|
One writer
has said: “To look at the world and its physical and spiritual life through
the eyes of a man of God like James is a breathtaking opportunity…To hear and
read what James has to say about the Christian faith is an open door into the
light of heaven."1 I like
that description of the book of James; “a breathtaking opportunity” and an
“open door into the light of heaven.” I confess to you that James is one of my
favorite books in the Bible. For many years, a large part of my preaching has
consisted of preaching through books of the Bible. It was while a pastor in
Wilkesboro, North Carolina that I first began such a practice and the first book
that I preached through was the book of James.
In my
opinion, the heart and soul of the book of James is found in the words of 1:22, “But
be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” As an old black preacher
put it, “My bredren, dere be two sides to de Gospel; dere’s de beliebing
side, and dere’s de behabing side."2 James
wants the believer to turn his or her profession into practice. What we believe
is to be fleshed out in our behavior. As believers we are to have more than a
knowledge of God’s word. We are to learn how to apply the word to our every
day life and allow the word to enable us to be all that we should be as
believers and equip us to meet the everyday demands of life.
Let’s begin our look at the book of James by getting
acquainted with the author. In the opening verse of James we are told who the
author is and from his greeting we learn some things about him. He
introduces himself as, “James, a servant of God.” What an interesting
way for James to introduce himself. The word “servant” literally speaks of a
“slave.” The word is descriptive of a slave who has completed his term of
service and could have been set free, but instead chose to remain a slave. It is
a word that speaks of someone who is a slave by choice.
In the Old Testament you have the picture of a slave who
loved his master so much that he chose to remain his slave. His ear lobe was
placed against a doorpost and then pierced. He would from that point on bear the
mark that he was a slave, a slave by choice, and a slave to the master he loved.
James was declaring his love for the Lord Jesus Christ and that he was His
willing servant or slave. James was declaring that his life was not his own but
belonged to another—the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you a servant (slave) of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you
said to the Lord, “I am your servant and will serve you the rest of my life?” If
you really love the Lord, the distinguishing mark is that you are His servant,
willing to do anything He would have you to do. One may say that they love the
Lord, but the proof of our love is being His servant. It is a form of slavery
that every believer should readily submit to.
What kind of servant was James? Let’s notice the first verse
of the book and consider the kind of servant he was. First, we see:
1.
JAMES THE HONORED SERVANT!
First and foremost, when we study the book of James, we must
remember that it is more than the “Book of James.” It is a “Book of the Bible.”
It may commonly be called “The Epistle of James,” “The Letter of James,” or “The
Book of James,” but first and foremost it must be recognized as God’s Word.
Therefore, we are reminded of:
A.
The Divine Inspiration Of The Book.
Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of
God…” The word “inspiration” means “breathed in” meaning that
the Bible is “Divinely or God breathed.” In simple words, the book of James,
as well as all other books of the Bible, came from God.
I know
most of you have heard of Madonna. Shortly after she had her baby a reporter
asked her about the type of religion she was going to give her baby. Her answer
described a religion that was a mixture of Catholicism, Buddhism, Judaism, and
the Cabala. In the course of her answer she made this statement: “I would
rather present the Bible to my daughter as some very interesting stories you
could learn from, rather than that it is the rule you must live by."3
I would expect that kind of answer from Madonna, but let me
be clear and say that the Bible is more than a book of interesting stories. The
Bible is the Word of God! Every book, every chapter, every verse, and every word
is God breathed. It came from God. When we
read and study the book of James, as well as any other book in the Bible, we
must do so with the realization that we are reading and studying God’s Word.
Secondly, we are reminded of:
B.
The Human Instrument Of The Book.
The Bible
is a divine book, but there is also a human side to it as well. Peter explained
the origin of the Bible this way: “For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Peter
tells us that the Bible is not the result of the “will of man.” That
is, the Bible is not a collection of man’s thoughts and words. It is more than
the writings of man. Peter
tells that, “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Peter tells us that what was spoken or written was under the influence of the
Holy Spirit. In other words, they spake or wrote what God told them to write.
