adult bible study

AAdduulltt QQuuaarrtteerrllyySUNDAY SCHOOL SUMMER QUARTER, 2004

6Conquering Temptations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313Good Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020Controlling the Tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1727Submissive to Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4Prevailing Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3111Reputation of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3918Review of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4625Characteristics of a Model Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

1Rapture of the Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618Responsibilities of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

15The Day of Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7522The Day of the Lord. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8229Patiently Awaiting the Return of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

ADULT QUARTERLY, Sunday School, Vol. 91, No. 3, issued June 1, 2004, is published quarterly at $1.05per quarter. Prepared by David Robinson; cover design by Jeff Allen; Larry E. Clements, Editor in Chief,; Wayne Sewell, Business Manager, .

Copyright 2004, BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL COMMITTEE of the American Baptist Association, 4605 N. State Line Ave., Texarkana, TX 75503-2928.

Living for Christ in the Last DaysA Study in James, 1 and 2 Thessalonians

QUARTERLY AIM: By the conclusion of this quarter the students will gaina better understanding of how to live for Christ in view of His imminentreturn.

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

Genesis 111Job

Exodus

Genesis 1250

Romans

Luke 13:2224

Isaiah 4066

1 Timothy2 Timothy

Titus

DanielEzekiel

NehemiahMalachi

Matthew 113

LeviticusNumbers

Deuteronomy

Hosea, Amos, Micah, Jonah,

2 Kings 1416,2 Chronicles 2528

PhilemonPhilippiansColossians

Jeremiah2 Kings 24, 252 Chronicles 36

1 Peter2 PeterJude

Revelation 17

Matthew 1428

Hebrews

2 Corinthians

2 Kings 21232 Chronicles 3335

ZephaniahLamentations

Habakkuk

John 112

ZechariahEzra

Haggai, Esther

Revelation 822

Luke 113:21

Isaiah 1392 Chronicles 2932

2 Kings 1720Nahum

Ephesians

John 1321

1, 2, 3 John

2012

American Baptist AssociationThrough-the-Bible Series Sunday School Lessons

Acts 114

2 Samuel 5241 Chronicles 1129

1 Kings 1, 2

1 Kings 3222 Chronicles 124

2 Kings 113Joel, Obadiah

Acts 1528

James1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians

1 Corinthians

1 Samuel2 Samuel 14

1 Chronicles 110

Psalms

ProverbsEcclesiastes

Song of Solomon

JoshuaJudges

Ruth

Mark

Galatians

Winter Spring Summer Fall

2013

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Today we begin a five-part study of the book of James.Obviously, we will not be examining this book in depth, butwe will be examining some of the practical doctrines taughtin this book.

The book of James deals with the practical problems ofbehavior that confront Christians. The book was addressedto the twelve tribes scattered abroad. It had a personal andimmediate application to them and it has one for us today.During the last years of the first century AD and the begin-ning of the second, a time of great persecution came on thepeople of God. These years saw the death of all the apostlesof Jesus and a formalattempt by the Roman gov-ernment to outlaw and elim-inate Christianity. Jamesoffers divine advice for suchtroubled times.

The direction that Godgives through James is forbelievers to return to the

3

Conquering TemptationsText: James 1:1-27 Focus: James 1:12-16; 19-25

Sunday Devotional: AWarning Example, 1 Corinthians10:1-13.

Aim: By the conclusion of thislesson the students will discusshow to cope with temptations.

Daily DevotionalsM. Temptations of Israel, Deuter-

onomy 4:31-40.T. Temptations of Jesus, Matthew

4:1-11.W. Manifold Temptations, 1 Peter

1:1-9.T. Kept from Temptation, Luke 11:1-4.F. Delivered from Temptations,

2 Peter 2:4-9.S. Watch and Pray, Mark 14:32-38.

11June 6, 2004

Key Verse:

Blessed is the man that endurethtemptation: for when he is tried,he shall receive the crown of life,which the Lord hath promised tothem that love him.

James 1:12

A FIRST LOOK

basics of applied Christian behavior. The ideas that we readin this book are bedrock truths that have been tried, testedand illustrated in the lives of many of Gods people. This ispractical truth for everyday living.

We know that, as we approach the second coming of ourLord, we will once again face a time of trial and testing of ourfaith. This is why we need to study these truths anew andbuild our service for the Lord on these firm foundations ofunderstanding and practice.

Understanding can be the difference in happiness and mis-ery. It can even be the difference in success and failure in anyendeavor. In our relationship with the Lord, properly under-standing the Word of God means everything.

I. The Source of Temptation

James 1:12-14 12. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he

is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hathpromised to them that love him.

13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted ofGod: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth heany man:

14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of hisown lust, and enticed.

Note that James deals with temptation in a practical way.He does not tell us that we are to simply avoid it. In verse 2we learn that we are to count it all joy when we encountervarious temptations. This is because these situations give usan opportunity to try our faith and to exercise our faith.Faith that cannot be tried also cannot be trusted.

When we have faced temptations and conquered them, wecan see the real strength of what we believe and practice.There is a crown of life promised to those who love the Lord,

4 Conquering Temptations

A CLOSER LOOK

Text: James 1:1-27 5

and we learn that dealing with temptation is a matter ofheart. It is a matter of loving Jesus more than we love thethings that tempt us.

Furthermore, we see the source of temptation. God is notthe source of any sin for any human being. We cannot chargeGod with our sin. We cannot blame it on Him. Some have theidea that sin is inevitable and that we have no choice, butthis is a wrong idea. A child of God has an inner resource, theindwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, and God is not in us tolead us into sin. God leads us into the paths of righteousness.Sin does not come down from Heaven; instead, it comes upfrom the pits of hell. Sin was born in the mind of Satan, andit has been adopted by fallen humanity. Neither can we saythe devil made me do it. Satan can and will tempt us, but, ifwe resist him, he will flee from us.

It may be comforting to think that all temptation comesfrom external sources and that we are powerless to resist it,but nothing could be farther from the truth.

We read plainly that temptation comes from within ourown hearts. It begins with our own lusts, those sinful desiresthat live in the heart of every human being. Jesus pointedthis out forcefully in Matthew 5:21-27. Although men mightkeep the Law on the outside, the lust that leads to sin isborn in their hearts.

Lust acts as a powerful magnet and draws us towardtemptation. It entices us. Enticement is the process thatmakes something look better than it really is, and that is justhow temptation works. Temptation makes sin look desirableand righteousness look ugly. It slants things so that we caneasily move from temptation to action and make sin a reali-ty as well as an imagination.

But the process begins in us. God cannot be tempted, andGod does not tempt any man. Satan will tempt us, but we donot have to listen to him; however, we cannot refuse to hearour own voices, and we all know how easy it is to talk our-selves into something. This is the process of temptation. Weuse our god-given ability to decide, and we decide to act self-


ishly and satisfy fleshly desires. Then, suddenly, we are con-fronted by temptation on every side.

II. The Course of Temptation

James 1:15, 16 15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and

sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.16. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Verse 15 is vital to understanding the process of tempta-tion and the results that yielding to temptation produces.Remember that this is not human philosophy; this is theWord of God. This is one of the spiritual laws that governsour universe. As with any such law, when we try to break it,we will only succeed in proving it.

Lust, left to its conclusion, will bring forth sin. Sin is theproduct of unchecked and unresolved lust. The enticementthat brought us into temptation, if not stopped, will lead usto commit sin. When faced with temptation, only two thingscan happen. We can conquer the temptation through thepower of the Holy Spirit, or we can yield to the temptationand commit sin.

Now we need to know that it is not a sin to be tempted.Jesus was tempted, but He did not sin (Heb. 4:15). The sinoccurs when we give in to the lust and follow where the lustleads. Note that, when we do give in, a process begins thathas an inevitable outcome. Sin is the child of lust. If we can-not control our lust, we will never be able to control our sin.

But thanks to God we have that divinely given ability. Anyperson who is in Christ is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). A childof God has the Spirit of God in his heart to help him thinkand reason differently (Rom. 8:9, 10). The Spirit of God doesnot lead any man to sin. Instead, He teaches us to control ourlusts and to redirect our thinking into heavenly paths.

