James 3:1 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 the whole body.
There are two words in the English language that are quite common. They both start with the same letter. In fact the first four letters of both words are the same. Both words also contain a total of 10 letters. These two words are important in Spiritual matters. The words are: compromise and compassion. I say these words are important in Spiritual matters because they are both in play. In the secular world, compromise is often the way forward. That word is never found in the Bible.
Even our tyrannical P.M. understands that he needs to compromise on his wicked agenda. He comes out with what he truly wants, and lays it before the people. He shocks some people with his radical plans. He insists on discussing his ideas and does listen somewhat to different opinions. In the end he gets most of what he wants and continues to push for the rest. In the secular world the plan is to put out a radical idea and then see how close you can come to getting that idea put into play. The tactic is to shock people with the idea and take them off balance and then keep pushing your agenda into that shocked mood.
In a similar fashion that was how the Wuhan virus was rolled out. It was put out with a false warning of massive deaths. That turned out to be a lie, but it was still used as the basis of pushing a wicked agenda of death. The goal was to get the world into a state of panic. They succeeded in doing that for the most part. There are many people who are still living in a state of panic now. I heard recently of someone who supposedly tested positive for the Wuhan virus. You would think that by now people would understand they have no way of testing for that “virus”. The PCR tests were never designed for that purpose. The swabs they want to stick way up your nose do more harm than good. It seems that some people wear a positive diagnosis of the virus as a badge of honour. Strange world we live in.
Most professing Christians also use compromise as a means of living their lives. I spoke with a person yesterday who prided themselves on being a Christian. As we talked it became very apparent the person was not a Christian but a Catholic. I mentioned that to the person. People need to understand that the word “Christian” is a Biblical word and it refers to someone who is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not given as a badge of honour, but was given as a way to mark those people who truly trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Christianity was not a celebrated belief in the first century. As compromise set in, Christianity became a more popular term. The ones that hate Christianity the most now are the Muslims. Rick Warren became involved in a movement that was designed to soften the hatred between Muslims and “Christians”, known as “Chrislam”. Chrislam is a movement that began in the 1970’s in Lagos, Nigeria. This movement has been around for quite some time. It is important to note that Chrislam is heavily influenced by Islam. The “Christian” influence is first of all not Biblical. It is Catholics and N.E. and Emergent church philosophy that is not Biblical Christianity.
Compromise will definitely build a crowd. It will not lead people to Christ.
The other word is “compassion”. The word compassion is found 41 times in 39 verses in the Bible. It is found 20 times in 19 verses in the Old Testament and 21 times in 20 verses in the New Testament.
There are several Greek words used in the New Testament and translated as “compassion” sometimes. The general sense of those Greek words revolve around the idea of sympathy and suffering with another person in their situation. It is used to describe God in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, the Son of God in the New Testament. It is also used to describe the response of some people at times. God certainly has compassion for us as people. He demonstrated that often in the Bible. He understands the frailty of man. He knows how easy it is for true Christians to choose sin over righteousness. He also knows that we are all born lost in sin.
Biblical compassion does not find a way to “compromise” the truth to make it more palatable for sinners. Biblical compassion understands the weakness of man and points man to the only place of strength and holiness. God is never satisfied with weakness. He is never satisfied with unholiness. He provided the only way for us to be strong and holy.
Twenty times the phrase “be strong” is found in the Bible. That strength is only found in God. It is only when a person is saved and submitted to God that they can be strong as He expects us to be. Every born again Christian will fail to be strong at times. We all tend to compromise at times. That is never right, but it is a fact. When we compromise/sin, the solution is confession of sin and get back to where we need to be.
In our text today we are reminded of being careful about being masters. There is a greater tendency among men to be masters. The secular world is trying to push more women into becoming masters. God does not intend women to be masters. Women are to be the help meet for the man. A woman is not allowed to take authority over men. She is not to teach men. Too many men never learned how to be men and they want a woman to lead them around. They compromise on a regular basis to make that work.
God told James to warn us that masters will receive greater condemnation. A Biblical “master” is a teacher. He teaches others in the things of God and in the duties of man. According to what God told James to write here, we see that every Christian human master will fail God at times. We are not infallible. The popes claim to be infallible at times, but they are liars. It is essential for those who believe they are called to be masters, to be saved and learning the importance of godly humility.
Jesus referred to Moses as the meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3). God chose Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. He was also given the law and he was to teach the people the law. We also know that Moses was not without sin. He could not enter the land of Canaan because he disobeyed God in a very important matter. He regretted that sin, but he could not avoid the consequences of that sin. He did not lose his faith in God, but he missed out on a blessing from God.
In our text, God is not telling us we do not need masters. Every true master needs to be under THE MASTER, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every true master needs to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ. A true master is not in competition with the Lord. He is happy to point people to the Master.
John the Baptist was happy to point people to Jesus Christ. He was happy to step aside when Jesus began His public ministry. He understood that Jesus Christ needed to increase in the minds of the people. John knew he was not the Saviour. He wanted people to know the Lord Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
John served God faithfully. He died a violent death, but that was not a punishment from God. It was a judgment of man, but Jesus spoke very highly of John. He has a special place in heaven.
In verse 2 God reminds us of the importance of not offending people. He reminds us that we will often offend people. The Greek word translated as “offend” means “to err, sin, fail”. God again reminds us that we need humility in our lives. We need to think carefully before we speak. We need to be sure we have studied the matter out and that we are right in what we are saying. We do not always do that.
The word offend is also used of people offended by Jesus’ teaching. There the word offend means to cause to stumble. Many people stumbled at Jesus’ Words. They stumbled, not because He was wrong, but because their hearts were wrong. They did not like what He said. They set themselves up as the standard of truth, and rejected the Truth.
In our text, the only “perfect” man is Jesus Christ. It is important for us as people to have that compassion that will truly care about others. It is also important for us to be careful to point people to what the Bible says. Our opinions are not the Bible. We all have opinions. Our opinions might be based on the Bible, but we need to be sure we distinguish between our opinions and the Bible. When the Bible says something we need to hold fast to that. When we are not clear on something, we need to be sure to remind others that this is our opinion and we may believe we have good grounds for that opinion, but it is still only our opinion.
As an example, I know I have offended some people with what I believe happens when a baby dies. I have made it clear that it is my opinion, but some people still have taken offence to what I have said. They insist that their view is right, even though it is just an opinion as well. I am content to let God deal with that matter. He is God. He always does what is right. What I believe or what someone else believes will not change God’s mind. He is right. Where His Word is clear, we must be clear. Where His Word is not as clear to us, we need to admit that.
A Biblical master does not need to know everything. He needs to be careful to point people to God in all things. God is the Judge. He has given us enough Truth that we will never master in this life. There are areas where He is very clear, but most “masters” have chosen to reject that clarity. One area of this is in the doctrine of marriage. God is very clear on this, but that clarity is not acceptable to most. Even the disciples had trouble accepting Jesus’ clarity on that matter. Jesus did not change His Word to suit them. He stated:
Matthew 19:11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
He did not say it is alright to compromise on this because we might not accept it. He stated that His Word is Truth and some people will accept the Truth. All will be held accountable according to the Truth.
We will continue this in our next devotional, Lord willing.
Pastor Bartel
