Introduction
I. When you approach the letter of James, the first important question to consider is “Who is the author?”
A. The only real identification from within the letter itself lies in the authors statement in verse one. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
B. But that is an extremely important statement.
II. There are only a few men by the name of James listed in scripture.
A. Christ has two disciples named James.
B. Perhaps it could be one of them.
III. The first was James, the son of Zebedee
A. This James was the brother of the Apostle John.
B. This James gets a fair amount of exposure in the gospels, however, most scholars believe he was martyred in AD 44, while the letter of James was probably written between AD 45 and AD 60, depending on which expert you believe.
IV. The second was James, the son of Alphaeus.
A. It is believed that he was the brother of Matthew, and he gets some mention in all the gospels except John, and once in Acts.
B. He is not believed to be the author of this letter however.
V. A third James of scripture is James, the father of Judas, not Iscariot.
A. He is probably not the author however, since his name was used primarily to differentiate Judas, not Iscariot from Judas Iscariot.
VI. A fifth James was James the Less who is mentioned in Mark 15:40 as being at the crucifixion, but is not considered as the author of James.
VII. There is one other James in the scripture.
A. This James was not an original disciple of Christ.
B. In fact, this James thought Christ might just be a little bit crazy, and at least during prior to the crucifixion John 7:5 states he didn’t believe in Christ at all.
C. Does anyone know who this James might be?
VIII. Most conservative Biblical scholars believe that the James that wrote this letter is in all likelihood, James; the brother of Jesus.
A. The time fits
B. The theme of the book makes sense,
C. Everything works to say that this James is most likely, James, the brother of Jesus, except for possibly one thing; verse 1.
1. If James is trying to encourage the followers of Christ
2. If he was attempting to spur believers in Christ on to holy living, in spite of imagined and real persecution, and temptation to sin why would he not say, “JAMES, the brother of Christ” in stead of “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”
IX. At some point in time between about AD 30 and AD 60,
A. James, the brother of Christ
B. James, the one that didn’t believe his brother at all.
C. James, that may even have thought his brother a bit luny, becomes;
D. “James, a bond-servant, of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. A bond servant is a slave, but not a slave that was bought and paid for.
2. A bond servant is a slave that has willingly placed him or her self under the lord ship of a master.
X. The author of this letter has had a change of heart and mind about the Savior of the world.
A. James, or perhaps I should say God has demonstrated the impossible.
B. God has brought a total and complete skeptic into a new relationship with his family, his God, and even a world that would read his letter for generations to come.
XI. And right here in the first verse, of a new study the question gets seen again, “Who do you think is beyond the reach of God?”
A. I was speaking with someone just last Sunday that said,
1. Oh, he’ll never follow Christ.
2. She’ll never believe in Christ.
3. Praying for them would be a waste.
B. MAYBE THEIR MIDDLE NAME IS JAMES.
1. Maybe it won’t happen tomorrow.
2. Maybe it won’t happen for years,
XII. Maybe we need
A. To have faith in God,
B. To have faith in prayer.
C. Maybe with some perseverance and patience and endurance the James of our lives with become bond-servants of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
XIII. Hey, patience and perseverance is the next section of this letter.
Temptations Will Come
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
I. I don’t normally like the King James Bible.
A. You have probably noticed that I primarily use the New American Standard Bible.
B. However, in this case, the King James offers a better translations from the Greek than either the NASB or the NIV.
II. For those of us without the King James, verse two is translated like this - My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations
III. I have always struggled with the concept of “joy in my trials.”
A. How many of ever said to God,
1. Bring it on.
2. I just want to have joy upon joy.
3. And I know that trials will bring me joy, so bring on the trials God.
B. Let’s admit it
1. Trials are not typically a lot of fun.
2. Trials don’t often bring peace, at least not in the midst of the trial.
IV. Now peace in the midst of trials I can understand, but joy
V. This letter was written to Christians that had been forced to live in foreign lands to escape persecution for their faith.
A. They were face trials, both literal and figuratively
B. They were also being tempted to abandon their faith, because of those trials.
1. On the surface, James is calling for them to stand firm in their trials.
2. The actual problem however was not the trials of life, but the temptation to turn from Christ in order to avoid those trials.
C. And how many of us can honestly say that the trials of life don’t cause us to consider the same thing from time to time?
VI. James is a guide to practical Christian living.
A. A “how-to” book.
B. How to mature in Christ.
C. And James must have been a very practical man, because his very first sentence is “How to deal with temptation.”
1. And not just any particular temptation, but
2. The diverse temptations that this world has to offer.
VII. The question is sometimes asked, “Is temptation a sin?”
A. The quick answer is no.
1. We might choose to place ourselves in a situation to be tempted,
2. That action might well be sin,
3. But temptation is not sin.
B. In fact, scripture states that even Christ himself was tempted.
1. The writer of Hebrews states - For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15, NASB)
2. At the very least, Christ was tempted in the wilderness
3. I believe we can say that He was also tempted just before the crucifixion, when he said “Father take this cup from me...”
VIII. How often do we feel guilty about our being tempted, and yet James states that temptation has some very specific benefits.
