James 1:1-8
Notes
Transcript
James 1:1-8
James 1:1-8
Good morning Church! Our state has been through a horrific tragedy this week. There has been a toll of evil on family's who have lost loved ones. Communities who have lost members, and a state that has had it’s sense of security shaken. Our law enforcement families had to face days of unknown risk and we thank them for that. I’d like to ask you to join me in a prayer to ask our Lord for healing.
Father, we know you are aware. We know that you know. We don’t and can’t know the why here Lord, but our state has been shaken and Lord we ask that you would heal us. That any comfort or security that has been lost would be redirected and placed in you. We pray Lord for Aaron Davis and the other pastors ministering directly in that area. AND Lord we pray this morning for us. Lord that You would speak to us today as a church, as Your church, as Your Sons and Your Daughters. Lord may your Word change and affect everyone here with us this morning, whether in person or on line. IN Jesus’ name, Amen.
Those of you that have spoken with me within the last couple of weeks know how excited I am to begin the book of James. You may have heard me say things like I believe it is going to change our church. To be a mark in history of this church. A transition point from being a church, or a gathering place for Christians... to becoming the true Church, the hands and feet of Jesus.
Yet, Far too often Scriptures from the Book of James are used to argue a message of salvation by works…when that is so far from the message contained within this book. It is a challenge issued by James to the 12 tribes of Israel and extended to us as part of the church today. A challenge that real faith in Jesus, results in a life of service to Him.
Jesus said…John 14:15-16
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
So as revolutionary I hope and pray that the book of James is for us church, I was reminded this week in this passage that Jesus says if you love Me, not just learn My commandments, read about them, attend conferences about them, listen to podcasts so you know them…No, He says don’t just learn stuff, do stuff. The stuff you learn will result in action if you love ME. If you love Me, Keep my commandments.
But wait…if you’re going to do this, you’re going to need some help! Jesus goes on to say, I’ll pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper that will abide with you forever....turn with me to Acts chapter 1.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
So last Sunday afternoon, after our gathering here, a smaller group of us gathered and we baptised three of your brothers and sisters. As a part of that service I explained about baptism and I read this passage...
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
This was the charge that Jesus left for His disciples. The guys on the ground when He said it and for His disciples today. But I think there is something hugely important for us to understand in the way of context. Jesus charged these guys with something to do, go therefore make disciples, baptise them, teach them. He said this…and then the stuff we read in Acts chapter One.
Go and do, but first wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Because you and I Christian can only do the things He gives us to do, when we do it in the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit. James tells us later in this book that a faith without works is a dead faith, but I also want to lay out a reality for us church. That works, even those done in faith, in our own strength, in our own power are without value and are unsustainable.
Friday evening Nicole and I had plans to visit with our Granddaughter. I was running late at church, Nicole sent me a message asking when I was going to be home, I said I’d pack up and leave. I took off in that direction and saw my gas light come on for the 4th time in two days. I know exactly what I have to do, but what do I do instead?
I immediately start calculating. Can I make it? How far can I still go with what I have? We are about to start a book that can revolutionize this church. Primarily by taking the focus off us as Christians, and causing our eyeballs to look around us as to how we can serve Jesus by serving others. Faith evidenced by action! Doing life changing stuff for Jesus. Not always knowing the outcome, but knowing one life that will be changed by it being your own. But we have a problem here. God is leading this, God is directing this. His perfect timing has brought us to this book at such a time as this.
A time in our country, a time in the life of Israel as a nation, our current political culture, our season of religious intolerance in the light of an ever increasing culture of tolerance for everything else. God has given us a charge, but as I look out, my heart breaks because many of you, much of the church today as a whole is running on fumes! We are nearly out of gas. That can be discouraging. It can seem defeating. And like progress is not possible…and rather than have that get us to quit, it has to instead open our eyes, our hearts, and revive our Spirits to embrace the reality of it and say, God we need your Spirit. God, we need this power, that dynamic power that You tell us to wait for.
I know some of you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say running on fumes. You are just gassed. Some of you maybe haven’t opened your Bible’s in weeks, and you are growing weary. Well there is power available to you. I’m not talking about charging up your batteries, I’m talking about the dynamic, limitless power available to every single one of us through the Holy Spirit. The Power that Jesus said to wait for because without that power, we won’t last, we won’t be effective for the Kingdom of God.
God wants us to know about this. 1 Cor 12:1
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
Where do Spiritual Gifts come from? Verse 11 in this same chapter says...
