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A Warning to Would-Be Teachers

James 3:1–2
Program

Does your pastor’s job strike you as dangerous? The book of James identifies serious and significant hazards that accompany the privilege and influence of teaching the Bible. Find out what they are when you join us on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.

From the Sermon

A Warning to Would-Be Teachers

James 3:1–2 Sermon Includes Transcript 33:18 ID: 2581

He Brought Us Forth

He Brought Us Forth

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth.

Johnny Carson, the legendary television host, once described an interaction between a disgruntled teenager and a disappointed father as they warred with one another. The teenager, about to slam the door and storm off, shouted, “I didn’t ask to be born!” In response, the father shouted back, “And if you had, I would have said no!”

None of us asked to be born. And in fact, none of us asked to be born again. James points out the humbling truth that our spiritual birth was not something we prompted God to do. In God’s goodness, our new birth in Christ was His choice, unpressured by our helplessness and unaided by our supposed goodness. He acted solely in accordance with His free, sovereign will. As Jesus put it, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Apart from the work of the Spirit in showing us Christ, our foolish hearts remain darkened, and sin has a deadening effect on our sense of morality. By nature we are lost to sin’s grip, desperately needing to know the solution to our predicament but unable even to see what the nature of our predicament is. But even having each become a member of God’s family by grace, through faith, we are still sometimes inclined to believe that our salvation is the result of what we did—that we chose, and must continue to choose, to turn away from sin and turn to God in childlike trust. The truth is that it was “of his own will” that God “brought us forth” as we heard and were enabled by Him to respond to “the word of truth.” When we put the pieces together, we discover that our choice of Him was and is made possible only by His choice of us.

As the Alec Motyer put it, “It is no more possible for us to be agents or contributors to our new birth than it was for us to be so in our natural birth. All the work, from initial choice to completed deed, is his … And until his will changes, his word alters or his truth is proved false, my salvation cannot be threatened or forfeited.”[1]

What security, peace, and comfort are found in knowing that the goodness of God through Jesus Christ not only brought you to repentance and faith but will also keep you in the faith! If your faith and salvation depended on you, they would never be secure, and you would always be anxious. But it depends on Him, “with whom there is no variation of shadow due to change” (James 1:17). You did not ask to be born; He willed it. Therefore you can be sure that you are His child—now, tomorrow, each day, and forever.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

1“And you, ison of man, prophesy to jthe mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2Thus says the Lord God: Because kthe enemy said of you, l‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient mheights have become our possession,’ 3therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because nthey made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and oyou became the talk and evil gossip of the people, 4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to pthe mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, qthe desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become ra prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, 5therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in smy hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and tagainst all Edom, who ugave my land to themselves as a possession vwith wholehearted joy and wutter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. 6Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to jthe mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: xBehold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered ythe reproach of the nations. 7Therefore thus says the Lord God: zI swear that the nations that are all around you yshall themselves suffer reproach.

8“But you, O mountains of Israel, ashall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for bthey will soon come home. 9For cbehold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and dyou shall be tilled and sown. 10And eI will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. fThe cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11And I will multiply on you gman and beast, and hthey shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in iyour former times, and jwill do more good to you than ever before. kThen you will know that I am the Lord. 12I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. lAnd they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer mbereave them of children. 13Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, n‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ 14therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. 15And I will not let you hear anymore ythe reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

The Lord's Concern for His Holy Name

16The word of the Lord came to me: 17o“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, pthey defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were qlike the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18So rI poured out my wrath upon them sfor the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols twith which they had defiled it. 19uI scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. vIn accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, wthey profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21But I had concern xfor my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

22“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: yIt is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, wwhich you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23zAnd I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. aAnd the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24bI will take you cfrom the nations and gather you from all the countries and dbring you into your own land. 25eI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from fall your uncleannesses, and gfrom all your idols hI will cleanse you. 26And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. iAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27jAnd I will put my Spirit within you, iand cause you to walk in my statutes and kbe careful to obey my rules.1 28lYou shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and myou shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29And nI will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And oI will summon the grain and make it abundant and play no famine upon you. 30qI will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, othat you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31Then ryou will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32yIt is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

33“Thus says the Lord God: On the day that sI cleanse you from all your iniquities, tI will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like uthe garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36Then vthe nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and wreplanted that which was desolate. xI am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

37“Thus says the Lord God: This also yI will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: zto increase their people like aa flock. 38Like the flock for sacrifices,2 blike the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so tshall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. cThen they will know that I am the Lord.”

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Footnotes
1 36:27 Or my just decrees
2 36:38 Hebrew flock of holy things
Footnotes
1 The Message of Ecclesiastes, The Bible Speaks Today (IVP Academic, 1985), p 60.

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, 2022, The Good Book Company.

Big with Mercy

Big with Mercy

I will sing of steadfast love and justice.

Faith is triumphant in trial. When reason has her feet fastened in the stocks of the inner prison, faith makes the dungeon walls ring with her happy notes as she cries, "I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music." Faith pulls the dark mask from the face of trouble and discovers the angel beneath. Faith looks up at the cloud and sees that

"It is big with mercy and will break
In blessings on her head."

