James: Faith That Works Part 1
James: Faith That Works • Sermon • Submitted
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It is likely that the book of James was the first of the New Testament books written.
It was likely written in the early to middle - 40’s.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
James 1:1-2
James was the brother of Jesus.
James was the brother of Jesus.
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
James was initially skeptical of Jesus.
James was initially skeptical of Jesus.
5 For not even his brothers believed in him.
James becomes the leader of the Jerusalem Church.
8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
What has the power to change the heart and mind of a skeptic?
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
This probably indicates that James receives a personal visit from the resurrected Lord.
1 Cor
The resurrection of Christ is enough to change the heart of a skeptic.
The resurrection of Christ is enough to change the heart of a skeptic.
At Age 17 C.S. Lewis stated to a friend,
“I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best.”
15 years later he wrote the same friend and said.
“Christianity is God expressing Himself through what we call ‘real things,’ . . . namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.”
“A most reluctant convert”
Lewis fully recognized that commitment to Christian faith would be a life-changing event, not just a casual decision about where to spend his Sunday mornings.
Commitment to Christ is a life-changing event not a casual decision about where to spend Sunday mornings.
Commitment to Christ is a life-changing event not a casual decision about where to spend Sunday mornings.
Please note that the situation in the book was difficult.
The church can either pul tother or fall apart!
The New Bible Commentary Introduction
The first point to note is that it was written to a church under pressure. Christians were not being martyred, but they were suffering economic persecution and oppression and the church was breaking under the pressure. There are two ways in which church members may respond to extreme pressure.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
“A servant” δοῦλος - One who is a slave in the sense of becoming the property of an owner.
John MacArthur said,
A doulos was a person deprived of all personal freedom and totally under the control of his master.
19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.
20 All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
You must serve faithfully.
You must serve faithfully.
James uses 45 imperative verbs showing us that following Christ is not a passive practice.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
You must serve sacrificially.
You must serve sacrificially.
James poured his life out for the church.
Mother Teresa
“A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves.”
one who is a slave in the sense of becoming the property of an owner
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 740.