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
The gifts of the Spirit come from the Spirit. So it is as if God is saying to you and to me, I don’t want you to be ignorant of the power available to you through the Holy Spirit. I don’t want you to be ignorant of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how He can work in your life! When you read through this whole section in 1 Corinthians we see that each of us have different gifts and each of us is to play different roles or serve in different capacities within the Body of Christ. How can we do that if we are ignorant about the gifts, and how can we be successful if we are operating in our own strength? The only right answer to that is we can’t.
Now some people get weirded out by the language. Don’t, it’s not weird. Do you know where it comes? The expression baptism of the Holy Spirit? I read it to you earlier, Jesus said it.
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
I love that he said it and I love that he compared it to water baptism. Last Sunday when we water baptised three of you. We took you into the water. We asked you if you professed a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and they were baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and then they were fully immersed under the water. Want to see a picture? I probably should have asked first, in case they were shy about making a public profession of following Jesus, but here it goes...
See Water baptism creates this perfect picture of the old man, the old women being buried with Christ. Old things have passed away, behold all things are made new. They are raised up as a new creation in Christ. Let me clarify something for you. There are three different experiences we can have with the Holy Spirit. Prior to getting saved the Holy Spirit with with us, that relationship is the para in the Greek. The Holy Spirit is with us, drawing us to God and causing us to recognize our need for a Savior.
When we get saved. When we confess that we have sinned against God. When we believe that He sent His Son Jesus through a virgin birth, who then lived a completely sinless life, and then died on the cross, not for His own sin, He had none. But to pay the penalty for our sin, and we ask Him to forgive us for our sin and to forgive it with His blood that He shed, and then died for it, because the wages of sin is death. But then He rose from the dead, defeating death. If you have done that, then you are a Christian. If you are a Christian, then you have experienced a second relationship with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has come into you, en in the Greek. He dwells in you. He dwelled in the disciples that Jesus said wait to. How do I know that, the Bible tells us in John chapter 20, you can read about it. The tomb was empty, Jesus had risen from the dead. He then appears to many, but among them were His Disciples. When He did we read in John 20:20-22
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
SO they are now Christians, the Holy Spirit is no longer just with them. Jesus breathed on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. But then He says wait…a couple of chapters later there is more. He says you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit. John baptised with water, but you will be, and all of you can be baptised with the Holy Spirit a different experience the Holy Spirit comes upon, Epi in the Greek and the Holy Spirit will submerge you and cover you completely. So the Holy Spirit will cover you completely and control every aspect of your life that you surrender to Him.
Listen you how John the Baptist talked about it. Matt 3:11
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus again, this time in the Gospel of Luke 24:49
49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Last one, I just want you to see that it’s not just an isolated incident that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned. John again talking about Jesus… in John 1:32-33
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
I hope you guys are with me this morning…I just didn’t want teach through the book of James that is all about your faith resulting in action, and everybody get all excited and launch into new ventures in their own strength and fail, or grow weary, and experience condemnation. When we can do all things through His strength, His power, being baptised in the Holy Spirit.
Does being Baptized in the Holy Spirit mean you’re going to speak in tongues? Maybe. It didn’t for Me. I was saved, the Holy Spirit was in me, I was finally understanding the Bible, I was growing in my faith, but something was missing. Sin was still a major struggle, there were major areas in my life that I hadn’t yet surrendered to the Lord. I wouldn’t describe my life like Jesus said it would be. I believe I was saved, I believed, I trusted in Him for my salvation, but that was about it.
Listen to the description of Jesus… John 7:36-38
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
I asked the Lord for this and He empowered me for service, suddenly I had boldness in my testimony, I was witnessing to people, I began to have victory in spiritual warfare. If you are struggling in any of these areas and you don’t know if you’ve ever received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit then you need to ask God for it. If you don’t know what gifts He’s given you or you know you are not operating in gentleness, or peace and joy, longsuffering, faithfulness, self control. Simple ask Him.
Seriously, that’s what Jesus tells us. In Luke 7:10-13
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
I’m going to give you a chance to do that today, but not now. Jesus said to His Disciples to wait, and that they would be baptised in the Holy Spirit not many days from now, I say to you. Wait, and you can ask not many minutes from now. I want to first wet your appetite in James. And look, I have no idea how far we are going to get week to week in James, but I’d like to encourage all of you to read the whole then every week in preparation for our study together.
1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
James gives a very brief introduction, so I will as well. This is James, the Half brother of Jesus, leader of the early church in Jerusalem, but pretty much all he says is that I’m a slave of God by choice and of the Lord Jesus Christ and the way he writes that, he is saying that He believes Jesus to be Lord or Jesus to be God. He didn’t always believe that, certainly not when he was growing up, or even I think most of the time that Jesus was ministering on the earth. Why do I think that?
