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The theme of James has been faith without works is dead. James has spent the latter part of the book indicating areas that the Early Church were not allowing faith to bring righteous fruit. After dealing with the sin of respecting persons, and not attempting to bridle the tongue, James begins to deal with 6 other sins that too many Christians deem "acceptable sins." We tend to categorize sins and make one bigger than another, and indeed it is much easier to identify murder and robbery than it is gossip and pride. God is a holy God, however, and to Him sins of the heart are just as impure as sins of the flesh. James is not trying to uphold an impossible to reach standard but rather to remind the church that they have "not arrived" just because they have overcome easy to identify "evil deeds." We must constantly be growing in God and because of our sinful flesh, we never reach a place where we don't have to be broken and submissive to God's Spirit and will. In this lesson, James is addressing six actual problems that were in the Early Church and not hypothetical situations. As he has been thus far, James will be very frank and to the point.

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The first sin that James addresses here is the sin of evil speaking. Once again James addresses the brothers as "brethren" which means that he knows that this teaching will hit "a little close to home" and he is trying to soften the blow. Having already taught on the dangers of the tongue, this must have been some problem for James to bring it up again. Notice the style of the Early Church ministers' preaching. They weren't vague and ambiguous. They identified the problem, called it what it was, and gave the scriptural solution. For a church to have an Apostolic anointing today, the pastor must also be able to be direct in addressing issues.

James is saying that to judge the motives of a brother or sister and to speak evil of them without knowing all of the facts, is sin. There were no other New Testament books written at the time that James was writing this book, so James appealed to the Old Testament law. The law forbade speaking evil of others and wrongly convicting others (Exodus 23:2; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:16). The law also taught that two or preferably three witnesses should come forth before a person was convicted of transgression. Keep in mind that in the law this applied to every law, spiritual or legal.

We are no longer bound to the law in the sense that we have to upkeep the sacrifices of the law, but God's moral code does not change. Some of the sacrificial and ceremonial law was to teach us about the time of Grace that was to come. For example, as we study the Passover Lamb and the rituals and commandments concerning that feast, we can get a clearer picture of what exactly happened at Calvary and how to apply the work of the Cross to our life today! Parts of the law, however, are just as valid under Grace because they revealed the moral code of God. All of the 10 commandments except the Sabbath day are taught in the New Testament as still being required. The Sabbath is spiritually fulfilled because it was symbolical of the Holy Ghost and the rest that is entered in after the New Birth:

We do not know exactly what day the seventh day of Creation fell upon and are not bound to keep it. The writer of Hebrews teaches that it was symbolical of another rest that was yet to come AFTER Jesus walked the earth. Isaiah also prophesied about the Holy Ghost to come and how that it would be the rest:

Speaking in tongues accompanied the infilling of the Holy Ghost when it was poured out. Stammering lips are often a sign that a person is about to be born again of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Indeed, right before a person receives the Holy Ghost and begins to speak a heavenly language, they will often feel as if their tongue is "thick" or "heavy" as the Spirit of God tries to take control! As this happens, their native tongue will often begin to stammer. The Holy Ghost is a place of rest for us to enter into! It has spiritually fulfilled the Sabbath. There are some people who want to argue on which day the Sabbath falls and resurrect all of the Sabbath rules, even limiting the distance that a person walks on that day. But those people usually do not have the Holy Ghost as on the Day of Pentecost experience and they are the very ones that Isaiah prophesied about when he said that the rest would come but some would not hear!

On the other hand, some people who realize that we are not bound to the literal Sabbath day because we have received the Holy Ghost will sometime err the other way and not attend church regularly. A common argument from these people is "my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, so I don't have to attend church." or "I'm at church everywhere I go, because Jesus is with me." These people don't understand that Grace is stricter than law and that just because they don't have to obey a particular day that church attendance is optional. For example, the law stated that the people had to go to church one day a week, on the Sabbath. However Hebrews teaches us:

The writer is writing about true faith and how it is shown. True faith will result in "faithfulness" and that the church should provoke one another unto good works. In other words, their habits should show forth faithfulness and provoke others to do so as well. In verse 25 he tells them how show forth their faithfulness: by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together like some want to do! So even though the Sabbath is spiritually fulfilled, Grace still requires faithfulness to the assembly of the church! And not just one day a week, but we are to do it "so much the more" as we see the day of Christ's return approaching! So grace is once more to exceed law and the law required one day to be set aside for worship, so grace should have more! That's why we have a complete day of worship on Sunday, and also Wednesday night church service! We are fulfilling the law of love! God has done so much more for us than He did for those under the law, we should be more grateful and worshipful than them! And even more so the closer we get to Jesus' Christ's return! Some churches are cutting back services because of everyone's "busy lifestyle," but we should be having more services not less, because we are getting closer to the coming of the Lord! Indeed, the Early Church was in the temple daily! Why? They thought the Lord was coming back soon. Three times is really a minimum of services that we need a week, and that's why we have prayer, Youth service, functions, and Thursday night Bible study! And notice that the writer of Hebrews went on in verse 26 to mention "willful sin." What willful sin is he talking about? The willful sin of not attending church!

