James (part 1)

It's got subtitles.

Yeah, I gathered that as I was reading it.

I couldn't see where they're touching it.

Where it takes place.

It keeps on talking about sobs.

As soon as they crone her,.

I was confused.

Good morning, John.

Good morning.

James, we're going to get started.

Today is the meta story, if you would.

We're going to touch at the beginning of the book but get an idea of how the book fits

within the context of the New Testament and how.

The book itself comes together.

My.

Approach to these has always been to not go and rely on one of my

study Bibles for the outline.

Which is to say that if you have a study Bible and you have an outline, I actually look

forward to your thoughts, the thoughts from Ryrie, whatever stuff in the Bible, or

from other opportunities.

Just a real brief rabbit trail.

As I was getting ready this morning, the television was on and Dr. Charles Stanley was

talking about spiritual gifts.

It was kind of fun.

He was in 1 Peter 4.

It was really, yeah, it's good stuff.

James, we're going to start out with some of the easy stuff as we go into verse 1.

It's good stuff to understand and good stuff to know where we are.

So Eric, I'm going to ask if you would just give us a prayer.

To get started.

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come and study your word this morning.

We pray that you would be with us as we open it up, that you would reveal what you want us to learn

from the book of James and who he is today, and we ask that you would describe John as he leads our discussion.

I would not be at all surprised to see that we go through the book of James in roughly 10 weeks, give or take.

I'm not counting today.

The powerful thing about this book is there are so many truths packed into this

book that we're not going to constrain discussion and dialogue as

it happens.

Eric, if you would give us James 1. We will go faster than one verse at a time as we get

into this.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion readings.

So let's just start out with a really easy question.

Who wrote the book?

James!

Good job.

In the Greek it's Iaconos.

I don't know where to get James out of Iaconos.

I read something about that actually in a commentary.

His name is Jacob.

And there's even a theory that King James, in translating the Bible,

whoever was doing it for him, might have wanted to see the name James.

In the Bible.

So who knows?

Who knows?

It's an interesting.

Theory.

That being said, which James?

James, the brother of Jesus.

James, the brother of Jesus.

And an apostle.

No.

You get that out of where?

I got it out of the introduction to James.

Good job.

There are four, at least four James in the New Testament.

And we're going to look at them briefly, come to our own conclusions about what Scripture has to say

about who it is.

Mark 1 .19, Ralph, if you would get that.

Luke 6, Judy, if you would have that one.

And Acts 12, 1 -2, if you would get that.

The first James that we're going to look at, and let's say there's four of them, is James, well,

we'll figure out who he is.

Mark 1 .19.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat, preparing their

nets.

And Luke 6 .14?

6 .14.

Okay.

Simon, who he named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip,

Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Apheus. Simon,

who was called the zealot, Judas, son of James, and Judas

Iscariot, who became a traitor.

We see James several times in the passage, by the way.

So this first one that we're talking about is the one that ties into Mark 1 .19.

So we're talking about James who is the brother of Jesus.

No, not the first one.

The first one you read, James the brother of John.

James the brother of John.

And he's also an apostle, so he's one of the twelve.

Could he possibly have been the author?

We find no when we read in Acts 12 .1 .2.

Okay, Acts 12 .1 .2.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute

them.

He had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword.

So,.

Details.

The book of James is predominantly considered to be the earliest of the

letters in the New Testament written.

But the death of James occurred before that.

So we cross James the brother of John, James the apostle, the brother of John off the list.

The next one, Luke 6 .16.

It's continuing in the list that was read previously, and it says Judas, son of James, and Judas

Iscariot.

Judas, son of James.

Which would put James, he's not an apostle in this

case.

He's perhaps the father of Judas.

And really, that's the only thing we hear about him in the New Testament.

We can't write him off, but there's not a whole lot of substance behind the thought that he might

be it.

So then we go on to the next one, which would be in Mark 3 .18.

If you've got that, Ryan.

And get Matthew 1 if you would.

Greg, thank you.

We're going to get that in the background.

Matthew 13, Rick, if you would get that in the background.

Mark?

Mark 3 .18.

Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the son of Alpheus and

Thaddeus and Simon the Canaanite.

So this is another apostle.

So there are actually two James in the list of apostles.

We have James the brother of John and we have James the son of Alpheus.

