THE TEST OF FAITH
JAMES 1:1 18
This morning I want to begin a study in the book of James but I want to do things a little differently than we normally would. In each bulletin should have been an outline of the book of James...one that I will be using as a basic framework for this series.
Normally you all come in here with little idea what I'm going to be preaching about. Even when we're doing a series there's not enough direction as to the exact plan for each weeks message. My hope is that we can really work through this book together.
I'm going to work my way through, keeping close to the outline that I've given you so that you can read along and be prepared for each step as it comes. I'd also like you to share your thoughts and ideas about your personal study with me throughout the week because your insights could be helpful to all of us.
This morning I want to lay a foundation for our study and highlight the importance of the wealth of practical truths we find in the book of James. I also want to show you why I feel the time is right for Goodridge to hear what James has to say.
This letter was something that burned in the heart of this man...placed there by the Holy Spirit not just for believers 2,000 years ago...but for those who claim to follow Christ here in 1996. This is a timely, relevant word for.
James is not a long book only 5 chapters And I'd like for everyone to take one chapter each week and read it through several times. And after reading it...take a few moments to allow God to speak to you about it. What does it say to the church...what does it say to you personally...and how can it be applied to your life to make you stronger in the faith?
I hope that over the next several weeks, as we go through the book of James, that you'll come here having already had the Holy Spirit begin to give insight...and that your heart and mind will be ready to receive and apply the truth we find in these pages.
Let's take a moment to get some background on this book and its author. You'll see from this particular outline that James is a book about faith...practical, everyday faith. It's a letter that was written in a no nonsense...blunt and plain manner that is not clouded by a lot of theological mysteries.
And after reading James you might say to yourself...this guy must be a preacher, because this is just like a series of sermons. Each of the five chapters is packed with pointed illustrations and reminders that are designed to motivate the hearts of believers to grasp the truth once taught by Jesus: "A tree is known by its fruit."
Now, I shouldn't have to tell you that a Christian is literally "born for battle." James reminds us that even though we have been saved, the old nature is still very strong and active within us. Just becoming a Christian doesn't solve the conflict...it doesn't give us automatic victory. And it certainly doesn't put us beyond the reach of temptation, or the possibility of falling from grace.
Becoming a Christian puts us into the arena where the old nature and the new nature battle it out! But that enemy inside us, the sinful nature, is not the only problem. There are also a lot of trials and temptations that come to us just because we're human beings. Christians are a special people...but we're not a protected species.
In fact, in many ways we should expect even more than our share of difficulties in life. And why might that be? I still hear so many Christians saying that if people would just come to Christ...if they'd just get saved, then everything would work out for them. That the heartache and the struggles of life will be over. BALONEY!
We can expect an abundance of difficulties...because patient endurance of all types of trials and tribulations are God's appointed way of bringing us to maturity. James clearly shows us the truth of this. He shows us that life is an uphill climb...all the way!
Yes, it=s a good life...with rewards here and heaven still to come...but it is an uphill climb. It's not an easy road. James will give us very good, practical ways for making that climb not only successful...but exciting as well.
Now...who is this guy named James? James is first mentioned as the oldest of Jesus' four younger brothers. The gospels tell us that Jesus' family adopted a skeptical attitude toward His ministry. James apparently held the same attitude, because his name isn't found in any lists of the apostles. In fact he's not mentioned anywhere else in the gospels.
But after Jesus' crucifixion, James became a believer. Paul says that James was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus...and he called James an apostle, but like Paul, he was not one of the original Twelve.
In the Book of Acts we read that James emerges as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. His brothers also became believers and undertook missionary travels, but James considered it his calling to oversee the church in Jerusalem.
In this letter, James was writing to Jewish Christians. And his focus is on the essentials of living an obedient life that would be in keeping with the true intent of God's Word. For James, the acid test of true religion is in the doing not just in the hearing, "believing," or speaking.
James clearly echoes the teaching of Jesus, especially where we find these words written in the Sermon on the Mount, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
James writes to people who are inclined to interpret faith as just intellectual acknowledgment....something they know in their head but that has little effect on their everyday life. Now, is that relevant today, or what? So he stresses that "a faith that doesn't affect life is not saving faith. " If your lifestyle doesn't change...then your heart probably hasn't either.
Now...if salvation is God's free gift...what does it matter how we live? We're no longer bound by the law, and all its rules and regulations. Well, there's no question in James' mind...it matters tremendously! In fact, we can tell whether someone's faith is real by how they behave. Genuine faith in Christ always spills over into the rest of life.
It affects our basic attitude towards ourselves...to other people...and life in general. There should never be any discrepancy between what we say we believe and how we actually live our lives. James reminds us of the need for genuine Christian standards and values in every area of life.
It is so easy to let things slip...so easy for the world to squeeze us into its mold....to convince us there are no absolutes...no black and white...only gray. But we are called to a lifestyle different from the world. The holiness James calls us to is one that is lived out in the world...yet one that keeps us from being polluted by the world.
Now, anyone who can look back over 20 30 years or more may remember that teaching about separation from the world used to be much more prominent than it is today. It was a time when the seniors made everyone else aware of what was proper for a Christian not to do...where not to go...how not to dress.
And we should never doubt their sincerity or their noble intentions. And we should not mock what was clearly meant for our good. But for the most part we were misled. We were taught a reactive holiness...that whatever happened to be the current fashion or trend in the world had to be contradicted by the Christian.
