Conflict Within the Church part 5 The Demonic Deed of Defamation

We'll take your Bible and turn with me to James chapter 4 James chapter 4 we're gonna finish up verse 11 and 12 really our primary verse is going to be verse 12 But we do have to hit back go back to verse 11 because of these two verses really go together Now I purposely divided these verses I could have made one message out of these two verses Because I wanted to share with you some stories I wanted to share with you a little bit of information Sometimes I do that purposely because there's a little more that I think that we need to get now I hate that we broke up these two messages One the first part was prior to homecoming, but that's just the way things go That's the way cookie crumble sometimes But if you remember the previous message was church conflict with excuse me conflict within the church part 4 And it was the demonic deeds of defamation and we're really in the same title This morning it will be church or conflict within the church part 5 and it will be the demonic deed of defamation We will finish up these verses because verse 11 and verse 12 go together Now we learned in verse 11 that this was a bad church situation What I mean by a church situation a bad church situation these Christians were sinning against one another We know that these were Christians that were scattered from Jerusalem Because of the persecution and this is obvious that James is addressing Christians see if you're not careful You will not realize James will transition from Christians to lost people.

He's going back and forth He's just he's throwing he's shooting bullets out there left and right because there's so much that he wants to say But we know that he's addressing Christians Starting in verse 11 because how many times does he use the word brothers or brethren? It's like three or four times But what was the sin?

It's obvious because of the title and how we've gotten started in these verses that the sin was Defamation or slanderous speech that was used against one another now if you remember what we looked at the week before last They were speaking evil Against one another I was able this week to talk to a Christian brother who was talking about having to Make some observation in his church and he was seeing some things in the life of this church that were not correct And he said to me he said I don't want to be judgmental I don't want to say anything out of line and I was able to go to this verse and I was able to say no You were not speaking evil of these people or of the circumstances of the circumstances You are observing things that don't line up with the scripture So this is how bad it was this was the sin there was evil slanderous Speech defamation of one another now we learn the definition Or we learn what defamation and slander or the definitions From two different places we learn what Webster said Webster's definition of defamation is an act of injuring another's reputation by any slanderous communication written or oral Injuring the good name of another I think we can understand that now Slender is very much like that Slender is a false tale or a report Maliciously uttered tending to injure the reputation of another now, that's what Webster defines these words as and that is exactly What's going on in these people?

Now I also helped us understand by going back to Genesis chapter 3 That might be a little more subtle for some of us But it is a great example of slander and defamation Remember what Satan did Satan he defamed God's words by saying did God say he Slandered the Word of God he slandered the character of God because what he was doing was undermining the very character of the one who commanded Eve and Adam what to do and also he Defamed or slandered God himself And if we really think about it when we look at these verses in chapter 3 starting in verse 1 It is a classic example of Slender of defamation now, it's important for us to remember that their sin was evil in nature But it's also important for us to see that the speech that we're observing that is on the surface But there was more to the speech and I think we started to see that in verse 11 We learned that their sin was not just against one another But it was against the word in that what we saw in verse 11 in Slandering one another they were judging the word so on the surface we might see the speech but behind that speech verse 11 reveals that there was a greater sin and that tells us that the Situation was far more grave than we realize now and speaking evil against one another They were judging the word instead of doing what the word says They thought they were doers of the word, but actually they were judging it.

Can you imagine that? They would have puffed up. They would have you know grabbed themselves by the coat and said look we're doers of the word But James says no no by your evil speech you reveal that you were judging the word I told Keith this it's as if they were tearing pages out of the very word of God and saying I don't need that Balling it up and throwing it aside That's exactly what they were doing and this tells us that this situation was worse It was far more worse than we realize and we're gonna get into the verses verse 12 and we're gonna see that it gets a little deeper it gets a little worse it gets Pretty bad.

