Back Home in the Kingdom
Scripture Reading: James 1:12-27
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted
by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt
anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own
desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be
deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is
no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by
the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the
righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and
receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man
observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes
away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who
looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he
does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his
tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure
and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans
and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
This passage begins by laying something down for the reader so there will be no
confusion. God does not tempt people. Some might say that God brought a
particular situation about to test them but this clearly rejects that as an option. If
you look at where Messiah was tempted in Matthew 4 or Luke 4 you will see who
does the tempting. There will likely be a little title that say something like ‘Satan
tempts Jesus’. Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven.
We’ll get back to that in just a bit. The Father, through Yeshua, has brought to
us to us the kingdom of heaven. John the Baptist alerted the people of its
coming.
Matthew 3:1-2
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Yeshua taught concerning the kingdom over and over again.
Luke 4:42-43
42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And
the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving
them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the
other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
He says He was sent for that purpose, to preach concerning the kingdom of
God. It must be pretty important then, right? If it’s that important, we should all
shrive to understand what it is, huh? We actually spoke a bit about it last week
but did not identify it as such. Remember the cake?
Mark 12:28-34
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is
the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O
Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with
all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like
it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.”
32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the
truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him
with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all
the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are
not far from the kingdom of God.”
But after that no one dared question Him.
When this scribe answered wisely that he understood that loving God with all our
hearts, soul, and strength and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves was
more important than all the offerings and sacrifices, Yeshua tells him he’s not far
off. Like we spoke about last week, it is our relationship with the Father that is
the point. Not what we offer to Him or the sacrifices we make. Like the scribe
who answered wisely, there were many who got that, and were waiting at the
door for it to be opened to them, but they didn’t yet have the key. We, however,
through those early disciples, have been given the keys to the kingdom so we
should not be merely standing at the door waiting to go in. We know by Yeshua’
s teaching that the kingdom was very, very important to Him. So, it should be
very, very important to us. We have to stop living for the world and start living
for the kingdom.
I've heard people say things like, "I live for my children" or "I live for my wife or
husband" or " I live for softball, or bowling, or football or shopping or whatever"
but that's all wrong.
Luke 14:25-26
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My
disciple.
Many of that great multitude could not handle that and left that day. It's the
same today. How many times have you heard this scripture preached? Most
people wouldn't know how to receive it. What? We have to hate our father and
mother? We have to hate our lives? Jesus was not saying that He wanted them
to mistreat their relatives or that we must be miserable and hate our lives. He
was emphasizing the level of dedication we would need to the kingdom. It cannot
matter what our parents, or spouse, or children, or siblings say. It can not even
matter whether we live or die. All that matters is the kingdom.
This passage is written by James the brother of Jesus. I always like reading
John because he seemed to be Jesus' best friend so you get a different
perspective than what you get in the other gospels. James being His brother
brings yet another perspective. He likely did not begin to understand his
brother's teaching until either late in His ministry or after His death and
resurrection. Remember when he and his mother and brothers came to get
Jesus because they thought He had lost His mind (Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:30,
Luke 8:19). So James begins by saying something I believe is extremely
important for us to hear, that we spoke briefly about before. Every good and
perfect gift is from above. I think we hear it but I don't know if we really heard it.
It also says that in Him there is no variation. He gives us good things, period.
So why do people say things like, "God took your mother to be with Him in
heaven". I wonder how many children grew up hating God because of a
statement like that. Or how about "God put that sickness on you to strengthen
your faith". How horribly wicked is that? How about this one, they call terrible
natural disasters 'Acts of God'. Are they really? People have actually said He
sent the hurricane to New Orleans to punish them. Jesus said, "The thief does
not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may
have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." It's our adversary that
comes to steal, kill and destroy. Sometimes God must withdraw His protection
because He cannot be a liar. It's like if I say, "Kimberly, that pan is hot, don't
touch it or you’ll get burned" and she touches it anyway. Did I burn her? No it
was her choice to be disobedient that caused the burn.
What's my point with all this? As Jesus says in John 10:9, He is the door, if
anyone enters through Him they will be saved. In Matthew 16:16-19 after Peter
answers that He is the Christ, Jesus says He will give us the keys to the
kingdom. So what is the key? It’s that He is Messiah. So He is the door, and
accepting that He is the Messiah is the key. He says that if we are His friends we
will do whatever He commands (John 15:14). We must start doing what He says
without any thought of how it will make us look or whether people will like us or
even if we will live, because if we do not come through the door, we will not get in.
In verse 19 James exhorts us to be swift to listen, slow to speak, and slow to
wrath. He tells us to be swift to listen. Listening is very important but
unfortunately many people do not listen but spend the whole time the other
person is speaking thinking about what they will say next. He tells us to be slow
to speak but often people are quick to speak and do so without thinking and end
up wishing they had not said what came out. But there’s really no way to take it
back, is there? And he says to be slow to wrath but you have people getting
angry because somebody looked at them funny. The reason we need to be
really careful to not get angry is because it does not produce God's
righteousness or honor God. It's not about the kingdom. When you get mad
and cuss out Joe or Sally or whoever, don't think they forgot you said you're a
Christian. We are supposed to be ambassadors for the kingdom.
Next he tells us to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. I used to
love horror movies. I used to laugh when stupid people got killed for doing
something stupid. There have been movies that I've really wanted to see but as
we watch them either the language or the sexual content or something makes
me turn it off. Paul talks about us renewing our mind to the mind of Christ. We
have to live in this world but we do not have to be of this world. And you know
what, it can be difficult but it's necessary. In the very next verse it says that we
should be doers of the word and not just hearers only. If someone just comes to
listen to a sermon on Sunday and nod their heads and say Amen then go out
and live just like everyone else, they are deceiving themselves, and not just
because they'd be being hypocritical. They’d be deceived because they would
say thy have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior but they really haven't. From
where do you think those people who say Lord, Lord but don't get into the
kingdom come? I think it's the people that thought it was just about walking down
the aisle and saying a prayer, or getting dunked in water, or showing up on
Sunday. And you know what, that's sad. If you make someone your lord then
you do what they say because they're the boss, period. Is Jesus the Lord of
your life? Have you really opened the door to the kingdom or are you standing
on the doormat feeling like you've made it?
Religion is useless. Traditions mean nothing. Open the door, come in, our
Father's been waiting for you to come home....to the kingdom!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 17, 2008
Scripture Reading: James 1:12-27
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted
by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt
anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own
desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be
deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is
no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by
the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the
righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and
receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your
souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man
observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes
away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who
looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he
does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his
tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure
and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans
and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
This passage begins by laying something down for the reader so there will be no
confusion. God does not tempt people. Some might say that God brought a
particular situation about to test them but this clearly rejects that as an option. If
you look at where Messiah was tempted in Matthew 4 or Luke 4 you will see who
does the tempting. There will likely be a little title that say something like ‘Satan
tempts Jesus’. Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven.
We’ll get back to that in just a bit. The Father, through Yeshua, has brought to
us to us the kingdom of heaven. John the Baptist alerted the people of its
coming.
Matthew 3:1-2
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Yeshua taught concerning the kingdom over and over again.
Luke 4:42-43
42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And
the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving
them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the
other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
He says He was sent for that purpose, to preach concerning the kingdom of
God. It must be pretty important then, right? If it’s that important, we should all
shrive to understand what it is, huh? We actually spoke a bit about it last week
but did not identify it as such. Remember the cake?
Mark 12:28-34
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is
the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O
Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with
all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like
it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.”
32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the
truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him
with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all
the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are
not far from the kingdom of God.”
But after that no one dared question Him.
When this scribe answered wisely that he understood that loving God with all our
hearts, soul, and strength and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves was
more important than all the offerings and sacrifices, Yeshua tells him he’s not far
off. Like we spoke about last week, it is our relationship with the Father that is
the point. Not what we offer to Him or the sacrifices we make. Like the scribe
who answered wisely, there were many who got that, and were waiting at the
door for it to be opened to them, but they didn’t yet have the key. We, however,
through those early disciples, have been given the keys to the kingdom so we
should not be merely standing at the door waiting to go in. We know by Yeshua’
s teaching that the kingdom was very, very important to Him. So, it should be
very, very important to us. We have to stop living for the world and start living
for the kingdom.
I've heard people say things like, "I live for my children" or "I live for my wife or
husband" or " I live for softball, or bowling, or football or shopping or whatever"
but that's all wrong.
Luke 14:25-26
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My
disciple.
Many of that great multitude could not handle that and left that day. It's the
same today. How many times have you heard this scripture preached? Most
people wouldn't know how to receive it. What? We have to hate our father and
mother? We have to hate our lives? Jesus was not saying that He wanted them
to mistreat their relatives or that we must be miserable and hate our lives. He
was emphasizing the level of dedication we would need to the kingdom. It cannot
matter what our parents, or spouse, or children, or siblings say. It can not even
matter whether we live or die. All that matters is the kingdom.
This passage is written by James the brother of Jesus. I always like reading
John because he seemed to be Jesus' best friend so you get a different
perspective than what you get in the other gospels. James being His brother
brings yet another perspective. He likely did not begin to understand his
brother's teaching until either late in His ministry or after His death and
resurrection. Remember when he and his mother and brothers came to get
Jesus because they thought He had lost His mind (Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:30,
Luke 8:19). So James begins by saying something I believe is extremely
important for us to hear, that we spoke briefly about before. Every good and
perfect gift is from above. I think we hear it but I don't know if we really heard it.
It also says that in Him there is no variation. He gives us good things, period.
So why do people say things like, "God took your mother to be with Him in
heaven". I wonder how many children grew up hating God because of a
statement like that. Or how about "God put that sickness on you to strengthen
your faith". How horribly wicked is that? How about this one, they call terrible
natural disasters 'Acts of God'. Are they really? People have actually said He
sent the hurricane to New Orleans to punish them. Jesus said, "The thief does
not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may
have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." It's our adversary that
comes to steal, kill and destroy. Sometimes God must withdraw His protection
because He cannot be a liar. It's like if I say, "Kimberly, that pan is hot, don't
touch it or you’ll get burned" and she touches it anyway. Did I burn her? No it
was her choice to be disobedient that caused the burn.
What's my point with all this? As Jesus says in John 10:9, He is the door, if
anyone enters through Him they will be saved. In Matthew 16:16-19 after Peter
answers that He is the Christ, Jesus says He will give us the keys to the
kingdom. So what is the key? It’s that He is Messiah. So He is the door, and
accepting that He is the Messiah is the key. He says that if we are His friends we
will do whatever He commands (John 15:14). We must start doing what He says
without any thought of how it will make us look or whether people will like us or
even if we will live, because if we do not come through the door, we will not get in.
In verse 19 James exhorts us to be swift to listen, slow to speak, and slow to
wrath. He tells us to be swift to listen. Listening is very important but
unfortunately many people do not listen but spend the whole time the other
person is speaking thinking about what they will say next. He tells us to be slow
to speak but often people are quick to speak and do so without thinking and end
up wishing they had not said what came out. But there’s really no way to take it
back, is there? And he says to be slow to wrath but you have people getting
angry because somebody looked at them funny. The reason we need to be
really careful to not get angry is because it does not produce God's
righteousness or honor God. It's not about the kingdom. When you get mad
and cuss out Joe or Sally or whoever, don't think they forgot you said you're a
Christian. We are supposed to be ambassadors for the kingdom.
Next he tells us to lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. I used to
love horror movies. I used to laugh when stupid people got killed for doing
something stupid. There have been movies that I've really wanted to see but as
we watch them either the language or the sexual content or something makes
me turn it off. Paul talks about us renewing our mind to the mind of Christ. We
have to live in this world but we do not have to be of this world. And you know
what, it can be difficult but it's necessary. In the very next verse it says that we
should be doers of the word and not just hearers only. If someone just comes to
listen to a sermon on Sunday and nod their heads and say Amen then go out
and live just like everyone else, they are deceiving themselves, and not just
because they'd be being hypocritical. They’d be deceived because they would
say thy have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior but they really haven't. From
where do you think those people who say Lord, Lord but don't get into the
kingdom come? I think it's the people that thought it was just about walking down
the aisle and saying a prayer, or getting dunked in water, or showing up on
Sunday. And you know what, that's sad. If you make someone your lord then
you do what they say because they're the boss, period. Is Jesus the Lord of
your life? Have you really opened the door to the kingdom or are you standing
on the doormat feeling like you've made it?
Religion is useless. Traditions mean nothing. Open the door, come in, our
Father's been waiting for you to come home....to the kingdom!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 17, 2008