November 22: James 1-5

November 22, James 1-5

James. Pry one of my favorite books of the Bible. James was the brother of Jesus and the Pastor of one of the largest churches at the time, the Church of Jerusalem. He does not brag about either of those things when he introduces the letter, but rather just calls himself a servant of God & Jesus Christ. James had a lot to say and he said it very briefly. We could spend a year studying this book. I have preached on James 1 and it is deep and inspiring. Today’s study will be the summary from Bakers Commentary and then my thoughts/applications. If you want a more detailed breakdown, please email me. At the end of the day, James is basically saying that if you truly believe in Jesus, your life will show it. That will manifest itself in doing things for Christ and putting him first - and loving others in that same vein. 

James 1 “At first the content of chapter 1 appears to be a number of unrelated proverbial sayings that are connected only by catchwords. But upon closer examination, we realize that the writer introduces themes which he explains more fully in the rest of the chapter and the epistle. For example, after an introductory address (v. 1), the author lists the themes of testing of faith, gaining wisdom, and being rich (vv. 2–11).

Then, in the next part of the chapter (vv. 12–25) he elucidates the theme of testing by expanding it to tempting (vv. 12–15); he mentions the generous gift of wisdom God gives and broadens it to include good and perfect gifts from the heavenly Father (vv. 5, 17–18); and he fortifies the humble brother’s pride in a high position with the assurance that we are a kind of God’s first fruits of all that he has created (v. 18).

The last segment of the chapter has the themes of keeping the tongue in check, putting the Word of God into practice, and living a spotless life in a polluted world (vv. 19–27). James returns to these themes in the succeeding chapters. In fact, scholars see in the three examples of pure religion—to bridle the tongue, to show mercy, and to keep oneself undefiled—an outline for the next four chapters.”

• Either you are in a trial, coming out of a trial, or going into a trial. A pastor once told me that & I have never forgotten it. If you understand this concept, then you will be better prepared for this statement: “or you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Your trials are meant to produce a richness of your faith and develop your Christ like lifestyle.
• “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” If you do not know what to do ask the Lord and then believe Him when He tells you. If you don't believe, you are like a drunk man stumbling around and you are showing that you do not truly have the faith that it takes. 
• Do not pursue riches, rather pursue Christ in every endeavor of your life. That is your best ROI (Return on Investment) for your life. 
• Don’t give up. Remain steadfast and push through to the end. Failure is not an option, but sin is a choice. I just said that to a friend of mine 2 days ago and I believe it wholly. 
• Do not give in to temptation - because that is all it is. Stand firm. If you give in to temptation you will sin and the greek means to literally birth ugly sin babies. Let’s not go down that road. We don't need to. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us. If Jesus can do it, so can we. Call on the powerful name of Jesus for help!
• How are we to apply the Word of God? Thank you James, “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;  for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Be like Christ. 
• What does it look like to really be a Christ-follower? “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Live out your faith, don't just sit there and talk about it. Hearing and doing are 2 separate things. I know people that just listen to sermons all day when they work and then live like heathens. That makes no sense to me. If you hear God’s Word - do God’s Word. Live it out. If you do not, you are deceived. You are blessed when you apply what God is teaching you.
• What is a way that we can show our love for Jesus and have a pure faith? 3 things, keep your tongue in check, take care of those that are down and out, and keep yourself with Christ and not being stained by the sins and desires of the world. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

James 2 “The theme of this chapter is faith. The first part of the chapter was occasioned perhaps by an incident that took place in a local church gathering. There the rich visitor received the people’s attention and courtesy while the poor man was told to stand or sit here or there (vv. 1–4). The members of the church were guilty of favoring the rich and despising the poor.

James notes that those who are materially poor in this world are spiritually rich because God has chosen them to be heirs of his kingdom. Those who are rich in faith belong to Jesus (vv. 5–7).

The summary of the Ten Commandments consists of few words, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” James calls this summary the “royal law” (v. 8) and implies that faith in Jesus means keeping the law. He links faith inseparably to God’s law that sets the believer free. Next, he teaches the readers to exercise mercy because “mercy triumphs over judgment” (v. 13).

In the second part of the chapter James develops the subject faith. He asserts that faith that is alive comes to expression in fulfilling the law of love. If this is not the case, faith is dead (v. 17). Faith of the heart expresses itself through the deed of the hand. Religion that is spiritual ministers to the need that is physical.

Someone wishes to debate James and makes a distinction between faith and works. If faith is only an intellectual virtue, contends James, then be aware that even the demons believe that there is one God, and they shudder (v. 19).

James opens the Scriptures to prove that historically faith and deeds go together. He takes the incident of Abraham preparing to offer his son Isaac on the altar to show that faith and works form a unit. God justifies a believer who puts his faith to work in obedience to his Word (vv. 20–24). The second example comes from the Book of Joshua. Rahab displays faith in God by hiding the Hebrew spies, sparing their lives, and sending them to safety (v. 25). In his concluding remark James employs the imagery of a lifeless body from which the spirit has departed. So is faith that lacks deeds—it is dead (v. 26).”

• The sin of Partiality. When we show ‘favorites’ we are playing judge. James points out the irony of showing favoritism to the rich. It is the rich who oppress and drag them into court, and yet they give them the better seats in the meetings. The rich were also the ones blaspheming God. 
• Instead of showing favorites, James says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” Put your money where your mouth is. If you love others as you love yourself, you are doing it right. If you show favoritism, you are not loving others as yourself. 
• God shows us mercy and we are to do the same. “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” If we do not show mercy here on earth, God will not show mercy when we stand before Him. Mercy for us is us showing God’s love to others. Mercy is also not punishing when it is deserved.
• What are we to do? In all things, we are to live out our faith and show how much we trust God. This will be lived out in us doing things for the God we love. We will be justified by how we treat others and live out our lives. Think about it this way, if you love something or someone, others will know it. 

