The Lesson of James

Today I'd like to take a look at the book of James. Now, this is not going to be a dry, boring, sort of historical look at the book of James. Three things might come to mind immediately when you think of James. Oh, well, he was the brother of Jesus. Okay, my point is we won't deal with that today because all scripture is given by inspiration. It is God-breathed. So we're going to listen to God today, and we're not really concerned about who the author is.

Another thing that it says in the first verse is it's to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. So some will say, well, this was written to the lost twelve tribes of Israel. Well, there weren't twelve lost tribes. There were only ten. Okay? And the Jews and the Levites were very much a focus of the New Testament church. So really, who is he talking about here? Is he even talking about physical Israel?

Let's go back to Galatians 6 and verse 15 very quickly. There are several scriptures that we could go to, but let's just pick one that is not commonly looked at with regards to spiritual Israel. But in Galatians 6 and verse 15, it says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, being a physical Israelite or a Gentile, a non-Israelite, avails anything, but rather a new creation. The word here means convert in the way that Paul uses it. The creation creature is referred... it's a term at the time that the rabbis used for a new convert to Judaism.

So he's using this in the terms, in the tense of a new convert to this true Christianity. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. Not the physical house of Israel, but the spiritual Israel of God. So a third thing that often comes up with the book of James is it was always used as sort of a weapon by those who said the law stands and you have to do works. And it was sort of counted as an epistle of straw by those who said, no, grace is everything.

All you got to do is say, I love Jesus and it's all done for you. We're not going to get into that issue either. Some may look at this and say, oh, the book of James, this is how I get healed. This is how I get prayers answered. But what is the book of James about? Today, I'm going to let you find the theme of the book of James as we go along.

It really has one topic, one message, one subject. It's very vital to you and to me in our pursuit of godliness and ultimately God's kingdom. He begins in verse two, speaking not to 12 tribes physically, but to the spiritual house of Israel. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, various challenges, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, as the margin says. So there's going to be testing of your faith and my faith. Whatever you think is the answer or the solution or the view of the perfect, stable thing in your spiritual life, that's going to be shaken.

Satan's going to figure out what that is and he's going to shake it. And so your faith is going to be tested. Verse four, but let perseverance, as the margin says, as a word for patience, let perseverance or endurance have its perfect work. In other words, we have to be on a trek down a difficult path, and we have to be committed to that and enduring in that. And that's going to be tested.

So go on down the track and let perseverance have its perfect work, that you may be complete, whole, lacking nothing. So this is something to do about our journey. James is going to discuss something to do about our journey. Let's drop down to verse nine. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. Lowly. Verse 10, but the rich in his humiliation. Two words, lowly and humiliation.

We're going to find that God likes people of a low self-esteem, in that sense, of a low personal image, of a low self-advancing, self-promoting mentality. Because, it says here, as the flower of the field, we're all going to pass away. It really doesn't matter what your status is in this life. What matters is in the next life. Verse 12, blessed is the man who endures temptation.

Temptation for what? Now we begin to get into the theme of this book. The temptation is to be self-centered. It's to let your human nature have a heyday. It's to make your religion about yourself and your quest about you being in the kingdom, and your importance in the church rising, and your contribution, and your status in life, and the state of your body, and your health, and everything else about you, and your friends, and your relationships.

Those are temptations. And we need to endure this selfishness, temptation, and get through it. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. That's what this life has to be about. If it's about anything else, then we're going to be shipwrecked.

In verse 14, each individual is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. What do we desire? Well, let me make a list. Let me check it twice. And we are tempted by our own desires, and we are enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And what is sin? Sin is a focus on oneself, without regard to others. It's not loving God with your heart, soul, and might, and putting him first as a focus. It's not loving your neighbor as yourself and putting them first.

It's getting swirled up into your own desires.

And that is a way of death.

So verse 16, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Don't get stymied by these things. Don't get guga and gaga about all this stuff. Even if it's swirled into a religion of making you somehow, and your stature, and your life, and your focus improve.

Because, verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

Verse 18, Of his own will he brought forth by the word of truth, not this inflated, swelling, yeasty, leaveny self stuff that swirls and attaches to religion. And, oh, we've got ourselves a good religion now.

