Well, let's seek God in prayer again and ask for his help as we study his word tonight. Our God, we thank you for the privilege of hearing your word read, of seeking you in prayer, and of also singing hymns of praise to you. We thank you that the blood of Jesus Christ, even as we have just sung, washes away all of the sins of every single believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray that you would make Christ to be known, not just intellectually, but experientially for every single individual in this auditorium. Come by your Holy Spirit. Come with the Word of God as it is explained, as it is proclaimed and applied. We ask our God for your gracious Spirit's presence and help. In Jesus Christ's name we ask it. Amen. The Westminster Larger Catechism And for the benefit of newer Christians in our midst who may not even know what a catechism is, it's a method of instruction which involves asking questions and then giving answers. Well, the Westminster Larger Catechism, which was written by numerous godly men in England in 1647, asks a number of questions, and question 143 is, Which is the ninth commandment? And then the answer is, the ninth commandment is, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. And then question 144, the very next question, what are the duties required in the ninth commandment? And then the answer, the duties required in the ninth commandment are, the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbor, a charitable esteem of our neighbors, loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name, sorrowing for and covering over their infirmities, discouraging tailbearers, flatterers, and slanderers, Those are the duties required in the ninth commandment. And then question 145, what are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment? And the answer, the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment are all prejudicing of the truth and the good name of our neighbors. Furthermore, speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, and tailbearing. And then there's more information given, but those are portions of the answers of these catechism questions that relate not only to the Ninth Commandment, but to our topic this evening from James' letter. So please turn in your Bibles now to James chapter 4, as we continue our studies through this letter written by the apostle James. James chapter 4, and we will read verses 11 and 12. James chapter 4, beginning at verse 11. Speak not one against another, Brethren, he that 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. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that judge your neighbor? So this is our passage this evening. And before we study these two verses, I would like to address perhaps a puzzling question that may have arisen in your mind as you consider the words of James 4. You may be asking, how do these two verses relate to the preceding 10 verses of chapter 4? It may seem as though James is jumping from one subject to another and that there is no connection between these portions of his letter. But may I remind you of something that I said in my very first message when we began our study of James' letter. I noted at that time that as a Jewish Christian who was steeped in the Old Testament, James frequently used a style of Hebrew proverbial teaching. And consequently, James often moves quickly from one topic to another as he exhorts and commands Christians to think wisely and to speak wisely and to live wisely. But nevertheless, as one studies James' letter, it can be seen that there are connections. James 4, verses 11 and 12, which we've just read, are connected, for example, to verse 1 of James 4, you can see this in your Bible, where we read, Whence come wars and whence come fighting among you? Come they not even from your own pleasures that war in your members? So speaking against others in the church, verse 11 of James 4, can and often does create wars and fightings among brethren in a church. And of course, James was, after all is said, a man with a heart of a pastor. And he wrote as a pastor to needy Christians in order to encourage them to live godly lives in a very ungodly world. And by way of introduction, I would like you also to note in verses 11 and 12 of James 4, several families of words which James purposefully used to address his specific pastoral burden in these two verses. Speak against or speak evil is used three times in these two verses. Brother or brothers is used three times. The word law is used four times and the related word lawgiver is used once. Judge or judges is used six times either as a verb or a noun in this passage. So when you consider those realities by way of introduction you realize James is focused on something very important. So as you look in your Bibles there, I would like you to notice first of all, an earnest command. An earnest command. And under that heading, note first of all the essence of this earnest command. Unlike verses 7 through 10, which we previously studied, which contained nine imperatives. There is only one imperative in these two verses, and it is this, speak not one against another, brethren, or in the New King James, do not speak evil of one another, brethren. The meaning of this phrase, speak not one against another, in the original language is very clear. It means do not slander your brother. Do not speak in a degrading way of your brother or any person. Do not backbite. Do not gossip maliciously about a brother or another person. To slander someone is to speak or to write, and when it's written, it's called libel. To slander someone is to speak or write false charges or misrepresentations about someone which damage the fame destroy their name and reputation. We must understand that slander can include at times truthful statements, but they are used in such a way as to misrepresent the overall character of an individual. The Puritan Thomas Manton noted, concerning this very passage, it is any speaking which is to the prejudice of another, be it true or false. You see what he was saying. It may be true, but spoken in such a way that it purposefully intends to prejudice you against somebody else. Or as a contemporary author, commentator stated, How better to harm someone and cover yourself with the aura of righteous indignation than by telling a truth that embarrasses, humiliates, or ruins the other person. Continuing this quote from this man, vindictiveness does not need lies to be powerfully effective. when true facts, however misleading, will serve just as