If lust is unchecked, and sin is brought forth, then theinevitable result is death. This process is concluded with thestern warning given in verse 16. Many have erred over the


years by believing that they could give in to lust and sinwithout paying the penalty of death, but this spiritual law isas binding as any physical law that governs our universe.

Take temptation seriously. Lust can seem like a small mat-ter to us, but we should know that, if lust is not properly con-trolled in our hearts, it will lead to death.

III. Dealing with Temptation

James 1:19-25 19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift

to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:20. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of

God.21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of

naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word,which is able to save your souls.

22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiv-ing your own selves.

23. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he islike unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straight-way forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, andcontinueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer ofthe work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

As important as it is for us to understand the process oftemptation, it is still more important for us to understandhow to deal with temptation and conquer it. Words such aswherefore indicate that a conclusion is coming and indeedthese verses tell us how to conclude temptation successfully.We would all be wise to pay close attention to them.

First, we have to arrange our priorities properly. We needto be quick to hear, especially when we are hearing the Wordof God or listening to the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God.Then, we need to be slow to speak. Our mouths can cause ourbodies to sin (Eccl. 5:6). We should think before we speak.


When we speak in haste, we have a lot of time to regret forwhat we have said afterward. We should be slow to wrath.

The reason is simple. The wrath of man does not work therighteousness of God. This means that our anger will notlead others to be righteous. Having taken these first steps,we can go on to others.

We should put unnecessary things out of our hearts. Weshould do our best to eliminate filthiness from our lives andfrom our minds. We should set aside the superfluous naugh-tiness that can so easily enter into our thinking. These arethe thoughts that are not edifying or profitable that can occu-py so much of our thinking. Now this sounds negative, but,before you can put positive virtue into your heart, you haveto get the bad things out. Note that this does not say that onehas to be sinless. We are sinners and, as long as we are in theflesh, we will be sinners, but we can be forgiven sinners andwe can do our best to control our sinful nature.

When we have done so, then we can begin to add the posi-tive things of Gods Word. We should receive the Word of Godmeekly or humbly. We should engraft it into our hearts, lit-erally making it a living part of ourselves. In this way theWord of God can govern or even take the place of our fleshlylusts. So equipped, our real hearts desire can be to do thewill of our Father in Heaven, not to seek the satisfaction ofour fleshly lust.

But a word of warning is now in order. Merely hearing theWord will not be sufficient in dealing with temptation. Thosewho hear the Word but never apply it to their own hearts areonly deceiving themselves. The illustration is like a personwho looks into a mirror. We all look into mirrors, but we haveto do it again and again, every time we pass one. This isbecause we quickly forget what we looked like the last timewe saw ourselves.

God seeks to do a permanent work in our hearts, and Hecan do that through our knowledge and acceptance of HisWord. The man who listens to the Word of God applies it tohis own heart and makes the Bible a part of his thought


processes is prepared for temptation and will be blessed inthe things that he does.

Note the admonition to look into the perfect law of liberty,the Bible. The Bible is about being free. It is about being freefrom sin, from the curse of sin and from the control of sin,and we gain that freedom when we continue in it. Instead ofhearing and forgetting, we hear and remember. We learn andwe use the lessons we learn everyday. This is a truly blessedway to live.

In contrast to these wonderful principles, we can observethe lives of those who constantly give in to their lusts. Thereare people who yield to any and every temptation. They usetheir time on earth to attempt to satisfy every lust and crav-ing that is born in their hearts, and the sad truth is thatthese are not happy people.

We can get everything that we ever wanted only to findthat we truly are not satisfied with any of it. Or worse yet,we can learn too late that the real issues of life are spiritual,not physical. There is no profit in gaining the whole worldand losing your own soul (Matt. 16:26).

God will give us wisdom if we ask Him for it (James 1:5, 6).We have to ask in faith, and we have to be absolutely sincerein our desire to learn and to resist temptation. Everyone willface temptation. No one is exempt, but we have a wonderfulexample to follow in Jesus. We can learn about His life andread about how He dealt with temptation, and we have agreat resource in the Word of God. We can read it, hear it andapply it to our lives.

If we will do what the Bible teaches us to do, we can facetemptation, knowing that we can do the will of God in themost difficult of circumstances and that we can win a crownof life in the process.

A FINAL WORD

In understanding the truth of these verses, we must firstunderstand the difference between a result and a cause.Good works are the result of faith; they are never the causeof faith. This is a one-way street, and we err in our reason-ing if we believe that we can somehow produce faith by doinggood works.

Our faith, which must come first, justifies us before God,for as we read in Hebrews 11:6, Without faith it is impossi-ble to please him [God]. It is not difficult; it is impossible.The justification spoken ofin Romans 3 and 4 is justifi-cation before God.

But the justification men-tioned in James is the resultof faith. We are speaking ofjustification before men.The only way others can seeour faith is by observingwhat we do, and, as we shalllearn, there is a vital anddirect connection between

Good WorksText: James 2:1-26 Focus: James 2:14-26

Sunday Devotional: Full ofGood Works, Acts 9:36-43.

Aim: By the conclusion of thislesson the students will understandthe importance of good works in thelife of the believer.

Daily DevotionalsM. Abrahams Good Works, Genesis

22:1-19.T. Created To Do Good Works,

Ephesians 2:1-10.W. Good Works Displayed, Matthew

5:13-16.T. Adorned with Good Works, 1

Timothy 2:8-15.F. Pattern of Good Works, Titus 2:1-

10.S. Provoked to Good Works,

Hebrews 10:19-25.

22June 13, 2004

A FIRST LOOK

Key Verse:For as the body without thespirit is dead, so faith withoutworks is dead also.

James 2:26

10


the two. What we believe will always manifest itself in someway in our conduct.

Our hearts are justified before God by our faith, but theevidence of our faith is seen in our works before men. In ourgood works our faith and our relationship with God is shown.Unless we understand this important distinction, we will notbe able to realize the important lessons of these wonderfulverses.

One of the greatest tragedies in churches today is thenotion that we can profess Christ without any subsequentchange in our behavior. The Bible is plain on this issue.Second Corinthians 5:17 declares Therefore if any man be inChrist, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;behold, all things are become new. In James we learn howthis new life is shown to others.

I. The Folly of False Faith

James 2:14-1714. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he

hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,16. And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye

warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not thosethings which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Dead faith is defined the same as a dead body. The form isthere, and everything may look as if life is present, but therewill be no movement and no activity. The principle is that ofprofession without possession. In other words, faith is morethan what we claim with our mouths. To be real, faith has toproduce some change in the person who has it.

Through the ages, there have been those who made loftyand grand claims about their faith. They have declared the

A CLOSER LOOK

12 Good Works

wonderful things that they believed about God and aboutJesus in beautiful language. In spite of these claims therewas no work or effect of that claim evident in their lives, andthe lack of works made the claim of faith a lie. The kind offaith that only exists in the testimony of men and not in thehearts of men will not justify men before God or others.

The illustration of this is given in the powerless words ofthe man who would wish good on those in need without actu-ally helping supply their needs. A cold, naked and hungryperson needs warm clothing and nourishing food. The needyperson is not profited or benefited by the admonition tomerely be warmed and filled.

Note that the hungry person may believe the words. Hemay accept the well-meaning sincerity of the one who saysthem, but he will still be naked and hungry. This is illus-trating the need for faith to be evidenced in some positivechange that can be observed in the life of an individual. Thisshould be an obvious example to us. The application is madeextremely clear.

As a hungry brother is not fed by empty words, so the con-vincing evidence of faith is never in the things that we say withour mouths. Now the Bible clearly teaches us that we are tomake a profession of our faith (Rom. 10:9). But that professionis not to be alone. It is to be accompanied by the life changesthat come from truly believing the truth in our hearts.

At the end of the day, we are what we believe. What we dosprings from our faith, and, if our faith is real, our works willalso be real. They will be observable and satisfying the sameway that a hearty meal and warm clothing would be observ-able and satisfying to a cold hungry brother.

We read the statement twice that there is no profit in falsefaith. There is no profit for the person who claims it, andthere is no profit for the one who observes it. As sad as itmaybe for the cold, hungry brother to encounter false faith,it is equally sad for the person who made the empty procla-mation, thinking that he had actually done some good byadmonishing the hungry man to be filled. Those who aresomehow satisfied with false faith will not be seeking thereal thing.