Each book of the Bible has a human author but those human
authors were merely instruments of God by which He gave us His word. God gave
them the thoughts they put to paper. Every word was written by the direction and
under the guidance of God. When we speak of the “Book of James” we are merely
saying that James was the human instrument whereby God gave us this section and
portion of His word.
I often hear those who speak of errors and mistakes in the
Bible. Their argument is that since the Bible was written by man, mistakes and
errors occurred. My answer to that is, if the Bible is only human in its origin
that could be the case. But the
Bible is divine in origin and therefore that is not the case. The human
instruments were under divine inspiration. The Bible may have been written by
man, but men chosen by God who wrote what God “moved” them to write.
That is why I call James an honored servant. No greater honor
could have been bestowed upon man than to have been chosen by God to be a human
instrument to write His word. James was indeed an honored servant.
In our case, we have not been chosen and honored by God to
write His word, but we do have the honor of being chosen to preach His word,
teach His word, and share His word. Charles
Spurgeon once made the comment, “I cannot help feeling that the man who
preaches the word of God is standing, not on a mere platform, but on a
throne.”
My life has not been without its honors and privileges, but
the greatest honor and privilege I have is preaching God’s word. Preaching may
not be your divine assignment in life, but in whatever form you have to share
God’s word, whether in a classroom or sitting in a living room, there is no
greater honor.
Secondly, lets think of:
2.
JAMES THE HUMBLE SERVANT!
You also
notice in verse 1 that James speaks of himself, not only as a servant of God, but
also, “of the Lord Jesus Christ.” You might expect every New
Testament writer to say such a thing, but in the case of James it was a
revealing statement of his deep humility. Let me explain.
First, notice:
A.
His Relationship With Jesus.
The name “James” was a very common and popular name in New
Testament times, a form of the great Old Testament name Jacob. There are
several in the New Testament that bore the name James. There was James, the son
of Zebedee and the brother of John. There was James, the son of Alphaeus, and
James, the father of Judas the disciple (not Judas Iscariot). James, the author
of the book before us, may have had a popular name, but there was a matter that
set him apart from all the others in the Bible named James.
Notice Mark 6:3, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of
James…”
Mary and Joseph had several children after
the Lord Jesus was born and one of them was named James, who happens to be the
author of the book we are considering. James was the half-brother of the Jesus.
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:19, “But other
of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.”
Understanding James and his relationship to Jesus, it makes
his statement that he was the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ all that more
interesting. James
could have introduced himself in many ways. He could have introduced himself as,
“James, the leader of the church at Jerusalem.” Acts 21:8 speaks of him in
that role. He could have introduced himself as, “James, the pillar of the
church.” Paul called him a pillar in Galatians 2:9. He could have introduced
himself as, “James, an apostle.” That’s
what Paul called him in Galatians 1:19. Or he could have introduced himself as,
“James, the Lord’s brother.”
Now, you talk about something that would have been impressive
and gave weight to what he had to say, reminding his readers and audience that
he was the Lord’s brother would have. I can imagine that if he were living
today, he could have run ads in the paper announcing, “The brother of the Lord
Jesus Christ will give his testimony, ‘What It Was Like to Grow Up With Jesus’”
and people would have packed out auditoriums to hear him tell about fishing and
playing with Jesus and the their childhood days. But
instead, he does not even mention that he was the half-brother of Jesus but
declares that he is the servant of Jesus. It is a very revealing mark of his
deep humility.
If we were the half-brothers of Jesus we would most likely
flaunt it and use it to our advantage. We certainly would make it known and make
sure everyone knew whom we were. Our head would be so big we would we would look
like we had a hot air balloon our shoulders. I have
met a few in the ministry that had experienced a measure of success that acted
as if there were a vacancy in the trinity they would be a candidate.
Someone has said, “The great man never thinks he is great,
and the small man never thinks he is small.” One of the marks of greatness is
humility. If you
want to be great in the eyes of God then like James you will see yourself as
nothing but a servant. You will not draw attention to yourself, who you are or
what you have done.
O.S.
Hawkins in his book on James described how his pastor used to tell him that if
he thought he was took big for a little job, then he was too little for a big
job."4 I love
that for the heart of what he was saying is that God uses humble people.
Paul
said it best in Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me,
to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he
ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man
the measure of faith.”
