THE NEED OF THE HOUR: 7 THOUGHTS FROM THE EPISTLE OF JAMES
OUTLINE
1.WITHSTAND TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS
2.WISDOM OF GOD
3.WORKS OF FAITH
4.WORDS OF CONFUSION
5.WRATH OF MAN
6.WAIT FOR GOD
7.WIN THE LOST
THE MESSAGE
THE NEED OF THE HOUR: THOUGHTS FROM THE EPISTLE OF JAMES
1.WITHSTAND TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS
The Book of James tells us to be joyful when we face trials and temptations as they will develop patience in us. When we endure temptation and overcome it we will receive the crown of life. Without being tested there will be no crown or reward.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 1: 2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1: 12
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
2.WISDOM OF GOD
The Book of James tells us to receive the wisdom of God. Our God is liberal in giving wisdom to us when we ask Him in faith. God’s wisdom is full of purity and goodness. This wisdom will cause us to be a blessing to others. It will not lead us in the path of evil.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 1: 5 - 8
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.
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.
James 3: 17-18
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
3.WORKS OF FAITH
The Book of James tells us to demonstrate the works of faith. We should be doers of the word and not hearers only.we should show mercy to the widows and the fatherless and help the poor and needy without partiality .We should submit to God and resist the devil. Our faith must be demonstrated by these works.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 1: 22 - 27
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 2: 1 – 5 , 14 - 17
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 4: 6 – 10 , 17
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
4.WORDS OF CONFUSION
The Book of James warns us to be careful with our words as they can cause great confusion. Words of slander and hatred and falsehood can trigger great problems.The sign of piety and godliness is revealed in being careful in our words.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 3: 2-8
2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
James 4: 11 -16
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
5.WRATH OF MAN
The Book of James tells us to be free from wrath and envy and bitterness as these will lead us in the path of unrighteousness. Envy and strife will lead to confusion and every evil work. Uncontrolled desires lead to strife and battles.Instead of asking God we would fight and strive with people.Even if we ask God we will not receive if we ask with a wrong motive. Hence we must be careful to be free from wrath.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 1: 19 - 21
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James 3: 14 - 16
14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
James 4: 1-3
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. [et you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
6.WAIT FOR GOD
The Book of James tells to wait for God like Job who had a blessed ending even though for a season he was in great difficulty.We must wait for God to turn our captivity.We must take all our burdens to God in prayer. Our prayers have great effect in solving our problems and difficulties.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 5: 11 - 18
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
7.WIN THE LOST
The Book of James tells us to be merciful in dealing with those who go astray.We should not reject them and condemn them. We should win them back and restore them to godly ways. We must save their souls and hide a multitude of sins in order to re-establish them.We should not take it as an opportunity to defame or embarrass them. Our responsibility is to win the lost.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
James 5: 19-20
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
