Biography of James

Well, for the sermon today, I would like to give the biography of an important biblical character, the New Testament, like Paul. And much like Paul, he was not converted. He was not a believer during the actual ministry of Jesus Christ.

Yet this servant had a profound influence on the early church. He wrote one of the general epistles. And he also happened to be the half-brother of Jesus Christ, which made him rather unique. This individual is known as James the Lord's Brother or James the Just. And as a little short biography, I would like to talk about James the Lord's Brother today and give us a little background from the Gospels and from early church history. He's not to be confused with two of the original apostles who were also called James.

The Bible can be rather challenging. Between all the Marys floating around and all the Jameses, it can be very confusing. There were two original apostles. One was James the son of Zebedee, who was the brother of John. James the Lord's Brother is different. The second is James the son of Elphaeus. James the Lord's Brother was different from that James as well.

Today we're going to talk about James the Lord's Brother. So let's begin by going right into the Scriptures as I like to do. John, chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. And we're going to kind of see the growth of the influence of the family of Jesus Christ, particularly James the Lord's Brother, and see what the Scriptures tell us about him.

We're going to go again to John, chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. And we're going to take a look at the very first miracle of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting? At the very first miracle of Jesus Christ is not some profound healing of someone with leprosy or a terrible disease. It's not feeding 5,000 people who are hungry with bread. It's to enhance celebration.

It's kind of interesting that his very first miracle wasn't what one would call a profound miracle as far as healing or something of that nature, but one that enhanced the celebration at a wedding party. It says, on the third day there was a wedding in Cana at Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now, both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding.

And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. She says, hint, hint, they're out of wine, Jesus. And Jesus said to her, he understands what she's inferring, Jesus says to her, woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. He said, I'm not sure that this is the right time to kind of initiate my ministry, to have the first miracle that would get people's attention.

However, his mother, like most moms, just totally ignores him. She says to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it. He says, now there were six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews containing 20 or 30 gallons of peace. And Jesus said to them, fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast.

And they took it. And when the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made, he did not know where it come from. But the servants who had drawn the water knew the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

And he said to him, every man at the beginning sets out the good wine. And when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. So the master says to the bridegroom, this is uncanny. At most weddings, you have the good stuff first. And then after people are half-crocked, then you bring out the rotgut. Then you bring out all the rotgut. You're the Thunderbird, the Mad Dog 2020, and all of this stuff.

He said, but this isn't the way that you did it. You've kept the good wine until now. So it shows that Jesus just didn't make rotgut. He made high-quality wine out of that water. It says, this beginning of a sign Jesus did in Cana Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. Verse 12, and he went down to Capernaum, which is where he was relocating moving, he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they did not stay there many days.

So after this miracle, Jesus leaves living in the town of Nazareth, and he relocates and lives in Capernaum. That's, by the way, in Matthew 4 and verse 13, that statement is made. I want you to notice how it describes here who was at the first miracle. His mom is at the first miracle.

His brothers, and separately it says, his disciples. Some people who don't want to accept the fact that Jesus Christ had half brothers and sisters say, oh well, when it uses the phrase brothers, it just means the disciples. It just got spiritual terms. Spiritualize it away. It just means his disciples. Well, then John had a stuttering problem because he says his brothers and his disciples. John separates the fact that Jesus Christ had brothers, who by the way are listed right after his physical mother, and his disciples. So we get the first understanding that there is a distinction between the physical brothers of Jesus Christ, which he had, and his chosen disciples. So that just kind of breaks the ice for us to understand that Jesus Christ had half brothers. Obviously, he was the firstborn. Obviously, he was the result of virgin conception. But we're going to see that after Jesus Christ was born, that Mary and Joseph had just a typical normal marital life. She was not a perpetual virgin throughout history. That after Jesus was born in a miraculous way to fulfill prophecy, that Mary and her husband, Joseph, had normal marital relations just like you would expect from any other couple. Let's now go to John to go back a few chapters. John 7 beginning in verse 1. We're going to see here that they had a good family relationship. His brothers would chide him a little bit. They didn't believe in his ministry, not while he was in his earthly ministry. We'll see later on when this changed. And they're going to chide him a little bit. But this is triding. It's kind of been fun. We need to understand that he had a good, healthy relationship with his mother and even with his physical brothers and sisters as he was in his ministry. John 7 beginning in verse 1. After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill him. Now, he still has a couple of years of his ministry to fulfill in order for his ministry to be three and a half years long and to fulfill prophecy. So he's a little sensitive about the fact that already the Jews are out to kill him. And you might say, well, why should he care? Well, you may remember when Jesus Christ was confronted by Satan when he was in the wilderness, and Satan said, you know, just jump off the temple. Your foot won't be hurt. You won't dash your foot against the stone. I mean, you're something special. You don't have to be cautious. You don't have to be smart. And Jesus said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. In other words, you don't put yourself purposely in situations that could cause you to be harmed or have a premature death.