5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
But then we see the resurrection of Jesus and part of the evidence listed for that is found in 1 Cor 15:5-7
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
James had an encounter with Jesus that forever changed his life, it was a personal encounter. I’ve talked a lot about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit here this morning, but some of you in this room or watching on line, may not have yet experienced the en encounter of the Holy Spirit. You may not have yet had a personal encounter with Jesus and you need to get saved. We’ll give you an opportunity to do that this morning as well....not many minutes from now.
James gives us this super simple introduction and then hits us with this radical concept that does not happen outside of Jesus, and I don’t think can be done outside of the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit. Check it out, verse 2
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
That word when in the verse might make it difficult for you to be joyful. Notice he doesn’t say if trials come, but rather when. They are coming. AND when they do come we are to count it all joy. That is a radical statement! Why in the world would I do that James? Oh because it is only in those times that our faith can be tested. Verse 3.
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
OK, I’m seeing kind of a dominoes chain here, count it all joy when the trial comes, because that is the only way I can ever have my faith tested. But Lord I wanted You to do this, or I wanted things to go my way and have you do that, but you didn’t…so my faith gets tested. Yeah I guess my faith would never be tested outside of trials, but why count it joy, what is good about having my faith tested, ohhhh yeah, because it produces patience.
OK God and that is good why? Verse 4
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
I want you to see that patience does something in us. It tells us to let patience have its perfect work. The word have in this sentence is one of those imperatives, like a command. Well an imperative is something that demands or requires a response and I’ll tell you right up front there is over 50 of them in this short little book. The sentence is actually a little confusing in English because it starts but let patience…and that seems sort of passive if we let something. But it is really Have command patience doing it’s work. Like embrace it. Notice it is a perfect work. This work most of us don’t wan’t of claim to not want, but look at this result!
Have patience doing it’s work in you BECAUSE it will make you perfect, complete, and lack nothing.
Most of us think of patience and just waiting until we can finally get what we want. My wife is not a shopper. But you husbands that go shopping with your wives want to go home. You try to be patient while you are waiting to get what you want and go home.
That is not what James is talking about Christian. He’s not saying to be patient until you get what you want. He’s actually saying that it is patience that you want. That’s want you need to be going for. That is what you need to have, because it makes you perfect, meaning complete and lacking nothing.
It is a place of surrender. Things didn’t go my way, that’s OK, must be God had a different plan that I did. His plan is better. I don’t have to understand the details or even the why. I want to have patience do that work in me, because right now in my frustration, I’m not perfect, I’m far from complete, the work is not finished.
It is the idea of completely surrendering everything to God. Even when I don’t get what I want and when things don’t go my way. We want patience at whatever cost because without it we are lacking.
So in three simple verses, well three verses since the introduction, we already find out that James is a getting down to business in our lives kinda book. A little more, because I want to share with you the secrete of my success in ministry.
I know some of you have been extremely disappointed in me at times, especially when you expect your pastor to have all the answers and I say something like well, we are learning as we are going through this together, or that I don’t have all the answers, but look at this, because I do live this what James says in verse 5.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
I lack wisdom all of the time, so I ask God. Is this something that is available to just me? Nope! What is the requirement? You must lack wisdom. I qualify for that, you might qualify for that, I can’t answer that for you either. But I do, so I can ask, and if I lack it and if I ask He will give it to me liberally, this is one of those cases when liberal is actually a good word…so He will give it to me liberally and without reproach.
Remember verse 6 also tells us to ask in faith, and don’t doubt, that’s not really a problem for me because I am so desperate for it. I know I have nothing without it, so asking in faith isn’t that hard because I need it. Which is great because for he who doubts is like a wave tossed by the sea. Doubts here isn’t so much I don’t think God will do it, or even that He will answer. It is the idea that when God does answer there is a whole bunch of yeah buts. Yeah but what about this God? Yeah but, that this not going to be fast enough God…back to the patience part, the testing of our faith part. Verse 7
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Double-minded being not agreeing with God. Some of us are social media minded. I need wisdom, so let me ask a whole bunch of people, rather than ask God. See when I ask God for wisdom because I lack it, and when I ask in faith because I need it. I need to follow what He instructs. When I give God a yeah but, that is being double minded. When I let the Holy Spirit lead me, I’m single minded. God said to do this, that is all that matters, as soon as I resist, I’m unsubmitted, unsurrendered, and double-minded.
Some of that comes from not having had the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You continue to struggle because it is you, your thoughts, your decisions, your power, or at least it was until you burned out.
So lets stop here and get down to business. First if you need to get saved today...
If you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit today.
Be ye filled by the Spirit, Christian a refilling.
Grace and Peace