Grace to the Humble - James 4:6-10
Sarah Judged - Hebrews 11:11-12
Abraham Went - Hebrews 11:8-10
Tongue Control - James 3:1-5
Lower and Upper Wisdom - James 3:14-18
Noah Prepared - Hebrews 11:7
Cursing Man - James 3:9-13
Enoch Pleases God - Hebrews 11:5-6
Abel Obeys God - Hebrews 11:4
Review:
1. Confident Faith 10:32-11:3
2. Abel, obedient faith 11:4
Introduction:
I. Better sacrifice----Hebrews 11:4
A. Better 4
1. By faith 4
a. Abel 4
b. Offered a more excellent sacrifice 4
c. (Better in quality G4119)
2. Than Cain 4
B. Righteous 4
1. By which he obtained a witness 4
a. that he was righteous 4
b. God testifying of his gifts 4
2. And by it he being dead 4
3. Still speaks 4
II. A better (his best) sacrifice----Genesis 4:1-11
A. Abel--Approved by God 1-4
1. Cain is the firstborn.
a. Cain 1
1) And Adam knew Eve his wife Genesis 4:1
2) Eve conceived and bare Cain 1
3) Eve: I have begotten a man from the Lord 1
b. Abel 2
1) She again bare his brother, Abel 2
2) Abel was a keeper of sheep 2
3) Cain was a tiller of the ground 2
2. Abel offers the firstborn 3-4
a. Cain offers vegetables and fruit (doesn’t say firstfruits) 3
1) And in the process of time, it came to pass 3
2) Cain brought of the fruit of the ground 3
3) An offering unto the Lord 3
b. Abel offers the firstborn of his flock 4
1) And Abel also brought the firstlings of the flock 4
2) And the fat of them 4
c. Respect for Abel 4
1) And the Lord had respect to Abel 4
2) And respect to his offering 4
B. Cain--Unapproved by God 5-11
1. Didn’t do well 5-7
a. No respect 5
1) But the Lord did not have respect to Cain 5
2) and his offering 5
b. The Lord said to Cain: Why are you wroth? 6
1) Why is your countenance fallen? 6
a) If you do well, shall you not be accepted? 7
b) And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. 7
2) Sin desires to rule over you. 7
a) And unto you shall be his desire 7
b) You can have the victory over sin 7
2. Abel, confronted by Cain (do what I say!!!) 8
a. Talking 8
1) And Cain talked with Abel 8
2) His brother 8
b. Murdering 8
1) And it came to pass (Everything came to a head.) 8
2) That Cain rose up against Abel his brother 8
3) And killed him 8
3. Cain, confronted by God 9-11
a. Bitterness revealed 9
1) God confronts 9
a) And the Lord said to Cain 9
b) Where is Abel, your brother? 9
2) Cain retorts 9
a) And Cain said, I do not know 9
b) Am I my brother’s keeper? 9
c) (Cain is showing bitterness to God with sarcastic ridicule.)
b. Blood is crying 10
1) The Lord: What have you done? 10
2) The voice of your brother’s blood 10
3) Cries to me from the ground 10
c. You are cursed 11
1) And now you are cursed from the earth 11
2) Which (the earth) has opened her mouth 11
a) To receive your brother’s blood 11
b) From your hand 11
Conclusion: Am I offering to God, my best? Or do I give him my leftover time, resources, and energy.
Destructive Tongue - James 3:6-8
Review:
1. Let the trial produce 1a 1-4
2. Liberal Giver 1b 1-8
3. Fades Away 1c 9-11
4. Drawn Away by Lust 1d 12-16
5. First Fruits 1e 17-20
6. Doers 1f 21-27
7. Rich in Faith 2a 1-5
8. Guilty of All 2b 6-10
9. Law of Liberty 2c 11-13
10. Dead faith 2d 14-20
11. Justified by Works 2e 21-26
12. Control the tongue 3a 1-5
13. Tongue is set on fire by hell 3b 6-8
Introduction: How afraid are you of fire? What about hell fire? Are you afraid of what the tongue can do?
I. On fire 6
A. An evil fire 6
1. The tongue is a fire 6
2. A world of iniquity 6
B. Defiles the whole body 6
1. So is the tongue among our members 6
2. That it defiles the whole body 6
C. Set on fire by hell 6
1. And sets on fire the course of nature 6
2. And it is set on fire of hell 6
II. Untamable 7
A. For every kind of beasts 7
1. And of birds 7
2. And of serpents 7
3. And of things in the sea 7
B. Tamable 7
1. Is tamed 7
2. And has been tamed by mankind 8
C. But no man can tame the tongue 8
III. Evil and deadly 8
A. The tongue is an unruly evil 8
B. The tongue is full of deadly poison 8
Conclusion: The tongue is an example of works. Faith is evidenced by works. The tongue’s action is a work.
Review: remember its all done by God’s power—what is on the inside of us
The difference between “faith evidenced by works” and a “works” salvation:
· It depends on who performs the work. God or me. Faith accesses grace; grace is God’s power (God’s work) to say no to the sins of the flesh, selfishness-lust.
· It also depends on what I am depending on. Am I trying to do more good than bad so God will look favorable on me? So now it is a process to earn my salvation-which is impossible. Or am I justified, saved in a moment of time by faith placed in Jesus Christ who gives me perfect righteousness and grace to continue in righteous living?
Tongue Control - James 3:1-5
I. The secret to controlling our whole body 1-2
A. Teachers have greater responsibility 1
1. My brethren, be not many masters 1
2. Knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation 1
B. Control the tongue (what’s inside us); control the whole body 2
1. Control our words…2
a. For in many things we offend all 2
b. If any man offend not in word 2
2. We are really talking about our heart condition; who we are on the inside; spelled out in our thoughts
a. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Mat 12:34)
b. Our words will eventually picture to others what is on the inside
c. What we love; we talk about; it sort of bursts out of us
3. Control our whole body 2
a. The same is a perfect man 2
b. And able to bridle the whole body 2
II. Illustrations of control the little, to control the big 3-4
A. Control the bit; control the horse 3
1. Behold, we put bits in horses mouths 3
2. That they obey us 3
3. And we turn about their whole body 3
B. Control the rudder; control the whole ship 4
1. Takes a fierce wind to drive ships 4
a. Behold also the ships 4
b. Which though they be so great 4
c. And are driven of fierce winds 4
2. Yet turned by a small rudder 4
a. Yet they are turned about 4
b. With a very small helm 4
c. Wherever the pilot (steering) turns (with violent motion) 4
III. Secret repeated 5
A. Little but powerful (control it; what we are on the inside!! And you control your whole body) 5
1. Even so the tongue is a little member 5
2. And boasts great things 5
B. Next time 5-
1. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindles 5
2. More about fire next time—the destructive force
Conclusion: What does James mean by “justified by works”? Faith produces works just like an apple tree produces leaves and apples.
Review: remember its all done by God’s power—what is on the inside of us
The difference between “faith evidenced by works” and a “works” salvation:
· It depends on who performs the work. God or me. Faith accesses grace; grace is God’s power (God’s work) to say no to the sins of the flesh, selfishness-lust.
· It also depends on what I am depending on. Am I trying to do more good than bad so God will look favorable on me? So now it is a process to earn my salvation-which is impossible. Or am I justified, saved in a moment of time by faith placed in Jesus Christ who gives me perfect righteousness and grace to continue in righteous living?