James James 3:1 "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." In the Greek, the word "masters" means "teachers". James is saying that we are not to present ourselves as teachers, unless God gives you the gift of teaching. The reason for this is that if we teach and lead someone astray, we will suffer the greater condemnation for their error. This is a very serious charge, and it is not given to frighten anyone, but to cause them to consider seriously what they are teaching from God's Word. If the reason for your teaching is for money to get rich, then God will curse you and your money. This is not aimed at the preacher that is given a salary by the congregation, for a man is worthy of his hire. Acts 8:1-24 speaks of this; and addresses mental attitude and reasons of Simon the sorcerer. Simon saw the works of the Holy Spirit and the wonders that were brought from the hands of God's anointed teachers. Simon the sorcerer related the works of God to money, and saw a chance to make a buck, and went to Philip and Peter to bribe them and learn the methods that Philip and Peter were using. Acts 8:18 "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money," Acts 8:19 "Saying, "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit." Acts 8:20 "But Peter said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." Acts 8:21 "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." This is not aimed at those teachers and preachers that are out planting the seeds of truth in the minds of those they come in contact with. But it is directed at the individuals that present themselves as the authority of God's Word, when they are teaching nothing but the traditions of men. If you plan to teach, James is telling you that you had better do your studying to understand completely what you are teaching. If you teach in error, and lead someone to sin by that false teaching, you will share in your student's sins that were caused by your teaching. You are going to be held accountable for what you teach in the name of God's Word. God judges teachers very closely, so if you are going to be a teacher or preacher you had better first do as James suggested, pray for wisdom in the area that you are going to teach, and that Word which you do teach had better be from the Word of God. You had better be able to document everything that you are teaching, because you become a marked person once you start your teaching. There is a greater condemnation coming upon every one that misleads God's children. But don't let this prevent you from planting the seeds of the Word with the knowledge that you do have. That is part of your work as a Christian, as we saw in the last chapter, and is tied directly to our faith. God calls whom He will, and it doesn't take long to see if a man is carrying the credentials as a teacher from God, or if he or she is a self appointed teacher of man's traditions. James 3:2 "For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." "Word" as used here means "tongue". James is saying here that even the very best of teachers fall short in what they say and teach. But when they do see their error, they had better repent. James is telling us that if you have a person that speaks perfect in every word that he speaks, then you have a perfect man. Such a person doesn't exist since the time that Jesus Christ walked the earth. The caution here is to those that do teach, that they become mindful that when they do error, be quick to seek repentance for those errors, and seek more openly the leading for the Holy Spirit. Though the Spirit leads, it still requires proper study with understanding before you teach from God's Word. James 3:3 "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body." When you are riding a horse, you can turn the direction of the horse with your knees in the proper position and the bit in the horses' mouth. The rider is in total command of the horse. James 3:4 "Behold also the ships, which through they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth." When you see these huge ocean going vessels weighted down with their cargos, and when the winds and storms come upon them, it is that small helm wheel that turns the rudder that controls the direction that the vessel is heading. James 3:5 "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" Just as that bit in the horses mouth, and the small helm on that ship controls their direction, so also the tongue in ones mouth can boast of its ability to do great things. This is especially true when you find a person on a ego trip. Remember, all it takes is a little match to start a great forest fire. This is also true in the words that you speak, for all it takes is a few words that can lead to a bitter conflict within a family, or even start a war between nations. Just one word, or one match can start a firestorm that simply can't be put out until it has destroyed everything in its path. There is a little read story in the books of the Apocrypha, in the book called the "The Story of Susanna". This story tells of a young maiden named Susanna who lived in a town in Babylon during the time of the Babylonian captivity. In this story, there were two Kenites that plotted to take Susanna's virginity, and so they told her to give herself willingly to them, or they would create a story, and tell those in the community that it happened, when in fact it did not happen. The young maiden would rather die than commit this act with them, and she refused. So the two Kenites in turn spread a lie that destroyed the reputation of this young lady Susanna. Daniel of the book of Daniel was a ruler in the town at the time, and he believed the young girl and would not judge her. He sought to prove the truth once and for all, before things got out of hand. So Daniel separated the two Kenite accusers so that one Kenite could not hear what the other had said, and took each Kenite individually to the area that this alleged act