 Good morning and welcome everyone. Let's begin with a word of prayer Okay All right, there's a request a prayer request from Enoch who is asking for prayer Because of a total blackout now, so we'll pray for him as well Nigerian. Okay All right in Nigeria All right, let's just pray heavenly father We thank you for this time that you have given us Lord to spend in your word We pray by your spirit that you will enlighten our hearts Oh God and father we are grateful for your word Lord that Strengthens us that builds us up Lord and that helps us to to walk in that newness of life That Christ Jesus has died to give us Lord. We pray together for brother success. We pray Lord for Lord your intervention in the circumstances Lord that Father God things will be resolved and Lord that They they will be able to resume their activities as usual and father Thank you that you're a prayer answering God. We surrender this prayer in Jesus mighty name Amen Let's get back to what we have been discussing so far we completed A large section of chapter 2 James chapter 2 So let me quickly review a couple of things and then we will go to the End of James chapter 2 and then do James chapter 3 today so we saw it James chapter 2 that there was an An instruction not to engage in partiality because God has called us to honor everyone and we must not discriminate among people and partiality or Favoritism is unfair and it's an expression of prejudice. That's something we looked at and we saw that When we do such things We are judge that scripture says we are judges with evil thoughts So it's as if you know, we are judging with evil standards Which is not acceptable in the sight of God and this could lead to Problems can arise, you know out of such judgment And then we saw that whether people are rich or whether they are poor They are all the same in the sight of God and just for for the people to understand James makes statements such as, you know, like the rich aren't they the people who harm you You know, he kind of puts it in that perspective, but the point that he's making is that The poor are also created by God. They're also chosen by God They're also co-heirs of the covenant blessings that Jesus died to give us. So there is that equality As far as the love of God the blessings of God are concerned So it's not to say that being rich is bad or being rich is evil and you know once he clarified regarding this matter of Not showing partiality. He talks about extending mercy and he states that extending mercy is Excuse me what triumphs over Judgment and then we looked at a law he talks about the law of Liberty in the Old Testament We know there were the laws given by Moses and even if one were to break a single law out of all of them, they would still not be able to uphold the law and And then he comes on to talking about the fact that God has given us the law of Liberty and which is nothing but in the New covenant. Okay, so that's what we're referring to. He talks about something called as a royal law And he talks about the law of Liberty which has to do with the kind of love grace and freedom that the cross has brought for us and then we saw this description about having faith and works Faith and works are two sides of the same coin He asks questions like okay if I have faith is that good enough and you know if you say you have works Is it good enough and then he says no we need both we need both of them and when we say we have faith We have to put actions to our faith So that's where we were at and we said we saw how he makes the statement that if we say that we only believe But there are no actions corresponding to our faith. It's like the demons also believe But then we don't we don't account righteousness to demons. They belong to the kingdom of darkness So just simply believing something doesn't you know cut it for us. We have to be Believers who are doers of the word faith must be in action. So the section here from Verse 20 to 26 this is something that we did not explain We'll quickly read through it. So I'm gonna ask someone to read through it last time We read section by section so that you know, we save time So can we just go ahead and read through it, please and then I will just summarize it and Share the details from the section James chapter 2 verse 20 to 26 But do you want to know or foolish man that faith without works is dead was not Abraham our father Justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar Do you see that fate was working together with his works and by works of Works fate was made perfect and the scripture was fulfilled Which says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness And he was called the friend of God You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only Likewise Was not rehab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way For as the body without the spirit is dead. So faith without works is dead also Thank You Rosalie very strong statement here Begins with a question asking Isn't faith without works dead and he concludes also he says that As the body without spirit is dead faith without works is dead and then he brings in two examples here One that of our father of faith Abraham and another one a very unique example of rehab and it's so unusual He could have spoken about any other patriarch from From the Old Testament times, but he picked rehab Now why did he Actually select these two people We know regarding Abraham, you know, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness he was called as the friend of God and he was a man justified by works not by faith only And we understand that you know, he was a man Who believed God to the extent that One particular Incident in his life, right? We saw in the book of Hebrews. He was 11 Was a 17 to 19 when he sacrificed his son Isaac Or he went to sacrifice sorry his son Isaac with the readiness of heart The reason he could do it is He