THE BROTHER I WISH I HAD
James 1:1
What is the Book About?
1. To Correct a Corrupted faith that was Rapidly Seeping into the Church. Many were professing Christ bugt living immoral and unrighteous lives. Their Lives Didn’t match there their Profession
Do you Know anyone like that?
2. To present the TRUE FAITH of Christ. A FAITH THAT PRODUCES FRUIT.
Who is it Written TO?
DIASPORA or DISPERSION
Greek word to describe the Millions of Believers who were Scattered around the World.
Believers were Scattered Around the World.
Who was it WRITTEN BY?
Luke 6
1) James the Son of Zebedee, brother of John who was one of those closest to Jesus (Peter, James and John);
2) James the son of Alphaus who was also known as James the Lesser;
3) James the father of Judas, (not Isacriot);
4) and James the brother of Jesus who eventually became converted and in charge of the church in Jerusalem. Of the four only two seem probable at being the writers and that is James the son of Zebedee and James the brother of Jesus.
James the son of Zebedee was the first of the apostles to die a martyrs death in 44AD (recorded in Acts 12:1,2 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword), which was before this letter was written and therefore it is fairly unanimous by scholars that the author is James the brother of Jesus.
This Morning we will Look at James the Brother, The Believer, and the Bondservant.
1) The Brother
What did Jesus’ Family think of Him:
John 7:1-5 Verse 5 says His brothers did not believe in Him.
Mark 3:20-21⇒The Greek definition for “His own people” means His family. They thought Jesus had lost it. They may have misinterpreted His zeal for mental imbalance
2) The Believer
James becomes a believer LATER IN LIFE.
BE ENCOURAGED if you are Older in Life, GOD can USE YOU.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Jesus who saw over 500 after He rose took time to see His brother James. James saw his brother risen from the dead (then converted)
Of all the people that Jesus saw He made room to see His younger brother and it is there that we can trace the conversion of James to.
APP. The People who have the hardest Time are those Who Are the Closest to Us. Our Family, our Friends.
We see in James 1:1 that he is closely connected with the “Lord Jesus Christ”
⇒ James makes mention of all the names of the Savior:
(1) He is Lord who will one day return in glory to this world.
(2) He is Jesus God come to earth in human form.
(3) He is Christ the anointed one who fulfilled God’s purposes by dying for us.
APP. I thought I knew God, but I didn’t know Jesus… My mother would naively say “o, he knows…”, but I didn’t.
There is A Subtle difference between Knowing of Jesus and knowing Him.
James knew who Jesus was. It was his brother.
But He didn’t Know him as Lord and Christ.
Do you know Jesus as Lord and Messiah?
After James Trusts Jesus, He becomes a Leader.
i) Acts 12:17, 15:13-17, 21:18-25 eludes to James’ the leadership of the church in Jerusalem.
He was the Spokeperson of the Church: In ACTS 15—He made the Final decision.
This is what is Stagering: James is the Brother of Jesus, He is a Believer of Jesus, He is an Apostle, He is the Leader of the Church, The Spokesperson for the Apostle and of all the Words He could have used in the English Language to Describe himself He Chose—BONDSERVANT.
3) The Bondservant
SERVANT—Slave totally possessed by his master. A bondservant was bound by Law to the Master.
Philipians 2 says that Jesus came to the Earth as a Servant.
He Did not think Equality with God was Something to be Grasped, so he emptied himself Becoming a Servant.
3 Attitudes of a Servant:
1. Identified with the Person of the Master
1st Century Slaves were Identified by a Tattoo or an Earring. Whenever the slaves were in the Marketplace, the town people could tell who Belonged to Who.
APP. IN your life, can others notice you in the workplace as a Believer of Jesus.
Do they say, That one belongs to Jesus.
Can they look at your Dress, Your Attitude, your Actions, Your Language, The People you Hang with?
2. Obedient to the Purpose of the Master
Servant was about the Business of the Master. Whenver the Master said to do something, the Servant obeyed.
Could the Servant say NO to the Master?