So let's get back to our verses. I'm gonna read verse 11, but we will be in verse 12 through the rest of the message James says do not speak against one another brethren. That's that word speaking evil against one another He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law But if you judge the law you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it now notice verse 12 there is only one lawgiver and Judge the one who is able to save and to destroy? But who are you who judge your?

Neighbor now you can see the information on the screen We're gonna look at two main truths this morning right out of verse 12 and it really builds on verse 11 That's why I wanted to give us a quick review So truth number one. I want us to see that they sinned against God they sinned against God go back to the verse there is only one lawgiver and judge the one who is able to save and To destroy now again James is showing the depth of their sin on the surface It looks like speech on the surface It looks like they're sinning against one another but James is showing what's behind that speech And we see that the sin is much deeper than evil speech Let's break this verse down, and I want us to see some truth first First I want you to notice that God is the one who gave the law God is the one who gave the law look at verse 12.

There is only one lawgiver and Judge the English Standard Version and the King James read lawgiver Now in the original language it reads exactly like this One is the lawgiver and judge Now the word lawgiver refers to the one who now notice put the law into practice And in the noun form in the scriptures it only refers to God Only it refers to God simply put God is the one and the only lawgiver now some of you who are Literate in the Old Testament you will remember the story of the Exodus you will remember that God called his people out of Egyptian bondage But after God had called them God called Moses to himself And it was God who gave the Ten Commandments as a matter of fact the word of God says Though the word that we have says that God wrote that it was by his own finger Now we've talked about this before as we look at the word of God many times we see the personality Of the individuals who pin the word of God we've seen that in our first and second Timothy study on Sunday nights We see so much of Paul's personality Coming out so in that we ask ourselves who wrote the book of first Timothy was it God or was it man?

Well the answer to that is yes, it's both God wrote that as he inspired those men to write the word of God and in like the book of James We see some of James personality coming out But yet with the Ten Commandments, what do we see it was written by the finger of God? God gave the law he was the only Lawgiver and those people of God who received the law of God understood that Moses and Aaron even those who had fallen into sin when God was giving that word That those Ten Commandments to Moses they knew that it was given listen by God and see that's what James is saying James is saying that listen it is God who has given us the law it is God who has given us the word God gave the law Second I want you to notice that God is judge go back to the verse There is only one God lawgiver and judge the one who is able to save and to destroy Now the King James uses the word lawgiver, but it does not say judge now again Go back to what the original says it says one is the lawgiver and judge That's exactly the way it reads in the original this word judge It refers to the one now listen who could apply the law It refers to the one who could apply the law so simply put God is the lawgiver He is the one and only lawgiver, but yet now we see he is the one and only God who can apply That law making him the one and the only judge He is the one and only lawgiver and he is the one and only judge And that's what James is trying to reiterate.

He's trying to say to the people now listen God is the one who's given us the law and God is the judge But notice what he says about the the God who is the judge go back to the verse There is only one lawgiver and judge now notice what he says the one who is able to save and to destroy What James is saying is God alone is the one who can save James is referring to those who are in Christ Jesus See those of us who are born again. We are in Christ. We are we are behind the blood I was talking with someone this week.

I don't remember who or the context It'll probably come to me on the way home But I was talking to someone this week and I was talking about the fact that those of us who are in Christ When God sees us he sees the blood Remember in that great Exodus story when they were supposed to celebrate the Passover What did Moses tell them to do take some blood of that innocent lamb and put it over the door post and get behind that Door post and when the death angel came through what did he see he saw the blood and those who were behind the blood Were protected That's a picture of Christ See for us who are in Christ now listen God sees us behind the blood we have been saved and we are being saved and we will continue to be saved and what James is saying is There is one lawgiver and one judge who is able to save But he's able to destroy Now only God can save and only God can destroy this word destroy refers to the judgment It refers to the fact that there are those one day who will be cast into that Eternal pit into that eternal fire.