Makes me feel good.

No. Truth.

He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his converts.

Not the only one of his converts, just the firstfruits of those he will convert to his mentality. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. What is wrath? Wrath is when you get mad that something isn't going your way. You can get really mad when somebody calls you a name, when somebody takes away an opportunity from you, takes away a potential advancement or a blessing of some kind. You can get really mad. Or, if they defame your character and chop your little image that you've been polishing down a little bit, you can come out just fighting. See that all over the internet with squabbling people. But, here, it says, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. What is the righteousness of God? Humble yourself out of your lofty position all the way from heaven to earth, and then serve and give and wash people's feet and die for them. That's the kind of love and concern that produces the righteousness of God. And so, as we begin to see here, fighting your human nature and being a master of that is what James says is most important for us to be in the family of God. And that's all he talks about in this entire book. Verse 21, lay aside all filthiness. Verse 22, be doers of the Word. What's the Word? Love God with all your heart, soul, might, love your neighbor as yourself is what Jesus condensed the Word into. Doers of the Word. And not hearers only. Don't we all talk about love? Oh, we all talk about love. We've got to love. We've got to love. We've got to love. You know, love is that hallmark symbol that Jesus said His followers would be known by. I'll write you a good article on love. I'll give you a good sermon on love. In fact, I'll tell you how to love. That's hearers. What about the doers? Who is really doing the love like Jesus said?

The example for Him. He says, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. How many people today will say, oh, I'm a Philadelphian deceiving myself and I'm all ready and I'm all fixed up and I'm all righteous and I'm ready for Christ and I'm going to reign and I'm in the perfect place and I'm a good person and I'm just studying my Bible at home and I'm just getting all knowledgeable and I, I, I, I, I, I.

See? Deceive ourselves.

Verse 25, but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty here and continues in it and is not a forgetful here but a doer of the love of God, this work that God has given us. This one will be blessed in what He does. Can you imagine that God the Father and Jesus Christ who wants so much for people to think like them will not bless an individual who is loving and sacrificing and serving. He won't bless and enrich their life and give it fulfillment and meaning. Peer and undefiled religion, verse 27, is to serve, is to go out and find those who need help and figure out ways to to serve. Verse one of chapter two, my brethren do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with partiality. Partiality means kind of a respecter of persons, a clique, a group, a friend you hang on to. Why? Well, because that's part of my empirical self. We can say, oh, I just love and serve this group. Why? Well, because it's my group.

And that group is a very selfish part of us if we're not careful. We're taught here that Jesus came and lived and gave and served and died for everyone and so did God the Father and they love everyone. And so partiality is just another form of Satan's cliquishness, of not loving some.

It talks about paying attention in verse three to one who has something that might benefit you, it might in some way make you look good.

Verse four, have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? That's where that's headed. You see, evil, selfish, unloving.

Listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. So we have one side as our human nature. Really got to slice and dice that. And with God's help, He'll open that up to us. The other side is those that God is going to bring into His kingdom love.

They're going to love. They're going to love God first.

Verse eight, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That is what we need to be about.

In verse 14, what is it? Prophet my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works. Well, this refers back up to verse eight again. If you really fulfill the royal law, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You do well. But if you just write it on your on your doorpost, you know, hang it on the wall and say, that's nice. That looks pretty.

I have to remember that one. Then faith, your faith, your trust in God and His Word, without the works of actually loving your neighbor as yourself, is dead. In verse 20, faith without works is dead. It's just, well, how can it not be? The law of God, which is, love God with your heart, soul and might and love your neighbor without, love your neighbor as yourself. All right. That's the law. Without works, which is loving God, and loving your neighbor, isn't that kind of dead? If you just have the law? As Paul says, I'll show you that I have the law by loving God and loving my neighbor. I'll prove that the law is in effect. In verse 24, you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.

A proof of this is from Jesus's mouth, who will be the justifier, and he will be the one that gives salvation. In Matthew 25, verse 34, Matthew 25, verse 34, you are very familiar with this passage because we use it here fairly often. The King Jesus Christ will come and say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for the world, because what? You had faith? No. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. As James says here, a man is justified by works. That's who Jesus Christ is going to harvest, is those who had good works.

