James No.1 Intro

This one, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations, greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.

For the sun rises with a scorching heat and withers the plant. Its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when, by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then, after the desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says, is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he's heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious, and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself, and his religion is worthless.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Here ends the reading. Now, I'd be grateful if you'd have your Bibles open at the Epistle of James.

I've been encouraged by my dear wife for some while to bring a series of addresses from this highly practical epistle, tucked away at the end of the New Testament. And I'm glad to respond to such encouragement, because there is a great need these days for the message of James to be sounded forth from evangelical pulpits in our land. James is an epistle which goes straight through mere academic theological arguments to a day-by-day life and lifestyle.

And it says, if you believe it, and you don't do it, then your faith is invalid. If you claim to be a Christian, and there's no evidence that you really trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, then your claim is like a bubble which is burst by the pinprick of experience. When it's tested on a Monday through to a Saturday, there's no evidence of it, and therefore you can't be a Christian.

James sums up that point and makes the objective of his epistle clear in the 16th verse of the chapter. When he makes, or rather the 22nd verse of the first chapter, when he makes reference to the practical tests of Christianity, do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says, is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James is an epistle that's directed towards the Martha temperament, and it justifies to some extent the practical approach of Martha to the domestic situation and to the working out of the principles of Christianity in our lifestyle, in our home, as a housewife, in our office as a clerk, in our shop as a shopkeeper. Now James has suffered.

This epistle has suffered down the years because it has tended to be undervalued. Martin Luther put a millstone around the neck of James. He did that because he questioned its value to some degree.

This is what Brother Martin has to say. The Gospels and the first epistle of John, Paul's epistles, especially those to Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and Peter's first epistle are the books which show Christ to you. They teach everything you need to know for your salvation.

Even if you were never to see or hear any other book or hear any other teaching, in comparison with these, the epistle of James is an epistle full of straw because it contains nothing evangelical. Well, Martin Luther got some things right. And for that, we praise God.

But the Reformers and the Puritans were not in and of themselves infallible. They were men groping towards truth, groping towards a full understanding of the authority of Scripture. Martin was concerned because there is little, if any, reference to the passion of Christ and to the resurrection of Christ and to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this epistle.

Therefore, he tended to underrate it. But he had done better. Had he realized that the epistle of James is not an evangelistic tract, rather it's a spiritual corrective addressed to believers, a spiritual corrective addressed to believers.

If you like, we come back to the Martha approach, the practical approach to the Christian faith. If you can't test your faith from the book of James, if you discover when he brings certain statements that he exposes inadequacies in your life, if you fly away from these inadequacies, then it may be, it may well be, that that warning note he sounds is very applicable to you. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

There must be a corrective, there must be a difference because we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. That primarily is what James is saying. Well all that by way of just a cursory approach, a cursory introduction to this epistle.

Let me content myself for the remainder of the time by bringing three headings to your attention. And the headings are easy for you to recall. That's why I've selected them.

As I break open the epistle a little more, I want us to consider first of all the teacher, the teacher, and then the teaching, and then the taught. Little headings, easy for you to recall. First of all, the teacher.

Who is the man who authors this particular letter? Well, the name of the man is supplied, James. But I want to proceed to examine his identity and to talk a little about his personality and then the activity in which he engages. And when you come to the first aspect of his identity, it's not too easy simply to say, well, James wrote it.

Why? Well, you've got five James in the New Testament. You've got James, for example, who was the father of Judas, not Iscariot. Then you've got James who was the son of Alpheus, the brother of Levi or Matthew.

And then you've got reference made to James the younger, whose mother was Mary around the cross of Christ. Then you've got James, the brother of John. And then there's James, the brother of Jesus.

Well, which of the five does this word James refer to at the beginning of this epistle? I could have a whale of a time this morning fielding all the arguments as to why you should drop the first three as possibilities, only give a little bit of attention to the fourth and come to the conclusion that it's James, the brother of Jesus. Forget the first three. Believe me when I say that they don't really stand any particular position as contestants as the authors of this book.

As for James, the brother of John, well, it would be very difficult for him to have authored the work for this reason. You remember, James was the first apostle ever to be martyred. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa, probably in AD 44.

That would mean that his martyrdom was too early for him to have been the author of the book. So it leaves just James, the brother of our Lord Jesus. Of course, there are those who don't even appreciate that our Lord did have brothers.

Mark chapter six and verse three will actually list their names. And amongst the names is this one, James. Now when you agree to the conclusion that it is indeed the brother of Jesus who authors this epistle, having worked out his identity, it would be interesting to try to deduce something about his personality.

What was he like, this man who shared the home in Nazareth with our Savior? Well, let me field certain points which will help to fit in an identikit picture of what his personality was like. He was a very sincere man, a man who changed his convictions. Because you're probably aware that the brothers of Jesus during his public ministry did not recognize that he was the Messiah.

We're told in the seventh chapter of John's Gospel, for example, and in the fifth verse, for even his own brothers did not believe in Jesus. But James later on changes his mind. What was it that compelled James to recognize who his brother was? Well, when the apostle Paul is listing the appearances of Jesus after his death, in other words, the resurrection appearances, we're told in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse seven, then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to Paul.