well." End quote. The form and content of slander can include blatant speaking of lies or half-truths, innuendo, in other words, clever suggestions used to disparage the character of someone else, Slander can include unfounded criticisms, exaggeration of the truth, portraying negative impressions of someone else, a brother or sister in Christ. All such slander may be spoken with carelessness, that that can happen. which shows us that we need to be on our guard, as James has already told us in this letter, to be on our guard how we use our tongues, because slander can be done, spoken, with carelessness. Slander can be spoken with ill will, or even murderous hatred. This is the sad essence this command which James wrote, do not slander your brethren, speak not one against another brethren. That's the essence of this earnest command. But now notice under this heading of the earnest command, secondly, those to whom this earnest command is given. Recall that in verse 4 of this chapter, and you may look there in your Bibles, in verse 4 of chapter 4, that James addressed his readers with the unflattering but truthful statement of adulteresses, female adulterers. And in verse 8, he addressed them as sinners and double-minded. But now in verse 11, James addresses them as brethren. For although he is commanding them earnestly about a very serious and important ethical matter, by addressing them as brethren, by switching, leaving adulteresses and sinners and double-minded behind him, addressing them as brethren, he was reminding them that they share a common life purchased by Christ's atoning blood when he died on the cross for them. James understood that it is sinful to slander any individual, but how much more sinful and grievous is it for a Christian believer to slander a brother or sister in Christ? So James' command in verse 11 is given to his brothers and sisters in Christ. But now notice, secondly, our second major heading here, additional evils associated with slander. Additional evils associated with slander. Rarely, if ever, is any sin isolated and by itself. And the sin of slander is no different. Notice, first of all, slander also includes, James writes, it includes a sinful judging of a brother. he that speaks against a brother and judges his brother, or some translations say or judges his brother, he that speaks against a brother or judges his brother. Verse 11, James joins these two realities, speaking against a brother and judging a brother. As a wise and faithful spiritual doctor, James now instructs us that when a Christian slanders his brother, when he speaks against his brother, he is in effect standing in self-righteous judgment over that brother and making a judicial decision about him as guilty of wrongdoing or sin. By way of illustration, suppose that a Christian speaks against another Christian with these words. Purely hypothetical. One Christian with another Christian. Did you know? It's always interesting. Usually the very tone of such words as they proceed out of the mouth give you an alert. Something's up. just the way it's spoken. Did you know? Did you know that Joe, Christian brother Joe, has not paid his taxes for the past three years? What a terrible testimony that is for a Christian. This is my illustration. So whether such a statement is true or not is not the point. is speaking against Joe and his character. It may be true, it may be totally false, but whether true or not, that kind of speaking of a Christian to another Christian, about a third Christian, is speaking against Joe and his character. What has that speaker now done? He has placed himself in self-righteousness as a self-appointed judge over Joe. And this is, of course, a violation of what James earlier in his letter called the royal law that's seen in James 2 and verse 8. You can flip there if you would like to James 2 and verse 8 and see this royal law. James 2 verse 8, how be it If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. That's what James said. That's what he wrote. So it is not doing well. It is not loving your neighbor, your brother in Christ. as you yourself speak against him, slander him, and then make yourself a judge over him. And James' words reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ's words in Matthew 7, where Jesus said to his disciples, judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you measure, it shall be measured unto you. And why do you behold the mote that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your eye? Now by way of qualification, James is not prohibiting or condemning righteous judgments of others when scripture requires that we make such judgments. I'd like to repeat that. James is not prohibiting or condemning righteous judgments of others when scripture requires that we make such judgments. For example, righteous judgments of individuals must be made in accordance with the Bible's teachings in order to determine whether or not a specific individual is born again and should become a member of the church. that very process of interviewing someone who says, I'm a Christian, I want to be a member of the church, it requires righteous judgment. The Bible requires that. Righteous judgments of individuals must be made in accordance with the Bible's teachings in order to determine whether or not that individual should receive biblical church discipline. But James' point is that it is sinful for any Christian to slander another Christian, to speak against that Christian, and thus to make himself or herself a self-appointed, self-righteous judge over that other believer. But notice, secondly, slandering a brother, another evil sin associated with it, Slandering a brother is also slandering and judging the law. Notice that in verse 11. Look there in your Bibles. He that speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. Slander is not only speaking against and then sinfully judging a brother. It is that, of course, as we've seen. But such a slanderer of a brother, for all intents and purposes, speaks against the law of God, as though it were only relevant for others and not for himself, of course. spiritual blindness, such a slanderer of others places himself above God's law as a judge of God's law, thinking and acting as if he were the lawgiver and supreme judge. So when we sinfully judge others and speak of them as evildoers, when we criticize and speak against and seek the defamation of the character of another believer, it is at that precise point in time that we are, whether we are fully conscious of this or