II. The Arrogance of False Faith

James 2:18-2018. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee myfaith by my works.

19. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: thedevils also believe, and tremble.

20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without worksis dead?

The key thought in these verses is the phrase show me thyfaith. Clearly, this is not about having faith in the first place;instead, it is about the demonstration and proof of faith.Proving or demonstrating our faith is important for two rea-sons.

First, it is important to others. Only as faith is demon-strated, can faith be truly spread. What we do often speaksso loudly that no one can hear what we say. All through theNew Testament, we have example after example of peoplewho were moved to believe by what others did as well as bywhat others said. Perhaps this is illustrated most forcefullyin the exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus in John 3.Nicodemus declared that he knew that Jesus was a Teacherwho came from God because no one could do what Jesus didunless God was with him. In other words, the activity of ourLord was proof of the message of our Lord (John 3:2).

Faith and veracity are demonstrated by what we do, basedon what we believe. But there is a more personal reason fordemonstrating our faith. Faith without works is dead orpowerless. It is powerless to help others, and it is also pow-erless to help the person who professes it. There is a trial ofour faith, and for our faith to stand the trial, it must be gen-uine. We can say that we have faith, and we can try to con-vince ourselves that we do, but, if our hearts are hollow andour lives are empty of good works, our so-called faith will failwhen trials come.

A good example of a dead or empty kind of faith is illus-trated in the kind of faith that the devils have. Faith is not

14 Good Works

merely admitting to an obvious fact. The devils believe inone God and tremble at the prospect, but they are notchanged at all by simply admitting what is obviously true.This is teaching us that we cannot claim to have saving faithjust because we admit that the truth is true. That kind ofadmission never really changes anyone.

We read in Matthew 7:22 of a group who will be rejectedat judgment because they will have acted on false faith. Theywill not be condemned for having done what they did; theywill be condemned for not having known Jesus in the firstplace. This is the kind of devilish faith that only deludes theheart but never changes it.

Real faith must have the accompanying proof of goodworks. A person who truly believes in Jesus will serve Jesus.Jesus Himself gave us this haunting question that goes tothe heart of this matter. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord,and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46). I do not havean answer to that question, do you? If we profess our faithand if we call Jesus our Lord, then there should be some evi-dence in our lives that we have been born again.

The application is that the man who has faith but noworks is arrogant and vain. It is vanity or emptiness of spir-it that would lead anyone to conclude that we could believewithout that belief changing our behavior.

III. Examples of True Faith

James 2:21-2621. Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he

had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22. Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by

works was faith made perfect?23. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham

believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness:and he was called the Friend of God.

24. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and notby faith only.


25. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works,when she had received the messengers, and had sent them outanother way?

26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith with-out works is dead also.

For us to fully understand the connection between faithand what faith produces, James gives us two of the manyexamples of faith in the Old Testament. One of these isAbraham, a well-known figure of history, and the other isRahab, a lesser-known person. This is to show that this kindof faith is available to all members of all parts of society.Abraham was a wealthy and prominent man who was liter-ally the father of his nation. Rahab was a converted harlotwho was among the lowest members of her society. BothAbraham and Rahab demonstrated their faith by what theydid.

Note that verse 21 is not saying that Abraham was not jus-tified until he actually put Isaac on the altar. We read inGenesis 15:6 and also in Romans 4:21, 22 that long beforethis incident, Abrahams faith was imputed to him for righ-teousness. What James states is that, when Abraham offeredIsaac in complete and total obedience to the Word of God,Abraham completely proved to everyone who reads thisaccount that he was justified. He proved it by what he didand by what he was willing to do. Abrahams confidence inthe promise and plan of God was shown to be absolutelyunshakable by his offering of Isaac.

Abraham knew that God had given Isaac to him, and hecompletely believed that God could either resurrect Isaac ifnecessary or somehow work things out so that all the promis-es God had made would come to pass. Abraham was calledthe friend of God because he allowed God to so completelycontrol his life that he was willing to follow God even whenit made absolutely no sense to his flesh.

In stark contrast to this is presented the picture of a manwho has faith that will not produce any evidence in his life.

The other example is Rahab, a harlot of Jericho, who hidthe spies in the days of Joshua and was spared when Joshua

16 Good Works

conquered the city because she hung a scarlet cord from herwindow. This woman believed God, and she believed whatthe spies told her. She acted on that belief, and her life wassaved as a result. Had she only heard about Israel and hadshe only listened to the spies without acting, she would havedied in the battle for Jericho.

A lifeless body cannot move, act, feel or work. It is there,but without the spirit that makes it alive, it is dead. So it iswith the kind of faith that produces nothing in the life of theindividual who claims it.

A living, vital body has both a whole physical componentas well as a whole and well spirit inside it. That is life. Realspiritual life consists of true faith and the consequent physi-cal works that will naturally follow.

No matter how plausible or desirable a profession of faithis to us, we must listen to what the Word of God tells us.False faith, the kind that produces no works, will not saveus. Neither will the works that are not born of true faith.

But we do not need to make this a difficult matter. Realfaith is not difficult to come by, and good works will quitenaturally flow from it. As seed produce fruit, real faith willgrow and blossom into a life of service for our Master. This isnot a difficult or burdensome thing. It is the natural result ofsalvation. As Jesus so wonderfully put it in Matthew 11:30,For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. No true believ-er has to strain to do good works. They flow readily from aheart that knows Jesus Christ as Savior.

A FINAL WORD

Words are extremely powerful. Most of us have beenharmed by words, and most of us have been encouraged andstrengthened by words. The gospel comes to us in words.Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God(Rom. 10:17). Like any powerful thing, words can be used forevil purposes.

Our lesson today concerns how to control our gift of lan-guage. As it is with many powerful things, we can use it orabuse it. We must keep in mind that this letter was written topeople who were going through a difficult time. They werescattered over the face of the earth and perhaps were under-standably discouraged and disheartened. They needed thereal physical ministry of good works that we learned about lastweek, but they also needed theencouragement of genuinefriendship.

As we learn about thepower and pitfalls of lan-guage, we can also learn howto say the right things anduse our abilities to speak to

Controlling the TongueText: James 3:1-18 Focus: James 3:1-12

Sunday Devotional: A NobleResolve, Psalm 39:1-8.

Aim: By the conclusion of this lessonthe students will grasp the importanceof controlling the tongue.

Daily DevotionalsM. Wholesome Tongue, Proverbs

15:1-7.T. Glad Tongue, Acts 2:25-31.W. Flattering Tongue, Psalm 5:1-10.T. Lying Tongue, Psalm 78:32-39.F. Word of Hatred, Psalm 109:1-8.S. Deceitful Tongue, Romans 3:9-

18.

33June 20, 2004

Key Verse:

But the tongue can no mantame; it is an unruly evil, fullof deadly poison.

James 3:8

17

A FIRST LOOK

18 Controlling the Tongue

edify. Edify is a biblical word and it has a wonderful mean-ing. Its root meaning is to build. When applied to our char-acter, it means to promote the spiritual growth and devel-opment of believers by teaching or by example. Such growthis the result of patient and consistent labor, and thatincludes teaching with words as well as with the example ofthings that we do.

As words can never be substituted for deeds, deeds cannever substitute for words. Both should work together toallow us to do Gods will.

I. Speech Can Control

James 3:1-4 1. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall

receive the greater condemnation.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 thewhole body.

3. Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they mayobey us; and we turn about their whole body.

4. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, andare driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a verysmall helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

Perhaps the greatest instrument ever developed for con-trolling others is the simple ability to communicate and useour language. As our text verses point out, this control isshown in at least two ways. First, it is evident in the controlthat we have over ourselves, and second, it is evident in thecontrol that we exercise over other people.

The first admonition is that everyone should not try to bea master. It is true that we need leaders, but we also need fol-lowers. When one becomes his own master, there is greater

A CLOSER LOOK


condemnation. We should strive to hear the words of Jesusand to let Him be the true ruler of our lives.