For verse 26 in James 2, For as the body without the spirit is dead, so his faith without works is dead also. So is the command to love without the works of doing any loving. Now, when we look at ourselves and I look at my human nature, I say, Oh, look, John Elliott, you stand for love. You stand for serve. You stand for sacrifice. How much are you doing today? And I think, Aww. Well, I've done some in the past. You know? Yeah, what are you doing today? What are you doing today? See, this applies to all of us all the time. Godly thinking just doesn't happen on Saturday mornings. Doesn't just happen with random sort of deeds that, I did this in February. Wow, that's pretty good. I guess I'm good for another year.

Chapter 3 talks about an untameable tongue, but the tongue really is a reflection of what's in the heart. Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The first thing he deals with isn't tongue, but stature. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers. And I told you before how in the ministry sometimes people will come in their first visit and they'll say, come up to you after, how do I get up on stage there? You know, how do I get to be a pastor? They don't even know what the laws are, you know, of God. They don't even understand, but how do I get up there? Well, it's kind of an extreme concept, but don't we all want self-advancement? Don't we all want to better ourselves or be bettered? But he says, let not many of you become the teacher, become the one who would teach right there at the temple, the noble, honored, who I'd like to be that guy by the gate. I'd like people to really respect me like that. But, self-exalted. Verse 2, for we all stumble in many things. We're all selfish. We all have human nature. What we really need to do is pay attention to what we've been given in this life, what God's will is, and that's to get sin out and righteousness in. It's the important quest that we've been given to do, and not worrying about elevating our stature in this life, because frankly, God is not here to elevate anyone's stature in this life. Even if you do get your stature elevated, pretty soon, the memory fails, the body falls apart, and we're all going to end up as dust. So, what did that really accomplish? In verse 5, even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things about me.

It's always talking about me and how great I am and boasting.

Boasts. That's the opposite of what God does. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

What's iniquity? The margin says unrighteousness, selfishness. It's all about self, you see.

Verse 8, no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil. It doesn't say it's an unruly muscle. It's an evil. Why? Because it's about self, full of deadly poison. It hurts others.

You know, it's all about my little shiny image and, oh, look at yours. Yours looks a little more shiny than mine. Okay, so I will send some poison over there. I know how to slice and dice that. You know how politics works. Just wait for the next election and you'll see the poison tongue. Somebody else looks like they're getting a little, well, we'll just slice them down with some words.

With it, we bless our God and we curse men.

Now, verse 11, does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?

In other words, are you really a saint? Are you really converted? Do you really have God's Holy Spirit in you? That's the question. You know, if we're seeing these fruits, is God really in you?

God asked that of myself.

Verse 13, Who is wise and understanding among you? Well, let him show by good conduct through love, through service, his works that are done in meekness. See how this works together? Not great, highfalutin, I'll impress you, I'll impress you, blah, blah, blah. No. Meekness means I don't know how to live, I don't know how to walk, I depend totally on God and his word, I depend totally on that pillar of fire to lead me through this dark world. And the good conduct comes from God in me, so I can't take credit for that. But if you have bitter envy, self-seeking, it's about me in your hearts, don't boast and lie against the truth. You're not really in the truth, it's not of the truth. Come on, where does that come from? Well, this wisdom does not descend from above, it's earthly, it's sensual, it's demonic.

Call a spade a spade. James is laying it out here for us, okay? You've got to be identifying your human nature and you've got to be dealing with it. You've got to be overcoming it. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. And you know who's associated with confusion and every evil thing? It's satanic. He just said there in the previous verse, demonic. It comes from a different mindset. We have to realize we can eat off of either tree every day. Satan's tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that which enrichens, enlightens me and advances me. Or we can eat off the tree of life, which is humbling. It is eye-opening to our sins. It is the reason why we ask God to forgive us for specific sins every day when we pray. And that fruit, verse 17, is first pure and then peaceable. Peaceable meaning harmony-making.

It makes harmony between people and God. It is gentle or, again, the word meek, meaning it is God-reliant, not self-reliant. It is willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits of love and serve. It is without partiality and without hypocrisy. It's not about, ah, I'm all about love, but I'm all about me. Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in harmony by those who make harmony. So we're presented at once here with two completely different mindsets. And this is a good thing. This isn't a negative thing. God intended you and me to be evil people.