believed that even if his son were to die God was able to raise him up that really shows that His actions of taking his son Isaac for that sacrifice Was fueled by the strong faith that he carried With regard about God that God is even the One who raises the dead so There was faith and so there was action because he believed God is a God of resurrection He went ahead and he was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac So we see the mingling together Of faith and actions because he believed he did And that is the example that james wants to point to and remind us when we say we have faith What is the corresponding action? Are we aligned? Are we doing things aligned to our belief? And we can apply this to all aspects of our life and you know reflect and see Is faith accompanying my works now think about rehab. No rehab Was a a Gentile she's not part of the covenant But what God in her did in her life is very unique when the Israelites where where occupying the the promised land and They came up to the walls of Jericho. There was this lady and not of a good reputation or anything but she helped the spies and like Uh, I mean, this is like the back story But then when the people came to that place and the walls of Jericho actually came down At that point only rehab and her family were protected Was that the end of God's blessings on this person of faith? She is outside the covenant But her actions were such that She demonstrated great faith in God One is to safeguard the spies who came to the land. Secondly, you know, we see that she she hung that scarlet Ribbon outside her her house and these were all acts of faith in God and Feeling that she trusted that God would protect her family even if danger came upon the entire City and Her faith was so commendable that we see not only was her family protected in in that You know that that occurrence But rehab had a great destiny in God. We know that she Became one of those In the in the lineage of Jesus Christ, right? She's one of those women who was outside of the Hebrews and That was the blessing that came upon her. So rehab is also a symbol of faith She believed in God. She believed in the protection of God. Therefore, she did So her faith accompanied works and this is interesting at another level Because rehab is kind of the great grandmother of James. We began Our learning of the book of James saying that James is a half brother of Jesus. So which means that Joseph is his father And Joseph is the lineage, right? David's lineage and we know that rehab Is a part of that and so he's talking about his great great great grandmother as well And he's talking about the faith that she carried Which was accompanied by her works. So the point of this section is our faith Comes to a place of completeness Or our faith becomes effective when it is coupled with works. So only when we say I believe I believe I believe That is incomplete and he's using the the Statement that faith without works is dead, you know, very strong statement, but what he's saying is look, it's incomplete There's got to be spirit in the body. Then it's complete. So that completeness Only comes when our actions accompany our faith so actions actually Express the faith that we carry And that is why it is so important So that is the conclusion of chapter two here and now we can jump to chapter three Of the book of James. So let's quickly go here chapter three and it's About a very very important thought which is about our tongue Okay, our tongue and How powerful this tongue can be How about we read the entire passage and then I quickly, you know run through and explain it for us so Two two of us. I think two should be fine eight eight versus each Could just pick it up and read the entire passage and then I'll go ahead and explain You The untamable tongue My brethren, let not many of you become teachers Knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment For we all stumble in many things if anyone does not stumble in word He is a perfect man able also to bridle the whole body Indeed we put bits in horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn their whole body Look also at ships. Although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds They are turned by a very small rudder Wherever the pilot desires Even so the tongue is a little member and both great things See how great a forest a little fire kindles And the tongue is a fire a world of iniquity The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature And it is set on fire by hell for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea Is tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no man can tame the tongue It is an unruly evil Full of deadly poison Yes, go ahead Jafika James chapter three verse nine With the tongue we praise our lord and father and that we curse heaven beings who have been made in god's likeness Out of the same My brother Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring My brothers and sister can a fig tree bear all this or a grape We grape wine clear beer fix neither can assault spring Fresh water who is wise and understanding among among you let them show it by their good life By these done in humanity that comes from wisdom But if you harbor bitter envy and selfless ambition in your heart do not boast about it or deny the truth Such wisdom does not come down from heaven But it is earthly and spiritual demonic for where you have envy and selfless ambition There you find disorder in every evil practice that the wisdom that comes from heaven is first to call pure Then peace loving considerate submissive full of mercy and good fruit impartial and sincere Peacemakers whose own peace repa harvests of righteousness Thank you Rosalind. Thank you trafina. Let's now look at the passage in its entirety and understand what James is Discussing here. So he starts with a comment on a Sign of maturity. What is