Secondly, think of:
B.
His Reverence For Jesus.
James not
only had a low consideration of himself but he also had a lofty conception of
Jesus. Instead of bragging that he was the half brother of Jesus, he speaks of
what Jesus means to him. Notice carefully that James describes Him as “the
Lord Jesus Christ.”
Even
though James was the half-brother of Jesus he saw Jesus as THE SOVEREIGN ONE.
He viewed him as “Lord.” He was more than a brother to James; he was his
Lord.
He also
saw Jesus as THE SAVING ONE. He also viewed him “Jesus.” Jesus means
Saviour. James saw more than a brother in Jesus. He saw the Saviour of the world
who had come to die for the sins of the world.
He also
saw Jesus as THE SPECIAL ONE. He saw him as “Christ,” which means,
“the anointed one.” James knew that Jesus was not just a man. He knew that
He was more than a member of his family. He was the long awaited Messiah, the
anointed one, the Christ!
The secret to humility is seeing who you are and seeing whom
Jesus is. If you strut around like a peacock, it is a good indication that you
haven’t seen Jesus in all his glory lately. The more we see Him in all His
glory, the less we think of ourselves. The more we see Him and who He is the
more we will realize how unworthy and undeserving we are to call Him our Lord
and Saviour.
3. JAMES THE HELPFUL SERVANT!
The final
statement in verse 1 indicates to whom James was writing. The recipients of
James’ letter were, “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,
greeting.” First, notice:
A.
How James Described Them.
James
described them as “scattered abroad.” The Greek word is diaspora
from which we get our English words dispersed and
dispersion. We read in
Acts 8 that after Stephen was killed outside the gate of Jerusalem, the
Christians were scattered throughout the Roman world. They had to flee for their
lives.
James is writing to Christians that had been forced to leave
their homes, jobs, and property. These believers were living under the pressure
of persecution and the threat of martyrdom.
Secondly, notice:
B.
How James Directed Them.
As one
writer said, “The people who would read his letter were literally hanging by a
thread.” What does he say to them? James says, “Greetings.” The
word means, “rejoice.” To a people that were scattered, struggling, and
suffering, James seeks to encourage them. He wants to help them face what they
are going through.
In his letter to them he tells them how to deal with the
stress and pressure of the trials they are going through. He seeks to give
reason and rhyme to all that is happening to them and to help them to apply
God’s truths to every thing that happening in their life.
James is a
person with a lowly consideration of himself, a lofty conception of His Saviour,
and a loving concern for the saints.5 He does
not think of himself, but he does think of others. He cares about those who are
hurting and seeks to be a help and strength to them.
As I said in the beginning, James is seeking to help believer
flesh out the truths of the Word of God. One of the ways we put into shoe
leather what we know is by caring for others and seeking to help others. Being a
Christian is more than living in our own private little worlds. It is seeing
those around us and in some way helping others. Is there someone you know that
you could reach out and seek to be a blessing and help to them? James was that
kind of servant.
The Wall
Street Journal printed an article entitled How Important Are You? “How
Important are you? More than you think. A rooster minus a hen equals no baby
chicks. Kellogg minus a farmer equals no corn flakes. If the nail factory closes
what good is the hammer factory? A cracker maker will do better if there’s a
cheese maker. The most skillful surgeon needs the ambulance driver who delivers
the patient. Just as Roger’s needed Hammerstein, you need someone and someone
needs you.”
In one of Charles L. Allen’s books I found this poem that I
close with:
If any little love of mine may
make a life the brighter,
If any little love of mine may make the heart lighter;
God help me speak the little word and take my bit of singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale to set the echoes ringing.
If any
little love of mine may make a life the sweeter;
If any little care of mine may make a friends life a fleeter;
If any little lift may ease the burden of another,
God give me love and care and strength to help my toiling brother.6
May we all learn from James the honored, humble, helpful
servant of God.
1. W.A. Criswell in the foreword of Getting Down
To Brass Tacks, O.S. Hawkins
2. From the foreword A Belief That Behaves,
Guy King
3. James Merritt, Sermon Building Your House On
The Rock
4. Truth for Life, James Blanchard
5. In Quest of God's Power
|