There is a subject for song even in the judgments of God toward us. For, first, the trial is not as difficult as it might have been; next, the trouble is not as severe as we deserved; and our affliction is not as crushing as the burden that others have to carry. Faith sees that in her deepest sorrow there is no punishment. There is not a drop of God's wrath in it; it is all sent in love. Faith finds love gleaming like a jewel on the breast of an angry God. Faith wears her grief "like a badge of honor" and sings of the sweet result of her sorrows, because they work for her spiritual good. Faith says, "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."1 So faith rides out in victory, trampling down earthly wisdom and carnal knowledge, and singing songs of triumph where the battle rages.

All I meet I find assists me
In my path to heavenly joy:
Where, though trials now attend me,
Trials never more annoy.

Blest there with a weight of glory,
Still the path I'll not forget,
But, exulting, cry, it led me
To my blessed Savior's seat.

1) 2 Corinthians 4:17

Devotional material is taken from Morning and Evening, written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright © 2003, Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. Used by Truth For Life with written permission.

Daily Bible Reading for September 12

2 Samuel 7, 2 Corinthians 1, Ezekiel 15, Psalm 56, Psalm 57

The Lord's Covenant with David

1sNow when the king lived in his house and the Lord thad given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2the king said to uNathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell vin a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells win a tent.” 3And Nathan said to the king, x“Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

4But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: yWould you build me a house to dwell in? 6I have not lived in a house zsince the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about ain a tent for my dwelling. 7In all places where bI have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with cany of the judges1 of Israel, whom I commanded dto shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, eI took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince2 over my people Israel. 9fAnd I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel gand will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place hand be disturbed no more. iAnd violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11jfrom the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And kI will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that lthe Lord will make you a house. 12mWhen your days are fulfilled and nyou lie down with your fathers, oI will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13pHe shall build a house for my name, and qI will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14rI will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, sI will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15sbut my steadfast love will not depart from him, tas I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16uAnd your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.3 uYour throne shall be established forever.’” 17In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David's Prayer of Gratitude

18Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, v“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. wYou have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20And what more can David say to you? xFor you know your servant, O Lord God! 21Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22yTherefore you are great, O Lord God. zFor there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23aAnd who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name band doing for them4 great and awesome things by driving out before your people,5 whom cyou redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24dAnd you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. 25And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28And now, O Lord God, you are God, and eyour words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, fand with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

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Footnotes
1 7:7 Compare 1 Chronicles 17:6; Hebrew tribes
2 7:8 Or leader
3 7:16 Septuagint; Hebrew you
4 7:23 With a few Targums, Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew you
5 7:23 Septuagint (compare 1 Chronicles 17:21); Hebrew awesome things for your land, before your people

Greeting

1Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and cTimothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, dwith all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

2eGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

3fBlessed be the gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and hGod of all comfort, 4iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as we share abundantly in jChrist's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1 6kIf we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you lshare in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves obut on God pwho raises the dead. 10qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul's Change of Plans

12For our boast is this, uthe testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity3 and vgodly sincerity, wnot by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14just as you did xpartially understand us—that yon the day of our Lord Jesus zyou will boast of us as awe will boast of you.

15Because I was sure of this, bI wanted to come to you first, so that you might have ca second dexperience of grace. 16I wanted to visit you eon my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans faccording to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18As surely as gGod is faithful, hour word to you has not been Yes and No. 19For ithe Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, jSilvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but kin him it is always Yes. 20For lall the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our mAmen to God for his glory. 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and nhas anointed us, 22and who has also oput his seal on us and pgiven us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.4

23But qI call God to witness against me—it was rto spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24Not that we slord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm tin your faith.

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Footnotes
1 1:5 Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ
2 1:8 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
3 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness
4 1:22 Or down payment

Jerusalem, a Useless Vine

1And the word of the Lord came to me: 2q“Son of man, how does rthe wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? 3Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take sa peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4tBehold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? 5uBehold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! 6Therefore thus says the Lord God: vLike the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, twhich I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7wAnd I will set my face against them. Though xthey escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, yand you will know that I am the Lord, wwhen I set my face against them. 8zAnd I will make the land desolate, because athey have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

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Psalm 56

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam1 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.

1rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

2my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

3When I am afraid,

I tput my trust in you.

4In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

5All day long they injure my cause;2

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6They vstir up strife, they wlurk;

they xwatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

7For their crime will they escape?

yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!

8You have kept count of my tossings;3

aput my tears in your bottle.

bAre they not in your book?

9Then my enemies will turn back

cin the day when I call.

This I know, that4 dGod is for me.

10In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12I must perform my evows to you, O God;

I will erender thank offerings to you.

13fFor you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

gthat I may walk before God

hin the light of life.

Psalm 57

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to iDo Not Destroy. A jMiktam1 of David, when he fled from Saul, in kthe cave.

1lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul mtakes refuge;

in nthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

otill the storms of destruction pass by.

2I cry out to God Most High,

to God who pfulfills his purpose for me.

3qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame rhim who tramples on me. Selah

sGod will send out this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4My soul is in the midst of ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose wtongues are sharp swords.

5xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

6They set ya net for my steps;

my soul was zbowed down.

They adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

7bMy heart is csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

8dAwake, emy glory!2

Awake, fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10For your gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

Open in Bible
Footnotes
1 56:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
2 56:5 Or they twist my words
3 56:8 Or wanderings
4 56:9 Or because
1 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
2 57:8 Or my whole being
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

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