James’ Most Important Instruction.
James 5:12
February 15, 2015
As we have studied the book of James,
James has adamantly held us up next to Jesus to see if we measure up.
And while these are good lessons for evaluation for every believer,
Ultimately James has had more than that in mind.
He’s not just concerned about believers not living like Christ,
James is concerned that perhaps we have people
Claiming to be believers who aren’t actually believers at all.
There is a difference between having faith
And simply saying you have faith.
James has been helping us see the difference.
James has actually been giving us tests by which we can examine our lives.
1) How do I respond to trials? (with joy)
2) Do I trust God in those trials? (ask for what, not why)
3) Do I persevere under trial?
4) Do I view God as perfectly righteous? (God can’t tempt)
5) Do I love the word of God? (doer)
6) Do I love the least? (pure religion)
7) Do I show favoritism? (rich man in fine clothes)
8) Is my faith exhibited by word or deed?
9) Is my speech righteous and uplifting? (tame the tongue)
10) Do I love the world too much? (friendship with the world)
11) Am I submissive to God? (submit therefore to God)
12) Do I slander? (don’t speak against one another)
13) Am I an arrogant boaster? (Today or Tomorrow…)
14) Do I have a wicked love for possessions?
15) Do I have patience, waiting for the Lord?
Tonight, James adds another question.
16) Do I walk with integrity?
Our society is not one known for integrity.
WE HAVE BEEN FORCED TO BECOME SKEPTICS.
Our society thrives off of lies.
John MacArthur writes, “Fallen men are basically inveterate liars. Children lie to parents and parents lie to their children. Husbands lie to their wives and wives lie to their husbands. People lie to their employers who in turn lie to them and often to the public. Politicians lie to get elected and continue to lie once they are in office. People lie to the government – perhaps most notably on their income tax returns. Educators lie, scientists lie, and members of the media lie. Our society is built on a framework of lies, leading one to wonder whether our social structure would survive if everyone were forced to speak the truth for even one day.” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: James, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. 1998, pg. 263)
David said:
Psalms 116:11 “I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.”
Jeremiah noticed:
Jeremiah 9:1-9 “Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. “Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?”
Lying is the way of the world, and that is quite understandable
Since Satan is the god of this world, and he is the father of lies.
Since that is the case,
Integrity becomes a very accurate indicator of saving faith.
The lost unredeemed world does not have it.
The saved, redeemed world does.
It is a black and white issue.
That is what James is talking about in our text tonight.
There are three things we see here, as we look at the integrity of saving faith.
#1 THE IMPORTANCE
James 5:12a
“But above all, my brethren,”
This truth ought to stand out to us,
Because right here James takes this truth and elevates it
Above all the others that he has presented.
To James the revealing ability of integrity
Is greater than all those we listed earlier.
(joy, perseverance, love for the least, faith with works, etc.)
Integrity is the most accurate way to evaluate yourself.
THE PRESENCE OF INTEGRITY IS A MARK OF SAVING FAITH.
A LACK OF INTEGRITY IS DUE TO A LACK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
(For God knows nothing of deception)
Hebrews 6:18 “…it is impossible for God to lie…”
Titus 1:2 “God cannot lie.”
1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
God knows nothing of breaking His word.
Neither do those born of God.
However, there is one who is expert at breaking his word.
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Adrian Rogers, “You are never more like the devil then when you tell a lie.”
If God’s nature is truth, and Satan’s nature is deception –
This ought to be the easiest way to tell who your father is.
That is why this is James’ most important instruction.
It is the most telling attribute of a child of God
Verses the child of the devil.
The Importance
#2 THE INSTRUCTION
James 5:12b
“do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no,”
It is important to note that
James basically takes Christ teaching on this verbatim.
So let’s look at what Jesus taught.
(you may want to turn there)
Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”
And here Jesus is actually quoting
From two separate passages in the Old Testament.
Two passages which have been conveniently taken out of context
And put together to make a much more enabling command.
Leviticus 19:12 “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”
Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Now first let me tell you what the command meant.
The commands are clear.
“You shall not swear falsely by My name”
“If a man makes a vow to the LORD…he shall not violate his word”
The clear understanding of those commands is that
YOU ARE TO BE REAL WITH GOD.
You are not to be a hypocrite, you are not to be disingenuous.
Remember the 3rd Commandment?
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
And people are still getting that command wrong.
If I were to give a test in here this morning that asked, what does that commandment mean?
Don’t use the word “G-D”
Others would say “Don’t cuss”
I am certainly not advocating those behaviors,
But that is not at all what is meant by that commandment.
To take God’s name in vain was to falsely take His name upon yourself.
It was to claim to be God’s child
And then to live in such a way as to deny Him.
Isaiah 1:1-4 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”
Today it would be seen as someone who claims to be a Christian,
But then lives their life in such disobedience
That they actually do God more harm than good.
This is what John indicated:
1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”
And all these commands in which God gave in regard to vows
Were meant to tell Israel to be real.
If you claim to be Mine, if you claim to obey Me,
If you say you will follow Me
THEN DO IT.
THEY DEMAND INTEGRITY IN ITS FINEST FORM
KEEP YOUR WORD TO ME
And this concept of integrity is seen throughout the Old Testament.
Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Deuteronomy 23:21-23 “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.”
