James Sinner Saint Servant
Today we are beginning a new series on the book of James
James is believed to be the first written of all the New Testament books. That probably comes as a shock to some of you to find out the New Testament is not chronological, and that the gospels weren't written first.
The New Testament is not chronological, but it is logical.
It begins with the beginning, the story of Jesus, and it ends with the end, the book of Revelation.
In between is all the practical stuff you need for now.
I have entitled this series: James: seeing things from the right angle. Because the book of James is a very practical book on how we should see our trials, our fellow man, and the role of faith and works in proper perspective.
I have enjoyed researching this series and I want to quickly show some slides that show how other churches have approached and laid out their series on the book of James.
PPT 2 - 7 series titles
I especially liked the church that called their series, "Life App's", isnt that the kind of app you really need?
So today we are going to look at only one verse in this book and that is chapter 1, vs. one and we will talk about the man who wrote this book. I have entitled this message: James, sinner, saint, servant.
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. (NAS)
First I want to point out that there is a clue in this verse that shows it was one of if not the earliest books of the new testament written. Do you see where it says that he is writing to the twelve tribes who dispersed abroad? That makes it very clear he is writing to Jewish believers. Actually he is writing to all believers as this is part of our bible, but in the 1st ten years of Christianity there are no known gentile believers. (Excepting for Gentiles who were first Jewish proselytes.) Anyone who was a Christian prior to the murder of the Apostle James and the scattering of the early church as a consequence of the ensuing persecution was a Jewish person who became a follower of Jesus.
The fact that James is writing to Jewish Christians shows that it is a very early work.
Now the next issue we have to deal with is who is this James?
There are three guys named James in the NT.
James the brother of the Apostle John, and the son of guy named Zebedee. He was the first martyr, killed very early in the church life by Herod to appease the Jews. Because of that fact it could not have been him.
The second James, is the Apostle James the son of Alphaeus. He is often called James the less, to distinguish him from the other two guys with that name. He is called the less because He is rarely mentioned in the bible and in church history.
The third person named James is the one most likely to have written this book. He is James the half-brother of Jesus.
Ga 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.
In this text Paul is telling the story of his spiritual journey. After he became a Christian he went to Jerusalem to submit to the church leaders and to be sure that he was following the Lord correctly.
We know from the book of Acts that Paul became a Christian after the death of James the brother of John. So the James he speaks of as an Apostle, was the one who was the leader of the early church.
Paul describes him with two interesting words:
First he calls him an apostle. I thought there were only 12. Peter gives his criteria for Apostles in Acts 1. James didn't meet them.
Secondly he calls him the brother of the Lord.
If you didn't know Jesus had 4 brothers and at least two sisters.
This is the part were we talk about James the sinner.
No I am not going to come up with some long laundry list of evil things this man did, because though God may have one, there is no such list. James is a sinner just like everyone else who ever lived, including his mother Mary.
First let me show you him as an unbelieving brother.
Mr 6:2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man [get] these things, and what is [this] wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?
Mr 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him.
Mr 6:4 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his [own] relatives and in his [own] household."
Jesus half-brother Jude by the way is the man who wrote the new testament book Jude.
So he is a brother, how does that make him a sinner?
Joh 8:24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am [He], you shall die in your sins."
Neither James, nor did any of his other siblings believe Jesus was the Messiah.
Joh 7:3 His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here, and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing.
Joh 7:4 "For no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be [known] publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."
Joh 7:5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
It gets better not only did they not believe in Him, they tried to stop him from preaching
Mr 3:21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
They went to take charge of him means arrest him. To hold Him in check, to stop Him from what He was doing. I suppose this would be akin to what we do today to a suicidal person, they are crazy and for their own good they lock them up.
One last passage to show James as a sinner. (Or at least someone Jesus didn't trust very much)
Joh 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own [home].
James was not there at Calvary when Jesus was murdered. Jesus was the first born son, and was responsible to take care of His family. First born sons were given a double portion of the father's inheritance so that they would take care of the family. James should have been given the responsibility upon the death of Jesus, but Jesus would have none of it. John was a Christian man, and James at this time was untrustworthy. So John is given the task of taking care of Mary.
Not a very long list of mis-deeds is it? No murder, no adultery, no stealing. And yet Jesus says, "unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins." That was James big sin, He didn't believe His brother was the Messiah.
Now that gets us to the next point how did James the sinner become James the saint?
It happened rather quickly after the resurrection of Jesus
Ac 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
James was there with the other 120 waiting for the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Ok so there is a change, when and where did it happen?
We only have a clue and it is found in 1 Cor. 15
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
Jesus only appeared to one nonbeliever and that was his half-brother James. I wish more details of that meeting were available to us but they are not. The only thing we can do is assume what happened, and that is that somehow in that meeting James came to the conclusion that Jesus was both Lord and Christ, and not simply his half-brother.
I imagine it was something akin to what happened to Peter, John, and the other James on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus was transfigured before their eyes. They saw Him in a new light. James had an encounter with the resurrected Christ, that will change you!
Lets go back to the scripture I started with, I am almost done and we will close with communion today.
Jas 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings.
There is a whole lot of theology in this one verse of scripture, I can't unpack it all for you today, but let me quickly point out a couple of things.
First of all he doesn't lay claim to the fact he was Jesus' brother, the reason is probably because as His brother He didn't believe in Him. If he were to brag I am His brother, everyone would say, "yeah but didn't you think He was crazy, and try to put Him away/" He came to Christ just like everyone else does. Not on the basis of good deeds, but on the basis of trusting that Jesus forgave Him.
Secondly He calls Him Lord, and Christ. Lord means God, master, king, ruler. Christ means the Messiah, anointed one of God to bring deliverance to God's people. No man can call me Lord, but by the Spirit of God. You have to have an encounter with the resurrected Christ for that to happen. You don't call Him Lord to get saved that is a realization you get after you are saved.
Finally he calls himself a bond servant. A slave, and much more than that. He is saying that there is permanent bond between Him and Jesus and that he will serve God all the days of his life. James has in mind this passage from the Old Testament when he calls himself the bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ:
De 15:12 "If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free.
De 15:13 "And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.
De 15:14 "You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
De 15:15 "And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
De 15:16 "And it shall come about if he says to you, 'I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you;
De 15:17 then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
Today I freaked some of you out by wearing an earring during the service. There are a lot of Christians who view them as evil, I am not one of them especially in the light of the Deuteronomy passage. But you say it doesn't talk about earrings, only an awl and a piercing. Everyone knows pierced ears will close up, if something isn't put there to keep them open. It seems very logical to me that an earring was put there to keep the hole open and as a visible reminder of the vow made. Also not the relationship between the slave and the master. The slave did this because he "loved," the master. Not the view of slavery we often have.
Abraham when looking for a son, sent his slave Elieazer. Elieazer wasn't simply a slave or servant, he was someone very close and very trusted by Abraham. Abraham even considered him as his heir, until a son was born. (Gen 15:2). A pierced slave was one who loved and enjoyed being the servant of his master. Could we say it this way, "Because Jesus was pierced for Me, I will willingly become His bondslave." That is what James had done, and it is an amazing evidence of a complete and thorough transformation in his life.
Close: James the sinner. Was he a murderer? I don't think so. He was as close as a person could get to Jesus and still didn't know who He was, until Jesus opened His eyes.
Is Jesus just a good man, or teacher to you this morning, let me remind you what He said:
Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. I wonder if James was in his hearing on that day?
Salvation isn't about doing good things, it is about trusting Jesus to forgive you. Do you want to know Him better?
