James - An Introduction

Andrew Grey presents an introduction to the book of James.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This term in Sunday preaching at Emmanuel, we're working our way through the New Testament book of James. And we're going to spend a few minutes now just getting into the book, kind of introduction. The first sermon in the series is also actually a kind of introduction, and it would be really worth a listen, I think, to get you into the biggest theme of the book. But let's have an introduction now, and let me pray as we come to God's word. Heavenly Father, this is your word to us. It comes from your Holy Spirit, and we ask for his blessing on it and on us as we receive from you. We ask that you would do your word in us. We pray that we would not merely be hearers of your word. And we ask that in Jesus' name. Amen. The best way to get into a book of the Bible is simply to read it through, and it would be a great thing to read or to listen as the whole book of James is read through. It doesn't take long at all. Having read through God's word, here are some simple questions to ask as we come to it. What sort of scripture is the book of James? Well it's a letter, isn't it? The very first verse tells us that. Although it is different to other New Testament letters. Think of some of Paul's letters. They tend to follow a pattern of doctrine in the first half of the letter, and then application in the second half, Ephesians 1 to 3, doctrine, Ephesians 4 to 6, application in the main. And James doesn't work quite like that. As we think about what kind of scripture the book of James is, might be helpful also to think about its relationship with other scriptures, with other parts of the Bibles, of the Bible. There are loads of connections between James and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Now that's really helpful to note because it reminds us that James is not saying anything different to Jesus. When you read through James, you cannot miss the high holiness to which Christian people are called. He exposes sin. He talks actually about perfection. He drives us to seek Jesus' forgiveness, but also in the power of the Holy Spirit to a holiness of life. And all of those aims, lots of the specific content comes straight from Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. There's also a really close connection between James's letter and what we sometimes call wisdom, biblical wisdom or Old Testament wisdom. There are loads of words and ideas in James that would remind us of Proverbs, especially in chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, chapter 3, verses 13 to 18. There's obvious explicit reference to biblical wisdom, but actually all through the letter of James, biblical wisdom is in view. Now when we talk about wisdom, we're not talking about knowing which car to buy. Rather, we're talking about things like worship and fearing God, loving him, and from that flows a life of obedience and of neighbour love. Biblical wisdom is actually about holiness. That's what we see all the way through James. And just like in the book of Proverbs, say, James presents this to us in really binary ways. You go this way and you experience that outcome. On the other hand, if you go that other way, you experience a different outcome. It's two ways to live, two directions in life to go. We could also say of James, and some people do, that this is an exhortation. And when you read it through, it does feel like that, doesn't it? There is such a lot of not just practical application, but just really direct and straight and clear and sometimes really vehement and forceful exhortation. Wake up, go this way. Now, who is the author of the letter of James? Well, in the New Testament we read about four Jameses. And this James, who is he? Well, it is probably not James the son of Zebedee, because he was put to death very early on, and probably much earlier than this letter was written. It's probably not James the father of Judas. Read about him only in Acts 113, just a pretty obscure figure. Likewise James the son of Alphaus. Probably not him either. Most likely this is Jesus' brother. Jesus' brother James. He was one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. And some of the things that the letter of James talks about would fit really well with this being the leader of the Jerusalem church. Things like poverty, being dispersed and persecuted. If these are Jewish converts to the faith, would fit really well with it being James. Now that is the traditional view of the church down the centuries. Now we're reading a letter here. What can we work out about the first readers of it? So God the Holy Spirit moved James to write this to particular people. Well, those first Christians were scattered Christians. That's the first thing we learn about them. The twelve tribes of the dispersion. They were scattered. And as we go on through the letter, we can see that they were probably very poor. But the greatest focus within the letter of James is not how the church relates to the world out there, but problems that occur when the world out there comes into the church. We read through the letter and we find problems with words and speech between Christian people. Relationships that are marked by anger and divisions and favoritism. And if we drill still deeper into the letter, we find that there is a heart problem, a problem with a divided heart rather than a whole heart. In other words, when you read this letter, it feels very much like its recipients were struggling. Huge and direct and sometimes fearful warnings are given. But at the same time, all through the letter, James repeatedly tells these people that they are his brethren, his dear brethren, his brothers. He treats them as Christians, some of whom are straying and straying very badly, but brethren, brothers nonetheless. Now, what about any important or repeated themes that flow through the letter? We've mentioned already one, wisdom, that is knowing God, which leads to godly behaviour. There are some very specific areas of holiness, some related to poverty and wealth, and to words and speech, and to relationships between Christians, love and what Christian love looks like within the church. And overall, we'd have to say that James has much to say about Christian living. Sometimes that is expressly put in terms of God's law. For example, chapter 1, verse 25, chapter 2, verses 8 to 12, the law of God. Several of the issues that James talks about seem to come straight from Leviticus, and particularly