Introduction To James

Ben Swapp

The Book of James • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Introduction

God willing, I would like to take us through the book of James.

God willing, I would like us to go through the book of James. This little book is one that has caused me personally to really think of what the Christian life is about. How we as Christians are to act in our daily lives. I hope as we dig into this, letter God would bless through it.

Most Biblical scholars or historians consider the author of James to be James the half brother of Jesus. Although there are other James that are found in the New Testament, James the brother of Jesus is the most likely candidate. (We will not get into these arguments right now because of time, but there is a lot of information on this).

Chronologically, this Book is considered by many to be one of the first books written in the New Testament, if not the very first book. The ESV study Bible says that James was probably written in the early to mid 40’s AD.

The Apostle Paul tells us that James is an Apostle

(ESV)

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.

Although James is an Apostle, most biblical scholars would call James, “the first pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ.” We know that James was the head of the Church in Jerusalem sometime after Jesus ascension into heaven.

But most biblical scholars would call James, “the first pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ.” We know that James was indeed the head of the Church in Jerusalem after Jesus ascension into heaven.

If we could give one theme to the book of James, I would have to agree with the ESV study Bible when it says that, “The primary theme of the letter of James is to be doers of the Word, and not just hearers”.

This is taken from

I would have to agree with the ESV study Bible when it says that, “The primary theme of the letter of James is to be doers of the Word, and not just hearers”.

(ESV)

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

As we dig into this little book that was written long ago, my prayer is that as the church of Jesus Christ we would be challenged and encouraged through it. As being a part of Christ’s Church this letter would rock us to the very core.

(ESV)

-Prayer-

Before we really start to dig into the text, I want to focus on James for a few minutes.

James went from someone who would mock our Lord to a devoted follower, that would eventually lead him to a martyrs death. James had grown up with Jesus and Jesus was the oldest sibling of the family. I am sure that James knew there was something special about his brother, but James could not except the fact that Jesus was indeed the Christ.

(ESV)

Greeting

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Look how James introduces himself to the readers of the letter. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are two really important facts that I want to get out of the first part of this verse.

James says that he is a servant or we could say a slave.

This word “servant” is the Greek word “doulos” which means “slave”

James could have said, “James the Apostle, or James the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, or even James the leader of the church in Jerusalem.” These all would have been correct.

But instead he says, “James a servant or a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

What a transformation that James had went through

James went from a man that I am sure was full of, jealousy or indignation towards Jesus, to a man that loved his Jesus. He would not leave Jerusalem but would stay and lead others to the same knowledge that God had given him about his Lord.

Look at this transformation of James with me. Turn to Mark chapter 3.

Turn to Mark chapter 3.

In chapter 3: 1-6 we see Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath and immediately the pharisees went out and had a meeting to see how they might destroy Jesus.

After this in verses 7-12, we see that there is a multitude of people that are coming to him to be healed of diseases and unclean spirits. There are so many that Jesus tells His disciples to get a boat for Him to stand in so that the crowed would not crush Him.

We then read in versus 13-19 Jesus twelve closest called Apostles.

In Versus 20-35 is where it gets really interesting.

(ESV)

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

James the half brother of Jesus would have been a part of this conversation saying “he is out of his mind”. They had heard about the reaction of the pharisees in the healing of the man with the withered hand and how Jesus had healed the many with demons and sickness. James was at a cross road, he had a decision to make. Choose to follow Jesus as the messiah or choose to believe that Jesus was out of his mind.

C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

We can see that James had made up his mind that Jesus was out of his mind. and we can see that the pharisees would make up there minds that he was a devil

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

As C.S. Lewis said there is only The Son of God. That is the only choice that Jesus gave us.

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Not only did James and the others reject Jesus as the Messiah, but they tried to put into action stopping Jesus. Those that are not with Jesus will always try and stop Him and his purpose and that is as true today as it way then.

try to stop Jesus

Trying to stop Jesus is Not a good idea!

There is an old movie called “The man from Snowy River” were the main actor is asked about taming the Snowy River area and his response is you would have better luck holding back the tide. To try and stop Jesus you would have better luck holding back the tide.

But look at the transformation!

After Jesus is crucified and raised from the dead, James and the other family of Jesus gets on board (at least we know James and Jude do).

Not only does he get on board, he ends up being the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and ultimately gives his life for the cause. What a transformation.

instead of trying to stop Jesus he goes with the tide

Foxes box of the Martyrs tells us of two possible ways that James was Martyred.

…The exact time and manner of his death is not certain, although it’s believed to be about A.D. 66. According to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, the high priest Ananus ordered James killed by stoning. But Hegesippus, an early christian writer, quoted by the third-century Christian historian Eusebius, says James was cast down from the Temple tower. This version of his death further states that he was not killed by the fall, and so his head was smashed in with a fuller’s club, which may have been a club used to beat clothing, or a hammer used by blacksmiths.

Only through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit at work in James could he be transformed into the man that he was to the man that he ultimately became and paid his life for.

2. Who is James a servant of?

We have looked at transformation of James, now lets look at who he served.

The text tells us that he is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It would have been good and right if James would have said a servant of God, or if he would have said a servant of Jesus Christ. Both of these statements would have been correct. But James says, “a servant of both God and the Lord Jesus Christ”

Why is this important theologically? Some would say ya Jesus should be served, He is the Christ and God should be served because He is God.

The reason this is important and why I am spending so much time on this, is because we should only serve one master. Jesus Himself said

(ESV)

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

I know that this is taking about serving money and God, but I think that Jesus would say the same thing about serving anyone other than God to that extent. God is to be in His own category.

So this makes me ask, “Why would the leader of the Church in Jerusalem say that he is a slave to God and the Lord Jesus Christ?

The only good answer is that Jesus Christ is God, because you don’t elevate anything or any one to the level of God unless He is God.

We know that God the Father is God, and we know that Jesus Christ is God, and we know that the Holy Spirit is God and so did James the half brother of Jesus.

Think about this with your own family. I am the youngest in the family of 8 kids. Even if one of them turned out to be a prophet of God or someone of high importance in Gods kingdom. I aint going to say I am a slave to that man! it aint happen-en. I don’t think James was any different. He could see that Jesus was more than a prophet, and more than a good man He could see that Jesus was the creator of the universe and was to be worshiped as God.

This is not a made up concept. God shares His glory with no one. God puts no one on an equal playing field with himself.

(ESV)

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

(ESV)

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

(ESV)

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

(ESV)

9 For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

(ESV)

6 For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(ESV)

Besides Me There Is No God

6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel

and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

“I am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

(ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(ESV)

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(ESV)

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

(ESV)

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

God is Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. this is three persons in one God. Jesus was not a ventriloquist when He was baptised.

(ESV)

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus was not throwing His voice in the clouds saying “this is my beloved Son” This was God present in the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.

James could see the proof of Jesus works while Jesus was in His ministry, but so could the Pharisees. James and the pharisees were not saved by seeing the works of Jesus. James was not saved until after the Lord had risen from the grave, and he believed in who Jesus was. It is not enough to only believe in the works of Jesus. You also have to believe in who He claimed to be.

(ESV)

23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

James needed to believe that Jesus was God and not just his half brother, and after the Resurrection and ascension of Jesus, James did believe and he lived it, and I pray as we go through this book we would further strengthen our faith and live as the Church of Jesus Christ is to live.

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