Obviously some of the law is still applicable in Grace and we can know the ones that are because their principles are taught in the New Testament. Another good example of this is the many sins that were labeled “abominations unto God.” An abomination is a sin that God particularly despises such as prostitution, homosexuality, cheating in business (false weights and measures), using divorce to create legal affairs, and men and women wearing each other’s clothing. Keeping that in mind, listen to who will NOT enter into the New Jerusalem according to REVELATION in the New Testament:

It is clear then, what God hated then, God also hates now. That applies to sins of the tongue. In fact a person that “soweth discord among the brethren” is one of the worst abominations mentioned (Proverbs 6:16-19)!

Our point in James is that the principles of the law in regards to speaking evil still apply today under Grace. While James was the first to write down this fact, he was not the only Apostle to do so or wrong in doing it. In fact Jesus also taught that two or three witnesses needed to be instituted for proper judgment in the Apostolic church.

If someone has offended you, then YOU are to go them privately before you tell anyone else! If after you have gone to them in the right attitude, they will not receive you or make it right, THEN you are to take two or three witnesses with you and approach them again. THEN if they will not listen you take it before the church and the church (ie.. pastor) is to take appropriate action. Never are you to tell others of your situation without the one who offended you being present! Paul also taught this:

So you have three witnesses, the Law, Jesus, and Paul teaching us that we should have three witnesses before acting upon an accusation or story. The sin of evil speaking is still a sin under the law of love in Grace just as it was under Law! The sacrifice has changed to the spotless Lamb of God, the priesthood has changed to those who are living a holy, separated life, the temple has changed to our bodies with the Holy Ghost living inside, the Sabbath has changed to a rest that God brings when we receive the precious Holy Ghost, but the tongue, and man’s problems with it and God’s feelings toward it have not changed!

What James was saying is that if you speak evil against your brother, then you are saying that God’s law and guidelines mean nothing and that you are the lawgiver! When we criticize people and judge their MOTIVES, we are making our self as God who is the one who gave the law. If you have a problem with somebody, then you need to get it straight with them and not speak of it to other people. Jesus made that very clear in Matthew chapter 18. To talk about them without going to the person and obeying the commandment of our Lord tells God that you are better than Him and know better how to handle the situation. Maybe that’s why when we talk out of both sides of our mouth, it usually comes back to bite us!

I’ve already taught in this series on the dangers of the tongue and the sins of the tongue, so allow me to move forward past teaching on gossip, backbiting, and slander and talk about when it is right to judge others.

The world knows that Jesus said to judge not. In fact today, if a preacher preaches against sin and a person doesn’t want to line up to God’s Word, then the person will usually resort to “judge not.”

The main way that we are commanded to judge is if a preacher’s teaching lines up with the Word of God. Paul commanded the church in Corinth to:

In other words, let the prophets prophesy and then see if it is really truth! So we have a God-given responsibility to judge whether or not a minister is teaching the truth. Not to judge the person’s motives, but to judge his teachings and prophesying (which means here “anointed words in a known language”).

The best way to whether or not something being taught or preached is truth is to see if it lines up with the Word of God! In fact it will be the Words of Jesus that judge people in the end of time! God is not going to take into account our good deeds versus bad deeds but rather all of our deeds versus the Scripture!

What this means is that if a person’s teaching and preaching contradicts the Bible, then you need to not accept that teaching. You do not have to verbally attack the person, but you must beware the words that they are speaking!

Jesus also taught that another way that you would know false prophets would be by the fruit they bear:

If a minister or layperson is in truth, then their words and actions will bring about the fruit of truth. Ask yourself this question: is the preacher’s doctrine bringing about a Day of Pentecost, new-birth experience in their church? If so, then they are preaching at least some of the truth. If not, then they are not preaching truth. Is the preacher’s teaching of doctrine call for people to be submitted to God in every area and to solve their problems by causing themselves to obey the principles of the Word of God? Then they are preaching truth. If a church does not have the fruits of the Early Apostolic church: the doctrine of the Oneness of God, the Acts 2:38 message of salvation (Repentance, Water Baptism in the name of Jesus, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues), and a call for outward and inward holiness for separation from the world, then they are not preaching truth. Remember the theme of James is “faith without works is dead.” You cannot separate true faith from it’s resulting truth! An individual who loves truth, will produce the fruit of truth!