There is a strong thought

Hold that, I'm going to come back to that.

Let's look at the fourth one and then I'll tell you why I wanted to bring that up.

The other one is Matthew 13 54 to

56.

We're going to come back to that.

I said I've got to hold that thought.

Give me Matthew 13 54.

You'll notice that that's the last reference on James the apostle the son of Alpheus.

It's also the first reference on the next one.

Go ahead.

Who had James?

Rick had James.

I'm coming back to that.

He told me Matthew 13.

Yes.

When Jesus had finished these parables he went away from there and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue

so that they were astonished and said where did this man get the wisdom and these mighty works?

Is not this the carpenter's son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

Okay.

The last one on the list is James the half -brother of Jesus.

The reason I wanted to read that first, within the Roman

Catholic Church tradition there is a reluctance

to having Mary to be anything other than a virgin.

So there's a reluctance to acknowledge that James or these others

are the half -brothers of Jesus because that would not work.

And the way they address this is to take James the son of Alpheus

and to make him the same as the person that's described as because

there's apparently a distant relation between the two so they use the concept

of brother and they really have to do some mental gymnastics

they equate the third and the fourth as one and the same because Mary

could not have had any other children.

That thought is really not going to work.

Matthew 1 24 and 25.

Joseph did not have sexual intimate relations with Mary until what

happened with Jesus.

There is no scriptural description that Mary and Joseph were not

a husband and wife in all aspects.

In fact, it almost indicates that there were because he didn't know her until which

implies that he knew her after.

The words that are used to describe James the half -brother of

Jesus is brother.

There's no other interpretation of that word.

It's brother.

So that leads us down to four.

James the apostle, the brother of John, he had already died.

James the half -brother of Judas not a whole

lot known about him.

James the apostle, the son of Alphaeus and James the half -brother of Jesus.

Let's just read a little bit more about James the half -brother of Jesus.

John 7, Eric, excuse me, Bruce, where are we going, 1

Corinthians 15, Acts 15, Judy and Stan,

Galatians 2, go ahead.

But not even his brothers believed in him.

At first, what do we know about James?

He doesn't believe Christ is the Messiah.

Even as his brother.

My imagination goes really, really wild.

Mary, Joseph, although Mary has a very, very special

place in God's history, if you would, she is not without

sin.

Contrary to, again, the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, Mary is not without sin.

James, can't you be a little bit more like your brother Jesus?

Could you imagine having a brother who never sinned?

Well, if you had an older brother when he was.

First born, sometimes it gets a little bit like that.

No, I'm kidding.

Jesus never talked back to his parents.

He never disrespected his parents.

He never lied.

James, can't you be a little bit more like your brother?

I don't know what life was like for James, but we do know that prior to the cross, James was not a believer

in who he was.

So we go to the next one, 1 Corinthians 15.

And that he appeared.

To Peter and then to the twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the.

Same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last

of all, he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Uniquely identified as his brother James.

The impact to James is understood.

Acts 15.

When they finished, James spoke up.

Brothers, listen to me.

Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles.

A people for himself.

That's probably enough.

That's a long passage.

But I wanted to bring out, this is the Council of Jerusalem.

There are various people who stand up and speak.

Among them is James.

And this is James, the half -brother of Jesus.

Galatians 2 .9 describes it further.

James, Peter, and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and born Mr.

Radney and a fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.

They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they.

To the Jews.

James has described along with Peter and John as pillars.

So James, the half -brother of Jesus, who initially didn't believe, who was uniquely identified in the

post -resurrection appearances he appeared to James, becomes a strong believer

such that he could stand up in the Council and proclaim truth that the Council of Jerusalem is described as

a pillar.

That's James.

Give me the first verse, James 1 .1.

One more time, please Eric.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,.

To the twelve tribes and the dispersion.

Of greetings.

James, a doulos.

He's turned from a half -brother, a doubter, to a servant of God.

And it's a great thing.

That's our author of the book of James.

It is written to who?

To where?

Read that again.

The twelve tribes.

The twelve tribes and the dispersion of greetings.

Okay, and I'm glad you raised that up because there are actually two interpretations to this.

One is that the twelve tribes, metaphorically, refers to the

church.

The other is that the twelve tribes literally speaks of Jews and dispersion.

