1. Identity in the world (James)
2. Identity in the Lord (a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ)
3. Identity in the church (to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting)
This morning we’re going to be starting a new series in the book of James. Before we read our text this morning, I want to spend just a few minutes telling you about the book itself. James is a very unique book. It is one of the few books in the New Testament that wasn’t written by an apostle. Even though there were two apostles named James, neither one of them wrote it. Instead, it was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus. By nearly all accounts, this was the first book written in the New Testament. It was probably written between 44 and 49 AD, just a handful of years after the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. Another way to put it is that James wrote this letter sometime before the time of the events in Acts 15. The book of James is unique in the way it’s written. It’s unique because James was a pastor. And it’s written the way a pastor would write. After his opening salutation, James starts by giving us an introduction. His introduction gives an overview of what the book is about. He tells us that his entire letter is going to be about testing our faith. And then he moves into a discussion of at least nine different specific tests of our faith. And finally, he concludes like a pastor would. He concludes with a way for those in the church to restore those who’ve failed the tests. When you really study the book, you begin to see that each one of those discussions is really an exposition of something James has heard before. Each test that he discusses is like a sermon on words he had heard so many times before—the words of his half-brother, Jesus. And then as you look closer, you realize that not only is this an exposition on the words of Jesus… it is an exposition on some very specific words of Jesus—the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve just finished a study on the Sermon on the Mount, haven’t we? So I can think of no better way to follow that study, than by looking at James’ exposition of it. Think of it this way—over the next several weeks, you’re going to hear my sermons on James’ sermons on the greatest sermon ever preached. But before we get to any of James’ sermons, we’re going to look at who he was.
JAMES 1:1
Our passage this morning is a short one. It’s a short one, but it’s a very important one. There might not be a lot of deep theological content in it, but it does something very important. It identifies the author to his readers. James doesn’t hide who he is. He wants everyone to know. What about you here this morning? Do you let people know who you really are? Maybe you don’t really know who you really are. That’s what this morning is about. Who are you? What is your identity? When you walk out of this place this morning, I want you to be able to identify yourself the right way. In order to do that, we’re going to look at three aspects of your identity. The first aspect of your identity is your identity in the world.
James started off this verse in a simple way. He started it off the same way we usually introduce ourselves. He started off with his name. “Hi, I’m James.” Our name is what the world knows us by. How many times have you ever heard someone say something like, “You’d better watch out for those so-and-so boys—they’re a rowdy bunch.” See, your name is how you’re known by the world. It tells your history—your reputation. Sometimes it can be hard to live up to your name. Sometimes it can be hard to live your name down. But really, even though your name ties you to your family name, it speaks even louder of your own reputation. James was that way. His name spoke of his identity in the world. So who was James? What was his identity in the world? Well, first, James came from a good home. He was born to Mary and Joseph after Mary gave birth to Jesus. You have to believe that James had a good upbringing. After all, he was raised by the parents who God entrusted His only begotten Son to. Not only did he have a good upbringing, he had a good education. There are a few ways we know this, but the primary way is in the way he wrote. James wrote in an almost classical form of Greek that was only used by well-educated people. The letter that we have in front of us was written in some of the finest Greek of the New Testament. The difference between James’ Greek and Peter’s Greek was kind of like the difference between Shakespeare and the newspaper. He had a good upbringing, a good education, and had good common sense. A good education doesn’t necessarily mean good sense, does it? People who have common sense but no education keep simple things simple. People who have education and no common sense make simple things complicated. But you can tell if a person has both, because they are able to make complicated things simple. As you read his letter, you can tell that James had both. His common sense shows in all of the simple illustrations he uses. Illustrations like fire, a horse’s bit and bridle, a ship’s rudder. Illustrations that make complicated issues simple to understand. James had a good upbringing, a good education, good common sense and a really good Brother. Think about it. His big Brother was God in the flesh—Jesus Christ. He was probably physically closer to Jesus than any other man. What a benefit! As a matter of fact as far as his identity in the world, James had all the benefits in the world. A good home, good education, good sense, good brother. He walked physically as close to Jesus as anyone possibly could. But guess what? He was lost. He had all that going for him and he was still lost. John 7:5 says that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe Him. Mark 6:3 says that Jesus’ family, including James, was offended at Him. In Mark 3:21, even though the King James says “friends” it really means family. It says Jesus’ family tried to grab hold of Him because they thought He was crazy. According to his identity in the world, James had every benefit in the world and still did not recognize Jesus for who He is. Whatever your name is. Whatever kind of upbringing you’ve had. Whatever kind of education you’ve had. Whatever kind of common sense you have. However closely you’ve physically been to God’s people and His church. None of that really matters. None of that will save you. None of that will give you right standing before God and a right relationship with Him. It didn’t for James and it certainly won’t for you. The bottom line is, James’ identity in the world was that he was lost. Is your identity in the world that you are lost this morning? If it is, it doesn’t have to stay that way. James’ didn’t. James’ identity was also in the Lord. The second aspect of your identity is your identity in the Lord.