IX. When Christ was tempted in the wilderness, he did not give in.
X. Even as He asked the Father to remove the crucifixion from His future, Christ also stated, “But I want you will, not mine” (Mark 14:36)
XI. There are two main points that come from verse 2.
XII. First, temptation, better said, temptations will come
A. That is why is ways, “WHEN” they come
B. If Christ was tempted, why would we think that we won’t be, or shouldn’t be
XIII. Second; don’t be afraid or guilty about temptations
A. Know the steps to win
B. And understand that temptations have benefits.
C. And what might the benefits of temptation be; just look at the next two verses.
Three Benefits of Temptations
In these first verses, James gives three steps to benefit from temptation.
Step one is actually found in verse 2, “Look for the joy”
A great picture of this is found in Acts 5
Peter and some others were arrested and jailed for preaching.
God released them, and they just continued to preach
They were arrested again, and flogged,
Then Acts 5:41 reads, “41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”
Tried, convicted and flogged.
Sounds like a sever trial to me
Personally I might even be tempted to say something like
So where was Christ while I was being beaten
If God so loves the world, and that must include me; why all this suffering?
But Peter just said,
Wow.
What a joy to be in fellowship with Christ.
Consider it pure joy when you suffer trials and temptations, and take comfort in the fact that you are one with Christ.
Step one, consider it all joy, knowing that God will not allow your trials and temptations to be more than we can endure. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)
Step two - “Use Temptation As An Opportunity for Growth” Verse 3
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
I. Step one, greet trials and temptations with joy, knowing God has provided an escape route.
II. Step two - Use Temptation as an opportunity for spiritual growth.
III. Endurance, patience, perseverance, depending on the translation you use.
A. The word means essentially growth
B. It looks a bit like this, from my Army boot camp days.
IV. On the first day of our training at Fort Ord California, the Drill Instructors woke us up bright and early for an early morning jog.
A. That was very nice of them.
B. They then proceeded to take us on a two mile or so run, with the intention of eventually having us run something like 5 miles.
C. By the time we got back to the training area from that first run, most of us were sure we were dead, except we were in to much pain to be dead.
D. For many of us, there was no way we thought we would ever complete that run, even though the DI’s assured us we would.
E. Each morning, those DI’s woke us up for a run, without fail.
F. At the end of the seven weeks of training guess what?
1. We all, or almost all of us completed the run,
2. And we didn’t even hurt as much.
V. Each day, little by little the Instructors pushed us a little bit harder, and each day it got just a little bit easier.
A. You can’t tell it now, but 30 years ago I could actually complete a 5 mile run.
VI. Physical endurance is built up over time.
VII. It is the same thing with our faith.
A. When we first accept Christ as savior, we don’t really know much about faith.
B. We know we are going to live forever in heaven with God, but we don’t know the power that is available to us through the Holy Spirit.
C. We don’t know what it really means to have faith in God, in all areas of life.
VIII. That knowledge comes with time.
A. As we see God take us through various trials and temptations, we begin to realize not only what God is capable of, but what His empowering has made us capable of.
B. The writer of Philippians puts it this way, - So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (Philippians 2:12, NASB)
C. Work out your salvation,
1. Exercise your faith
2. When trials and temptations come, continue to trust in God.
IX. You can profit from temptation,
A. If you approach them with joy, that is certainty that God is in control, and
B. If you realize that the exercise of your faith, will produce endurance, that equates to growing in your trust of God. Endurance in Trial Bring Perfection
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus was explaining that real love does not simply love our friends, but loves our enemies as well.
A. In encouraging his listeners, Jesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
B. We are to be perfect;
1. But I know I’m not perfect.
2. In fact, I know that I will never be perfect.
C. That is true, we will never be perfect in this life.
D. But the process goes on.
II. James statement is that as our faith is exercised, and as we face trial and tribulation of this life, and I will add, experience victory, and sometimes even defeat, our faith will grow.
A. As our faith grows, we become more and more like God.
B. We can say that with assurance, because Christ said that we are to be moving towards perfection.
C. If moving towards perfection were not possible, Christ would not have commanded us to be perfect, and James would not have said that perfection is the result of enduring trials.
III. Endurance in trials brings us towards perfection,
IV. It also makes us “complete, lacking in nothing.”
V. As each trial of life, my initial temptation may well be, “How can I possibly make it through this?”
VI. The second is to remember what God has already brought you through.
VII. A friend of Maryann’s who has no children, but really wants a child recently miscarried, not for the first time.
A. She rides to work with Maryann, one evening this past week, she came in while I was studying.
B. We talked about what I would be preaching.
C. She stated that a while back she secluded herself in a hotel for the purpose of understanding what James had written.
1. She also explained how while she really wanted a child, what she really wanted was God’s will for her life.
2. She is older, and child bearing would not be easy for her.
3. Already though she is looking a praying for how God is going to feel her desire for a child.
a. Will she adopt?
b. Will she be a foster parent, or a big-sister?
c. Will she serve in her church somehow?
D. There is the pain of loss, but also the excitement of knowing that God has a plan.
VIII. That to me is perfection in the face of trials.
CONCLUSION
I. Not all trials and temptation is bad, at least they don’t have to be.
A. Great trials with joy, knowing God is in control.
B. Great trials, looking for growth and maturing in your walk.
C. Great trials, knowing you are moving towards perfection in God.
D. Great trials, asking God for the faith to believe, even in your unbelief.