an indicator of maturity? So he says something like, you know, firstly, he says anyone who wants to be a Teacher must first be a doer of the word and then be a teacher of the word. So that's the right order We do first and then we teach because if we are teaching something that we do not do Uh, then that is hypocrisy, isn't it? There's no integrity in that we do something else, but we teach Uh, another standard. So he's saying look, uh, those who are teachers must Do what they Must teach what they do and he also says that There is going to be a stricter judgment. So that again is a reminder that you know, we we have to uh Have integrity right in uh, who we are and what we teach there's a parallel scripture Matthew 5 19 Where that's exactly what is brought brought out That scripture says whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men's soul Shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven But whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven So in a gist for those of us who are called to teach the word We will be subject to a stricter judgment and not only that we are called to higher standards And god wants us to live by higher standards And and that's when you know, we will be we will position ourselves in a place where we can Teach with authority because what we are doing is we are firstly practicing. We are firstly applying And then we are presenting the truth to the people. So that's something to note now Let's move on he uh, in verse two there is a comment about You know, uh, somebody who does not stumble in word being a perfect man. What is a perfect man? Perfect uh, when when we go by The language in which this was written, uh, it it is Uh, mature so perfect means mature perfect doesn't mean the way we understand it right like fully like completed and uh, Nothing more needs to be improved in that person But it means maturity someone who has gone to great levels of growth in their spiritual walk with the lord So he says the person who is mature. What is the correct sign of such a person? A sign would be that they are able to control their tongues Okay, so what they speak what is coming out of the mouth is under control Now such a person such a person is who james is referring to is Someone who's not stumbling in word Hand is a perfect man. And when one is able to control their tongue then it is likely that they are able to control or they are when we say control basically it's about Management, you know managing what we have so we are able to manage other aspects of life such as our passions such as our emotions such as the decisions that we make our choices and keep these things in check, but all these other things can be managed if one is firstly able to manage speech or how what we speak if it is like a Response that makes sense But reactionary like we have no control and we're just reacting reacting anything we want. We're speaking That is not a sign of maturity. So he talks about that and he Reminds us about the right character mature character and fully developed character that we need to have which has this connection firstly with Controlling or managing the speech or the words now. Let's Continue to talk about the tongue. So he's talking more about the tongue and he gives us examples of bits in horses mouths He gives us a example of rudder in a ship He also Talks about how a little bit of fire, right? Kindles a forest fire A spark rather kindles a forest fire So when we consider a bit in a in a horses mouth or a rudder or a spark of fire They seem very insignificant because they are small and It feels like you know, what is it that they can accomplish? But The reality is these tiny little things Can decide the course Or whether the you know, the horse is going East or west or north south Determined by that bit in its mouth or a rudder same way, right? It directs a ship and A forest fire obviously A careless spark of fire can start off and destroy entire Forests we've we've seen right like how sometimes it takes a couple of months even to put down the fire Even in our modern day with the access to modern day technology. So it's dangerous. It's dangerous And so he says in verse five the tongue is a little member Of our body very similar to what we discussed just now the tongue is also very little but The way these other Things have great power. He says the tongue boasts great things And see how great a forest a little fire kindles So he's teaching us about the power of the tongue teaching us about the power of the words that we speak And he also says that when one chooses to speak Misaligned to the word of God, you know, what does that mean one's own thoughts or Worse still influenced by the by the demonic world We may release words that are destructive that Bring all kinds of you know Evil consequences Which can break people's spirit and which which do evil Things in in people's lives and he's saying that In verse six he says the tongue is a fire. Okay, the tongue is a fire a world of inequity The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature And it is set on fire by hell We just discussed about an evil tongue That speaks destructive words and notice at the end of that Uh Verse it says and it is set on fire by hell. So such a tongue Uh, which is speaking iniquity It's as if you know, there's fire in hell right there's fire in hell. We know that it's as if a flame from there Has come and that is what has lit up that evil tongue So he's speaking like that. He's saying look that flame has come from hell itself Uh to a destructive tongue that destroys people's spirits Uh, and uh, that is something for us to be very Careful about uh, and he also reminds us here. See why is the tongue so dangerous? The course of our lives Depends he says this he sets on fire the course of nature the direction in which we are going to Head head up in life depends on what we are speaking How we are