And then He intended for us to realize that we have evil, and then with His help and His son's blood to go in and make changes in that. So we're right where we ought to be. Just right where we ought to be. But James is saying, like so many of the New Testament writers, are we really genuine about this? Are we really doing this work? Or are we deceiving ourselves into some sort of a little religious kind of concept where it is about me and I'm okay by just focusing on myself?

Where do battles, the margin says for the word, wars, where do battles and fights come from among you? How can you battle and fight someone? What did Jesus say to do with your enemy? Love them!

Pray for them! Bless them! Give them clothes! Give them food!

So how can you possibly fight with anybody? Do they not come from... notice how many times the word your is written here. You can turn around to my if you want to make it. Do they not come from my desires for pleasure that were in my members? I lust and do not have. I murder and cannot obtain. I fight and war. I do not have because I do not ask. I ask I don't receive because I ask amiss that I might consume it on my pleasures. Pretty well puts it into perspective, doesn't it? Somebody's got the focus back on the South instead of on the perfect law of God. Adulters and adulteresses. In other words, careless people thinking about just me and not caring how it impacts others of the covenant that we made with God. Do you not know that friendship with the world? Not just friendship. It is kind of a lusty relationship with Satan's society and this selfishness is enmity with God. Whoever wants to be a friend of the world, Satan's age, makes himself an enemy of God. You know, don't fall for this stuff like, oh, you're a good person and oh, you need to love yourself first before you can love others. And oh, you know, you're a winner just for showing up. And it is about me. Some little person had on her t-shirt one time.

We just can fall for all this stuff. It's advertising. People want you to think that you are really special so that you will buy their product, eat their food, have whatever it is that you think you should have. Do you think the Scripture, verse 5 says, in vain, the Spirit that dwells in us yearns jealously? Yes, we do have these two natures. And God is a jealous God. He says, you're mine! Satan says, oh, no, no, no, you're mine.

And God says, just walk the narrow path. Walk the difficult trail. You know, abase yourself. Sacrifice. You know, give everything you can. And Satan says, oh, no, get everything you can. Be all you can be. Have the best, most wonderful life. And if anybody takes that from you, you know, cut them off at the knees. And we say, that sounds pretty good.

Not realizing that this is a very short life.

Therefore, he says, God resists the self-focus, the proud, the one it's about me. And he gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God and resist the devil. That's what this nature is really about. It's not like the devil, oh, resist the devil. No, believe me. The devil has been satiating us, you know, saturating us with his mentality since we were kids. We've got to resist that.

And he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. You and I are double-minded at times. And every day is a new day. Every day is a new chance to get up and say, who am I about today?

Who am I going to follow today? And the jealous spirit that's in us says, pick me, you know, follow me. And Satan's, no, no, like the donkey, you know, in what was that, Shrek, pick me, pick me, pick me. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. If we humble ourselves now in this lifetime, if it's not about me and we humble ourselves, guess what? God will lift you up. That's what that hole, let this mind of Christ be in you. He humbled himself and then let God raise him up.

Chapter five. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries.

In verse three, your gold and silver are corroded. In other words, we are all rich because we're all looking at ourselves. We're all trying to figure out, for me, we got a little stockpile of stuff. It's always coming into the house, into our lives.