After giving his name, how does James identify himself next? He says he is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does he mean by that? He means that after all that the world had identified him for, now he is identified by his relationship to the Lord. And look at how he describes that relationship. He says he’s a slave. Slavery was very common in James’ day. As a matter of fact, it has been very common in every day except ours in the past 150 years. But did you know there were two kinds of slaves? One kind is the kind we always think of. The one who was bought or sold on an auction block. The one who was captured in battle. The one who was forced to serve. That’s not the word that’s used here. The word that’s used here means a person who was born into slavery or a person who willingly continued in slavery. The Jewish Christians James was writing to understood what he meant. They understood what he meant because they remembered Deuteronomy 15:12-17. That passage of the Law required the Jews to set their slaves free after six years of service. But, if the slave loved his master, he could choose to stay forever. Verse 17 says, “Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever.” That was the kind of servant James called himself. He said, “My body is permanently marked as a willing slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s why he was able to say “the LORD Jesus Christ.” So, how did that happen? What transformed him from calling Jesus crazy and being offended at Him to calling Him Lord? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:1-7. In these seven verses, Paul gives the Corinthian church a brief synopsis of the gospel he’s been preaching to them.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-7
That’s how it happened. James saw the resurrected Jesus. No longer was He just his physical brother. No longer was He the weird one in the family that could perform miracles. No longer was Jesus offensive to him. The offence of the cross had turned to fellowship and freedom in Christ. He’d been saved! His wonderful transformation is shown in Acts 1:14. There he is shown to be part of the disciples. The disciples gathered in one accord. Gathered in prayer and supplication. Gathered in the upper room waiting on the Holy Spirit. Gathered in obedience to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you find yourself here this morning the way James was before the resurrection… you can be saved the same way he was. James only had the evidence of his eyes. You have the evidence of the testimony of Scripture and 2000 years of church history. Trust the evidence. Believe that Jesus Christ died for your sin. Believe that He rose again. Believe that He is alive and interceding for you right now. Believe that He is who He said He is and He did what He said He did. Romans 10:9 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” It was true for James, it can be true for you. But notice that God didn’t just save James to give him a place in heaven. He saved him to give him a purpose here. That’s why he has another aspect to his identity. As a matter of fact that’s why He gives everyone He saves a third aspect to our identity. The third aspect to your identity is your identity in the church.
When you see in verse 1 who James wrote this letter to, you might not think that has much to do with his identity. That has more to do with their identity than his, right? Well, yes and no. It does let us know who James is writing to. But why he’s writing to them tells us a little bit more about his identity. We know who James was before he was saved. And we know that God saved him. But what did He save him to do? For those of you here who are saved, do you ever ask yourself that question? What did God save me to do? Rest assured, if He saved you and you’re still here, He’s got a purpose for you. He’s got something for you to do. And rest assured, it has something to do with His church. When the Lord saves you, He gives you certain gifts. He expects you to use those gifts in service to Him. Not out on your own as some type of Lone Ranger Christian. But in His church. See, the gifts He gives you aren’t for you. They are for the building up of His body—the church. My gifts are different than yours. Your gifts are to build me up. My gifts are to build you up. So how did God gift James? He gifted him to be a pastor. Of all the books written in the New Testament, James is the only one written by a full-time, long-term pastor. Even Paul wasn’t really a pastor. The longest time he was in a church was at Ephesus—and that was only three years. He was really a church planter. Start a church, get it going, and hand it off to a pastor. James was a pastor. While Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 started the church in Jerusalem, James became the leader. He used the gifts that God gave him to pastor the people through thick and thin. He pastored them through the phenomenal growth that happened in the first few chapters of Acts. The church was growing by the thousands upon thousands. And then what happened in Acts 7? Stephen, one of the first deacons was martyred. And out of that martyrdom arose a vicious persecution. The Jews persecuted the Jewish Christians. So many of them fled Jerusalem. But God had given James a pastor’s heart. Even though they weren’t right there in his congregation, he still cared for them. He cared for their spiritual well-being. That’s why he wrote this letter to them as they were scattered abroad. God saved James for the purpose of leading the Jerusalem church. Every time he is mentioned in Scripture after the resurrection, it is dealing with his involvement in the church. You say, “yeah, but God saved James to be a pastor.” I say, “No, God saved James to serve Him by serving His church.” He gifted him for the particular way He wanted him to serve the church. But God saves everyone to serve Him by serving His church. He might have blessed you with the gift of teaching. Teach the Word! He might have blessed you with the gift of helps. Help others in the context of church ministry. He might have blessed you with the gift of giving or preaching or encouragement or administration or mercy. However He’s gifted you, you need to use it in His service. James did. He did until that became his identity. His church leadership was so well-known that he became known in history as James the Just. But he had another nickname that was evidence of his pastor’s heart. He was called “camel-knees.” He spent so much time on his knees in prayer for his congregation that his knees became callused to the point of looking like the knees of a camel. That is using the gifts that God gives you to the fullest. How fully are you using the gifts God has given you? Are you too busy to serve Him? Are you too distracted by all the business around you to serve Him? Are those the things you’re identified by? Scripture calls those things wood, hay and stubble. I would not want to identify myself with those things which will be burned up in the fire. I want to identify myself with the things that James did. I want to identify myself with serving God by serving His church. What about you? What is your identity this morning? Is it in the world? If it is, you need to see Jesus for who He is. Turn from your sin and turn to Him in faith believing this morning. Is your identity in the Lord, but not in His church? I’ve got news for you. Being a Christian means being a part of His church. It is being part of the body that He is the head of. Are you an active, living, working part of the body? Or are you withered and atrophied from lack of use? If you are here and you are saved this morning, God has gifted you for His service. He expects you to use the gifts He’s given you. He expects you to use them until the day you die or until He comes to call us home—whichever comes first. What is your identity this morning? Is it in the world? Is it in the Lord? Is it in the church?