First Peter 1 .1.

Bob, would you pull that out,

please?

1 .1.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiled, scattered throughout the provinces

of Pontus, Galatia,.

Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethany.

Peter wrote to exiles, Jewish exiles, scattered, and James wrote

to the twelve, scattered.

Can't prove this about James except that tradition has it.

Well, clearly, Peter's is written to the west, what we would call

Asia Minor.

It's written to the west.

Tradition would have it that James wrote to the east, to those that went east.

I can't prove that, but that's tradition.

If you read different people like Augustine and

those, that's kind of the tradition of where it is.

So what's the proof that this is not metaphorically speaking of the church, but really

speaking about the tribes?

Got a lot of evidence within the book itself.

James 118.

Kimberly?

Did you read that?

In Leviticus 23 .10, Bill, if you could pull that up and just have it.

In fact, for a time I'll just talk about it.

James 118.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits.

Of all he created.

The concept of firstfruits is in Leviticus 23 .10.

He's clearly speaking language that would be understood by the Jews.

Bill, we're backstaying in James.

Give me James 2 .2.

James 2 .2.

We're staying in James.

I'm just going to show you the evidence within the book of James.

We're talking to the Jewish scattered.

So James 2 .2.

For if a man wearing a gold ring of fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor

man in shabby clothing also comes in.

In that text,.

If you were thinking just the word assembly, you would be looking for the word ecclesia.

Church, congregation, assembly.

This is the word synagome.

Synagogue.

So if you actually look at other places for that word, this is a Jewish word.

It is not a church.

It is not just an assembly.

Synagome is what the word is.

Again, talking to Jewish people, things of the Jewish people.

2 .21, right?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

Not solid proof because we know that Abraham is the father of all nations.

But it's more evidence that he is talking to the Jewish people who proclaimed Abraham

as their father.

How about the next one, 5 .4?

When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown.

I'm sorry.

I'm going to have you read that again.

I was thinking Romans 9, if you would get that, Rick.

Romans 9, 27 and 28.

Read that again, please.

Quick.

You want me to read Romans 9?

No, no, no.

Read 5 .4.

It did sound different.

The wages of the laborers who mow your fields which you get back by fraud are crying out against you, and the cries of

the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

It has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

Give me yours, Rick, now in Romans 9. Isaiah cries out.

Concerning Israel, Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant

of them will be saved. For the Lord will carry out His sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.

And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring, we

would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.

Kiryon Sabaoth is the word there, and it's the same word that's used in James.

The use of these phrases, the reference back into Isaiah, strong evidence of it.

And then the last one is in 5 .7.

Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives

the earthly and the late rains.

And that will take you back to Deuteronomy 11 .14.

Is the book of James written to the church using the phrase

the twelve tribes as the descriptor?

The evidence is too strong of the language, the terminologies, the concepts that are used throughout the

books.

This appears to be a book written to the twelve tribes, who in effect are scattered.

My question is at the bottom of the page, if this is a book written to the twelve tribes who are

scattered, why are we studying it?

All scripture is inspired by God.

It's helpful for teaching, free food for production, training in righteousness.

Absolutely.

And it has fifty -nine commands and a hundred and eight verses.

Cool.

It is packed.

Yeah, it is packed.

It is written to the twelve tribes, and the twelve tribes are going through some difficulty which we'll see in

verses 2, 3, and 4.

But once you get beyond the greeting and you get beyond verses 2, 3, and 4, yes, it is written to the twelve tribes.

But all scripture is given by inspiration of God.

2 Timothy 3, 16.

Are these.

Professed believers from the twelve tribes?

Or are they non -believers?

Yes.

That was my perspective.

Because it was written that I felt that it was written to first century Christians,

initial Christians who were in fact Jews.

Mm -hmm.

Jews.

That's my background.

I think during that period of time, it's no different than our period of time here.

We all have difficulties.

And James saw that and God spoke to him to write out this book to give them some

direction, some rules to follow to worship and to work together with one another because

there was some conflict going on.

So James wrote the book and gave all these.

Things that we are to follow.

The book of James fits very powerfully into the meta -context of the New Testament.

We're going to look at one verse in each of these sections.

Each of the major writers of the letters predominantly has a

message.