So he was concerned because, as it says here, that the Jews sought to kill him. Verse 2, Now the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand the feast. His brothers therefore said to him, depart here and go into Judea, that your disciples may see the works that you were doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. They're saying, you have a public ministry. You should be there. You should be out in the public. You should be in the limelight. You should not be here. And then the kind of an interesting word to begin the next sentence, if you do these things, show yourself to the world. Do your miracles in front of everybody. Be in the limelight. Be prominent. Verse 5, For even his brothers did not believe in him.

So his brothers did not believe in him during his earthly ministry. Verse 6, Then Jesus said to them, My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast.

I am not yet going to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. When he had said these things to them, he remained in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up, he then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, Where is he? And there was much complaining among the people concerning him. Some said he's good. Others said, No, on the contrary, he deceives the people. However, no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. So we see here in John's Gospel that Jesus Christ had at least, at this point, these scriptures we've read at least, two half-brothers because the word brothers is plural in the Greek. All right? So he has at least two half-brothers and they chide him, not wanting to be more open and public at the annual feast. But again, Jesus is cautious because he still has a few years of his ministry left before he's going to fulfill prophecy and allow himself to be crucified. So after they leave, they left as a group the brothers, then quietly, anonymously, he also goes to the feast of tabernacles. So that's what John has to tell us about the brothers of Christ. Let's continue to fill in the blank spaces here to learn more about his brothers and more about James by going to Matthew's account. We're going to go to Matthew 12 and verse 46.

Matthew 12 and verse 46.

Matthew 12 and verse 46. Another scripture that many who just do not want to believe that Jesus Christ had half-brothers and sisters try to spiritualize away by saying, well, this comment he makes proves that everybody was his spiritual brother and sister. And it denies the fact that if it hadn't literally been his physical relatives who showed up, he couldn't have made that comparison. Matthew 12 and verse 46. While he was still talking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brothers, plural, stood outside seeking to speak with him.

Then one said to him, look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak with you. But he answered and said to the one who told him, who is my mother and who are my brothers? He stretched out his hand towards his disciples and said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother.

So in this event, the physical relatives of Jesus Christ show up to speak with him, and he's able to use them as a prop to say spiritually speaking, they're related to me physically. But all of you, I can have an intimate family relationship with all of you if you do the will of my father. I also want you to notice that Matthew makes the distinction between the multitudes and Jesus's physical family.

He's the one that makes that distinction. Christ states that spiritually, everyone is his brother or sister who is called by the Father and who follows and becomes a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Well, now let's go back a few chapters to Matthew chapter 13. I guess only one chapter.

And now we're going to get more explicit detail on the brothers of Jesus Christ, even including their names. And we have Matthew to thank for this. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 53.

Matthew 13 verse 53.

Jesus is coming back to the town where he lives. His family resides, now came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables, that he departed from there, and when he had come to his own country, that is, the people who knew him, remembered him growing up, remembered him as a child, knew his family. He taught them in a synagogue so that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son?

In other words, isn't Joseph his father? Now they didn't understand or accept the fact that Jesus was born as a result of a virgin birth, but that was naturally, not understanding or accepting that, would be the kind of comment that they would make. Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, plural, meaning more than one, Greek plural word, and his sisters. Are they not all with us? Don't they live in this community? Don't we see them every day? Don't we know this family? They're nobody special.

