Author: Gary Witcher
Company: none

James

     Probably the most famous sermon ever preached is the discourse by Jesus which is recorded in Matthew 5-7.  We know this lesson as the "Sermon on the Mount."
     In this sermon Jesus gives instruction about a great many important subjects, including perseverance, proper speech, friendship with the world and preoccupation with earthly concerns, judging others, and the relationship between what we say and what we do.
     As we take a look at the book of James, we are struck by the fact that it deals with many of the same topics.  It is almost as if James has taken the Sermon on the Mount and expounded upon it.
     At the very beginning of his letter James encourages the reader to persevere.
     "Consider it all joy, my brethren," James begins in verse two of the first chapter, "when you encounter various trials; knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
     Those of you who listen regularly to this program will remember the discussion we had recently about the comfort offered in Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth.  You will recall that the world usually equates "comfort" with "luxury" or "wealth" or "worldly possessions."  The world sees comfort as the lack of problems.
     Remember, too, that the comfort offered by God is much different.  When God offers comfort He extends the possibility of encouragement through rough times.  He doesn't promise that we will be able to avoid all problems.  But He does provide help so that we can overcome trials.  As we asked before, which of these two approaches is more realistic?  And which promotes growth and maturity?  Which allows us to grow in wisdom?
     "But if any of you lacks wisdom," James continues with verse five, "let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
     God is ready and willing to help us.  But this help is not unconditional.  One thing that God requires is that we have faith; that we really believe that He can and will help us.
     "But let him ask in faith without doubting," James picks up in the sixth verse, "for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
     "For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
     James then goes on with the point that comfort and growth come through overcoming adversity and not by being so wealthy that we can avoid trials.
     "But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position;" James writes in verses 9-11, "and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
     "For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away."
     "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;" James sums up in verse 12, "for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
     There are a couple of things that the Holy Spirit wants us to understand in relationship to this teaching.  First of all, God helps us through trials.  But that does not mean that He sends temptation to encourage us to sin.  Just because He uses something for His purpose does not mean that He sends it.
     "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God;'" we read in verse 13, "for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one."
     We should remember here that Satan is identified in the Bible as the tempter.  We should also make note of the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
     "No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man;" this verse offers, "and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it."
     The devil sends the temptation.  God sends the way to escape.
     "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation," 2 Peter 2:9 asserts.
     So the Holy Spirit, through James, wants us to understand that God does not tempt us, even though He uses temptation to help us mature and grow.  A second thing He wants us to realize is that happiness and comfort do not come through material possessions.  We'll talk more about this in a few minutes.

     "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren," James 1:16-17 warns.  "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow."
     Is this what the world teaches us?  Does the world believe that "the good things in life" come from God, or that they are purchased with large amounts of money?  Which is more enduring?  Is it the happiness offered by the world, or that promised by God?  Does money buy lasting peace or perpetual conflict?
     "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?" James 4:1-4 questions.  "Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
     "You lust and do not have; so you commit murder.  And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.  You do not have because you do not ask.
     "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
     "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
     It is amazing, isn't it, how words written nearly 2,000 years ago apply so well to the things we encounter today?
     The passage goes on with the instruction to submit to God and resist the devil.
     "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord," verse 10 advises, "and He will lift you up."
     Chapter six opens with a warning for those who have placed their trust in earthly riches instead of in God.
     "Come now, you rich," the first verse states, "weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you."
     "Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth eaten," the Scripture continues.  "Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.  It is in the Last Days that you have stored up your treasure!"
     "You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure;" verse five notes, "you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter."
     Along with the teaching about relying on the comfort provided by God and not seeking the luxuries of the world, we are cautioned about giving special treatment to those who are rich.
     "For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes," we read in James 2:2-4, "and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool'; have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?"
     James advises here against judging people based on their appearances.  In fact, the book contains various warnings about judging in general.
     "So speak and so act," we learn in James 2:12-13, "as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement."
     "Do not speak against one another, brethren," James 4:11-12 states.  "He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.
     "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?"
     "Do not complain, brethren, against one another," James 5:9 suggests, "that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door."
     Chapter three contains an important discussion about the tongue.  It also points out the fact that those who teach others should be very sure about what they are saying.
     "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren," James 3:1 says, "knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgement."
     So we must be sure that what we say is in agreement with what the Bible says.  How many religious teachers today are cautious about this?
     But is it enough to be careful about what we hear and teach?  James 2:14-26 makes a connection between what we say and what we do.
     "What use is it, my brethren," James questions in verse 14, "if a man says he has faith, but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?"
     "Faith without works is useless," verse 20 claims.
     "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone," the writer says in verse 24.
     "For just as the body without the spirit is dead," James concludes in the last verse of chapter two, "so also faith without works is dead."
     James 1:22-25 states that we must "prove to be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."
     The choice is ours.  We can take the luxury the world offers and reject the comfort of God.  We may be careless about what we learn and teach.  We may be careful about what we learn and refuse to put it into practice.  Or we can accept and practice the truth in order to be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)