not, we are setting ourselves up as a judge of others. and speaking against the law of God. God alone can infallibly and righteously judge our brethren according to his perfect and glorious law. Again, by way of qualification, James is not prohibiting or condemning righteous judgments of others when scripture requires that we make such judgments. He is greatly concerned that we do not speak against, do not slander our brothers and sisters in Christ, and thereby also speak against God's moral law and sinfully stand in self-righteous judgment over God's moral law, and consequently, sinfully and blasphemously stand in judgment over God himself. We basically make ourselves to be God, hearkening all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where the devil tempted Adam and Eve. You shall be like God. God doesn't want that. He doesn't want rivals. But that's what we do. So I hope you are beginning to see how evil, how evil in the sight of God The sin is of speaking against your brothers and sisters in Christ. But notice from this passage, our third major heading, God's authority challenged and asserted. God's authority challenged and asserted. And under that third major heading, First of all, notice God's authority challenged by man's sinful usurpation. Usurpation. Probably most of you have heard that word. To usurp. Well, what is it? Usurpation is the act of seizing and holding on to something like power or a position or property without the legal right to do so. In the latter part of verse 11 and all of verse 12, James speaks of this sinful usurpation of God's authority. See that there in your Bibles. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that judge your neighbor?" You see, when you read those words there in 11 and 12 of chapter 4, you begin, as you think about it, this is what James is talking about. Whenever any individual judges others as though he were the lawgiver and the final judge, he usurps God's authority and God's prerogatives. This usurpation does not succeed, of course, though attempted. For God righteously permits no one to ever share his holy authority or his righteous judgment seat. And neither does God permit anyone to modify or overrule or abolish his perfect righteous laws. But still, even Christians can at times, sadly and sinfully, challenge, as it were, God's authority. Think of Jonah. By running away from the place where he should go, Nineveh, he really was seeking to run away from God. The text tells us that he did not want to submit himself to God's authority, you see. But notice in verse 12 of James 4, not only is God's authority challenged by man's sinful usurpation, but God's authority is asserted in verse 12. The triune God of the Bible has the exclusive authority to judge the world in righteousness, for He alone is the Creator, the Lawgiver, and the Judge. And James reminds his readers that God, and God alone, saves lawbreakers from their deserved wrath, and He accomplishes this through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is able to save all who place their trust in him alone for the forgiveness of their sins. For Jesus Christ met all of the demands of God's holy law by living a perfect sinless life on earth. And when he died on the cross, all of the sins of God's elect were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, charged to his account. And the Lord Jesus then received the righteous punishment for those sins by God the Father, the righteous judge. And the Lord Jesus died as the propitiation for their sins. He appeased God's wrath. The righteous judge was truly and completely satisfied with his son's work on the cross, his death on the cross. So James also reminds his readers in verse 12 that God is the one who has the exclusive right not only to save, but he has the exclusive right also to destroy. And in other passages of the Bible, this becomes very clear. God, we are told by the Apostle Paul, will render vengeance to them that do not know God and to them that do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might. So James would have us understand God is indeed on his throne. His authority is asserted. He is the lawgiver and judge, and he is the only savior of sinners, able to save, but he's also able and has the right to do so to destroy those who continue to be impenitent and unbelieving. So which category are you in here tonight, whether you are old or young or anything in between? Are you one whom Jesus Christ has saved? He's pardoned all of your iniquities, sins, and transgressions. He's cleansed them all away in his blood in his death on the cross. Or are you still one who is rebelling against God, the lawgiver and judge and creator? You will not succeed in conquering God. God calls you, if you're presently in that state, to lay down your weapons of rebellion, whatever they may be, in your heart, in your soul, in your life. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him for mercy and forgiveness. He will not turn you away. He will pardon freely. So by way of review, an earnest command and the essence of that earnest command and to those to whom the command is given. Secondly, additional evils associated with slander It includes sinful judging of brothers, slandering of brothers, also slandering and judging the law of God. And thirdly, God's authority challenged and asserted. God's authority is challenged by man's sinful ways and words. God's authority is asserted and is unshakable. So what are some lessons to learn here from this passage? Well, let's begin by looking at verse 12 again in James 4. And let's look at that question. What a very important question. What a very piercing question. But who are you that judge your neighbor? Who are you that judge your neighbor. Who do you think you are? That's what James is basically saying to those who read this letter or heard this letter. He's basically saying, who do you think you are? Where do you get off thinking that you're the judge of everyone else? Where do you get this idea that you know things better than others? Where do you get this idea that you are righteous and others before you, they're not so righteous and you can judge them? You see, James asked this question so that you and I will ask this question of ourselves. Who are you that judge your neighbor? How easily, how quickly we forget who we are. You and I are creatures of the dust. We are weak. We are ignorant. We are short-sighted. We are finite. We are sinners. We need to remember who we are. Sobriety, sober self-assessment and evaluation is necessary