They're nobody important. They might be righteous. They might be a good family, but there's nothing supernatural about any of the members of this family. And his sisters, are they not all with us? When then did this man get all of these things? So they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. Now he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Because they lacked faith, because they didn't accept him for who and what he was, that is Jesus Christ the Messiah. He was not able to do a lot of mighty works there. But we see here, again, Matthew makes the clear distinction between the typical followers that Jesus had and his physical family. It included his stepfather Joseph. It included his mother. He mentions four brothers and at least two sisters. And I want you to notice that James is specifically mentioned as one of his half-brothers. He's also the first who's mentioned. So it is believed because of the order in which this is put that James was the firstborn of the marital relationship between Joseph and Mary.

So James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. James is specifically mentioned, again, as one of the half-brothers. And again, I want to emphasize that Mary was not a perpetual virgin after giving birth to Jesus. She and Joseph had a normal, healthy, happy, marital relationship together that resulted in at least six children. Now, we don't have the names of all the sisters. There's a minimum of two. There may have been more. And judging by the large families of Hebrews in that day, there very well could have been five or six sisters as well. So it was a large family, what we would expect of any Jewish family living at that time in human history. So for the rest of the ministry of Jesus, his actual earthly ministry, little is said or known of James. What we just read are what are in the Gospels. He first appears to remain an unbeliever by what we read here in John and Matthew. But at the resurrection of Jesus, he does appear to be one of the very first of those who now believe, who suddenly become converted and a believer in Jesus Christ. We'll see how that happens. We'll go to Acts chapter 1 and verse 9. Again, we've looked at all the places in the Gospels that talk about the brothers of Jesus Christ, and specifically James. Now we'll go to Acts chapter 1 beginning in verse 9. In context here, Jesus, his ascension occurs and he's taken up into heaven.

It says in Acts chapter 1 verse 9, Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while he looked steadfastly towards heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by in white apparel. These are angels who said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go to heaven. And sure enough, if you look at the prophecies of Zechariah and many other prophecies, you will see that Jesus Christ literally returns and his feet set upon the Mount of Olives, that very same spot. As it says here in verse 12, then they returned Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. So it was an upstairs room where they were staying. And there was Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, the son of Elphaeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas the son of James. That's not Judas the Scary, obviously. Verse 14, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. And then there's the latter half of this verse.

With the women, remember Jesus had a lot of women supporters who supported him financially, and at his crucifixion, when all the men were running around hiding in terror, being accused of knowing Christ, the women were steadfastly there throughout that process of his crucifixion. So it says, And the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus with his brothers. And again, I want to notice that the disciples were already mentioned. So this isn't some spiritualization away. Brothers meaning anybody who believed in him. It's very clear that the disciples are there, a number of women are there who supported him, Mary, his mom is there, and his physical brothers. So I believe it's fair to say that while Jesus walked to the earth, the seeds of conversion were being sown within his brothers and within James.

As after the crucifixion, James remained in Jerusalem, as we see here, with his other brothers, by the way. He remained in Jerusalem with the 120 disciples, his mother, and James was with his other brothers. While there, he may have taken part in the selection of Matthias, for example, to the vacant apostleship to replace Judas. And I want you to notice that it isn't just James, but it's his brothers. They were a close family, and something occurs here. It all makes sense in his brother's heads. Jesus grew up and he obviously was different. He was unique. And they kept hearing people from other areas saying, Jesus is performing miracles. Jesus is doing these wonderful works.

And in time, that had to begin to have a positive effect on his brothers, including on James. Now, his other brothers don't become as prominent as James. We don't have their names. We don't hear about them again. But I think if we go to Paul's writing now in 1 Corinthians, he makes a statement to help us understand why James suddenly, suddenly would have gone from an unbeliever to one who was a complete, dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ. We're going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 3.

Paul is writing here, he says, For I delivered to you first of all that I also received.

He says, Here's what I was taught. Here's what I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to Scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, that's Peter, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, this is during that period of time, between the resurrection of Christ and his ascension, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep, meaning some have died. Verse 7. After that, he was seen by James, then all the apostles. Then last of all he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. So what Paul is telling us here is that James personally saw the risen Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being the brother of Jesus Christ? Maybe you had doubts.

Maybe you, because he was your brother, and you know sibling rivalries, and you know none of us thinks that our brothers are as talented as we are. We don't like to admit it. We may, in our heart, understand that, but we don't like to admit it. So maybe there was some sibling rivalry there.