took place. Daniel then had them explain in detail what took place. Under close examination of these two Kenites, their lies came to the surface by the stories that each of the Kenites told, which did not concur, and the girl's reputation was restored. In Daniel's day in old Babylon the punishment for destroying someone's reputation was death, and that is the exact judgment that Daniel placed on these two men. Then Daniel spoke in verse 49 of that book, "Are you such fools, you Israelites, that you have condemned a daughter of Israel without any examination or ascertaining of the truth? Go back to the place of trial, For these men have borne false witness against her." Without checking out the words of those wicked Kenites' accusations, the people were willing to accept a lie and destroy the life of a righteous person, Susanne. It was a lie by two false witnesses, and the entire town allowed that wildfire lie to spread through their town and fester in the seedbed of evil thoughts. Daniel was a wise man, and refuse to cast judgment upon the girl until he checked out the entire story, and when he did judge on the matter the Kenites that were put to death for their lies. The same law of Moses that would have put Susanna to death, had she committed the act, put these Kenites to death for their bearing false witness together. When you live under the law, you suffer the punishment that the law demands. Yes, a tongue can be a very dangerous thing. James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a word of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." The tongue that speaks "a word of iniquity" is the match that can start a wild fire, to where it may become out of control. Words can defile the entire community when it is spoken with evil intent. Just like the wild fire can destroy everything in its path, the tongue that starts iniquity can cause an entire community to do things that they will be ashamed of when the truth comes to the surface, and the destruction can be seen. This "hell" as spoken of here is the same "hell" that Jesus spoke of, for it was the garbage pit at the edge of the city with the flames that never were put out. James is reminding us that our tongue can cause our destruction, when we individually let it get out of control. We are to keep a bridle on it, just as the horses' bridle in verse three controlled the actions of the horse. Once the lies have started and the damage is done, it is hard to eliminate the evil thoughts that were planted in the minds of all those that would listen to such lies. They accepted those lies without checking them out. In our modern day politics and business world, telling lies has become a way of doing business. It seems that the public will believe the worst, and forget the best of a person or a product. Whether the person is in the public eye, or an innocent tender person seeking the will of God, it is so very painful to be falsely accused. Gossip to an innocent person is a dangerous thing, so be very careful. James 3:7 "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:" When God created mankind, He told man that he has the power over the beasts of the field, and fish in the sea, and the fowl of the air. Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." James 3:8 "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." Mankind can take the wild animals and bring them under control, but man's tongue is like the venom of a deadly snake. The snake can strike a man when he least expects it to happen, and the damage can be deadly and paralyzing. This is exactly as gossip strikes, at the least expected time, and its damage can be just as deadly. Don't pass on gossip in any form for there is nothing to be gained by it. James 3:9 "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God." This loses some in the translation from the Greek. It is saying that we all love the Father and we bless Him, but if a neighbor does something to make us angry, we turn around and curse him, when that neighbor is made in God's image. What God is saying is that if you are not going to curse Me when you get mad, then don't do it either to my own children. The word "curse" is not as you think of the word curse, but it is "# 2472, "isotimos, ee-sot'ee-mos; of equal honor and value, like precious." It is to pray an evil spirit or ill come upon that person, that you would never think of committing against God. This goes a little deeper then just to lose your temper at a neighbor for doing something against you. You can pray for God to have His vengeance upon that person, but don't pray for the devil and his spirits to have any way in their life. "Vengeance is Mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord," [Romans 12:19] and He does repay all evil that is done against His Children. James 3:10 "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessings and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." This type of cursing is to call down an evil spirit. This is saying that you can't have the same mouth giving both the blessings from God, and calling on the cursings of the devil. It just can't be. You are either of God or of the devil. James 3:11 "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? When water is polluted it is bad water. The two different waters simply cannot come from the same fountain. A well gives forth the type of water that it has, if its pure and fresh, that is what it gives. If it is bitter and polluted then it is not fit for consumption. James 3:12 "Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries: either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." By the law of God's nature, figs come only from a fig tree, and olives from the olive vines. The salt water and the fresh water simply cannot mix. When fresh water enters the ocean, the fresh water becomes polluted with the salt of the ocean, and the law of God's nature makes both waters mix to the same uniformity