The desire for one to be a master will inevitably lead tooffense. Others will demand the right to be their own mas-ters and confusion will be the result. Harmony and true fel-lowship can only come as all of us allow the Holy Spirit andthe Word of God to rule in our lives. The apostle Paul wiselytells us in Romans 14:19, Let us therefore follow after thethings which make for peace, and things wherewith one mayedify another. When we seek to serve and edify each other,we will not worry about who gets the credit.

The complete or perfect man will control his speech andnot offend others with his words. In this way he will controlhimself and influence the others he contacts. Some examplesof this kind of control are given so that we can see how pow-erful it really is.

We read of the bit that controls the horse and the rudderthat steers a large ship. Both the bit and the rudder aresmall relative to the size of the thing that they control, butthey do a wonderful job at magnifying and applying the con-trolling force of the one who is really in control.

The application is that the ability to speak might seem likea small thing. A word here and a word there might seemirrelevant and little noticed, but a word in the right place canliterally steer a life and turn the course of history. There isno greater example than the simple message of the gospel ofJesus Christ. This message, conveyed in the wonderfulwords of hope and faith, brings life to our spirits and joy toour future (Rom. 10:10-16).

A word of witness may seem like a small thing, but it canchange a life and bring a person into contact with the savinggrace of Jesus. Here is the potential for great good in ourability to communicate. As the rider can direct his mount tosafety and the captain can steer his ship away from thestorm and the rocks, so the message of the gospel can offerhope of salvation and eternal reward to those who hear it.


II. Speech Can Do Great Harm

James 3:5-85. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great

things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue

among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and set-teth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

7. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, andof things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

8. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full ofdeadly poison.

But sadly, we can also use the ability to communicate to doharm. Because we are sinners by our nature, harm is the usethat is most often made of language. When we use ourspeech carelessly, or even worse, maliciously, it is likened tolighting a small fire that can become a raging inferno.

A few words spoken rashly or angrily can kindle feelingsof resentment and distrust that can spread like wildfire anddestroy everything in its path. The reason is simple. We allhave a sinful nature, and, like the dry underbrush of a for-est welcomes the flames, that nature is ready to hear andbelieve the worst in every situation. All it needs is a smallspark of gossip, and the fire is burning out of control.

Notice the process. The tongue first defiles the whole body.Jesus taught that what defiles us is not what goes into ourmouths, but what comes out of our mouths (Matt. 15:11).What comes out of our mouths comes also out of our hearts(Matt. 12:34). We have evil in our hearts and it overflowsfrom our mouths and we are defiled.

Have you seen this happen? You meet a person whoappears well-groomed and gentle until that person speaks.Then the words he uses and the thoughts behind them iden-tify him as belonging to the world, not to Christ.

Then the defiled speech spreads to influence the course ofnature and to release the ability of the devil to disrupt anddestroy in the affairs of men. The evil that once was confined


to the heart of an individual has now been spread abroad toinfluence and corrupt everyone who hears it. The ability tohear is not used to receive the Word of God and to be blessed;instead, it is used to further the causes of evil and all this isbecause of words that are spoken.

This process is so built into us and so much a part of ournature that there are literally no natural forces that can con-tain it. Beasts, birds, serpents and sea creatures can betamed and controlled by mankind, but this evil comes fromour own hearts. No man can tame the tongue.

Now notice that this does not say that the tongue cannotbe tamed. It says that no man can do it. We cannot controlourselves, but God can control us. When we trust Christ, webecome new creatures in Him (2 Cor. 5:17). When we learnto walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, we can havenew life in our hearts, and the abundance of our hearts canbe good (Gal. 5:16). We can be controlled by the teachings ofthe Word of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God.

Man is not a hopeless case, but for any of us to be changed,we have to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ and to HisWord. When we do, God can change the way we think, andthat will change the way we speak. The change will be forthe better.

III. Speech Can Cause Confusion

James 3:9-12 9. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith

curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing.

My brethren, these things ought not so to be.11. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water

and bitter?12. Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a

vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

We should note that the change must be genuine. A falseprofession only causes confusion. Real edification requires


genuine faith. As we learned previously, it is a small thing todeclare our faith. The real test of our faith is in the changesthat come in our behavior as a result of what we trulybelieve. True belief will always result in changed behavior.We are what we believe, and our words will reflect that fact.

A man may indeed curse men and bless God, but, if hedoes, he is showing to all who hear him that he really doesnot know God. We read in 1 John 4:20, If a man say, I loveGod, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that lovethnot his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love Godwhom he hath not seen? These are strong words, but theyare true words. The man who blesses God and curses hisbrother at the same time has a problem with God, not hisbrother.

When we truly know God, we will regard others exactly asJesus did. Jesus spoke truly and plainly, and He sometimesmay have seemed harsh, but He always spoke in love. Hespoke to turn men from their wicked ways and bring them tosalvation. A heart that is filled with the love of God will notsend out curses and blessings at the same time. These thingsought not to be and, if we will allow God to control ourhearts, they will not be.

The illustrations from nature are interesting. A fountainwill not send out sweet and bitter water at the same place.It will be one or the other, but not both. A fig tree will notbear olives. A vine will not bear figs. You see, it is the natureof the vine or the tree that determines the kind of fruit thatis produced. No outside change can change the internalnature of the plant. You will not teach a fig tree to bear olivesby showing it olives or even by hanging olives all over it untilthe fig tree finally gets the idea and bears olives. This isridiculous; yet, men still try to change the inward soulthrough outward works.

Change the nature, and you will change the fruit that isproduced. In the same way you will not change a saltwaterfountain by pouring some sweet water into it. The unseensource of the water must be altered to change the water thatyou see on the surface.


External attempts to produce internal change only resultin confusion. This is truly sad because internal change ispossible. God is willing to save anyone. He is ready to saveto the uttermost those who come unto Him through the shedblood of Jesus Christ, and He is willing and able to changethe bitterest nature into the sweetness love that Jesusshowed to the whole world.

Be careful about what you say. Long after we have forgot-ten words of encouragement, we will still cling to the criti-cism that has been sent our way. Perhaps criticism is need-ed and just, but we should be careful about what we say andhow we say it. When you speak, you are dealing with dyna-mite. It can do great good or it can do great harm, and thedifference is in the way you use it. Be careful!

But even more, we should be aware that there is a con-nection between what we say and who we are. Nothingreveals our character more completely than the words wechoose. The place to start in improving your language is inyour own heart. When your heart is completely right withGod and when your life is led and controlled by the HolySpirit, good communication will naturally flow from yourmouth. As a good tree produces good fruit, so a good man willproduce good works.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringethforth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil trea-sure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of theabundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45).

A FINAL WORD

We live in a crazy world. Few who really observe thethings going on around them would deny this statement, butthose who know Jesus Christ as Savior and follow Him astheir Lord have a way to keep from becoming a part of thecraziness of this present age.

To avoid being condemned with the world, we have tolearn to live separated from the world. Now this can be con-fusing, because we are surely in this world, but we are not ofthis world. In this as in allthings, Jesus is our greatexample.

Jesus was in this world. Helived here, and every day ofHis life He walked as a manin the world, but Jesus wasnever of this world. He washere to do the will of HisFather in Heaven, and Heacknowledged from the firstthat He would be about His

Submissive to SeparationText: James 4:1-17 Focus: James 4:1-11

Sunday Devotional: TheWarning of Esau, Hebrews 12:14-17.

Aim: By the conclusion of thislesson the students will compre-hend the principle of godly living.

Daily DevotionalsM. Kept from Wickedness, Psalm

17:6-15.T. Treasurers in Heaven, Matthew

6:19-24.W. Deceitfulness of Riches,

Matthew 13:18-23.T. Lovers of Pleasure, 2 Timothy

3:1-9.F. Love of the World, 2 Timothy

4:9-18.S. Love not the World, 1 John

2:12-17.

44June 27, 2004

Key Verse:

Draw nigh to God, and he willdraw nigh to you. Cleanse yourhands, ye sinners; and purify yourhearts, ye double-minded.

James 4:8

24

A FIRST LOOK


Fathers business. It is our decisions to seek and to do thewill of God that separates us from the world.

Godly living is not an accident that will just happen to usas we go along; instead, it is the directed choice of a child ofGod. It is a decision to set our affections on things above andto place our hope in things to come and, in truth, it is the onlywise and rational choice that we can make.