But I want you to think of what would have happened when he would have seen the risen Jesus Christ as brother. He may have very well hugged him. I'm sure he spoke and had a conversation with Jesus. I'm sure he examined his scars from the crucifixion that were still there. Perhaps he saw Jesus just literally walk through a door, walk through a wall like he did at other times, and appear to James. That obviously would entice you to encourage you to immediately have the faith, the know, that your brother Jesus Christ indeed was the Messiah, was the prophesied one.

And this is obviously what occurred to James. When he saw the risen Jesus Christ as half-brother, he immediately believed. He immediately, all those puzzle pieces, all those things, thinking back on the childhood of his brother Jesus. And the time when his brother went to Jerusalem at age 12, and that entire experience where he said, I have to be about my father's business, and his brother beginning his ministry and calling these disciples and for three and a half years preaching the good news, all of these puzzle pieces came together when he saw the risen Jesus Christ resurrected to life. Now let's go back a few chapters to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 1.

Paul is doing a little correction here of the 1st Corinthians church. He was a little irritated that they refused to help him financially in any way, and he felt oftentimes he was on the defensive. He often felt like he was treated like a second-class apostle. Even that last verse that we read in 1 Corinthians 15, he said, Then last of all, he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. So Paul oftentimes was a little bit on the defensive side. He says here in chapter 9 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free like the other apostles? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? And of course we believe that after his conversion he went to Arabia for what we might call a sabbatical, a little bit of a retreat. And there when he was in Arabia, that he literally met in a vision and spent time with Jesus Christ. So that's what he means by this particular phrase. He says, Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. Meaning he had put so much sweat equity, so much love, so much time and effort into this Corinthian congregation. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

My defense to those who examine me is this, and he did have his critics.

Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Now, again, this is just a little bit of inference here, but the inference here is that James and the other brothers of Jesus Christ had been converted, and that they were serving within the ministry of the church preaching the gospel, and Paul is implying here that they also all had wives.

He says, continuing in verse 6, There was only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working. So again, here Paul makes the distinction between Peter and the other apostles and the brothers of Christ. Apparently, they all felt free to have wives, the other apostles, and to bring their wives along when they traveled at church expense, whereas Paul and Barnabas remained single. But Paul is saying, you know, I also, if I chose, I have the right to take a wife. I have the same rights as the other apostles do. So now let's see Paul's account of his early conversion and his eventual travel to Jerusalem. We're going to go to Book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 1 and verse 14. So now we're moving on to about 38 A.D. approximately, and we're going to see that someone is beginning the rise in prominence in the Jerusalem church. Someone is rising quickly the prominence in the church in Jerusalem. Galatians chapter 1 and verse 14. Paul is talking about his early conversion. He says, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. He was the Pharisee of Pharisees. He says, verse 15, but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. So he says, when I was struck down on that road to Damascus, I took some time off. I needed to meditate. I needed to get my acts together. I needed to think about what had happened and what my purpose was in life. So I didn't immediately go to any church authorities and tell them that I'm ready to do some great work now. He says, so I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia. And again, in Arabia, we believe this is the time when envisioned that He received personal training and got to know Jesus Christ while He was taking this sabbatical, this time off. He says and returned again to Damascus, then after three years, in the time of His conversion, I went up to the Jerusalem. I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles accept James the Lord's brother. So again, this occurs about 38 A.D. James the Lord's brother is still in Jerusalem. We read earlier how he was there right after the resurrection.

And James has an interview there with Paul after Paul had been gone for a while from his conversion three years. And it's obvious that James has quickly risen the prominence in the church. Paul only bothers to see two apostles. One is Peter and the other is James. Now, you may also notice that James is called an apostle, or James is referred to here as an apostle. And the reason is is that he's an apostle because he personally knew Jesus Christ and was personally called by Jesus Christ. That's what makes him an apostle. We saw that Paul also mentions James in 1 Corinthians 15. We saw that a little earlier. Let's see another proof that James is becoming a respected and a prominent elder and servant in the church by something that Peter says when he is miraculously released from prison. We're going to go back to Acts 12. Now, this occurs times marching forward, approximately 45 A.D. You may remember the background of this.