They will be cast away from God Into hell they will be judged for forever and ever and ever and ever 1000 million trillion years from now they will still be in judgment and See what James is doing is James is showing the depth of their sin because in speaking evil against one another they are They are judging the word saying they do not need to adhere to certain portions of the word But yet the next step is they are sinning against God because listen they are taking the very place of God Imagine that This group of sinning Christians were actually trying to take God's place And you know they might have stepped back and said wait a minute now All I'm doing is just saying some things about this this this brother over here All I'm doing is talking about this sister over here.

No James is showing them that they are trying to take the very place of God And look we see a process they're speaking evil against one another They're judging the word and they are sinning against God by Elbowing God out of the way and they're saying no God I am judge I Am the one that knows best I? Like how John MacArthur puts it he says the desire to usurp the place of God has been the essence of every sin ever committed Sin seeks to dethrone God to remove him as supreme lawgiver and judge and to rule in his place In essence that is what sin is So when we sin whether it is that little white lie or that evil thought or that dollar bill that we pick up that Belongs to someone else or when we speak evil against a brother what we are doing is we are dethroning God and we are taking the very place of God and saying no God I know best and That's what James is showing these Christians that they are doing See it's difficult for some of us to stomach the fact that these could be Christians But but verse 11 says do not speak evil against Another brethren he who speaks against a brother or judges his brother He says against another brother the context is Christians.

This is in the life of the church I Used to go to church with a man who was like this I Won't call his name I'll give him a name I'll just call him Jim I Never forget how I saw through the years just this pattern emerge in this man's life He just always happened to know it all See he said in the pew just like you he brought his Bible to church just like you He came Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night. I'm telling you if it was a goat roping at church. He was gonna be there He looked very good on the outside.

He served he rolled up his sleeves And he did a lot of things in the life of the church, but see he always had this habit of judging other people Somebody in the life of the church if they didn't live their life like he thought they should I'm gonna tell you he had just This short fuse with him and all of a sudden he would just turn the table and he would begin to judge them and even Begin to say what's wrong with them. What's wrong with them. What's wrong with them?

There was no love for them There were no patience for them and what he was doing was he was judging the word and he was basically taking the place of God in their life And this man is exhibited a pattern of behavior like this for years and What did it do it brought about destruction and it brought about pain and it brought about heartache and it did not Encourage the brothers it did not help the brothers when they're struggling it did not help brothers and sisters in Christ Because look he had a a tall order to feel see there's a word we have for people like this most of the time They're legalists I've had my fair share of legalism and I don't like it Not all of the brothers that fall into the sin are legalists, but a lot of times they will be legalists They will have rule after rule after rule after rule And if you cannot meet every one of those rules just right they will judge you they will stand back and be real heart That's the way this man was And he looks so good And even had a very charismatic personality that made people want to follow him but in his wake now listen was destruction So what I want you to see is they sin now look against God See the progression they're sitting against one another in evil speech, but yet right behind the surface They are judging the word because they are going to the places in the word where it says they are supposed to love their brother And encourage their brother.

They're tearing those pages out, but yet now James shows this that they are sinning against God by taking God's place Second I want you to see I Want you to see that they sin against themselves You You'll notice that in the notes I put that they sin against themselves and I put in parentheses the body I think you'll see what I mean by that notice verse 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge the one who was able to save and destroy But now here's the second portion, but who are you to judge your neighbor?

The James finishes verse 12 by coming back to the beginning of the situation Who are you to judge your neighbor and he asks a question every translation that I've looked at asks a question So I want you to notice some things out of this verse maybe that you've not seen first I want you to notice that they had a pride problem Go back to the verse, but who are you to judge your neighbor that giant James does not use the word pride But it's right there. He says who do you think you are?

They have a a pride problem now every translation basically says the same thing James asked him a question and this question reveals the root of their problem And I think the root of their problem is pride That little small word five letters Pride what does he say? But who do you who do you think you are? And see this issue of pride it is no small sin as we're gonna see If you have your Bible, I would like you to turn with me to the book of Isaiah To the book of Isaiah. I normally don't ask you to turn around on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night or excuse me Sunday night But turn to Isaiah.