It seems as though Jesus gave a special resurrection manifestation of himself to his younger brother James, and it was that that convinced him that Jesus was indeed the Christ. As to James' personality, he's a sincere believer. What's more, he's an erudite man.

What does that mean? He's a scholar. James has in its epistle the best Greek in the New Testament. It's not the rather popular colloquial Koine Greek.

It approaches classical Greek. Indeed, there are some, and I don't know how it is that the liberal scholars can make this point, who say that the Greek is too good, it couldn't have come from James. Who was to say that James, the brother of Jesus, was not some genius, had not tremendous powers of intellectual reasoning, had not great grasp of the Hebrew tongue and the Aramaic tongue and the Greek language.

He's an erudite man. He's a man whose mind is saturated in the Old Testament scriptures. You'll find this flowing out through the pages that bear his name.

You'll find it in the speeches, particularly one and a letter that he wrote, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. James is a sincere man, an erudite man. James is a humble man.

A past president of the United States of America was embarrassed by the fact that his brother would always be dropping out the known piece of information that Jimmy was his elder, and Carter got embarrassed from time to time. But James doesn't drop names. He could well, of course, have capitalized on the fact that he was the brother of Jesus, the Christ, but not this man.

There's a humility to him. His opening comment is simply this, James, a servant, a bond slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, a humble man, is the author of this epistle. And what's more, he's a holy man, a holy man.

He gained the reputation of holiness to such an extent that it became his nickname, James the Just. His holiness became something of a legend in Jerusalem. They tell us in tradition that his knees were so calloused they were like a camel's because he spent such a great amount of time in prayer.

James met his end according to a reasonably firm tradition, the hands of one of the later high priests, Ananus. And he was taken to the pinnacle of the temple, and there he was asked to dissuade the people from following Jesus as the Messiah. And instead of denying that his brother was indeed the Son of God, James attested that this was true and that he was looking for the return of Jesus, and that the Jewish leaders were so incensed they pushed him off the pinnacle.

As he hit the ground, he wasn't dead, so they finished him off by stoning him. And the last recorded words of James, according to tradition, Were I beseech thee, Lord God, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. As to the teacher, well, his identity I've outlined.

It was that of the brother of Jesus. His personality, a humble man, a scholarly man, a holy man. What about his activity? What did he do? What was his particular task? Well, when Jesus had left the earth and the disciples were gathered together, 120 of them, including Mary and Jesus' brothers at Jerusalem, the Spirit of God fell, and they were baptized mightily by the third person of the Trinity.

And the church that was set up at Jerusalem had James as its natural leader. This becomes self-evident, I say, as you read the Acts of the Apostles. It's James that chairs all the councils that are held, and record is found of them there.

It's James to whom Peter sends a message when he's escaped from prison. It's James who's called down to Galatia to discuss with Peter about Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles. James becomes the leading figure in the church at Jerusalem.

And so there he is, poised, this man with such a unique background, at the very center at that time of Christianity. He's aware of what's going on. Could there be any better teacher than James to put out a practical message of necessary instruction for the early Christians? So then, having looked at the teacher, consider just for a moment the teaching.

And in this particular heading I want to speak about its style and its scope. As for its style, as you were listening to Brother Richard read the first chapter, you would probably have gathered and indeed drawn the conclusions in your own private Bible study that there's not one underlying argument. That's what makes James such a difficult book to take a series of expositions on, because there's not one main argument.

You go from one subject to another subject to another subject. And this is deliberate. You see, some of the Jewish rabbis, the master teachers, would instruct their pupils how to teach.

And it was a particular aspect of Jewish teaching not to maintain one subject for any length of time. That was just to stimulate the interest of your audience. They might have been a little bored.

They might have been a little wearied by having just one argument. So the Jewish teachers instructed their pupils. So there were lots of points that were to be brought before the people.

And this particular method of preaching is well enshrined in the Hebrew word for preaching, karatz, which really means the stringing of beads together. So here in the Epistle of James, in those five chapters, you get one subject after another subject after another subject after another subject, all placed on one thread. And in effect, it becomes like the Book of Proverbs.

Almost a New Testament equivalent. Not in quantity, but certainly in quality. John Calvin, who had a better grasp of the authority and the sufficiency of Scripture than Martin Luther, he in no way will underrate James.

But John Calvin says of James that really it contains goads of exhortation. What does he mean by goads? Well, you remember Paul's comment before he was converted? Or rather the Lord's comment to Paul? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

The goad was the stick that the ox driver would have in his hand with a point on the end. And because he didn't have an accelerator that he could press to make the beast quicken his speed, he'd ding him on in the tender area at the back and the animal would go forward more quickly. Well, says John Calvin, that's like James.

You've got goads there. You've got subject matters that he deals with. A hundred, a hundred and six verses, I think, altogether.

And within those verses you have at least 60 commands addressed by James in the name of God. Goads that help us. Or if you prefer, because it's less painful, the former analogy.