Herod goes on a rant, and he has James, not obviously James the Just, put to death. So then he arrests Peter. And his plan is to kill Peter right after the spring holy days. Peter is in prison, and Herod actually has 16, four squads of four, 16 soldiers guarding him. And, I mean, how are you going to get out of that? And you may remember the story that at night, an angel little Lord comes in, touches Peter. Peter was chained one chain to one soldier, one chain to another soldier, the chain just fall off. Peter, he thinks he's dreaming. He gets up, he walks by all of these people who apparently don't even see him, all of these other guards. And when he gets to the streets, after he's left the gates automatically open for him, he walks out to the streets, it says he comes to himself, and he realizes that God has intervened and heard the prayers of the brethren. So let's pick it up here now in Acts 12, verse 11. That was the background, the context. And when Peter had come to himself, meaning he says like, wow, this isn't a dream, this really happened. This is reality here. He said, now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.

So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. So Mary owned the house, and he came to her house. There were many gathered together praying, and Peter knocked on the door at the gate, and a girl named Rhoda, she was a servant girl, came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness, she did not open the gate. But she left him standing there. She's all excited. She ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. Peter's here. She says, Peter's here. But they said to her, you are beside yourself. And she kept insisting it was so. And they said, it is his angel. Kind of makes you wonder what they were praying for. They didn't have the faith that it literally was Peter. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished by motioning to them with his hand to keep silent. He declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.

He doesn't say, Go, tell them to Matthew. Tell them to anyone. He says, No, tell these things to James. Why? Because he recognized James' very prominent, influential role as overseer of the Jerusalem church. It says, and he departed and went to another place. Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. So of all the people he could have said, Go and tell these things to, he says, Tell them to James. So again, let's recap here. Peter escapes from prison. He gave instruction to those inside the house of Mary that they should immediately inform James and the brethren that God had freed him from certain death. So the fact that he specifically mentioned James first tells us that James is growing in influence and reputation. A few chapters later, let's now go to Acts 15. We're going to see again where James appears to have a leadership position in the ministerial conference of 49 A.D.

Acts 15 is a part of scripture we've covered many times over the years.

But we want to focus in on who is there and what is said. It says Acts 15, verse 1, And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, Unless you are circumcised according to the law of custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, do the ministers ever find themselves in disagreement?

Sure they do. Do they ever get passionate about what they believe? Sure they do. They're human beings. They absolutely do. And this was a dispute. It says they determined, that is the church at Antioch, that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. So where was considered the home church, the original church geographically, the church with reputation, the church where you would go to settle disputes? It was not Rome.

It was the church in Jerusalem. Verse 3, So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that God had done with them. So as we find often in church history, this is a serious dispute over a doctrinal matter. Some were saying that like the old covenant, the Gentile believers had to be physically circumcised to achieve salvation. Paul and Barnabas strongly disagree with that perception. They say, no, the new covenant requires only circumcision of the heart. He mentions that in Romans chapter 2 and verse 29. He says it's not about physical things. It's not about a physical act. What God is interested is our hard, stinking, selfish heart being circumcised. That our attitude is cleansed through repentance, not some physical act of cutting off a piece of flesh. So Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem to discuss this matter with the church leaders. So let's see what happens here. Let's take a look at chapter 15 and verse 6. Let's drop down to verse 6. Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, again, do ministers ever get passionately argumentative about things they don't agree with? Sure they do, because they're human beings. Much dispute. Peter rose up and said to them, Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And of course Peter was called to go to Cornelius' house, the first Gentile, and made no distinction between them and us, purifying their hearts by faith. Not by some physical act, by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear? He said we have no right to put a yoke on the back of people that God does not require.

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they. Then all the multitude kept silent. So you can see the tide turning. Before it says there was much dispute. Peter, who's highly respected, he gets up and he says, My position is that you're making a mountain out of a molehill, that the Gentiles do not have to be physically circumcised to be saved. It says, Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul, declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.

And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen to me.

Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up. And those ruins include calling of the Gentiles.

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who does these things, known to God among the Gentiles who are turning to God.

But that we write to them to abstain, I'm sorry, I skipped, known to God from eternity are all of his works. He says in verse 19, he says, Therefore I judge, some translations say, my decision, is that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled and from blood, from Moses, has had throughout many generations, those who preach him in every city, being read in a synagogue, every Sabbath. So James says, because of his reputation, because of his influence, because he is the overseer of the Jerusalem church, I want you to notice he hears everyone out. There's dispute that went on. We don't know how long this much dispute went on, but there was disputing back and forth, pro and con. This is how I look at it. This is how I look at it. Then he allows Peter to get up and talk. Then Paul and Barnabas. And after everyone has had their say, he gives instruction, his decision.