Not uniquely because the message is interleaved with each other, but predominantly

Paul is going to give us a message of, what's Paul's major message?

Who's next to read by the way?

Okay, so I want you to do Romans 4, 4 and 5.

I knew you were looking at Romans 1.

Romans 4, 4 and 5.

James 1, 22, Judy.

First Peter 3, 1 Peter 1, 3 and 4.

Stan of John, let's do 2 John 5 and 6

if you would get that, and then 3 and 4.

The major message of.

Paul's writing.

Go ahead and give us that passage.

Now when man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God and justifies the wicked, his faith is credited to righteousness.

The major teaching out of Paul is going to be faith.

Salvation by faith.

By grace are you saved through faith.

Titus 3, 5, Ephesians 2.

That doesn't mean to say that he excludes the other teachings, but predominantly Paul is

emphasizing it's not by the law, it's not by what you do to earn salvation.

It's by righteousness that salvation comes.

By grace it leads you to faith.

It leads you to salvation.

James on the other hand, well not on the other hand, James continues on our understanding.

Go ahead, Judy.

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in

the mirror and after looking at himself goes away and he immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this not

forgetting what he has heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does.

James is going to be a message of response.

We'll see that in a huge way as we go through this.

One of the most intriguing passages is that the devil is believed.

And troubled.

And troubled.

So there's a difference between just believing and having believing.

Bring about a response, a change, a changed life.

Peter.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

Keep in heaven for you.

May your life be filled with hope in the midst of everything else that's going on around you.

We have faith.

We have response.

We have hope.

John.

Second John.

We're reading 5 and 6.

And this is just to put in context to the lady chosen by God and to her children.

It says, verse 5.

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.

I ask that we love one another.

And this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands.

As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

We're going to see a lot of love when we read John's three writings.

Jude.

Dear friend, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend

for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.

They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only.

Sovereign Lord.

In the context, we have false teaching, apostasy coming in as a call to

purity, purity of doctrine, purity of life.

Taking them all together is a powerful, powerful thing.

I mean, it's great to capture the essence of all five of these writers and to

having a fullness of what?

But within the context of this, this is just me.

When I look and I read through the book of James, I look at a life that is

being experienced to its fullest because it's in accordance with God's will.

And we're going to see various topical paragraphs of this.

Life that's experienced to its fullness because we're living in according to God's will.

To put it another way, James can be a book about a life that is changed.

Prior to coming to Christ, we have a way of life.

After we have come to Christ by faith, what is within us, the

spirit within us, must result in an exterior change, must

result in evident fruit in our life.

We get into universes like, you have faith, I have works, I'll show you my faith by

my works, faith without works is dead, and you can scratch your head about it until you put it into context

that what James is encouraging to understand is if your faith is true and genuine and it's

inside your heart, it cannot do anything but be evidenced externally.

Before we go in, and what we're going to do is rapidly go through these paragraphs and see what we're going to

see over the next several weeks.

These are the main main topics that I have.

Any other thoughts from a top level or insights from your.

Prior studies or your study Bibles on the book of James?

I was thinking for the context of the original readers of James, these were

Jewish believers who were scattered, so as we go through the book and see the kinds of things, the kinds of difficulties they

were facing, I think it's helpful to keep that background in mind.

These aren't 21st century Christians living comfortably, these are people who are scattered and facing a lot of

hardship.

As you were just talking about with showing your faith, they risked a lot of harm and danger and even

death by living out their faith.

I just think it's helpful to keep in context with the original reader, the original

audience, before we make the application to ourselves.

That's really good because I can have a discussion

the other day returning a video, checking a video out at the library, ended up with a very brief

discussion with a lady who clearly is a non -believer.

I had the chance to talk to a guy, I was going to be a referee partner with, he saw

me working on my study cards, I'm learning Greek.

He said, what is that?

I said, I'm learning Greek.

He said, why are you Greek?

I said, no, I'm in seminary.

He said, you're talking to the wrong guy, I'm an atheist.

He started it.

I was in no danger to stand up and proclaim the fact that I'm a believer in

Jesus Christ.

You're right.

For the 12 tribes they were scattered for a reason.

They were scattered because of persecution.

They were scattered because their lives were in danger.

They didn't scatter because they wanted to get away from their family.

That's not the culture.

So, that's well said.