Everything here will perish, but what we do for God iseternal. When we understand these two simple truths, thechoice is obvious. Then we need to know how to follow theLord.

I. The Source of Trouble

James 4:1-4 1. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come

they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2. Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot

obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.3. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may

consume it upon your lusts.4. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the

friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever there-fore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Before we can solve any problem, we have to identify it. Wehave to know where trouble comes from so we can at leastavoid it. The questions here are not rhetorical. They havereal answers, and God expects each of us to face them and todeal with the problems that are at the root of bad behavior.

The source of wars and fightings is the lust that constant-ly struggles within us. We read of this constant battle inRomans 7:14-25. A child of God has two natures, and thesenatures are in a constant state of spiritual conflict. The flesh-

A CLOSER LOOK

26 Submissive to Separation

ly nature opposes the spiritual nature, and the spiritualnature does its best to impose the spiritual standards ofright conduct on the entire body.

The obvious observation is that, when we give over to ourfleshly nature, we always lose. Even though we lust anddesire to have and even commit murder, we still do not havewhat we seek. The flesh is never satisfied. No matter howmany things we get, we will never have enough. There willalways be one more that we just have to have to be happy. Itis sobering to realize, but there is literally no thing in theworld that can truly make us permanently happy. We willonly find fulfillment and satisfaction in the things of theSpirit.

The really sad part is that we lack spiritual blessings sim-ply because we do not ask for them, and, when we ask, westill lack them if all we want to do is consume them on ourown lusts. We can never experiment with faith. We eitherhave it or we do not and, when we pray simply to satisfy ourlust, our prayers will fail.

The answer is in understanding the relationship of theworld with the things of God. Friendship with this world sys-tem and looking to it to satisfy our needs is enmity with God.This means that our friendship with the world separates usfrom the true source of blessing. As we read in James 1:17,God is the source of every good thing in our lives. When wemake this world system our friend, we also make God ourenemy, and we cut ourselves off from the source of real bless-ings.

James is a practical book, and it is never enough to simplyknow about these truths. We will only be blessed by themwhen we put them into practice. There are those who act outthe part of being a Christian. They are playing a role, not liv-ing a life. This hollow and hypocritical approach will not foolothers. Worse than that, it will not help those who are tryingit. Real troubles call for real solutions. We have them, but toaccess them, we need real, life changing faith in JesusChrist. It is not what we say that shows change, but it is howwe live, and how we live must be based on a real belief that


Christ lives and that He is able to reward those who followHim.

II. The Solution of Grace

James 4:5-8 5. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain,The spirit that

dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God

resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.7. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and

he will flee from you.8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse

your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Sin is powerful, and our world is mostly sinful, but thewonderful truth is that God giveth more grace. His grace isnot only sufficient; it is overcoming. Through it we can trulybe more than conquerors.

Note first that the Bible is to be taken as our all sufficientguide in these matters. The Scripture never speaks in vain.The Bible means what it says and it says what it means. TheBible is never just another opinion that should be consideredas we make up our minds about a matter. The Bible is theWord of God. When Heaven and earth will have passed away,the Word of God will still be there and it will still be true.

The Bible declares that the spirit in us, that is our fleshlynature, is motivated by lust and envy. Think about it; howmany times are these two spiritual forces part of the decisionmaking process? We see something that we want and we getit. We see something that our neighbor has and we want one,too. If we are ruled by lust and envy, we will be as confusedas our confused world. There is a better way.

This is the grace of God. What does that grace teach us? Itteaches us to take control on a spiritual level. It says that wecan understand the Word, the way and the will of God. Wecan learn that God resists those who are proud of them-selves. We can learn that God adds even more of His grace to


those who are humble. It is by the grace of God that theproud are not destroyed, and it is by the grace of God thatthe humble truly understand what blessings are.

Human beings are not basically good creatures who mayoccasionally do bad things. Human beings are basically sin-ners, even when they occasionally do something good. Evensaved people have an Adamic nature. Only death will sepa-rate us from it. We have to die so that we can put on immor-tality. This is why Jesus saves us from our sins and thenasks that we walk in newness of life. We do this by resistingthe spirit that moves us to lust and envy and by yielding our-selves to the Holy Spirit who urges us to follow Jesus. In thenext few verses we read of seven things that we can do tochoose to follow the Lord. Each of these things is a deliber-ate and rational choice. They will not just happen to anyone.

The first thing we have to do is submit. This means to givein or give over to another power. This is not submission thatis forced on us from outside; instead, it is reflexive. We do itourselves. It is not submission without direction. We are todirect our submission to God. We are not to submit to theworld we live in or even to each other. Submission to God isthe first step. No matter where we might want to go, we willnever get there unless we take the first step. Those who willnot submit themselves to God will forever be bound by thelusts and envy of a sinful nature and a sinful world.

When we submit, we then gain the power to resist. Here isthe first gift of grace. We do not have to be ruled by lust andenvy. We can resist them and all the other forces of evil.When we submit to God, we are putting ourselves under thepower and protection of God. God then looks out for us, andwe are easily able to deal with Satan, but, if we try to resistSatan in our own strength, we will fail. Satan will tempt ourAdamic nature, and we will yield, but, if we will first submitto God, we will be able to deal with all kinds of temptation.

Then we draw near to God. We are as close to God as wewant to be. We are not neutral. We are either growing ingrace and knowledge or we are reverting to our old ways.


This is why we are admonished to live as close to God as wecan.

This is not a physical position. It is a spiritual and emo-tional condition. It is the way we think and the way wedecide, and it is reciprocal. When we draw near to God, Hewill draw near to us. When we take a step toward God, Hetakes a step toward us, and in short order we can be walkingtogether.

Then we are told to cleanse our hands and purify ourhearts. Sinners need clean hands and double-minded peopleneed pure hearts. These are closely related. Cleansing ourhands refers to daily, systematic, regular cleansing. If we donot continually cleanse ourselves through prayer, the filthwill accumulate (Psalm 24:3, 4).

Purification deals with the idea of ones being double mind-ed. A double-minded person will say one thing and really meananother. A child of God needs to be faithful. Faithfulness canonly come from a heart that is dedicated and single-minded,and that single mind must be the mind that is in Christ. Wecan serve the Lord, but that service must begin in our hearts.

III. Steps to Peace

James 4:9-119. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be

turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall

lift you up.11. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh

evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of thelaw, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art nota doer of the law, but a judge.

We are told to be afflicted. This is not pessimism; instead,it is simply an admonition to take life seriously. Living is aserious matter, and we need to be aware that matters ofgreat consequence have been placed in our hands. We shouldhave real joy, but not the laughter of fools. Life is serious

business, and it can be a joyful business if we will let Jesusbe our guide.

We are to humble ourselves. Note that this is reflexive. Weare not to wait to be humbled by God or by the circumstancesof living. We are to voluntarily understand who and what weare and to have a humble spirit in our hearts. This is theopposite of the pride that lifts us up and prepares us for afall.

Then we are to watch our words. We can allow God to con-trol how we think and we can think of good things (Phil. 4:8).When we think right, we will speak properly, and that speechwill not be evil speech.

Each of the spiritual steps that are taught in these versesis initiated in the heart of an individual and then completedby the Holy Spirit. When we submit to God, He adds to us farmore than we could ever give up. When we resist the devil,the Holy Spirit gives us victory over him. You see the pat-tern? We give up some things and make positive spiritualdecisions, and God takes over and reinforces what we havedone and gives us strength that we can get from no othersource.

This is not a pattern we follow so that we will be savedwhen we get through. This is spiritual development that canonly take place after we have been saved. A lost person can-not follow these steps, but a saved person can and should ifhe desires to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

A FINAL WORD


Most of the things men spend their lives trying to accu-mulate will not satisfy their spiritual needs. Many seekearnestly after wealth and pleasure. As we learn in James5:1-6, there are literally no limits to human behavior in theaccumulation of wealth and power.

But even if we were to gain all the material things thatwe seek, we would still not be satisfied, and even worse, wecould not keep the material goods we have accumulated. InLuke 12:15-21 Jesus taught us about the foolishness of cov-etousness; yet, many have never learned this lesson.

