Studies In James Archive

As we come to the end of James we also find ourselves returning to where we began.
Back in the opening verses James said, “Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you maybe mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James has told us that life’s trials are not unnatural barriers in our walk with God but are His appointed way for us to move forward to spiritual maturity. In that knowledge he then called his listeners to prayer.
Now having revisited the subject of trials at the beginning of chapter 5 where we saw we are called to be patient and stand firm as we await the Lord’s coming, James now calls his listeners and us to prayer once again.

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We are very near the end of our studies in James and our passage today brings us back to our starting point. James began his letter by telling us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
It is to that theme of patient perseverance in the midst of suffering that James now returns to as he encourages us to we wait with patience and confidence for the coming of the Lord.

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At the end of chapter 1, James set out three tests of sincere Christian faith: keeping a tight rein on our tongue, looking after the poor and vulnerable, and thirdly keeping ourselves from being polluted by the behaviour and the values of the world. In the proceeding chapters James has looked at each of these three tests in detail.
In our passage today, James is concluding his teaching on how believers can be polluted by the sinful world around us. The call at the heart of chapter 4 is the call for believers to humble themselves before the Lord. James follows this call to humility with a strongly worded warning against the sin of human pride and arrogance that contradicts gospel humility. That warning first of all addresses how we go about making plans in our day to day lives.

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Back at the end of chapter 1 James presented three tests of true faith: care for the poor, control of the tongue and keeping oneself from being polluted by the world. We have looked in detail at the first two tests in chapters 2 & 3.
We now turn our attention to the third test as we look at what happens when we allow the wisdom of the world to pollute our lives.

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In chapter 3, James turns to address more fully another of the evidences of true faith that he referred to at the end of chapter 1. We have already looked at the importance of not just listening to the Word but doing what it says. In chapter 2, he has fully addressed the issue of how true faith is seen in actions, particularly in terms of our response to those who are poor and vulnerable.
He now returns to the subject of the tongue which he first mentioned in verse 26 of chapter 1, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."
This morning we confront the reality of the world’s smallest but largest troublemaker.

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In chapters one and two, James stressed the importance of obeying God's Word and in particular the 'royal law' ('love your neighbour as yourself'), especially in relation to the poor and marginalised.
Now he challenges the unspoken assumptions of his readers that they can avoid fulfilling the royal law since they are saved by faith. A genuine, living faith is only manifested by the actions it produces. Otherwise, it is a dead faith, like a body without a spirit.
Disobeying the 'royal law' is not an option.

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So far in our studies in James we have learned that real faith is tested, real faith is about more than listening, and real faith is about applying what we have heard to real life.
At the end of chapter 1, James has given us a couple of examples of what this looks like in practice.
Now at the beginning of chapter 2, James shows us that faith and favouritism are incompatible for the follower of Jesus Christ.

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We have seen that as disciples of Jesus Christ we are to expect trials and temptations to come our way.
But where do we find the practical resources we need to help us persevere and grow?
This is James’ concern in our passage today.

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Today as we continue our new series on James we look at the danger of being deceived.
Painful personal experience tells us that we are all capable of being deceived by others but it is also possible for us to deceive themselves. So we will look at a couple of things James does not want us to be deceived about. Then we find that the best antidote to self deception is to embrace truth and in particular to remind ourselves of who our God is and what He is like.

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Today we begin our new series on the book of James.
James is a book full of practical, life-changing help for real life. In our passage this morning we see that James doesn’t waste any time or words instead he gets straight down to business by explaining how we can experience joy in our trials.

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