Preached by Pastor Mike Hess Sunday morning 03/28/2010.
The Dangers of Slander
James 4:11-12
I. The Warning Against Slander (4:11a)
“O LORD who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend.” Psalm 15:1-3
“A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.” Psalm 101:4-5
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Matthew 15:18-19
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Colossians 3:8
II. Our View of God’s Law (4:11b)
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.” James 2:8
“God gave His law to regulate people’s love for Him and their fellow human beings. James, then, does not condemn slander only as a violation of personal affection, or of basic human kindness, but of God’s holy law.” John MacArthur
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1
III. Exalting Ourselves Above God(4:12)
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39
Matthew 7:1-4
“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4
Application:
1. The way we act towards others that we disagree with in many ways reveals the spiritual condition of our hearts.”
2. Since God alone is the righteous Judge, it would be very wise to be sure that you stand before Him forgiven through His Son.
To listen to sermon left click play icon on player