Leviticus chapter 19. Things like false swearing, withholding wages, partiality, slander. So the law of God, James assumes, continues to bind the Christian to holiness in these particular ways, albeit in the power of the Holy Spirit and in union with Christ, such that for the Christian, the law becomes a law of liberty. Obedience to the Lord is obviously a huge feature of the book of James, and it's an obedience that reveals saving faith. James hasn't always been liked by the Church of Christ down the centuries. Martin Luther famously had a big problem with the letter of James. He called it a strawry epistle. He wanted it chucked out of the Bible, actually. Now Luther at this point was badly wrong. He looked at those passages in James which talk about works and justification, and he came to a completely wrong conclusion about what James was saying, or rather actually what God the Holy Spirit through James was saying. The point here is this the Christian is not saved by works, but we are not saved without works. And James says very directly, if you profess faith, but there are no works, then you are not a Christian. And that is actually standard biblical orthodoxy. Because in Christ we are not just forgiven, but we are also made new. We're made new creatures by the Holy Spirit, and that then shows itself in fruit. One other key feature of the letter of James is the final judgment. Behind the whole letter really lies the coming of Christ and the final judgment. Chapter 1, 10 and 11, chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, chapter 3, verse 1, chapter 5, verses 1 to 6, and verses 9 and verse 12. And really, through the whole letter, part of the warning, but also the encouragement given to Christian people is the coming judgment. Why do we say no to continuing in double-mindedness? Well, the judgment day is coming. Why do we say yes to costly and sometimes painful wholeness and holiness? Because there is a crown of life awaiting us. Now, what of the character of God as it is revealed in the book of James? Christian people do sometimes say of James that it's a practical book, or even just a practical book. And I want us to be really clear that yes, there is so much direct application and exhortation, that is 100% true, but it is not just a list of to-dos. The book of James is actually rooted in theology, and in particular it is rooted in its doctrine of God. Now we shouldn't miss this when we read James through. We should not miss this. The God who speaks this exhortation, the God who is actually in the midst of that double-minded church, who is he? What's he like? How does he come amongst them? How does he come amongst us? Well, we get this kind of God revealed to us. For a start, he is a jealous God. He is a jealous God. It's why he calls them adulteresses for so readily having a divided heart, having multiple gods in their lives. But he is also a God of grace. As we humble ourselves, as we repent, as we draw near to him, he will draw near to us and he will draw near to us with grace. And maybe the key attribute of God with which he comes to us is his oneness, his undividedness, his simplicity, to use a key theological term. Now we read this particularly in chapter one and verse five. We read of our Heavenly Father that He gives generously. Now that English word hides the true sense of the word. It means that he actually gives in a single way. He gives in an undivided way. He doesn't give reluctantly or partly or partially. Part of us is set against another part, but our God is not like that. Now this idea of the oneness of God, the undividedness of God, it comes straight to us from the Old Testament, passages like Deuteronomy 6. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. He is whole, he is undivided, and he gives in an undivided and generous way. And that takes us to what I think is the burden of the book or the key theme of the book, which is the danger of double-mindedness and the call to wholeness. James coined this word double-minded or two-souled, split-souled, though actually we find the idea running through the whole Bible. It's a very relatable idea if we're Christian people and we're honest. I love God, but also there are times I don't. And we feel this inward tug of war. But even when we don't feel that inward tug of war, it's going on. And James wants to expose that, he wants to show symptoms of that double-mindedness, and he wants to work in us and move us towards a greater wholeness. And that actually is the desire of our generous and gracious God to make us whole. The pastoral intent, I think, of the whole letter. Well, you could probably sum it up in the final two verses, chapter 5, 19 to 20. My brothers, if any one among you wanders from the truth and brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. Double-mindedness and unrepentant sin, it is fatal. So don't go that way. But also do all you can to bring straying brethren back from that path, because we are all in it together. Now, when you read through the whole letter of James, and when you've done that, I wonder what you thought about the structure of the book, how it fits together. On first reading, it does feel quite bitty. Some people would say of it that it's totally disorganised, or that it's not intended to have an obvious flow or structure or organization to it. Now I'm not quite persuaded by that, though it does look and feel differently to a different to, say, Paul's letters. It isn't as linear in the way it works. Yeah, we've said already Paul often does doctrine in the first half, application in the second half, though even in Paul it's not quite as neat as that. However, once we've appreciated that the letter is about double-mindedness and wholeness, and it's trying to pull us towards a greater wholeness, I think then we can see how the different bits of the letter fit together. James gives symptoms of double-mindedness drawn from different areas of life, and he weaves into it exhortations to wholeness, and he directs us to the Lord's remedies for double-mindedness. On the handout, you'll see there a possible outline, just trying to show what is the main point of each section in the book, and as you read those headings through, you can see some connections and flow between them. But it's certainly my prayer and hope that this term and next, as we work our way through the letter of James, that it will do perhaps painful medical work in our hearts, but also it will do us such good. It will work a greater wholeness in us. Let's all be praying that that is the case.