James
The little book was written very early in the
history of the Christian Church. It is commonly thought that this book was
written in the early AD 40s. The only other book written early than this one is
probably Galatians. Think about this time frame. Jesus ascended into heaven
around AD 30. This means that we are talking less than 20 years after the ascension
and then 10 days later, Pentecost. Here are some reasons why it is thought that
this letter was written so early.
1) In this
book, most of the references to the church make it sound as though the
Christians were still Jewish. This means that it could written before the time
of the great conversion of the Gentiles in to the Christian Church. The
Gentiles haven’t made inroads into the Church, which brought about various controversies
in the Church (i.e. circumcision and the eating of meat with blood in it, which
was resolved with the Council in Jerusalem in AD 49 – Acts 15.)
2) There
was a simple church order which has not been complicated by time and the needs
of running a larger Church.
3) The
term “synagogue” was still used to talk about the place where Christians
gathered to worship. (James 2:2 For if a man wearing a gold ring
and fine clothing comes into your assembly [synagogue], and a poor man in
shabby clothing also comes in…) This changes as more and more Gentiles join
the Church and the term changes.
After
that brief introduction, we will enter into our study of this little letter
which is called “James.”
James
1:1 James,
a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
Who
is the author of this book? _____________________________.
While
that sounds like a rather simple question, we come to realize that it entirely
possible for us to come up with several different “James” who “might have” written
this letter.
1) James,
the son of Zebedee and brother of John. Acts 12:1-2 About that
time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He
killed James the brother of John with the sword.
What happened to this James?
__________________________ This took place around AD 41 which is much too early
for him to be the author this epistle.
2) James,
the brother of Jesus. The most common thought is that this is who wrote this
letter. At first, he did not believe that Jesus was the Savior. (John 7:5
For not even his brothers believed in him.) He also thought that Jesus
was out of His mind (Mark 3:21 And when his family heard it,
they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”)
But all that changed. We are told that Jesus appeared to James personally. (1
Corinthians 15:7 Then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles.)
He became one of the main “pillars” of the early church. (Galatians 2:9
And when James and Cephas and John , who seemed to be pillars, perceived the
grace given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me,
that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.), leading
the church in the direction that it needed to go. At the Jerusalem Council, it
was James who spoke up and guided the Church in the area of how to deal with
the issues of the Gentiles. (Acts 15:13 After they finished
speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me.”)
So
what we are going to do is go with the thought that James, the brother of
Jesus, wrote this little letter/book. Now we turn to the next part of what is
written.
James
1:2 Count
it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3.
For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing.
5. If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will
be given him. 6. But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed
by the wind. 7. For that person must not suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord; 8. He is a double-minded
man, unstable in all his ways.
1. It is
amazing that James could say, “consider it pure joy…when you face trials of various
kinds.” What do you think he means by this? (Think of the phrase “no pain, no
gain.”)
2. What
does the testing of faith produce? (Paul picks up on this idea when he writes Romans
5:3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, 4. and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, 5. and hope does
not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.) Do you like to undergo the
testing of your faith? ____yes ____no. Why or why not?
3. What is
the goal of steadfastness?? What do we become when it is finished with us?
4. Paul
talks about what happens in the middle of such testing that takes place in our
lives.
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. 10. For the sake of Christ, the, I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I
am weak, then I am strong. When we are undergoing this type of testing,
what happens to us in our lives? Who do we begin to trust?
5. We talk
about trusting the Lord in our lives. When do you find it difficult to trust in
the Lord? What areas of life did you see yourself in control? What areas of
life do you see that He is in control?
6. What
does James call the man who doesn’t believe that God will give to him according
to what God has promised?
1A. Here is a place where you
can think about your own walk of faith and the challenges that you have faced.
2A. It produces “steadfastness.”
You can also see this as “patience.” Luke 8:15 As for that in
the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest
and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. This steadfastness spoken of
is that which stands firm in the faith that we are given those moments of
testing. The testing is different from tempting. This testing is that which
challenges the faith of the Christian, not that which is tempting to lead into
sin.
3A. Being “perfect and
complete” does not being sinless. It means being “mature” in faith, which is
the goal of the walk of faith. When we find that we are “lacking nothing” it
does not mean that you will have all the material blessings that you want but
that you are not lacking that which is part of the life of faith. We see this
as we continue through verses 5-8.
4A. Paul walks us through the
building of our faith through testing. Through this testing, we are brought
into a closer relationship with our Lord. Such testing is meant to draw us
closer to our Lord.
5A. Here are answers according
to your life.
6A. God has unlimited love,
unlimited promises and unlimited wisdom when it comes to our lives. The
“double-minded” person is one who knows these unlimited areas of God and yet
doubts that God can actually hold true to His word. When we pray, it is to be a
time of celebration, knowing full well that God can and do what He has
promised.
No comments:
Post a Comment