Our lesson verses offer us a better way. These are some ofthe basic elements ofChristian behavior. As wecan never learn to readunless we know words andletters and, as we cannotlearn arithmetic unless weknow our numbers, we willnever grow in the grace andknowledge of the Lord un-

Prevailing PrayerText: James 5:1-20 Focus: James 5:10-20

Sunday Devotional: WhenTo Pray, Psalm 55:16-23.

Aim: By the conclusion of thislesson the students will providebiblical examples of answeredprayer.

Daily DevotionalsM. Elijahs Prayer, 1 Kings 18:30-39.T. Hezekiahs Prayer, 2 Kings 20:1-

11.W. Solomons Prayer, 2 Chronicles

6:12-21.T. How To Pray, Matthew 6:5-15.F. A Church Praying, Acts 12:5-17.S. Effectual Prayer, Luke 18:9-14.

55July 4, 2004

Key Verse:

Confess your faults one toanother, and pray for one anoth-er, that ye may be healed.Theeffectual fervent prayer of a righ-teous man availeth much.

James 5:16

31

A FIRST LOOK

32 Prevailing Prayer

less we get these basic things firmly established in ourhearts.

We can never outgrow our need for basics. We may drinkgallons and gallons of water in our lives, but we will stillneed a refreshing drink, no matter how much we haveenjoyed in the past. So it is with prayer, good examples andpositive interaction with other believers. These are notoptional; instead, they are essential to spirituality.

But note that these are born in a spirit that is alreadysaved by the grace of God. Unless we know Jesus as our per-sonal Savior, we will only be going through the motions if wetry to gain spiritual maturity. The life must be there first.Fruit only comes from a living tree.

I. Good Examples

James 5:10, 11, 17, 1810. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the

name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and ofpatience.

11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye haveheard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord;that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

17. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and heprayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on theearth by the space of three years and six months.

18. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and theearth brought forth her fruit.

One of the best ways to teach and to learn is to look atexamples of real life situations that are similar to the onesthat we are experiencing. Godly behavior and faith have notchanged through the ages, and we do know that God teach-es us through examples. First Corinthians 10:1-6 tells us

A CLOSER LOOK


that the things that happened to the people of Israel duringthe Exodus are examples for Christians. James cites threeexamples in this passage that should teach us a great dealabout proper behavior.

First, James cites the example of the prophets of the OldTestament. This is an example of suffering affliction for ourconvictions and being patient that the Lord will eventuallyvalidate our message. Hebrews 11:33-39 tells us some of thethings that these faithful people suffered to preach the Wordof the Lord to the people of the Lord. In that passage thewriter concludes that the world was not worthy of these won-derful people.

God does not call us to a bed of ease. We are told plainlythat we will suffer persecution in this present world, and weshould not only expect it, we should mentally prepare our-selves for it, and we should not be crushed when it happens.Most of all, we should never stop serving the Lord because ofpersecution. When we truly understand the source andnature of persecution, it will cause us to want to increase ourefforts in the service of the Lord.

The next example cited is that of Job. There are many won-derful lessons in this marvelous book, but the lesson here isthat of patience. Job did not heed the bad advice of his wife tocurse God and die; instead, he suffered patiently and in theend he was rewarded greatly. The same is true for believerstoday. We may indeed suffer in the short term, but we will berewarded for all eternity. God asks us to give up the things wecannot hold on to anyway to gain a reward that we will neverlose.

Then, especially in matters of prayer, we are shown theexample of a specific prophet of the Old Testament, Elijah.Elias is the Greek form of this name. Elijah was a man sub-ject to all the worries and difficulties of life. It is interestingto note that one of the low moments in his life came right onthe heels of a great victory. Elijah humiliated and exposed theprophets of Baal as frauds on Mount Carmel, but soon after,the evil queen ordered him killed, and he fled for his life tothe desert. Sitting under a juniper tree, he expressed hisgreat despair to God, and God moved in his heart to encour-


age him. This is much like the things that happen to us. Wemove from mountaintop to valley, but God is always there.

Elijah was a man of prayer. He prayed, and it did not rainin Israel for three years and six months, and he prayed againand the Lord sent the rains back. This is showing us thewonderful power of prayer to change us and to change thesituations of our lives.

We should study these and other great examples in theBible and see the pattern of faith and faithfulness given tous in the lives of these great biblical characters.

II. Bad Words

James 5:12 12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by

heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but letyour yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemna-tion.

Always remember that there is a vital connection betweenour hearts and our mouths (Luke 6:45). The warning aboutbad words is in truth a warning about an evil heart. Jamesadmonishes us not to swear or to make either curses orpromises that we have no power to fulfill.

This has a familiar negative side and a less noticed posi-tive side. Negatively, we should not swear or curse the earth,or the people and things in it. The reason is simple. We donot have that authority. No matter what stature we humansmay achieve, we are still the creature and not the Creator.Only God has the right to curse the ground or those who liveon it.

The positive side is that we may easily make promises thatwe know we cannot keep. Many people have promised grandand glorious things, but they have not kept their words.Peter is a great example of this. He stood up and proudly pro-claimed that although all the others would deny the Lord, hewould never do so. He promised that he would die first (Matt.


26:35). This was a direct contradiction of what Jesus had justsaid, but Peter spoke anyway.

When the time came for his oath to be put into practice, hedenied the Lord three times and swore in the process. Evenhis swearing around the enemys fire was falsehood. Peterwas neither the disciple who would not deny the Lord norwas he the man who never knew Jesus. Both of his state-ments were false.

The point is simple. When we make promises or cursesthat we cannot keep, we are subject to falling into condem-nation. The alternative is careful, studied and restrictedcommunication. Let our yes and no both be from our heart;let them be spoken only after careful thought and considera-tion; let them simply mean what they say. When we try toexplain what we say in such a way to show that we reallymean something different, we fall quickly into condemna-tion.

Do not be afraid to speak, but be sure that what you saycomes from your heart and be sure that your heart is rightwith God.

III. Good Words

James 5:13-16 13. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let

him sing psalms.14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the

church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil inthe name of the Lord:

15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lordshall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall beforgiven him.

16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one foranother, that ye may be healed.The effectual fervent prayer ofa righteous man availeth much.

Instead of cursing when troubles come our way, we shouldemploy the good uses of language that are suggested here.


We can be afflicted or set upon by the problems of living.Everyone who has lived long knows about this. When wehave problems, we should take them to the Lord in prayer.Prayer is communication, and it is telling God how we feel.Often we complain to each other, knowing inside that the oneto whom we complain really cannot change things, but Godcan change things, and God can change us. When we pray,we are taking a positive step in resolving whatever afflictionwe may be experiencing.

But this is not all negative. We may instead be happy.When we are, our hearts should overflow into our mouths,and we should sing. Music is a wonderful way to express ourjoy. We may not be able to make the most beautiful of soundswith our voices, but we surely can make the most joyfulsounds (Psalm 100:1).

Every child of God has something about which to sing. Weare going to Heaven when we die, and no matter what elsehappens, that should bring joy to our hearts and a song toour lips. Even King David prayed for God to restore the joyof salvation. We should learn to be happy because we aresaved.

But God does not expect us just to stoically bear every bur-den. When we have problems, God wants us to take positivesteps to remedy them. Those who are sick are not just to lan-guish and wait to die. We are told to tell others about theproblem. Call the church together for a season of prayer.

We are told to pray together. There is power in prayer andthe more people who are praying together the better. We can-not pray to excess. No matter how much we pray or howmany people are praying, prayer is never wasted. So we aretold to share our burdens and pray for each other and witheach other.

We are also admonished to confess our faults. Note care-fully that we are not taught to confess the faults that we seein others. We are to confess our own faults, and we arepromised that the effectual prayer, that is, the real heartfeltprayer of a righteous man will avail much.


We must be careful not to attempt to use prayer as a wayto order God around. Prayer is not about getting our willsdone in Heaven; it is about getting Gods will done on earth.

IV. A Noble Goal

James 5:19, 20 19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one con-

vert him;20. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from

the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hidea multitude of sins.

We do not do these things just for the sake of doing them.God has a goal in mind, and the goal is to bring about repen-tance in those who are wrong. The stakes are high and therewards are great.