So when we understand what they're going through, what we're going through maybe doesn't even understand the depth

of what they were going through.

So thank you.

Thank you for that.

We also have with James, I mean I think of him as a young boy when he was growing up.

He had all the knowledge from his half -brother.

There he was growing up, getting all this knowledge, seeing Jesus perform, and instructing

and instructing.

And now came James.

Jesus now was resurrected from the dead, but now came James to write all that he learned.

This all came from the teaching of Jesus.

But also with James, just what you said, he was with Peter and John.

He saw Peter and John getting persecuted by the Sadducees, and then the Pharisees, all

70 of them in a township to throw them out because they were proclaiming the Gospel.

Well, here's James with them.

He sees it.

Now he's right because he sees this persecution.

What you're saying there, Kimberly, he sees this persecution going on, and he wants them to know what the

right way is, and that they are being looked after.

But they have to step up and keep their faith at the same time, even through their works.

With one another.

So, Eric, give us verses 2, 3, and 4 of chapter 1.

This is kind of a launching pad to exactly what you guys are saying that allows us to now

perhaps put into a context, put into an understanding.

Go ahead.

Count old joy, my brothers, when you meet the trials of various kinds.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness

have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

They are going through, not they may go through.

They are going through difficulties.

And the reality of difficulties is it can do a couple of things to you.

It can make you gun shy, or it can temper the steel so that it's stronger.

It can do a lot of things.

He's telling them when you encounter trials, your mindset, your

attitude should be one of what?

Countercultural.

To us, to them, many of these people probably left their

possessions, their lands behind, going scattered

into who knows where, and James is telling them consider it all joy.

Because what does.

That trial do for you?

Perseverance.

Keep going.

And perseverance leads to maturity.

Be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

This is powerful stuff.

So as we're going to go through this outline, we're going to I think need to take it into a context

that he's telling them that there are a lot of phenomenal commands.

How many commands?

59 commands?

58 commands, I exaggerate.

There are 58 commands.

If you consider the first one one of the commands, count it all joy.

So beyond that, there's 58 more.

Okay, whatever.

He wants their lives to demonstrate

the life change that should be inside of them.

And he's giving them thoughts to help them in this direction.

He's telling them don't let life's circumstances take you off the road that God is sending you down.

Consider it all joy.

It's going to be there.

Having realized that and going through the book of James,

I can almost put James 1, 2, 3, and 4 as two parentheses, one at the

beginning of the book and one at the end of the book.

One at the beginning of the book says, this is to those who are scattered, maybe out east we don't know, but

scattered because they're being persecuted.

They're going through difficulties.

And he says don't let that overtake you.

I got 58 more things to tell you.

Persevere through all of this stuff.

Become who God wants you to be.

Become a life that's changed and at the end you are going to be perfect and complete

lacking in nothing.

We're getting ready to go on a journey.

The passages are there.

We're going to read just a couple of them.

We have about five more minutes.

The first one is depending on God 113, who read last year?

113.

Give me that.

The section on depending on God, we're going to be told not only to ask God for all things.

That's 1 -5.

We're not only going to be told in 117 that what we have we receive from God, but in addition to that

113, when.

Tempted.

No one should say God is tempted me for God cannot be tempted by evil.

Nor does he tempt anyone.

The things that happen in our life that seems hard to God don't blame God.

We're going to learn that.

Depend on God.

Don't blame God.

There are things that are going on in your life you can depend on God.

Responding to God is the next section, 123.

We'll look at that.

Before that in 121 we're told put aside all filthiness.

That's stuff that's baggage that's being carried on.

Christian in the book Pilgrim's Progress has his backpack on his back.

Get rid of all filthiness, 123.

Is this me?

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who.

Oh, I said this already, didn't I?

That's good.

Is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself goes away.

Oh, here I go.

And immediately forgets what he looks like.

I do anymore.

That's fine.

But the idea there is when you look into God's word and when you when God is addressing you let it

penetrate.

Don't put a mirror that reflects and just deflects it away.

Allow it to be.

127 is going to tell us put it into action.

We're going to respond without partiality 289.

First of all we're going to be told that faith.

Supersedes partiality at the beginning in 289.

If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing right.

But if you show favoritism you sin and are convicted by

the law as law breakers.