of the salt water. The fig is the fig, the olive vine is the olive vine, the pure water is pure and the salt water is salty. They are what they are, and you are what you are. Basically you are what your inner man will allow your flesh body and mind to be and to do. You have to keep your flesh man under the control of your intellect, which is the spirit of your soul. This keep your flesh body disciplined. It is through your mind that you control your natural desires. James 3:13 "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom It is not hard to identify a wise man with knowledge when he are amongst you. James is telling us that when you come to recognize one, that is the man or woman that you should go to for advice. The person that is truly wise is humble with the knowledge and wisdom that he or she has. They know from where their wisdom comes, and they are willing to help others when they can. James 3:14 "But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory no, and lie not against the truth." This is going into a new area. If somebody has wisdom in a certain field, it means that they are successful in what they are doing. James is telling us that when we are seeking wisdom, go the ones that are successful in the area of expertise that we are seeking. Sometime in everyone's life there are things that can cause a person to grow bitter. When it does, James is telling us to look out for it, because that bitterness and envy can destroy you. When that strife takes control of your mind, it will rob you of your happiness. You work out the bitterness through wisdom that comes from God's Word. When you know that our heavenly Father is the true avenger of all bitterness, then turn it over to Him and let your mind rest on the matter. James 3:15 "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." The so-called "wisdom" that causes strife, envy and bitterness does not come from God, but from the minds of wicked men right here on the earth. "Sensual" in the Greek text is "natural", and is the flesh animal nature of man. It is the flesh man speaking to and controlling his being. "Devilish" means that even evil spirits can bring evil thoughts to your mind, if you allow them to. Don't put up with it, but order those evil spirits out of your life. When you join the evil thoughts of man and mix them with the leading of the evil spirits of Satan, you have a mixture that can cause much hurt. That hurt is then spread throughout the entire family that loves that individual. James 3:16 "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." This is how the evil work of envy and strife starts, with the confusion within the mind, and out of confusion comes chaos. It is too bad that people just don't pay attention to the simple things that God gives us for having a contented life. God has laid out the details of what is going to happen in the world and the order in which it will happen, yet many Christians desire to set those instructions aside, and follow man's word or confusion in planning their lives. Man always fears the unknown, and God's Word reveals the unknown when we ask Him to. So what many Christians practice today is simply setting God's Word aside, and following man's confusion. It is entirely up to you what kind of life that you chose for yourself, wisdom or chaos. When you chose the wisdom from God's Word, it will take away the confusion and instill peace of mind within you. All wisdom comes from above. James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure and then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." This is explaining exactly what "wisdom" is that comes from above. It is first "pure", in honesty and simplicity, and wisdom will make you healthy, wealthy and wise. Then it will bring peace among the people. It will not draw chaos and confusion, strife and bickering, but it will bring peace and comfort to your soul. It is very easy to accept the wisdom of God's Word because it make good common sense. The person that has wisdom is full of mercy to others, and because of God's blessings to him or her, that wisdom will bear good fruit in your life. The fruits of the Spirit are given by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23; "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." The person that listens to our Father's Word, and gains the wisdom from it, demonstrates all these traits in his or her life, and shows no partiality. They are the real genuine thing where there is no hypocrisy in their words. When man is in the flesh many times his habits and and bodily functions like to control his mind, and that is why it is good to get those things of the flesh under control. Sometimes you even have to get rough with yourself to get it under control. Self control only comes through discipline. In the Greek tongue, the word "hypocrisy" comes from the words "play-actor". They are the people on the stage playing a role of something that they are not. When you show the true wisdom that comes only from God, you don't put on a face that you are not, but always be true and as you are. James 3:18 "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." The person that has the wisdom from above will always bring the peace of God with him or her where ever they go. They will continue to sow the seeds of peace and lift people up no matter where they are. This is something natural for them to do, because there is no play-acting [hypocrisy] within them. When you go about your life showing the peace and wisdom of God in your daily life, God will bless you with fruit. You simply cannot hide the fruits of the Spirit, for those fruits will show right through. People will be drawn to you, and you will become a sign in this troubled world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Possess wisdom, and seek it out for your life in God's Word. Wisdom is knowledge with understanding.
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