James 3 “James warns his readers against the danger of the unruly tongue that leads them to sin and shame. Teachers, he says, “will be judged more strictly” in relation to their teaching. He himself, however, is not judgmental. He realizes that at one time or other every person is at fault in what he says, and therefore no one is perfect. The person who keeps his tongue in check controls his entire body.

We rein in horses with relatively small bits that are placed in their mouths. We steer a large ship with “a very small rudder.” On the other hand, a tongue that is not kept in check is a fire that affects the whole course of life. We have much greater difficulty restraining our tongue than taming any creature in the animal world. And last, we experience the restlessness of the tongue as it praises God and curses men, for this is contradictory.

After a discussion about the tongue, James describes the wise man who demonstrates wisdom by the deeds he performs. A person filled with envy and selfishness denies the truth; he possesses earthly wisdom that is unspiritual and of the devil. Heavenly wisdom, however, is pure, promotes peace, and produces a harvest of righteousness.”

• Either you are for God or you are not. Period. 
• Taming the tongue. James is big on this because what comes out of your mouth comes from the heart. Ships are steered by a little rudder and our tongue, albeit small,  can steer our direction and cause us to stumble. We must take this to heart. Which are we going to pursue, holiness of flesh? “The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” Either we are producing righteousness or we are producing sin with what we say and do. They are connected. 
• By living our lives for Christ, we are showing wisdom. The alternative is true as well. “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” Do not let Satan or the world tempt you to being selfishness and bragging about yourself. Be straight and honest and think about the next guy. No favoritism or jealousy. Rather, treat others with respect and dignity, showing them the love of Jesus Christ. 

James 4 “James admonishes his readers to submit to God. He notes that the fights and quarrels that rage among them originate in hearts that are not in harmony with the will of God. The readers pray, but with the wrong motives: their requests are selfish prayers.

The readers are developing a friendship with the world that makes them enemies of God. James proves his point by referring to the Old Testament Scriptures: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Because God is gracious, the readers ought to submit to him. They have to resist the devil, cleanse themselves of sin, repent of their deeds, cease their slander, and stop judging others.

James concludes this section by reminding the readers, especially the merchants, to trust in God and not in financial profits. They know how to do the good; therefore they are under obligation to serve God and do his will. If they fail to do this, they sin.”

• Selfishness causes problems and battles. If we do not keep our desires in check, we can do some horrible things. If our minds are on the things of Christ, we will live out our lives differently. Instead, we ought to look at the core of this… “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” God is the giver of good gifts to His kids. When we want things other than God, we are being idolatrous and we whore after what we are not to have. 
• Where do you stand with pride and self? Hear what God has to say about it - “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”  Be humble and not proud. Simple breakdown:

1. Submit to God
2. Resist the Devil
3. Satan flees from you

• Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. What are you waiting for? What is holding you back? If you are drawing near to God, He is there and will strengthen you.
• Don’t presume to know it all and judge others. “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor.” Oftentimes we judge others by our own standards or aspirations. This should not be so. 
• Bragging about your plans for the future… Haha. That is a funny one. We really have no control of tomorrow. We can only control how we react to things. 
• “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Blink. Seriously, blink your eyes. Yup - that is about the extent of your life. Before you know it - life is over here on earth. Life happens in between the blinks and it is up to you as to how you capitalize on this life that God has so graciously given you. We must surrender to God’s will for our lives and trust that He is going to work it out, His way, His purposes. 

James 5 “In the first few verses of this chapter, James rebukes the rich who have hoarded wealth in their spiritual blindness and who find that their wealth has become useless. They have gained their wealth by neglecting to pay the harvesters who mowed their fields; they squandered it by living in luxury and self-indulgence; and they brutally oppressed the innocent, even to the point of killing them.

Next, James exhorts the readers of his epistle to exercise patience and to stand firm in expectation of the Lord’s coming. He resorts to the use of examples (the farmer, the prophets, and Job) to accentuate his exhortation. Knowing the characteristics of his people, he admonishes them not to use oaths but to speak the truth at all times.

In the last section of the chapter, the writer presents a few instructions pertaining to wholesome Christian living in times of adversity, happiness, sickness, and sin. He stresses prayer as a source of power and illustrates this by citing an example from the life of the prophet Elijah.

In his final remark, James reminds the readers of their corporate responsibility toward the person who wanders from the truth. The members of the church must administer spiritual care to the wayward and bring him to repentance, so that he may live and his sins be forgiven. William Walsham How gave poetic expression to this truth when he said,

The captive to release,

To God the lost to bring,

To teach the way of life and peace—

It is a Christ-like thing.”

• James warns the rich to be very careful. When we rely on ourselves and not Jesus we are in a heap of a mess of trouble. Jesus is not an afterthought. We are not to live a life of self-indulgence and luxury. Not that we have to have nothing - that is not what James is saying. Rather, we should show mercy to those around us and make sure that Jesus is truly number 1 in our lives. 
• Have patience as we await the coming of Jesus Christ. He is coming. Wait as patiently as a farmer waiting for the weather and seasons to have his harvest. Are you ready for Jesus?
• Let your word be good enough to people. 
• Confess your sins to each other so that you may be healed
• If you are sick, get the elders of the church to come and pray over you with oil, anointing you in the name of Jesus. With that, you must make sure that you have no unconfessed sin or you will not be healed. Seriously, you must confess your sins to God and those you sinned against. Period. Martin Luther once said, “Peace if at all possible, truth at all costs.” Live that way and you will be much better off. May be harder, but it is the better route.

To sum it all up: 

• See above for my takeaways… Again, Blessings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ!