James Ask This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. E. L. Ministries

   www.ldirect.org/_wsn/page11.ht - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/9/2004   Last Visited: 11/10/2004

   TRADITION HAS ESTABLISHED THAT JAMES WAS WRITTEN BY JAMES, THE HEAD OF THE EARLY CHURCH AT JERUSALEM. HE WAS A BROTHER OF THE LORD. MATT. 13:55; HE WAS AN EYEWITNESS OF THE RISEN LORD. IN FACT, THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM IN A PRIVATE CONVERSATION I COR. 15:7; HE WAS AMONG THOSE WAITING FOR THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT IN THE UPPER ROOM..ACTS 1:14; HE WAS AN APOSTLE: GAL. 1:19. HE WAS THE PASTOR OF THE GREAT JERUSALEM CHURCH. HE WAS A PILLAR OF THE CHURCH ALONG WITH PETER AND JOHN.
   ...
   JAMES HAS 2 PURPOSES FOR WRITING: 1. TO CORRECT A CORRUPTED FAITH THAT WAS RAPIDLY SEEPING INTO THE CHURCH. MANY WERE PROFESSING FAITH IN CHRIST, BUT LIVING UNRIGHTEOUS LIVES. THEIR FAITH WAS PROFESSION ONLY…. IT WAS A FAITH OF LICENSE WITH LITTLE OR NO RESTRAINT UPON BEHAVIOR. 2. TO PRESENT THE TRUE FAITH OF CHRIST: A FAITH OF THE HEART…A FAITH THAT PRODUCES OUTWARD FRUIT. JAMES' POINT IS VERY SIMPLE: WHAT YOU DO, NOT WHAT YOU SAY PROVES THAT YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN. IN THIS TREATISE, JAMES SPEAKS TO THE ISUE OF MORE GRACE.
   
   WE ARE TOLD REPEATEDLY IN SCRIPTURE THAT WE ARE SAVED, JUSTIFIED, CALLED AND SANCTIFIED PRESERVED AND GLORIFID BY THE GRACE OF GOD, WITHOUT OUR WORKS. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GOD'S GRACE, NOT HUMAN GRACE. WE KNOW OF HUMAN GRACE. GRACE THAT LOOKS TO THE WORTH OF MAN, WAITS UPON THE WILL OF MAN, OR DEPENDS UPON THE WORK OF MAN IS NOT GOD'S GRACE. THE GRACE THAT JAMES IS SPEAKING OF IS THE UNMERITED FAVOR OF GOD. GRACE IS FREE. GRACE IS UNCONDITIONAL! ANYTHING EARNED, MERITED, OR DESERVED BY YOU IS NOT GOD'S GRACE. THE MAN WHO THINKS HE IS SAVED BECAUSE HE DESERVES GOD'S SALVATION DOES NOT BELIEVE IN GRACE. THE PERSON WHO IMAGINES THAT HIS ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD DEPENDS UPON HIS WILL, HIS WORKS, OR HIS WORTH, DOES NOT BELIEVE IN GRACE AS THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF GRACE. AND THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT NO ONE WILL EVER HONOR AND EXTOL THE GRACE OF GOD WITH ANY AUTHORITY, UNTIL HE HAS EXPERIENCED IT.
   ...
   YOU SEE JAMES LIVED IN A TIME OF TROUBLE, PERSECUTION FOR CHRISTIANS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.
   
   HE RECOGNIZED THAT IF HE WAS GOING TO DO A WORK FOR THE LORD, THAT HE HAD TO HUMBLY DEPEND ON THE LORD. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE LIGHT PERSECUTIONS OR DIFFICULTIES WE SUFFER TODAY. IN FACT, MOST OF US DON'T REALLY KNOW PERSECUTION LIKE THEY KNEW IT. MANY OF THE EARLY SAINTS HAD TO GIVE THEIR LIVES JUST TO SPEAK THE NAME OF JESUS. WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT GOING THRU. WE HAVE SOME HASSLES, PROBLEMS, DIFFICULTIES, AND SOME CIRCUMSTANCES, THAT MAY HAVE CAUSED US TO BE P.O.'ED. (PERSONALLY OFFENDED)-BUT MOST OF THE THINGS WE ARE GO THRU IS A HASSLE BUT IT IS NOT PERSECUTION. IT'S A CIRCUMSTANCE. BUT ITS NOT PERSECUTION. YOU SEE, WHEN SOMEONE IS SITTING ON THE SAME PEW WITH YOU AND THEY ARE ROLLING THEIR EYES, AND DOGGING YOU OUT, AND TALKING ABOUT YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK. THAT'S NOT PERSECUTION, THAT'S CHILDISHNESS. WHEN YOU WANT TO GO TO CHURCH AND YOU PEAK OUTSIDE AND ITS POURING DOWN RAINING, AND YOU JUST GOT YOUR HAIRDO DONE THAT'S A HASSLE, BUT ITS NOT PERSECUTION. WHEN YOUR BILLS ARE GROWING FASTER THAN YOUR PAYCHECK THAT'S A CIRCUMSTANCE BUT ITS NOT PERSECUTION. WHEN YOUR HEALTH IS FAILING THAT'S A PROBLEM. BUT IT'S NOT PERSECUTION. BUT THE 1ST CENTURY CHURCH SUFFERED REAL PERSECUTION. THEY WERE BEATEN AND STONED TO DEATH. THEY WERE PUT IN JAIL, DOUSED WITH FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES FED TO LIONS.
   
   THE RECORD TELLS US THAT THERE WERE SOME FOLKS WHO REALLY KNEW WHAT PERSECUTION WAS ALL ABOUT-READ THIS LIST OF MARYTRS:
   ...
   JAMES THE GREAT - WHO WROTE THIS EPISTLE WAS BEHEADED IN JERUSALEM. NOW I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT THIS WAS PARTICULARLY A HARSH TIME FOR CHRISITIANS. NOW THAT'S REAL PERSECUTION. THAT'S REAL TRIALS, THAT'S REAL TRIBULATION. NO WONDER JAMES WOULD SAY - HE GIVES A GREATER GRACE. WELL, WHAT LEAD JAMES TO THIS CONCLUSION AND HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS GREATER GRACE? FIRSTLY: LETS SEE WHERE JAMES IS COMING FROM?
   
   FOR HE WAS WRITING TO THE JEWS OF THE DIASPORA OR DISPERSION, WHO HAD BECOME CHRISTIANS LIVING AMONGST NON CHRISTIANS. CHRISTIANS WHO LIKE MANY OF US ARE LIVING IN THE MIDST OF STRANGERS TO THE GRACE OF GOD. JAMES IS WARNING CHRISTIANS AGAINST THE DANGERS OF WORLDLINESS. HE TELLS US: (1). THERE THE WORLD HAS ANOTHER PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE THAT ORGININATES IN A SINFUL HEART. IT IS A PHILOSOPHY THAT SAYS THAT HAPPINESS ND PLEASURE OCNSTITUTE THE CHIEF GOALS OF LIFE. SO JAMES ASK A AQUESTION IN THE OPENING VERSES OF THIS CHAPTER -"WHERE DO ALL THE FEUDS AND STRUGGLES COME FROM" JAMES IS NOT REFERRING TO INTERNATIONAL WARS, BUT TO FEUDS AND CONFLICTS WHICH DEVELOP AMONG THE PEOPLE OF GOD. HE USED TWO WORDS - WARS AND FIGHTINGS - THAT ARE SYMBOLIC AND SIGNIFICANT. THE WORD FOR WARS DESCRIBES A CONTINUAL OR CHRONIC STATE OF FEUDING OR HOSTILITY.
   
   FIGHTINGS SUGGESTS FLARE-UPS OR OUTBREAKS RESULTING FROM THIS CONTINUAL TENSION. IF WE ARE GOING TO BE WHAT GOD INTENDS FOR US TO BE, THEN WE HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR WHAT GOES ON INSIDE THE CHURCH AS WELL AS WHAT GOES ON OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH. BECAUSE JAMES ANSWERS THE QUESTION BY SUGGESTING THAT THE WAR AND FIGHTING COME FROM THE LUSTS THAT WAR IN OUR MEMBERS. JAMES IS SAYING THAT QUARRELS AND CONFLICTS ARISE AMONG GOD'S PEOPLE BECAUSE ALL TOO OFTEN, HAVING OUR OWN WAY BECOMES OUR CHIEF AIM. IN OTHER WORDS, "SELF" GETS IN THE WAY. HE IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION, BUT ABOUT THE MEMBERS OF OUR BODIES. IN OTHER WORDS HE IS SAYING THAT THESE ARE EXTERNAL MANIFESTATIONS OCCUR BECAUSE THEY DEVELOP, THEY START WITHIN US.
   