When we can through our right use of words and rightChristian practice bring about the conversion or repentanceof a sinner, we have saved a soul from death. We may notthink of it this way, but preaching and practicing the gospelare life and death matters.

In addition we hide a multitude of sins. This is teaching usthat in the process of repentance and faith many sins can beforgiven that otherwise would be unforgiven. Sin must bedealt with. We can either turn it over to God and let Him for-give us, or we will suffer for it. What a wonderful promisethat we can and should deal with our sins and the sins of oth-ers through the truth of Gods Word.

Every spiritual decision is ultimately in the hands of theindividual. God never forces us to trust Him. He will love us;He will teach us the truth, draw us to Him and convict us of

A FINAL WORD


our sins, but He will never put His finger on us and mashuntil we agree to believe in Him.

The faith that can change our lives must be voluntary.This is how it begins, and this is how it helps us throughoutour lives. A life of faith and a walk of faith each begin withone step. That is the step when we place our hearts and livesin the hands of Jesus. Will you take that step right now?

Most great projects require two things. They require ablueprint or a plan to follow, and they require a pattern or amodel. The model is used to show visually what the projectshould look like when it is completed. God has given us boththings for the work of His churches.

We have the plans given in the teachings of Jesus in suchpassages as Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8. There are manyother Scriptures that show us the plan of God for those whoserve Him, but we are also given the pattern for our works.The church in Thessalonica was such a pattern church. Thisdoes not mean that there wereno errors there. All men aresinners, and there is not a per-fect church this side of eterni-ty, but God does use thesebelievers as living examples ofproper behavior.

We can look at the thingsthat this church believed andpracticed and see things thatwe should do in our ownchurches. Notice as we study

Reputation of the ChurchText: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Focus: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

Sunday Devotional: Fruit ofthe Spirit, Galatians 5:22-26.

Aim: By the conclusion of thislesson the students will demon-strate the significance of the threedimensions of the Christian life.

Daily DevotionalsM. Gods Vessels, 2 Timothy 2:19-

26.T. Submissive Servants, 1 Peter

2:11-20.W. Effective Servants, Acts 17:1-9.T. Phebe: A Servant, Romans

16:1-8.F. Becoming a Servant, Matthew

23:1-12.S. Yielded Servants, Romans

6:13-20.

66July 11, 2004

Key Verse:

So that ye were ensamples toall that believe in Macedoniaand Achaia.

1 Thessalonians 1:7

39

A FIRST LOOK

40 Reputation of the Church

these lessons from 1 Thessalonians that the patterns wehave are spiritual, not physical. We are not to attempt toemulate the physical side of this church, but we are to learnfrom the spiritual progress that these people made.

This letter was written on Pauls second missionary jour-ney, and some commentators suggest that it was the firstepistle written by Paul. The church at Thessalonica wascomposed of both Jews and Greeks. Many church memberswere converted from idol worship, and, although Paul hadmet much opposition in this city, God still did a great workthere, and a great church grew from the mission work ofPaul and Silas. In preparation for this study, read Acts 17:1-9.

I. Precious Memories

1 Thessalonians 1:2-42. We give thanks to God always for you all, making men-

tion of you in our prayers;3. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and

labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,in the sight of God and our Father;

4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

Paul carefully chose how he used his memory. He discard-ed the memories of the bad treatment that he and Silas hadreceived from the envious Jews. Instead, he chose to remem-ber the wonderful work that God had done among the believ-ers in this city.

This was possible in part because Paul exercised his rightand privilege of thanksgiving. Instead of being resentful andangry, Paul was thankful and prayerful. Great personalblessings flow to the heart that is truly thankful. In most sit-uations we have some things for which we can be thankful ifwe will honestly search for them. Here we learn to use our

A CLOSER LOOK

Text: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 41

memories constructively and concentrate on the good thingsthat God has sent us and not dwell on the evil that other menwould do to us.

Paul is remembering three wonderful things about thoseJews and Greeks that he had met in Thessalonica. Heremembers their work of faith. That is an interesting phrase,for faith and works, as we commonly regard them, are mutu-ally exclusive, but here Paul uses the term work in the senseof result. He remembered that their faith was not just wordsthat they said, but changes that they made in their living.Real faith will always produce changes in the lives of thosewho exercise it. The faith of the saints in Thessalonica result-ed in real positive changes in the way they lived their every-day lives.

Paul also remembered their labor of love. As true faithalways produces fruit, real love always produces activity. Oneof the differences between love and selfishness is that lovemakes us want to serve those we love. Selfishness makes uswant others to serve us. The people in Thessalonica had fallenin love with Jesus and their love for Him made them want tohelp Paul and Silas. It is easy to declare our love. It is anoth-er thing altogether to demonstrate our love, but, if our love isreal, we will find a way to show it in the things that we do.

Then Paul remarked on the patience of their hope. As faithwill change us and love will empower us, hope will give uspatience. If we truly believe the promises of God, we canafford to be patient. In fact, only saved people who are serv-ing the Lord in a New Testament church can truly afford tobe patient. These people have time to wait on the Lord. Theycan be assured that God is working out everything for themfor their good, so they do not have to get in a hurry or fretand worry (Rom. 8:28).

Now note that all this was not brought about by the phi-losophy of Paul. It was faith in Jesus Christ, love for JesusChrist and hope in Jesus Christ. It was rest and trust thatGod had a part in their salvation, and they were trusting inGod to finish what He had begun in their hearts when theyfirst believed.


II. An Effective Method

1 Thessalonians 1:5-75. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also

in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; asye know what manner of men we were among you for yoursake.

6. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, havingreceived the word in much affliction, with joy of the HolyGhost:

7. So that ye were ensamples to all that believe inMacedonia and Achaia.

As there are three spiritual giftsfaith, hope and love,there are also three parts to the method that God used tobring about these things in the hearts of the people ofThessalonica. This divine plan will still work today, and, intruth, no one has ever been able to improve on it over theyears. Notice how it is given in these verses.

First, there was the matter of how the people received theword. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word ofGod (Rom. 10:17), but there was more involved than just anacademic reading of the Word. The gospel is a message ofpower and force. That power is the working of the HolySpirit in our hearts when the gospel is preached.

There is more to preaching than a preacher and a sermon.There is the added element of the Holy Spirit, who accompa-nies the Word when it is preached and convicts the hearts ofthose who hear it. This is the power and presence of God,and it is the only thing that will bring about permanentchange in the lives of those who hear the gospel. It was thisinternal witness of the Holy Spirit that brought assurance tothe believers in Thessalonica.

Added to this was the great example that Paul and Silasset in their ministry there. These preachers did nothing todiscredit their message; as a result, the Word had maxi-mum effect.

The second part of this was that the people inThessalonica who heard the Word became followers of Paul


and Silas and most importantly the Lord. There was no divi-sion here. When these people followed Paul, they were fol-lowing Jesus as well because Paul himself was followingJesus. It is not wrong to ask someone to follow you if you arewalking in the right path.

Paul and Silas were following Jesus, and they could alsoproperly lead these new Christians to follow Jesus. To theircredit, the people in this church chose to follow their earthlyleader. God had called Paul to preach and to work among theGentiles. It was not wrong for Paul to expect those withwhom he worked to follow his leadership. Paul was not a dic-tator, but he was a leader, and these people were commend-ed for following him.

The third part of this divine method was that these believ-ers became examples to other believers throughoutMacedonia and Achaia. We may shy away from being anexample to others, but God expects us to do so. When webelieve, we should be certain that we have believed thetruth. Then we should share that truth with others. Weshould live our lives so that others can imitate us. Go back toverse 3 of this chapter; see how faith had produced changes,how love had produced fruit and how hope had producedpatience, and you can see how these people could be exam-ples to others.

When the gospel is preached in the power of the HolySpirit, when believers will follow those whom the Lord haschosen to lead them, and when we live our lives so that weare examples to others, a strong, spiritual church is sure tobe the result.

III. A Serving Church

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 8. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only

in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faithto God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speakany thing.


9. For they themselves shew of us what manner of enter-ing in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idolsto serve the living and true God;

10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raisedfrom the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrathto come.

These verses tell us of the positive things that theseChristians did in exercising their faith, love and hope. Thesewere active believers, not word only Christians.