I think it's important that we see these verses in chapter 14 Some of you might know exactly where I'm going Isaiah chapter 14. This is the account given of the fall of Lucifer God's giving us what happened in forever past. I don't know when it happened, but we know that it happened in the past This is the fall of Luke Lucifer or Satan Isaiah chapter 14 You can jot the verse down and listen.

It's before Jeremiah after Proverbs But notice what Isaiah says he says how you have fallen from heaven Oh star of the morning son of the dawn you have been cut down to the earth You have you who have weakened the nations and notice what the word says, but you said in your heart notice I Will ascend to the heaven I will raise my throne above the stars of God and I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights and the clouds I Will make myself notice like the most high How many times did he say I but what is Satan doing there?

He is saying I Will rise up and I will take the very place of God and the very root of his problem was that same five-letter word pride and That's what James is showing them. You are doing exactly what Lucifer did and what is he saying? He's saying but who are you and? He's revealing their pride Going back to James 12. I want you to notice second that they had a love problem But you he says but who who are you to judge your neighbor? I Want you to notice that they had a love problem? Again, he doesn't use the word love here But what is he saying who are you to judge your neighbor when you should be loving your neighbor?

Who are you to judge your brother when you should be loving your brother? Who are you to judge your sister when you should be loving your sister? So in this question, he's revealing that they had a pride problem and a love problem their sin was aimed At those that they should have loved the most Let me repeat that again Their sin it was aimed at the very ones that they should have loved the most now listen This was a sin inside the family. I Know we all come from different family backgrounds, but you know when family hurts us It's a little different is it not?

That's what James is saying He's saying the ones that you should have loved the most you are judging them and listen this Judging it is the opposite of love and this is how the sin of pride is flashed out in the family He's saying you got a pride problem You got a love problem, and that's why you speak evil against one another, but oh you think it's just speech Well, you know what you were doing is you're judging the word and you're sinning against God But in the last portion of verse 12. What is he showing them?

You are sinning against yourselves you are sinning against each other You are sinning against the body and what James is showing is is when you sin against a brother You're actually sinning against yourself He's saying when you sin against the sister you are sinning against yourself One of the Bible commentators said that in our language It would read like this who in the world do you think you are sitting in condemnation of someone else?

Another Bible commentator that I read said those who are judging are often in different notice to the terrible condition of our own faith And that's what James is showing you're judging your brother when there's something wrong with you and What he is showing at this in the verse 12 which we can easily overlook is listening listen You're sinning against yourself because when you sin against those who are in the family you sin against you Remember the man I talked about earlier I called him Jim Ultimately he ended up hurting himself Ultimately he's still in a pattern of hurting himself because listen in Judging all of those around him those around him who were supposed to make him a better Christian a Stronger Christian those who God had put around him for his benefit He judged them and he took the very place of God and he alienated them from himself So therefore those who were supposed to benefit him He pushed out and what did he do he hurt himself?

He hurt the body He hurt brothers and sisters and he hurt him self listen family needs family The body it needs the body and that's what James is showing us Because when we sin like this we sin and we hurt each other and actually we think we're doing good Because we're puffed up with pride and listen we have deceived ourselves And we know what's best I know what's best for over here.