   ALL TOO OFTEN WE ARE GUILTY OF CHOOSING SELF GRATIFICATION OVER GLORIFYING GOD.
   
   BY THE TIME YOU GET TO VERSE 3 YOU FIND THAT JAMES IS SAYING WHEN WE GIVE IN TO THE PASSION TO SATISFY SELF - IT UNDERMINES OUR EFFECTIVENESS IN PRAYER.
   
   IF WE SET OUR SIGHTS ON THINGS BELOW,.. IT IS ONLY NATURAL THAT WE SHALL SEEK THOSE THINGS. JESUS SAID WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO.
   ...
   JAMES TALKS ABOUT ASKING AMISS. HE SAYS WE ASK SOME THINGS OUT OF THE WRONG MOTIVE, AND SOMETIMES WITH EVIL INTENT AND GOD WON'T ANSWER THAT KIND OF PRAYER. THEN JAMES GOES ON TO OUR TEXTUAL APPLICATION AND SAYS THAT WHEN WE ACT IN THAT MANNER IT IS ABHORRENT TO GOD. HE IN VERSE 4 CALLS THOSE CHRISTIANS ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES. BUT HE IS NOT SPEAKING LITERALLY OF THOSE WHO BREAK THE FOURTH COMMMANDMENT,.. HE IS TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL UNFAITHFULNESS. AND WHEN YOU ARE UNFAITHFUL TO GOD IT IS LIKENED UNTO SPIRITUAL ADULTERY. IF YOU DESIRE GREATER GRACE THERE MUST BE: I. THERE MUST BE A SENSITIVITY TO THE SPIRIT - VS. 5
   ...
   FOR HIS WORD SAYS, "AND THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE WHICH WE HAVE BEFORE HIM, THAT IF WE ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARS US. I JOHN 5:14 THE SECOND STEP IS A SUBMISSION TO GOD. III. A WILLINGNESS TO STAND AGAINST THE DEVIL VS. 7:B A. THE COMMANDS - SUBMIT TO GOD & RESIST THE DEVIL
   
   B. THE COVENANT - AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU. NOT HE MAY,.. NOT HE MIGHT.. BUT HE WILL FLEE. C. RESIST ANTHISTEMI…ANTH IS TAY MEE…MEANS TO STAND AGAINST, TO OPPOSE. BUT OUR WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT OF THE FLESH, BUT ARE DIVINELY DESIGNED.. FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST THE RULERS, AGAINST THE POWERS, AGAINST THE WORLD FORCES OF DARKNESS, AGAINST THE FORCES OF WICKEDNESS IN HEAVENLY PLACES. IV. SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD (VS. 8) - NEARNESS TO GOD. A. SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD THROUGH NEARNESS TO GOD. IF I DRAW NEAR TO GOD, THERE IS A PROMISE THAT HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO ME. THE CLOSER I GET TO GOD, I CAN SEE HOW UNWORTHY I AM. I FIND MYSELF PRAYING THAT THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATIONS OF MY HEART WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE IN HIS SIGHT. MORE GRACE IS SEE. IF FOUND OUT THAT HE WHO DWELLETH IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL ABIDE UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY. FOR IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN STAND AGAINST US? B. SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD THRU AN INWARD CLEANSING...BECAUSE THE BLOOD OF JESUS WAS SHED SO THAT I COULD PURGE MY CONSCIENCE FROM DEAD WORKS AND SERVE THE LIVING GOD. HEB. 9:14 WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SINS? NOTHING, BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
   ...
   AND GOD SENT JESUS, AND JESUS TOLD JAMES,AND JAMES TELLS US HOW TO HAVE GREATER GRACE!