Today...we've abandoned, for the most part, the old reactive separation but in the process gave up the whole idea of separation. And now for many Christians...what goes in the world goes in the church. We've gone from one extreme to the other!
What we need today is to discover and live by positive Christian standards...not reacting against the world around us...but responding obediently to the Word of God while we're in this world. That's why James wrote this letter...so we could do just that!
This is especially crucial for the welfare of the local church. The church (universal) is in great need of recovery. One of the most outstanding ways we can see the difference between Christians and the world is in the quality of our fellowship.
The church is God's family...and we're all brothers and sisters in Christ because we all have the same Heavenly Father. But we're often too much like earthly brothers and sisters...who fight like cats and dogs. James gives us a picture of the church where their love for the Lord and each other is crystal clear. We need to recover that same vision.
If the world around us saw the problems they face solved within the ministry of the local church...we'd never have to hold another crusade because they'd be beating our doors down trying to get in.
James was a member of a church which was so interested in the needs of brothers and sisters that according to Acts 4:34, there was not a needy person among them. There was one great rule that operated in that church...they sold possessions and goods and used the money to distribute to all as any had need.
They weren't trying to get rid of their possessions...they weren't on some poverty kick. They just did whatever was necessary to meet needs. And they did it simply because of their love for God. They recognized that God gave His greatest possession His Son so that we could live eternally...and they just wanted to be like their Father.
That is proof of the work of grace in their hearts...they cared about each other enough to give sacrificially. But there is another proof of the work of grace in our hearts. How many ever went to the doctor and he grabbed a small, flat piece of wood and said, "Stick out your tongue."
Well, James examines our tongues...because it is a key to our spiritual well being. And this is nothing new, but a theme that runs throughout the Bible. And James has his own unique way of saying this using illustrations like the bit in a horses mouth...the rudder of a ship...and fire.
James is known by most scholars as being the most practical of all the New Testament writers...and it is a well deserved reputation. He tackles many hot issues...some of which I've already mentioned. But what does he see as the first thing the Lord's people need to be told? Of all the topics he deals with....what is top priority?
To find the answer to this question we need to stand back from this letter and take a look at it as a whole. This whole practical letter finds its focus in one set of topics...it is a letter about relationships.
In these 5 short chapters he talks of relationships we should have with the widows and orphans...with our neighbors...with the sick...with those who don't know Christ and are lost. But this focus is missing from the whole first section of this letter.
The opening section is all about the individual. James puts first the duty we have of taking care of ourselves in the things of God. He tells the Christian to look after Number One! Who would have thought such a thing would be found in the Bible?
Yet Paul said the same thing to the elders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20:28...Take heed to yourselves...or in the NIV keep watch over yourselves...and then to all the flock! What is the point?
Before we care for others we must look after ourselves. Mr. Practical puts his finger right on the spot. James talks about the path that leads to Christian maturity...but before I can lead someone else along that path...or assist another who is caught in the cares and trials of life...I have to ask the question "Am I on that path myself?"
"Am I keeping the faith and holding on to God through the tests and trials that come my way...am I becoming more and more mature in my faith?"
James 1:25 says "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it he will be blessed in what he does."
According to this there is a particular doorway to blessing...and its through hearing the word and then doing it. Is that your daily experience? Are you enjoying that blessing? You can never point others this way unless you're walking the road of obedience yourself.
This is where James puts his first priority...forget about others for just a bit. What is your life with God like? We've got people in this church and in churches all across America who work for a God they have no relationship with.
We have many who perform a service...who carry out a necessary function....but they do it in their own strength and often for selfish motives. They aren't being led daily by God...they have no consistent prayer life or devotional life. They work for a church but not for the Lord Himself.
Others are at the opposite end of the spectrum. They focus on themselves...but in a selfish way. They have little concern for their spiritual life. These are the pew potatoes who refuse to get involved with God intimately and with the church in service to the One they claim to love.
These are people who are much more interested in their social life and the things of the world than with serving Christ. And it's evident that this is the case. God promises in His word that He will give the necessary gifts to each body...to each church...to carry out the work of ministry.
And yet we are in desperate need of teachers and assistants...we've had to nearly shut down the nursery because no one will help...and the excuses some give are downright sinful.
If God's Word is true...and I believe it is...then we have people right here in this church who have been gifted and called to fill these ministry positions. And the reason they don't is simple. Their relationship with God has been severed to the point that they either no longer hear His voice...or they refuse to obey when they do.
The very first verse of this powerful book says, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." This means that he is the Lord's slave. And even more accurately...he belongs to Christ as his worshipper. To belong to Christ...to acknowledge Him as Lord and God...to worship Him also means to serve Him...To do whatever it is He would have us to do.
James is a book that asks some very practical yet quite intense questions. Chief among them might be this...Where do you stand with Christ? Do you know Him as your personal Savior? If you don't I would invite you to come right now and meet me at the altar.
If you already know Him as Savior...the next question would be...is He your Lord? Is he the One who calls the shots? Are you a doer of His word...not just a hearer? Are you where he's called you to be...doing what He's called you to do?
Will you let Him speak to you...and will you listen to Him should He give you direction? I believe God desires at this time to use this practical, relevant book of James to help us come to a greater relationship with Him. Will you join me in the journey?