And his decision basically is what we would hope for, and that is from his responsible position of authority, because James had weight and was also a respected conservative, that when he supported this approach, that opposition among the ministry faded away. Now, unfortunately, it never fades away from the Pharisees. And I hope you understand that Pharisees still live today. There are Pharisees in the church today. The Pharisees are part of every generation. And there were Pharisees then who ignored what the church taught. There are Pharisees today who ignore what the church teaches. That's just something that you deal with throughout history. So the ministry settled on the right decision, but unfortunately Paul would be continually plagued with these ideas coming up by who people he referred to as false brethren throughout much of his ministry. And I might also add for some who say that this was about doing away with the law of Moses, are that what they were told to abstain from are all part of the law of Moses. So obviously the law of Moses was not done away. Now let's go to Galatians chapter 2 and see another visit that Paul makes to Jerusalem. Who was there and what he says. Galatians chapter 2 beginning in verse 1. This isn't his first visit that he had made after he had been in Arabia for a while. This is another visit.

Galatians chapter 2 in verse 1.

Now Paul writes, then after 14 years, this is beyond the three that are mentioned in chapter 1, verse 18. He said, Yet not even Titus, who was with me being Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they may bring us in the bondage, to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. He says, But those who seemed to be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me. God shows no personal favoritism to no man, for those who seem to be something, added nothing to me. Now these are not what you might call complementary comments about those that he met in Jerusalem, but he's frustrated by this point in time because this issue has gone on too long and should have already been settled. He says, verse 7, The gospel of the circumcised was the Peter, for he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me towards the Gentiles.

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised, they desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I was eager to do. So again, in this account, another trip that Paul makes to Jerusalem, he mentions James first, because James has a very prominent and influential role.

He considers James a pillar in the New Jerusalem Church. In the Jerusalem Church, he considers him one of reputation. Now let's go to the very last mention of James in the New Testament, in Acts 21. This is the last reference we have to James in the New Testament. Once again, Paul is traveling, and he's completing his third missionary journey, and he's in Caesarea to give you a little background, and the prophet shows up and tells him something that certainly indeed is going to come to pass. Acts 21 and verse 7. Luke writes, And we stayed many days, Caesarea, and Caesarea, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

And when he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind up the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Now, personally, if it would have been me, I would have given the belt as a gift to Mr. Weber.

But Paul had a lot more faith than I did, so Paul keeps the belt. He says, Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? He sees everyone around him is crying. The prophet just basically says, You're going to be arrested by the Gentiles who could lead to your death. Everyone is sad. Everyone's crying. Paul says, You're breaking my heart, for I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

When he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

And after those days, we packed and went up to Jerusalem, and some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain minasen of Cyprus, that was the name of a disciple, an early disciple with whom we were to lodge, so they were to stay at minasen's home.

And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

And when he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry, and when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and they said to him, You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law? So Paul goes in, and who is specifically mentioned? When he returns to Jerusalem, who he speaks with, it's James. And Paul says, the Gentiles, the gospel is being called, and the Gentiles are growing, and the church is expanding. And James says, the same here, too. He says, look at all the Jews that have been converted here in Jerusalem, and who now are believers and are all zealous for God's way of life. This is the last time that James is mentioned in the New Testament.

So once more, this is about 56 A.D. James is the most prominent and respected overseer in Jerusalem when Paul makes this report of his travels, this time of his third missionary journey. Now, something interesting happens here. James asks Paul to go to the temple, and as an act of goodwill to participate in an Old Covenant ritual to impress some of the Jewish believers. And unfortunately, it backfires. It causes a riot, and Paul ends up getting arrested for it. But this is the last time when James is mentioned in the New Testament. He lives about another decade. He lives approximately another 10 years. The death of James, reportedly, was from the order of the high priest at the time. His name was Ananas, and it was either by stoning, according to Josephus, if we can believe his accounts, or it was by being cast down from the temple tower. Josephus tells us that Ananas, the high priest, had James stoned to death, and that the most equitable of the citizens immediately rose and revolved to such a lawless procedure. According to Josephus, James was so respected because of his piety and his integrity that even the Jews, the unconverted Jews, had respect for a man of dignity and piety like him.