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”
And again you can see that all of those commands
Again reiterate that you are to be people of integrity.
(especially in your relationship with God)
Don’t tell God you will do something and then fail to do it.
And it doesn’t matter if it is something big or something small.
KEEP YOUR VOW TO GOD.
And Jesus recognizes that they have been told those commands.
HOWEVER, He also recognizes that they are getting them wrong.
Jesus alludes to their misconception here.
We know based on verse 34 that they were making oaths “by heaven”
We know based on verse 35 that they were making oaths “by the earth”
We know based on verse 35 that they were making oaths “by Jerusalem”
We know based on verse 36 that they were making oaths “by [their] head”
And so we know their society had become a system of oath taking,
And one that included much more than honest oaths to God.
What was actually occurring in Israel’s day
Was a complete perversion of God’s command not to break a vow to Him.
Israel had actually gotten part of the command right.
• They knew you could not break a vow to God. (at least an external one)
• And they knew if you swore by God’s name you had to keep it.
However, they filled in the blanks to say
That every other vow could be broken.
In other words.
If you swear in God’s name, you have to keep it.
If you swear in any other name, you don’t have to keep it.
It was actually a system instituted to allow for lying.
And we see it occurring even in the New Testament.
Matthew 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘ Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’”
And so it actually was a system designed to make it quite legal to lie.
And so the only time you could believe someone
Was if they told you something and then said, “I swear to God”.
WE ACTUALLY SEE THAT TODAY?
There is absolutely no punishment for lying in our society,
Unless you do it under oath, and then that is perjury.
All other lying is fine.
And that was exactly the mindset in Israel.
They had completely missed the point that God expected integrity
And reduced that command to say you could lie to anyone
So long as you didn’t do it under oath.
And that is why Jesus gives this explanation.
“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is the footstool of the His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.”
Now some have missed the point of this to say.
ALL OATHS ARE WRONG.
But that can’t be true.
• The Old Testament clearly taught making vows or taking oaths.
• God certainly recognizes the marriage oath.
• Jesus even made vows.
Matthew 26:63-64 “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
Beyond that every time He said, “Truly, Truly” it was a form of vow.
God Himself made vows.
Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,”
Acts 2:30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,”
Paul made oaths or vows.
Romans 9:1 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,”
And so it is far-fetched to assume that all oath taking is wrong.
What Jesus is confronting is a person with such little integrity
That they are forced to take them to be believed.
And Jesus is saying you think
The only vow you don’t have to break is one to God.
But you don’t even have the authority to break other vows.
You can’t vow on heaven – “for it is the throne of God”
You can’t vow on earth – “for it is the footstool of His feet”
You can’t vow on Jerusalem – “for it is the city of the great king.”
You can’t even vow on your own head – “for you cannot make one hair black or white”
None of those things belong to you either.
And so you don’t have the authority to vow on them.
The point is not that taking a vow is wrong,
The problem is that breaking a vow is wrong.
You say not to break a vow in God’s name.
I say don’t break any vow,
And don’t live with such a lack of integrity
That you have to make a vow for someone to believe you.
BECAUSE YOU SEE, NOT KEEPING YOUR WORD IS LYING.
Telling someone you will do something and then failing to do it is lying.
Entering an agreement and then backing out is lying.
The simple command is this:
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’”
When you give a “yes” then live a “yes”.
When you give a “no” then live a “no”.
“anything beyond these is of evil.”
It is another way of saying,
Failing to keep your yes or failing to keep your no,
Is just like the devil who is the father of lies.
Proverbs 6:12-15 “A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.”
And that is the sermon James is preaching here:
James said, “but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no,”
It is the problem of justifying lies.
DO WE EVER DO THAT?
To get out of trouble.
To get more money back.
To gain in prestige or popularity.
WHO IS YOUR FATHER?
• If it is God, then there is never a time when lying is ok to you.
• If it is the devil, then there are probably times when you think it is acceptable.
So first the importance, second the instruction
#3 THE INCENTIVE
James 5:12c
Why should I walk in integrity?
“so that you will not fall under judgment.”
Jesus said, “let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”
But I want you to know something about the word James uses for “judgment”
The word in the New Testament that is
Always used for the judgment or punishment of believers is “PAIDEUO”.
1 Corinthians 11:32 “But when we are judged, we are disciplined (paideuo) by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”
Hebrews 12:6-7 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline (paideuo) that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
That is NOT the word James uses.
James uses “KRISIS”
It is the word used for the destruction of the ungodly in hell.
James already used it once.
James 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Jesus used it.
John 5:22-30 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment (krisis) to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment (krisis), but has passed out of death into life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment (krisis), because He is the Son of Man. “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (krisis). “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment (krisis) is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
Here is the point James is making.
If you are ok with a lack of integrity you will be judged.
But it will not be the punishment of a father to a son.
You will receive the eternal judgment,
For a lack of integrity reveals a lack of salvation.
Does anyone remember Ananias and Sapphira?
Acts 5:3-6 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.”
And if you think that is severe,
Wait until you understand THE ETERNAL FATE of those who lie.
Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”
When talking about heaven Jesus says:
Revelation 21:27 “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
It is the lesson of integrity,
And it is a great revealer of what we really are.
1 John 1:5-10 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