speaking about ourselves about others. We can keep destroying relationships right by speaking evil and bringing up So many things. So what's happening? It's affecting our relationships. It's affecting our our life Day-to-day life in general And that is leading us somewhere that is creating a certain future for us And so we are responsible and he says a sign of maturity is when one can manage The tongue and not a love these destructive words. He also says that when one speaks these evil words Not aligned to the word of god It does another damage and he says it defiles the whole body It defiles the whole body. We can uh, take this up as you know defiling our body And in in a sense, we could even think that It's it's uh, you know the way we've we've said that life and death is in the power of the tongue So the blessings that are due us when we speak the word of god Those come they minister to our spirit our soul and body But uh in the case of an evil tongue we are ministering uh, you know The lack of those blessings or destruction to our body and that's a sad part. So Minus be a first of all defiling our body. Secondly, the direction of our lives is going in a in A To a place that is not good So he says then what should we do? What should we do? We've got to go towards maturity and one of the Things about maturity is being able to control the tongue So he starts now speaking about Taming the tongue and he says look it's isn't it so interesting that man is able to tame wild beasts And reptiles creatures of the sea and we've all seen this a lot of this happens sometimes people are taming lions and you know, you have A big sea creatures even You know They they go do some tricks with the crocodiles and things like that and you wonder wow, you know, man is so powerful He's able to tame these dangerous And sometimes wild animals, but you know what? When it comes to taming our own tongue That's where many of us struggle and man struggles mankind in general struggles But he says that We need to tame the tongue. So what does taming the tongue mean? Keeping it under control and choosing what we want to speak and he goes on to talk about how The same tongue can Speak good and evil right the same tongue can bless their brothers and it can also curse their brothers now Uh, he says that same tongue That blesses god the father curses men And so it's like a stream of water from which you get Sweet drink fresh water and also bitter water, but how can that happen? How can that happen? Okay, we know that From a spring we can only get one a certain type of water, but if there's a mix of happening Uh, uh, that that is not good. That's not good and especially for us as believers and so he says look let this not be the case where Fresh water and salt water or in other words, you know good things and evil things are mixed up and That's what we are bringing forth from our tongues. Okay, uh, and Now he is moving on and he's saying look Why don't we apply wisdom earlier when we looked at chapter one He talked about Asking god for wisdom right asking god for wisdom when we are in a difficult circumstance He said count it all joy brethren, you know when you find yourself in um all kinds of Trials and then he went on in verse five and he said if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask god and god who gives You know, generously will give it to him. So even now he starts to speak about wisdom because Wisdom is connected even even to uh speaking the right words. Okay, and uh, uh, he Talks about wisdom. So he says who is wise and understanding among you Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. So he says, um One must have wisdom and the person who has wisdom What is the sign that they carry wisdom good conduct of their lives? Right and good works that are done when we look at the good conduct We look at the good works then we know that oh, okay, you know, this person is demonstrating wisdom but If there are other seeds in the person's life, so he's pointing out to things like bitter envy self seeking in the heart Okay, uh, then these things work against the truth of god's word. So when one carries wisdom, you know Uh maturity, it'll be seen through the good life But when one doesn't carry that and instead, you know carries seeds of Envy and selfishness in their heart Then their lives are against the truth of god's word and even that begins to show And so he says look it's better to get wisdom and certainly he's also making A point with relate with relation to the tongue We could say because how do we how do we tame the tongue? We need god's wisdom before we speak, you know before we are addressing matters and It it shouldn't be the reactionary, but it's got to be a response See even anger is a good thing because we see that jesus got angry when he saw unrighteousness But it was not like, you know Outbursts of anger because outbursts of anger rage all that comes under the Fruit of the flesh Right the acts of the flesh that we see enlisted in galatians chapter five But a wise man May have righteous anger But even in those situations the words that we speak right very intentional even if we are bringing in correction or we are bringing in You know some instruction it's got to come from the right heart and speak it for um bringing about God's purposes in that situation and that's a sign of maturity. That's a sign of wisdom and we need wisdom Even to speak the right words and it's a sign of maturity Which we already established now Since we're talking about wisdom He says a wisdom does not This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly sensual demonic. So he's talking about a a wisdom that Which causes fleshly Aspects of us to thrive Right, we call it wisdom But then when we look at the conduct the behavior um As he is enlisted envy self seeking All that comes through But the wisdom that is being presented now is a worldly wisdom