech. Thus, James wants us to know how to be wise in our speech so that we don’t follow Satan’s lead by speaking evil against one another. And the way of wisdom — the way of not speaking evil against one another — begins by, one, thinking biblically about each other, two, thinking biblically about God’s law, three, thinking biblically about God, and — finally — thinking biblically about ourselves. 

So let’s learn how not to slander one another by thinking biblically about each other, thinking biblically about God’s law, thinking biblically about God, and thinking biblically about ourselves.

THINK BIBLICALLY ABOUT EACH OTHER

First, thinking biblically about each other. We’re in verse eleven where James writes…

James 4:11 ESV

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother…

As one person has said, when “fellow believers are viewed as those chosen by God before the foundation of the world, for whom Christ died, who are loved and honored by God, and with whom we will spend eternity in heaven, we will seek to honor, love, and protect them. [Thus] the first step in avoiding the sin of slander is not keeping one’s lips sealed, but keeping one’s thoughts about others right.” 

Biting one’s tongue isn’t the solution to the sin of slander; having a biblical view of each other is the solution to slander.

I wonder what your view is of those who are in the room with you right now? There are probably a lot of people in the room you don’t know. What do you think about them? Do you think biblically about them? How we think about one another — biblically or not — shapes what we say about one another.

Now, James, as you probably saw, also highlights judging one another. He doesn’t stop with slander — he also mentions judging, which is another topic he brought up earlier when he wrote…

James 2:4 ESV

4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

In both this verse and our verse for today, James isn’t making a universal statement about judging — there are plenty of places in Scripture where we’re told to judge one another. What James is saying is that we’re not to use God’s law to make judgments that result in us slandering others.

THINK BIBLICALLY ABOUT GOD’S LAW

Which leads us to the law and how we’re to think about it biblically. We’re back in verse eleven again.

James 4:11 ESV

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

As we’ve seen, by law, James wants us to remember what Jesus taught about the law. And — as we saw in a previous sermon — in knowing what Jesus taught about the law, James has told us that the fulfillment of the law is summed up by the command to love others. And here’s what that means. 

The law — all of the commands and rules — is love codified. The law tells us how to love. Thus, to disregard, ignore, or disobey the law is to be an unloving person. 

One Bible scholar explains…

“An examination of the Ten Commandments reveals them to be ten features of love verbalized. [We don’t have time to look at all ten, but a few will suffice.] The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”, shows that love is not fickle, but single-minded, devoted, loyal…The third command, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”…reveals love to be respectful toward its object…The fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother”, reveals love to be submissive to authority…The sixth commandment, “You shall not murder”, expresses the value love places on others… The seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery”, shows love to be pure and [that] love would never defile another person. The eighth commandment, “You shall not steal”, manifests the unselfish nature of love. Love seeks to give, not to take.”

God’s law shows us how to love him and each other. Back to one of the first questions I asked today: I wonder what part of God’s law you’re disregarding, making you less loving than God has created you to be? Where — in disregarding God’s law — you’re not a doer of the law, but its judge.

THINK BIBLICALLY ABOUT GOD

But there is only one who is judge — and to him we turn, as we think biblically about God. We’re in verse twelve.

James 4:12 ESV

12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.

When we slander others, we put ourselves above God’s law and attempt to put ourselves above God. Do you know who else tried to put himself above God? The one whose name means slanderer. But there’s only one lawgiver and judge — the God of Heaven above. The one who is able to save and to destroy.

God is the only one able to save. Meaning, God is the only one who can deliver us from sin and save us from evil. This is why Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth.

Luke 19:10 ESV

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

For…

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

4 when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And in response to this news…

James 1:21 ESV

21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

God is the only one who can save — and — he can destroy.

The word destroy means “to utterly destroy.” It has a sense of spiritual destruction. This destruction is the eternal judgment and condemnation that those — who don’t believe in Christ — will experience for all eternity. As Jesus said…

Matthew 10:28 ESV

28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

And as the apostle Paul says about the return of Christ…

2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 NLT

6 In his (God’s) justice he will pay back those who persecute you. 7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 10 When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people — praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

Think biblically about God. For he is the one who gave us the royal law. He alone is the perfect judge. And he is the only one who is able to save and to destroy.

THINK BIBLICALLY ABOUT YOURSELF

And, finally, think biblically about yourself. We’re in the last half of verse twelve, which says…

James 4:12 ESV

12 But who are you to judge your neighbor?

James essentially asks, “Just who do you think you are? I mean, who in the world do you think you are that you’re perfectly comfortable with slandering others?” 

Whoever you think you are — and this is true for me too — when we slander others, we’re not thinking biblically about ourselves.

Who are you?

2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

We’re fragile clay jars through whom the light of Christ shines forth in a world that’s clothed in darkness.

Who are you?

Luke 17:10 NLT

In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Even when we’ve obeyed God’s commands — maybe even receive an award for doing so — we’re unworthy of his grace.

Who are you?

2 Corinthians 5:16–17 ESV

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Having believed in Jesus, you’re a new creation.

Who are you?

Galatians 2:20 NLT

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

If you believe in Jesus, he lives in you.

Who are you?

1 John 3:1 NLT

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

You are a beloved child of God.

Who are you?

Ephesians 1:3–5 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

You are chosen. Blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. United with Christ. Adopted into God’s family. Holy and without fault in his eyes.

Who are you?

Romans 5:8 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

You are someone for whom Christ died.

Who are you?

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are someone who will never be separated from the love of God.

Who are you?

1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Who are you?

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Who are you? 

Jesus says to you…

John 5:24 NLT

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

Who are you? 

Having believed in Jesus, you are someone for whom…

Romans 8:1–2 NLT

There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

CONCLUSION

All that you’ve just heard can be true for you, regardless of what you thought about Jesus, or the law, or if slandering other people was something you excelled at before you came here today — all that you just heard — and more — can be yours, if you listen to the advice of the wisdom that’s from heaven above. 

And if you listen and respond to God’s wisdom, you will be loved by God, saved by God, cherished by God, eternally secured by God, and will be forever changed by God. Including the words you say about others — as words of slander become words of your past — and words of blessing are now the words of your present and future. For God’s Word — his Word of his love for you — will change you down to the very words that you say about others. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word to us today. What words of blessing, even as we tackled the topic of slander. 

Holy Spirit, continue to sanctify us, to perfect our words, to radically transform them from words of cursing to words of blessing, from words of slander to words of grace and truth. 

And, Jesus, we pray all of this because our desire is that our whole being — down to every word we speak — would be a life that brings you glory and honor. For you gave your whole life for us — and in recognizing how you’ve loved us — we want to give our whole lives back to you.

Father, Son, and Spirit — for any who hear my voice who came here today without the new life that only you can give — may you open their eyes, give them ears to hear, and hearts that long for the peace, joy, hope, and love that’s found only through faith in you. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having heard and responded to God’s wisdom, may you go speaking words that honor him and others. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.