First, they sounded out the Word. Literally, they became agreat noise, preaching the gospel everywhere they went.They preached in Macedonia and Achaia and every placewhere there were people who would listen. They were sothorough in this activity that every place where people heardof Thessalonica, they heard of Jesus.

There is no substitute for witnessing. There is no otherway to spread the gospel as effectively as telling others whatyou believe wherever you go. Others should never have toguess about our faith. We should openly declare it to them sothat they can see it and share it. It is true that not all menwho hear the gospel will believe it, but, if they never hear it,they do not have a chance to accept it. This church was anexample of witnessing in a positive and powerful way so thatthe whole region all around knew about their faith.

Notice the high praise that Paul gave in the last part ofverse 8. The witness of this church was so thorough and pow-erful that he and Silas did not need to add to it.

What was this witness? It was in word of course. Thesepeople had sounded out the Word of the Lord, but it was alsoin deed. The things that the people of Thessalonica did gavestrength and credence to the things that the people ofThessalonica said.

These people had turned away from idols. They had putaway, perhaps at great expense, the idols of silver and goldthat were powerless to save them or change their lives. Theyhad given themselves over to the service of the true and liv-ing God. A part of that service was in witnessing, but a partof it was also in living. Paul stated that in verse 5. His man-

ner of life added to his testimony. This is true for believerstoday. The way we live should never compromise or contra-dict the message we preach.

Then they had a positive kind of patience. They were notexpecting the world to get better and better. They were notlooking for great and sudden improvement in their dailylives because they were believers in Christ. They were look-ing for Jesus to come back again. This was the substance oftheir hope, and it is the substance of the hope of every truebeliever in Jesus.

We have this hope because Jesus is alive. He was raisedfrom the dead, and He lives right now. We have this hopebecause Jesus has delivered us from the wrath that is tocome. Believing these things will change how you behave. Itchanged the Thessalonians, and it will change us.

God gave us a plan because He expects us to follow it. Theplan is useless unless we take it to heart and until we beginto put it into practice in our everyday living. God has givenus models so that we can shape our behavior in the patternHe has provided.

This lesson is not academic. It is not to be studied andunderstood and then discarded to the dusty shadows of ourmemories. It is a dynamic lesson that should be put intopractice in the way we think and the way we behave.

When our faith produces the fruit of the spirit, and whenour love makes us want to serve the One we love, and ourhope produces patience in our lives, we can then follow thisdivine pattern of a Spirit-led church. This does not mean thatwe will be perfect. This does not mean that we will nevermake mistakes, but it does mean that we will be doing ourbest in whatever circumstances may arise to follow the Lordand to do His will until He comes for us.

A FINAL WORD


The church at Thessalonica was going through some diffi-cult times in the last part of the first century. Most all theLords churches were. This was a time of increasing persecu-tions and misunderstandings, and the faith of these believerswas being tried. To set these brethren on solid ground, Godinspired Paul to recount for them some of the circumstancesof the beginning of the work of God among them.

This is the same kind of activity that we see in the lives ofOld Testament saints as God reminded them over and over ofthe beginnings of their faith. We can never outgrow or out-run our beginnings. We often need to take a mental and spir-itual trip back to the time andplace of our salvation and ofour entrance into covenantrelationship with God.

This church was strongbecause it had strong leader-ship and a solid foundation.Paul and the other preachershad faithfully discharged their

Review of the ChurchText: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20 Focus: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sunday Devotional: TheCommission To Evangelize,Luke 24:45-53.

Aim: By the conclusion ofthis lesson the students willreview the circumstancesinvolved in the founding of thechurch in Thessalonica.

Daily DevotionalsM. Proclamation of Gospel, Mark

16:14-20.T. Mission of Church, John 20:19-

23.W. Witnesses to World, Acts 1:1-9.T. A Chosen Vessel, Acts 9:11-19.F. Mission Vision, Acts 13:1-8.S. Ambassadors for Christ, 2

Corinthians 5:14-20.

77July 18, 2004

Key Verse:

For ye remember, brethren, ourlabour and travail: for labouring nightand day, because we would not bechargeable unto you, we preachedunto you the gospel of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:9

46

A FIRST LOOK


duties. The people had been willing and faithful followers ofthose whom God had sent to lead them. To strengthen andbuild up these believers, Paul reminded them of their begin-nings and of his ministry to them.

In many ways this was a strong church because it had thebenefit of the faithful ministry of Paul and others. We sel-dom go beyond our leadership. In these verses we see thekind of scriptural ministry that will bear fruit in the lives ofbelievers and will provide a firm foundation for whatever tri-als may be ahead.

I. A Right Message

1 Thessalonians 2:2-5 2. But even after that we had suffered before, and were

shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold inour God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much con-tention.

3. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness,nor in guile:

4. But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with thegospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, whichtrieth our hearts.

5. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as yeknow, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness.

Paul began by reminding the Thessalonian brethren of theshameful treatment that he and Silas had endured inPhilippi. We do not live in a vacuum, and the things thathappened in our past color the attitudes of the present. Pauland Silas had been unjustly imprisoned in Philippi and suchan experience might have discouraged lesser men, butinstead of stopping Paul and Silas from preaching, it madethem bolder.

Even though there was much contention in Philippi andeven in Thessalonica, Paul did not back away from anything

A CLOSER LOOK

48 Review of the Church

that he preached or taught. The problem was never in themessage; instead, it was in the hearts and minds of thosewho heard it. Our faith is not diminished because others willnot agree with us. Judgment is not a jury trial. We only haveto be faithful to our Master in Heaven.

Paul used a wonderful term for his preaching. He called itexhortation. Exhortation literally means to help, or to walkalongside and encourage as well as correct. That is theessence of the gospel. We should always remember that thegospel is good news. It is not doom and gloom; it is hope andglory. Such a wonderful message should always be present-ed in the light of the truth that is really in it.

Paul did not use deceit, uncleanness or trickery to preachJesus. Instead, as we read in Acts 17:3, he opened theScriptures and showed from them that Jesus is the Christ,the Messiah. There is no trick involved here. This is truth,straightforward and unadulterated. Jesus is who He said Hewas, and He did what He said He did. This was and is themessage of the gospel.

Furthermore, Paul viewed his preaching as a sacred trust.God had given him a job to do, and the gospel was the meansto accomplish this task. We must always remember that Godcalls preachers. True preachers do not call themselves andother men do not call them. If a ministry originates any-where other than in Heaven, it will ultimately fail. Paul wasa preacher because God had chosen him, and Paul viewedthis as a trust. He sought to please God, not men. The rea-son was simple. God would try the hearts of His servants.

It is good if others believe our message and are pleased byit, but, if they are not, we should still tell the truth. Theapplause of men is never a valid test of the effectiveness ofour ministries.

Because of this, Paul carefully avoided the twin traps offlattery and covetousness. The reason is simple. Neither ofthese things is ever satisfied. When we begin to flatter, wewill end up telling lies. In fact, the best of flattery is mostlyfalsehood. Think about it. Covetousness is a bottomless pit.When we are asked to base a response on flattery or cov-etousness, the response will never be satisfying.


The simple and convicting truth of the gospel stands instark contrast to preaching based on flattery and covetous-ness.

II. A Right Messenger

1 Thessalonians 2:6-9 6. Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of oth-

ers, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles ofChrist.

7. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishethher children:

8. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing tohave imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but alsoour own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

9. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: forlabouring night and day, because we would not be chargeableunto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

The quality of a message has a lot to do with the characterof the messenger. To a large extent we have to be believed tobe heard. This means that, if we see obvious contradictionsin the message and the messenger, we will discount the mes-sage. A great example of this is the remark of Nicodemus inJohn 3:2. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was a Teacher whohad come from God because of the things that Jesus did. Themessage and the behavior of the messenger are definitelylinked.

For that reason, Paul reminded the brethren in Thessalonicaof his attitude while he was among them. First, we learn thatPaul was not a glory seeker. This was not because he did nothave a genuine claim to it. Paul was one of a few chosen menever to be called of God to be an apostle, but he did not wanthis calling to be a burden to others. We often see those whoare preaching and promoting themselves, instead of preach-ing Jesus. Nothing good and permanent will ever be built onthis kind of glory seeking.

Then we see that Paul and those who served with hi

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