Therefore it is not sin to say “no, that lifestyle or action is sin according to scriptures.” It is not judging to tell someone who has not completed the Acts 2:38 plan of salvation “no, according to scripture, you are not saved and alright, there is something that you are missing.” It is not judging for me to say “that church is not preaching truth.” Because by doing so, I am not really the judge, but the Word of God is!

However, it is sin to attack the person who is not in truth! They may not be in truth, but they may be walking in all the truth that they know. If you criticize something, then ask yourself “what am I doing to change the situation?” If they are not in truth, then who is teaching them? The sin of evil speaking comes in when we speak of someone’s actions, but don’t try to help.

We won’t have time to cover all of the sins tonight, but fast forward to the bottom of the chapter and see James’ focus thought in trying to correct these sins:

What is the difference between judging fruit and judging the person? What is the difference between helpful comments and criticism? What is the difference between standing up for what is right and gossip? When you are guilty of inaction! When you are not really doing anything to help them get past it. When you criticize something without genuinely first trying to help, then you are killing it with spiritual murder. If you need surgery, then you have no problem submitting to a surgeon taking a knife and cutting your skin. Sure he has a knife in his hand, and is damaging your skin, but his intention is to help the situation out. The patient who has just had his life saved by emergency surgery doesn’t mind the recovery time for the wound to heal. The knife was administered in genuine intentions to help. But if someone were to take that same knife and lash out and then leave you bleeding on the ground, your feelings would be quite different. Same knife, same body, but different intentions of the one who was wielding the knife!

When we speak out about something that we do not like in someone else’s life, our intentions are very important! We should not extend a hand in criticism of a person unless we have already extended a hand of mercy first. Those who cross the line and commit the sin of evil speaking are those who use the tongue carelessly as a sword.

Notice the following Psalm which does a terrific job at giving the characteristics of those who are guilty of the sin of evil speaking, and thus teaches us how to tell if we are committing the same sin:

The evil worker uses their tongue as a sword. They are not really concerned about what they cut as long as they get something! Notice also that the Psalmist says that they shoot arrows of “bitter words.” Bitterness is the fruit of unforgiveness and rebellion. When bitterness is the tone and root of my words and criticism, then I have committed the sin of speaking evil!

The devil loves false secrecy. That’s why Jesus said to go to the person who has offended you and not to tell anyone else until you had tried to make things right. If you have spoken of a person’s unfavorable situation to someone else and have not gone to the actual person, then that is a very clear sign that you are committing the sin of evil speaking.

Gossips are attracted to bad news. If you love to repeat bad news and be the bearer of a brother’s sin, then you are engaged in the sin of evil speaking. Simply put, if it does not have anything to do with you, then why repeat it? But the evil speaker diligently searches out sins and other people’s shortcomings. They are always suspicious and ever looking for some new material.

I had a teacher tell me something a long time ago and I have tried to make it my rule of thumb. She said, “Great minds talk about ideas, Average minds talk about events, and Poor minds talk about people.” If you were to record your daily conversation, then how would your mind rank according to her scale?!

Eventually the sin of evil speaking will catch up with you. It is true that people tend to criticize what they have a problem with themselves. Typically the reason that they haven’t helped the other person out of the ditch, is because they can’t get themselves out of the ditch. Notice the scripture says that “suddenly shall they be wounded.” Show me someone who is easily wounded with words, and I’ll show you a gossip. If someone hurts them with words, they will be extremely hurt.

In modern English we would say that this verse says that they will get a good dose of their own medicine! They will be offended because somebody will gossip and speak evilly about them! Remember: if they will complain about somebody else to you, then they will complain about you to somebody else! Notice also that the scripture says that “all that see them shall flee away.” A person who does not repent and change their habit of “speaking evil” of their brothers and sisters will eventually have very few friends and not be well liked. God makes sure of it!

If you are righteous, then you will be glad about the things of God and how He wants things done! You will not climb upon the judgment seat to speak about things and people that does not directly concern you. You will judge the actions and teachings of others according to the Word of God and note within yourself whether or not it is truth! You will not speak negatively of a person to someone else before going to that person and trying to make things right with a great attitude. You will make the decision to help not hurt by criticism, and the faults of others will drive you to do something to help them, not simply talk about them.

The sin of evil speaking is still rampant today. We must move in faith and ask God’s help to continually work at conquering our tongues!