And Josephus says that the high priest was removed within three months because the Jews were so upset about the death of a pious man like James, the brother of Jesus Christ.

Well, James is also the author of the epistle of James, and we don't have time to survey it today. I just want to make a few comments about it and see what it tells us about James as a person.

We're going to go to James. We're going to take a look at just the first eight verses of James. James chapter one beginning in verse one. James chapter one beginning in verse one.

It says, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad. It is well known historically that parts of the twelve tribes, the ten particularly who went into captivity, lived in an area known as Galatia in Asia Minor at this time. It is also well known that the Jews were in many pockets, major cities, throughout the Roman Empire, including Babylon. He says, greetings, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways. So we're going to stop there, and I'd like to encourage you to read the book of James. And as you do, here are just a few highlights of things that you will notice about James that reflect his personality and his relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of the things that he does that are different than the style of the apostle Paul. Here are some of them.

James Epistle is clearly more practical and less abstract than any other New Testament writer. He discusses Christian living and wisdom rather than strong doctrine. He's not into strong doctrine. He's talking about living the walk, walking the walk. That is his emphasis. The general content of his letter is a call to holiness in life. He's a lot like his brother Jesus. Do you remember what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5, 48? He said, ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Remember that?

What did he just tell us here in the early part of James? He said here, verse 4, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So there's that parallel there between the very words of Jesus Christ and what James says. There's no other New Testament book that has received more criticism than the Epistle of James. Many have ridiculed it over hundreds of years because they think it contradicts Paul's emphasis on grace and faith, which it doesn't. You have to understand that they were just two sides of the same coin and emphasizing different things. Martin Luther called it an epistle of straw when compared to Paul's writings because it didn't fit Martin Luther's personal agenda. The theme of the book is that genuine religion has to be demonstrated in Christian works and that our works should be superior to those of the world. And those works, according to James, include personal holiness, service to others, keeping oneself spotted from the world, active resistance to the devil, submission to God, and brokenhearted repentance.

Another interesting thing about the book of James is that the principles of this epistle are parallel to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount. I wonder where he got that from, where James would have acquired that from. There are more parallels to the Sermon on the Mount in this epistle than can be found anywhere else in the New Testament. There are at least ten parallels to the Sermon on the Mount in the Epistle of James. I wonder where he would have acquired that from. Something else about him is that James has a deep appreciation of nature.

One scholar said, there are more analogies about nature in this epistle of James than in all the epistles of Paul put together. And this is similar again to his half-brother Jesus. James discusses flowers of the field, a natural face in a mirror, bridling, your tongue, ships, small rudders, winds, forest fires, fresh and bitter water, fig trees, grapevines, vapors, moth-eaten, your fields, laborers, reapers, fattening your hearts, a farmer, early and latter rains. Who does this sound similar to? It sounds similar to all the parables that his half-brother Jesus Christ used in his ministry, vivid using nature as an analogy for human life and growth.

Another interesting thing about the book of James is he writes as one having authority. He's not on the defensive as Paul normally is. James doesn't bother to have a warm and fuzzy greeting. You open it up and it's boom! Right to the point. He opens it abruptly, he ends it abruptly, and he speaks as one who has authority. There's no hint of apology in his presentation of the truth.

It's as if his official position must have been recognized by the readers and totally unquestioned.

And finally, this epistle is more like a prophet's appeal to a wide audience. Most of Paul's letters were personal in nature. They were to a congregation. They were to an individual.

James' epistle is like a prophet, strongly, authoritatively giving instruction. So in conclusion today, let's look at one scripture as we conclude James chapter 1 and verse 17.

Because I want to encourage you to read the book of James, I want to encourage you to realize what a prominent and significant place he had in the early New Testament church. And this, of course, is very reminiscent of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul talks about. James says in chapter 1 verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. On his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. So this has been a biography today, a short biography, on the life and times of James the Lord's brother, a rather remarkable individual who had such a great influence on the early New Testament church and wrote one of the general epistles. Have a wonderful Sabbath and we'll catch you right after church ends.