What would happen to the Servant if he Said No? Killed or Beaten.
Psalm 14:1→ THE FOOL says in his heart, THERE IS NO GOD.”
The Master Knows what is best for the Servant, Why would he Not Listen?
God knows what is Best for you, Are you Living Obedient To God?
Do you Obey God?
3. Serves in Power of the Master
Slaves had no Resources, They had no Power. Left Alone they could do nothing. They had no Money, They had no Clout, NO reputation.
6 ½ Million Slaves in 1st Century, Yet they HAD NOTHING.
They served in the Resources of the Master.
When you Realize that You are Nothing without Jesus.
When you realize that the Only Thing that Means Anything is Everything that Has to do With Jesus.
Jesus said, “Apart from me you can Do NOTHING, but with Me All things are Possible.”
When we are SERVANTS of GOD we are Compared to the Greatest Men to Walk the Earth.
Moses was the Slave of God (Dt 34:5)
Joshua was the Slave of God (Joshua 24:29)
David was the Slave of God (2 Samuel 3:18)
Paul was the Slave of God (Rom 1:1)
Jude was the Slave of God (Jude 1)
The Prophets were the Slaves of God (Amos 3:7)
James was the Slave of God (James 1:1)
Christian Believers should be Slaves of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:18)
John 12:26→ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
ILL. In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late. Many people do not like the idea of being a servant to others because they feel that they are too good or they do not want to do the dirty work of the Kingdom, but I will tell you that without the humble servant’s attitude that Christ showed we run a great risk. Jesus is our perfect example of a humble servant.
We Must Not Just Serve God, But We Should Also Serve Others.
Galatians 5:13, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
APP. Our Society doesn’t Want us to Be A Servant to Anyone.
Our Society says, “IT’s all about You. You are the One who Needs to Shine, Its All about you. It’s Your Life Do what You want. IT’s All about You Being the Captain Of your Own Ship.
I don’t know about you, Whenever I am Driving my own Ship, The Chance for Shipwreck is Pretty Likely.
Why Do we Have a Hard time Serving God?
Because We have to Relinquish Control. We have to Give Up Our Power.
If I become your servant, you have power over me. You, or others, can take advantage of me. I become vulnerable. Which is true. Service makes us vulnerable. So does humbling ourselves before God.
ILL. In The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis talked about that very danger. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable ... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell."
God never calls us to control things. That’s his job. God calls us to serve.
Let Us Stop Controlling Others and Serving them and God.
The Only Way God can Use Us is IF We are His SERVANTS.
Where Can you Serve the Lord in this Church?
I Imagine that James must have thought about How different his life would have been if he would have Trusted Jesus.
I don’t know if Jesus said this but he might have: James Trust in Me, Believe in me.
He didn’t.
APP. This Tells me that Unless God Opens our eyes, WE cant See that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord.
→ DON’T WAIT UNTIL ITS TOO LATE TO MAKE HIM THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE.
Being a Servant of God is a Choice. Will You Make that Choice This morning?
I know that James’ Life was Radically Changed by the way he died.
APP. About a Decade after he wrote this Letter in AD 62. James was asked to Deny Jesus or Die. How Could he deny JESUS. HE LOVED HIM TOO MUCH.
So they Brought him up to the Summit of the Temple for all to SEE.
The Religious Leaders Threw him from a Tower. He survived the fall, after that they began to stone him. At that time he turned, and kneeled down, and said: "I beseech Thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
And, while they were thus stoning him to death, one of the priests, the sons of Rechab, the son of Rechabim, to whom testimony is borne by Jeremiah the prophet, began to cry aloud, saying: "Cease, what do ye? The just man is praying for us." But one among them, one of the fullers, took the staff with which he was accustomed to wring out the garments he dyed, and hurled it at the head of the just man. This man was a true witness to both Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ.
That is the Legacy He left Behind.
He was a Brother by Birth, Believer by Grace, and Servant until Death.
What About You?
We have a Choice of whether we are going to make Jesus the Master of Our Life.