We should know that the love that we're commanded is going to replace partiality.

Get rid of partiality be pure in front of God and then comes some difficult

stuff.

Faith in action.

228 will do that.

I think 219 by the way is 219.

Do 219 Bob.

There is no 28.

219.

We'll do that one.

You believe that there is one God.

Good.

Even the demons believe that and shudder.

That's a passage I said.

The demons shudder because there is no change to their life because

we know that Satan knew scripture when he tempted Christ.

I mean he knows these things but there is no impact to him.

We are told to put it in into action.

The tongue is an interesting one.

35.

We're told at the beginning of it ministry.

It's a weird passage verse in the beginning of that passage.

Those who teach are held to a higher standard.

We'll talk about that when we get there.

But the tongue is such a powerful force.

Go ahead.

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts.

Consider what a great force is set on fire by a small spark.

What's inside of us is going to come out by the tongue.

What's inside of us is going to come out by the tongue.

We're told in 3 .8 we're not going to do it by ourselves.

We need help.

We're relying on God to control that thing.

Wisdom that is true 3 .15 and then 3 .17.

Bill do you want to read both of those?

This is not the wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly,

unspiritual, demonic.

And then.

3 .17.

But the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceful, gentle, open to reason, full

of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

We are tempted to.

Be influenced by impressed by teaching that we're

brought into.

We need to have the spiritual life within us that changes

us that we can reflect the counterfeit from the true.

And the counterfeit can just sound so attractive.

But we should have this life that's changed so that the wisdom that's earthly is understood for what it is the

wisdom that's heavenly is understood.

And we migrate to the way he wants us to go.

Chapter 4 gets us into submitting to all things.

4 .15.

Actually I'm going to back up.

It starts right there.

Come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is life?

For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

We have a desire to do our own things.

4 .1 .2 says we quarrel because we desire.

We desire.

We desire.

We want.

We want.

We want.

We're told in our life it's God's will.

We need to learn how to submit to God's will so that what our agenda is goes in the background.

What God wants us, which gives us to 5 .8.

Also be patient.

Establish your hearts.

What's coming of the Lord is at hand.

We're told in 5 .3 the folly of the world retreasures.

And then we're told be patient and wait for God.

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands who has patience in this room.

That's a tough one.

That's a tough one.

Be a person of prayer.

5 .13.

I think we'll just leave that one there.

Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing praise.

Have every situation laced with prayer.

5 .16 talks about the power of concession and opening up and being

vulnerable.

5 .19 tells us to have our brothers back.

But in all things be a person of prayer.

So we're going to go into a big story as we go through.

And again give me, please, two through four.

One more time there.

Count it all through, my brothers.

There may be trials of various kinds.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfectly complete in life and gain nothing.

My own summary.

Again, we're going to live life to its fullness when we live in accordance with God's will.

We're going to live life to the fullness when the situations, the trials, the difficulties don't

sidetrack us from following God's will.

We're going to live life to the fullness when the good times and the easy times

and the plenty doesn't sidetrack us from needing to depend on

God's will.

Life is going to be filled with ways that are going to try to distract us.

Consider it all joy, my brothers, in account of various trials.

A ton of stuff in here at the end of it.

God wants us to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It's a life that's changing.

Big story.

A lot to come.

Any closing thoughts?

We are at the end of our time.

Alright.

Eric, can you go to the meeting next week?

Sandy and I are taking a long weekend away.

Next week Eric is volunteering to step up and teach.

So we will pick up next week as we get into the in -depth.

Brian, would you close the prayer?

Sure.

Father God, we thank you so much for this time that we have that we can get together and look at your word.

I pray that you would just bless us as we get ready for the service this morning, that you would humble our hearts before you, that

we would be able to receive your word.

I pray also that you would bless us in this study, that we would come to our knowledge of the truth, knowledge of

who you are and how we ought to respond to that fact.

The fact that you were king of kings, they were lords, and you are our savior and our salvation.

And we owe you our allegiance.

We owe you everything, God.

We pray that your word would be like honey on our lips and we ask that you would help us as we go out through the rest of this day to be mindful.

Of you.

And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Thank you.

I'm going to get folding chairs if you don't mind.

Thank you.

Other than this, so, I think if you would go five to

eighteen.

Thank you.