I know what's best for this family over there I know what's best His pride and it's a lack of love But in the long run it ends up hurting now listen everybody It always ends up hurting everybody Now as I begin to close I want to remind you of the story And it was lengthy that I shared the week before last When we were in the verse verse 11 when we were in conflict within the church part for the demonic deed of defamation Remember I told you about my friend Those of you who weren't here I have a friend who was in ministry and he was put in this particular ministry situation He was serving on church staff and he was a victim of people within the life of the church who took the place of God Who judged the Word of God and they just churched him they trumped up charges They accused his his wife of immorality They accused him of doing certain things in his job and in his call and you know They just took out some big clubs and and they rallied up the troops You know to chase him and witch hunt him and tar and feather him and it almost destroyed his life It had a great strain on his marriage, and he has a lot of scars and listen It has taken him years to get over it But what I want you to see is those who were in within the life of the church those who were the ringleaders They had a problem and they had an inward problem of pride and self-deception All they thought they were right They were puffed up with pride They had so believed a lie that they had deceived themselves and when men would come and try to Reason with them with the truth they didn't want to hear it They were totally deceived by pride and look self-deception and I want to show you something that is always inward It's not always something that we see But yet when their actions came to light when they when they did what they wanted to do when they Churched this friend of mine when they made all these Accusations when they got people to follow them and spy on them and when they started talking in and quiet corners and getting on The telephone you know what happened the outward sin now listen of cannibalism I Think you know what cannibalism is I think that's pretty much been eradicated off the face of the earth I've heard of missionaries and days of old who went to the cannibals, you know I don't know if you ever heard of the man named All my minds just gone blank Patton John Patton who went to the cannibals felt called to go to the cannibals and the One of the naysayers came to him and said if you go to the cannibals You'll be eaten and he said well if I'm eating by the cannibals or eaten by the worms It doesn't matter my body's going to the earth dirt and I'm gonna be eaten sometime and he went to the cannibals But yet what I want you to see is when this type of behavior is running loose in the church is cannibalistic because listen it devours those who are in the family and listen that's when this inward sin becomes an outward sin that's when this pride and Self-deception in ignoring the word and ignoring sound counsel and taking the place of God Finally is unleashed in the life of the church and it destroys men.

It destroys women. It destroys families It destroys people it splits churches It causes people to leave the church and never come back and let me tell you the lost world sees it all I'm thankful to say two things that my friend he's not just surviving. He's walking in victory Brothers and sisters can survive hate hateful Behavior they can survive this type of treatment But I'm also thankful that we don't have that type of behavior here and you might say well pastor Why do you spend so much time in verse 11? Why did you spend so much time in verse 12? Why do you tell these stories?

We don't have this going on here Let me tell you in a moment in a twinkling of an eye that could happen right here All it takes is the right set of circumstances and look this is real It goes on in the life of the church sometimes and we must be equipped and we must be readied And we must be able to deal with this and look before it ever comes out down the aisles You must be willing to know how to deal with it Let me tell you how you deal with it when you hear a brother or sister talking in pride you deal with it When you have those thoughts come up yourself you repent You cannot allow this to happen in your heart or in your family and we cannot allow this type of behavior Why because if we're born again, we're all family and we all need each other Because if we're born again, we're all sinners saved by grace If we're born again, we need the blood listen, we never have total victory we will have total victory on the other side and Look, we're flawed and we're human and we're sinful and look this type of stuff can creep into the door of the church And it can happen before you know it and see lots of teaching like this.

It's nothing but a warning It's a warning for the future, but it also Sometimes it could be medicine to soothe the pain of the past not that it helps it go away But it helps you to understand where it's come from What it looks like and for me sometimes when I study something like this I see what I've been through in the pages of the word and it helps me to look up to God and say God You know best and you've shown me what this is like. You've shown me how real this is.

It's not me I'm not imagining this this happened in the life of James and in his ministry and it can happen in us so I want to encourage you take note of verse 11 take note of verse 12 mark these verses down Pray that we would not ever have this type of church conflict within the church because let me tell you the demonic deed of defamation it destroys It destroys lives It destroys families it destroys the witness I Can tell you the names of people who have left the church because of circumstances like this and they'll say If that's what being a Christian is I've never gone back and they haven't It destroys so much But we're not gonna let that happen here are we?

Amen Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for how relevant it is how true it is And also how powerfully