You have beads strung on a thread one after the other. That's the style of the book. As for its scope, well, it's very far ranging.

It copes with many, many matters indeed. In the first few verses it touches on the problem of trials and temptations and uses some astonishingly joinders telling us to count it pure joy when we face trials. I had to check that one through in other translations to ensure that the NIV had got that word right because I find it very difficult, quite frankly, to consider it pure joy when I'm facing trial.

But that's what James says. That's one of the goads, you see. Later on in the first chapter he will analyze temptation.

He will analyze sin psychologically. He will analyze it biblically. And then he'll go on and talk about pure mind and mental health.

He'll go on and speak about the tongue and controlling the tongue. Oh, how desperate the tongue can be as a weapon in the hands of Satan to wreck a church. James knew the difficulties even amongst immature Christian people at Jerusalem.

And they needed to control their tongues. He'll speak later on in the fourth chapter about wisdom, the true wisdom which comes from above. And again there's a semblance of the Old Testament book of Proverbs.

And then he'll speak about prayer, dynamic prayer and faith, praying for the sick, praying to save the souls of those who you love. And he'll talk about the rich and the responsibilities that wealth brings, particularly if you happen to be a Christian. And he'll talk about the poor and the dangers of ignoring the needs of the poor.

He'll talk about your home. And he'll say that if God has given you a home and you don't use that home to his glory, then your Christian profession comes under question. For if you're a Christian it's not in mind alone, it's in heart.

It's not in thought, it's in action. James is propelled along in this notion that the Christians at Jerusalem must illustrate what they believe. As his brother not only preached the gospel, but was the gospel.

So then we've looked to the teacher, James, the brother of Jesus. And examined something of his personality. I quickly talked to you about the teaching, its style and its scope.

But just to suffice ourselves for this morning, what about the taught? Those who received this word, who were they? Well, look at the first verse. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Who are these people and what do they represent? The word James is the Greek equivalent of Jacob.

I wonder if you knew that. And it seems to me that in many ways, James, as he advances in years and as he writes this epistle, is equivalent to the New Testament form of Jacob. For Jacob you recall on his deathbed, he blesses his twelve sons.

And when their families go into Egypt and fall into slavery, then they're released and they come back to Palestine and they take up occupation again in the promised land. And then later on, twice in particular in their history, they're moved out of Israel, they're moved out of Palestine, they're carted off to Assyria, they're carted off to Babylon. And ere long, as a result of those displacements, you find pockets of Jews around the world.

Indeed, one cynical secular historian says there's not a place in the world where you don't find the Jew. He wasn't very happy about it, but I'll leave the context alone. And those Jews who lived outside Israel were known as the Diaspora.

Again, forgive the language lesson. That's the Greek for dispersion. The dispersed ones.

So when you thought of the Jewish family, one thought not just in terms of the Jews in Palestine, but the Jews around the world. Now James realized that the family of God, the Israel of God, was not those who were born ethnically Jews, but those who confessed Jesus as Savior. And there were many of those around the world.

The synagogues amongst the dispersion had become the pulpits for the first preaching of the Gospel. And wherever Brother Paul went and preached, there were converts. And James is addressing these converts.

He's addressing all Christians, whether they be Jew or Gentile. And he employs, therefore, the expression that you would anticipate from James, a man whose mind is saturated in Judaic theology, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations, to Christian people everywhere. That's who they were.

But what do they represent? Well, they represent the children of God for every generation. In other words, what I'm arguing is this, that as Brother James spoke to Christian people in his day, not only Christians in Jerusalem, not only Christians in Palestine, but Christians around the world, he speaks to us today. Because the word of God is contemporary.

When Stephen quotes from Moses, just before his death, he quotes as though Moses is still speaking in that day. So we believe in the timelessness of God's word. However, when God spoke to James and made him communicate a practical message to Christian people in his day, he makes it relevant for every century.

For old Martin Luther, he got it wrong. John Calvin got it right. There are needs for goads of exhortation today.

We need to be tested in this practical area of our faith. Do they know at the office that you're a Christian? How do they know? Do they know it by your life? Do they know it by your relationships? Do your neighbors know you're a Christian? Do they know it because there's always a warm welcome in your house? Do the boys and girls at school know you're a Christian? Do they know it because your manner is somewhat different to theirs? These are the practical issues, my friend, that we have to test ourselves with. One of the great temptations of the evangelical church is to believe in mind only.

That you can have all the doctrines. You can have a whole grasp of theology to such an extent that you know more than John Calvin knew. And you can be poles apart from biblical Christianity.

For what God calls you to is not belief in mind alone. That's an important thing, an important stage. But beyond that, the interpretation of your belief in terms of your personality, in terms of your disposition, the way you handle your relationships, the way you control the thoughts of your mind, the way you open your home and share your food with other people.

Well, I've said enough. I trust to encourage your interest in studying this epistle of James. And as we select some of those pearls from off the string and examine them together in weeks that are to come, may it be for our mutual profit.

Amen.