It says in the universe three, you have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Treasure that moths eat, rust corrupts. Indeed, he says, verse four, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out. It's common in western society, in a capitalist culture, for some to get more than they are due by making sure that the little people don't have enough to live on. It's just the way it is. It's true in a family for a father to typically be more concerned about himself and his things than the need of the one who is helping him and the needs of the little ones whose lives are so precious but so needy. The modern male today would race out, breed with any and every one, have all kinds of power experiences, you know, with machines and things, and buzz through life leaving a litter of dependent children somewhere out there he may or may not even know about. That's the last person you'd want to get married because it wouldn't work out. But what you would want is a male to say, wait a minute, what about this lovely young person? How could I help her life? And then the children that come out of it, wow, these need a father, these need parents, these needs a life, these needs reassurance, these need education, these need direction. And so here we see one who is about himself and others around, either employees or family, or you could use this anyway, they cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Verse 6, you have condemned, you have murdered the just, he does not resist you. You're going to get away with it in this life. God's not going to resist you now. He's not going to curse you. He's not going to make you come to an end. He's not going to resist you because God is wanting to know what you and I are like. And we are given the opportunities both within the church and in society to do what we do and God will not resist you. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24. Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. I was talking to my parents this morning, and my mother actually brought this scripture up. Hello, Mom, if you're listening in, I believe you are. And I thought, wow, this just fits right with what I was thinking on, on this particular verse when we talk. Thus says the Lord, verse 23 of Jeremiah 9, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the night mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. It's not about these things in this life. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, knows me. The only way we can know God is to keep his commandments, to actually do the loving and the serving. That I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, says the Lord. So it's not about me. You see the focus here in chapter 5. There's all kinds of things that we might suffer from or we might cause others to suffer from. Verse 6, Therefore be patient. Persevere brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord.

We just read, he does not resist you. He's not going to fix it now. All of this selfish upheaval took place all through the New Testament. That's what Corinth was about. 1 Corinthians 13 isn't the love chapter. It's the loveless chapter. It's because people weren't loving. People were pushing themselves up. Paul had to go back and try to explain to these self-promoting individuals what it was. You go to Philippi, Corinth. You go to Colossae, Galatia. Here we are. James is writing to the church as a whole. Come to the writings in the end time. People were self-seeking. Did God fix it? Did he make the church just perfect?

Nope. It kind of fell apart.

But we have to be patient until the coming of the Lord.

Verse 8, You also be patient. Establish your heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. What is coming out? You should know what's in the heart. Establish that you are a loving, serving person. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. He's not going to step in now. But when Christ comes, then he's going to judge, and he's going to choose. Verse 9, My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of the suffering and perseverance. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job. Now, this is about getting the mind off the self. What happens when some certain things do come along, and they're pretty good or pretty bad for you? Is that a time to focus? No. James is going to tell you, deal with it, okay? But stay focused on loving and serving others. Verse 13, Is anyone among you suffering? It's kind of okay. Deal with it. That does not distract you from loving God with your heart, soul, and might. It's no excuse. Get over it.

Let him pray is the answer. Now, this is not sort of, is anybody among you suffering? Here's the guidebook. No, he's actually saying this incidentally, I believe. Solving your self issues, incidentally getting past them. Are you suffering? Good. Let him pray. Anyone cheerful? He had some big blessings in your life or whatever? Great. Sing a song. Get over it, get past it, get on. Anyone among you sick? Fine. Call for the elders of the church, get anointed. The prayer of faith will say the sick. Don't make it all about you. Don't blow it up into something, whether you're blessed, whether you're suffering, whether you're sick. Deal with it, get on. There's a way of doing that.

Now, verse 16, let's get back to the body of Christ. Here's what we do. We confess your trespasses to one another. Different topic. Why? That you may be stitched back together.

All right? It's not physical healing. That your relationships can be stitched together. That's what that Greek word means. It says, the effective fervent prayer, or as it says in the margin, the supplication.

The supplication. When you supplicate someone, you go to a person and say, look, I'm sorry I hurt you. And you really supplicate. It's hard to repair that relationship. But if you really supplicate, and you also involve God in prayer of a righteous man, this will avail much. As an example, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He made mistakes, he got selfish sometimes, and yet he prayed earnestly, and things took place. You too can have good relationships within the body. If you get the mind off the self, if you go and admit where you're wrong, and you pray about it. Then verse 19, brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, what is the truth? Well, they wander away into selfishness, and it becomes about them somehow.

And someone turns him back. Let him know that he who turns a sinner, that's the one who wanders from the truth, a sinner, one who is breaking God's law of loving him and loving the neighbor, you turn the sinner from the error of his way back to loving, back to actual loving and deeds of service will save a life from death and cover a multitude of sins.

And that's the lesson of James. It's a powerful lesson. It's one that hopefully you and I can wake up to each morning and apply in our lives. Thank you very much for coming to the Bible study.