Right, and we can see that in the actions. We can see that in the behavior. We can see that in the results So he he's telling us Earthly wisdom is connected to fleshly acts Whereas godly wisdom is connected to godly actions Um and again, he talks a little bit more here about you know envy and self seeking Where there is envy and self seeking confusion and every evil thing is there every Evil thing are there. So It's like a key for us to check Whether there is envy in our hearts envy is um jealousy when we are We we begin to focus on others And compare start comparing ourselves Uh, you know And we say that oh, okay, you know, how come they are better? How come they have more? and it causes a sense of Dislike for the other person that is envy right envy and self seeking. It's a selfish attitude selfish behavior He's saying when we carry these things in our hearts It'll create a lot of confusion So we must be careful never to allow these things to dwell in our hearts Okay, uh, so get rid of envy get rid of self seeking Now let's move on. Uh, he is talking about wisdom, isn't it? So he's he just gave us a picture of what godly wisdom is not what fleshly wisdom Looks like it will carry Uh fleshly things right and uh, we must be careful not to allow them in our lives or in our hearts but When we give place for godly wisdom It will bring forth the fruit of righteousness in our lives So what exactly does godly wisdom do so we have versus 17 and 18 throwing light on that It says but the wisdom that is from above Now notice there are features of that wisdom So godly wisdom has facets it has Um characteristics it has features What are these features? We are going to look at them. Um eight different ones are listed here And uh, uh, we will discuss about them eight traits are listed here So I'll read the scripture first. He says but the wisdom that is from above is first pure Then peaceable it is gentle willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy So these are the traits and verse 18 he says Excuse me Now the fruit of righteousness is sown In peace by those who make peace So let's look at all these traits First, you know, it is pure god the godly wisdom is pure Which means it is holy. It is clean. Um, it has honesty in it So when we're operating in godly wisdom That's what will be evident that it's clean. It's heavenly And uh, it's it's bringing about holiness and righteousness There will be the trait of peace in godly wisdom when we Walk with godly wisdom a sense of calm a sense of peace Prevails because we are walking by the spirit of god and Gentleness right gentleness. What is gentleness gentleness is an expression of kindness or or politeness Courtesy compassion. So there'll be an element of gentleness willing to yield that simply means That an attitude of Teachability where one so-called, you know, wise person is open to Learning is open to corrections. If at all they come They're way and they are teachable. They are teachable then willing to yeah full of mercy Which means expression of compassion and tenderness good fruits. Good fruits is what good fruits is We have positive outcomes. We have Outcomes that are glorifying god. We have outcomes that are edifying of the people So that is good fruits. No partiality. Okay, so that means godly wisdom will Have equity for all fairness for all. It's not like, okay I'm applying this rule to you. You follow it and I'm not going to follow it. That's not fair. No, that's not equity so the same standards are applicable and Or fair standards are applicable and equity and fairness among all people and no hypocrisy No hypocrisy means it's not too faced What whatever It is it is right. It's genuine. It's genuine and Of course, it will speak the truth in love and this is what you know god wants us to carry And when we walk in this kind of wisdom, we will Demonstrate that that mature life we will we will Bring honor and glory to god. So the reason why james must have enlisted all these things is to Develop the early congregation in the right Lifestyle, okay, maybe they they had all these issues. There was selfishness fighting People would have been calling themselves mature and not having any control on their Speech and james had to address these matters to them and finally you know, he talks about Peace right so those who make peace the peacemakers. They sow seeds peacefully That will bring them the fruits of right living. So with that, you know, we close off chapter three here and In the next class we will move on to chapter four and hopefully tomorrow we will finish the book of james Two chapters will you know go through them One after the other and we should be done with james this week and Yeah, we'll move on to the Other remaining books of the bible in the upcoming classes. So let me just Uh Open out this time for any questions. So if there are any questions, let's discuss Then we can pray and close All right. So seems like there are no Uh questions or you know comments. So Let us please pray And we wrap up today's class Could one of us on the call, please pray That's great Father god, we come to you under the name of jesus. We thank you for this day Thank you for the class that we had we thank you for the power that is in our tongue jesus and god i pray that jesus Everything that we learned today. We will carefully apply it in our life and be Assaults and lights the city around us to be a light that shines and is dark world lord Be with us remind us Your words lord when we uh fail to remember it whole spirit to help us Pick us up when we fall and we love it jesus And help us to walk according to your words. We thank you for pastor nancy and i thank you for everyone over here and jesus name i pray Amen Amen Thank you, everyone. Thank you for connecting god bless you. Have a great week ahead I'll see you tomorrow. We have a class tomorrow. So we'll catch up In the next session. Bye for now