for each and every one of us. How easily we forget who we are and we quickly usurp God's place and prerogatives. We must remember, you must remember, I must remember that we are accountable to God. How appropriate was one of the hymns, all of the hymns actually, that Pastor Carlson selected. He knew the passage I was going to preach upon. but that hymn, Day of Judgment, that we sang. A day of judgment is coming, and we will stand before the righteous judge and give an account of our lives. So we need to remember now who we are, sinners in need of mercy, forgiveness, and salvation in Jesus Christ. But a second lesson here Slander and backbiting from the mouth of a professing Christian quickly undermines that individual's testimony before an onlooking world. If you think about that, the next time you're being tempted to say something about a brother or sister, whether it's on the phone or in text messaging, or on social media, or face-to-face, or a video call, whatever the context may be, when you are tempted to speak against another brother or sister, you need to remember such sin of slandering, backbiting, and speaking against another brother or sister is, of course, sin, first of all, against God. but it quickly undermines your testimony before an onlooking world. The world is full. I don't need to really explain that to any of you here. The world is full of slanderers. The world is full of those who speak against others. We do not need to be like them. We need to be like Jesus Christ. But thirdly, our speech is often, I didn't say always, but our speech is often a good indicator of the state of our heart, spiritually speaking. If it is common for you to speak against your Christian brethren, or to speak even against non-Christians, you're just hypercritical Always self-righteous in your judgments. If you're lying as a pattern of life, degrading other people's character, slandering, if you're doing these things as a pattern of life, this is not an indication of spiritual health. It's possible that it's an indication of spiritual death. but it is certainly not an indication of spiritual health. So what we need is the replacement of those sins with the opposite virtues, graces, activities. Stop and think, what good things can I say, not in gossip, but what good things can I say about a brother or sister in the church or someone else when it's appropriate? Surely there are many good things that you as a believer can say about another believer. What a hospitable woman that woman is. It's so commendable. You see, that's speaking well and not slandering. How helpful that brother is. If I have any need and I call him on the phone, he doesn't say, well, I'm not sure. I'll be over right away to help you. How helpful that brother is. You see, that's not slander. What godly advice that sister, that brother gives whenever I go to him or her and say, you know, I'm struggling at work. I'm struggling at work because people are so vile with their words. And that brother or that sister says to you, well, just think of these particular Proverbs that will help you. And so you're sharing the fact that that brother or sister is so wise in the use of scripture. You see, replace the speaking against others, the backbiting, the slander, the evil speaking, replace it with what is good and right. We will sin with our words. Does that grieve you? If you are a Christian, does it bother you? Does it grieve you in your heart that you sin at times with your words? To other believers, maybe your husband or your wife or your children, We will sin with our words, but does it grieve you? Does it bother you? Do you wish? Do you pray that it would not be so anymore? God's grace and power is sufficient to enable us to speak holy, righteous, godly, encouraging words one to another and about one another. But then all the more when you're grieved by such sins of the tongue, you should thank God. For the blood of Jesus Christ that continually cleanses away all sin. Whenever those sins are confessed to God through Christ, Lord, forgive me for that tinge in the tones of my words to my spouse that were cutting, speaking against him or her, forgive me for those specific sins. And of course, you should go to your spouse and confess your sin as well, if you sinned against your spouse with your sinful words. But you go to God through Christ, and you say, Lord, I long, I long for that day. when I will no longer sin with my tongue. I long for that day, Lord, when I will no longer sin in any way whatsoever, no longer sinfully judge others, no longer slander your moral law by my sinful self-righteousness, no longer have any sin whatsoever in my heart and life. Well, brethren, live in the light of the reality that the Lord Jesus Christ will indeed bring you ultimately, if you're a believer in Christ, will bring you ultimately to heaven where there is no sin, no unrighteousness, no ungodliness, no slander, no backbiting, no gossip, no speaking against one another. the perfect holiness. And again, if you are not a genuine Christian here tonight, don't wait. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ where you are seated. Ask him for mercy. Ask him to show you your sins. Ask him to save you from your sins. He will do it, for he is the savior of sinners. Well, let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you once again for giving us your holy word. Thank you for giving us your moral law. Thank you for giving the Lord Jesus Christ the greatest gift of all. Thank you for the gift also of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for our Christian brothers and sisters here in this very congregation. We cry our God out to you and ask that you would help us to not speak against one another, to not speak evil of one another, to not slander, to not gossip, to not backbite. And Lord, not only of the brethren here in this church, but of brethren in other churches, and not only brethren in other churches, but of people. Lord, work in us that we would be so radically different from the world about us that sinners would wonder why we are so radically different. And then ask us, why are you this way? And then, Lord, give the grace and the courage to explain what wonderful things, realities, Jesus Christ has done for us. Help us, Lord, to live the gospel and to speak the gospel. And we ask that you would save multitudes from their sins right here in Montville, in Morris County, in Northern New Jersey, for the glory of your holy name. We ask all of these things with our thanksgiving in Jesus' name. Amen.