James, A Servant of God and of The Lord Jesus Christ

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Please turn in your Bibles to the book of James and chapter 1

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James chapter 1 this is God's holy and infallible word

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James a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ To the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad greetings my

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Brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience

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But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing

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If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach

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And it will be given to him But let him ask in faith with no doubting

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For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind

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For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double -minded man unstable in all his ways

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Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation but the rich in his humiliation

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Because as a flower of the field he will pass away for no sooner has the

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Sun risen with that burning heat Then it withers the grass its flower falls in its beautiful appearance perishes

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So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits Blessed is the man who endures

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Temptation for when he has been approved He will receive the crown of life with which the

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Lord has promised to those who love him Let no one say when he is tempted.

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I am tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil Nor does he himself tempt anyone?

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But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed

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Then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full -grown brings forth death

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Do not be deceived my beloved brethren Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights

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With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning of his own will

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He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures

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So then my beloved brethren, but every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath

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For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and Receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls

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But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves

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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer He is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror for he observes himself

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Goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was

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But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and Is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word.

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This one will be blessed in what he does If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue

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But deceives his own heart this one's religion is useless

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Pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this To visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world

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May the Lord be pleased with our consideration of this new book study

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May he use it to grow us in the faith. Please pray with me.

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Oh Lord, we need the practical wisdom of your servant inspired by your spirit

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I pray Oh Lord that James would Change us and that we would mature and grow in our genuine and sincere faith in Christ that our lives would be

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Marked by obedience and that we would remain undefiled and unspotted from the world

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We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated we have before us a

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Special treat if you will because James is a very different Kind of book it is

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New Testament Wisdom literature. It's like the book of Proverbs.

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It has line by line Instruction imperatives for us

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Today, we're going to only look at verse 1 of chapter 1 and the title of the message is found in that first line

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

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Lord Jesus Christ for those of you who are in need of an outline The first question we're going to ask and answer hopefully is who is

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James? Who is James Second what are his credentials?

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Third who is the audience and fourth what is his aim give that to you again first who is

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James? Second what are his credentials?

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Third who is the audience? and fourth what is

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His name his aim what is his aim? James a bond servant of God and of the

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Lord Jesus Christ who is James as you know, there are a number of James listed in the

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New Testament the first person who could be considered a potential candidate for the authorship of the book of James is

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James the Apostle This is one of the sons of Zebedee He is the brother of the beloved disciple

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John who is that gospel writer and epistle author? There is a bit of a challenge to James Potential as the author he was actually martyred in Acts chapter 12 which calls into question his ability to write the epistle

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There's another James, and he's the father of Judas one of the Apostles and this is not

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Judas Iscariot So there is another James acquainted with the apostolic band who could have been one of the could be considered one of the candidates to be an author then there is

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James the son of Alphaeus, and he is another person it's a very legitimate claim to be the author of the book of James But I favor the last one which is

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James Who happens to be the presiding minister of the church at Jerusalem?

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He's the one who would be the leader of the Jerusalem Council He is the moderator of the

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Presbytery And I believe he is the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ This is probably now the dominant majority position

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And I think some of the textual evidence that I'm going to supply in just a moment will help us Agree with this in one sense.

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It doesn't matter Because all scripture is God breathed the

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Holy Spirit is the author and He uses men to pen these letters.

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We know this message comes from God himself Interestingly the question of the siblings of Jesus It seems that there is a number of them that have been listed in the scriptures.

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One of them is James Another is Joses, which is probably more Familiarly spoken of as Joseph Jude who is the epistle writer?

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Jude calls himself in his epistle a Doulas and brother of James doesn't say he's the brother of Jesus.

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He says he's the brother of James interestingly Simon and Two named sisters.

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Is there a little bit less clear Salome and Mary and there may have been others

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It looks as though that Mary had at least seven children and I'm going on the record

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I do not believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary Sorry to disappoint those of you who like to hold to that position.

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I Absolutely do not Believe in that doctrine. I believe she and Joseph had

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Children that Jesus grew up in a family with his siblings part of it necessary to be our

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Redeemer James James the brother of Jesus The leader of the church at Jerusalem The moderator of the presbytery.

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I believe that's who the author is in James I'd like you to turn first to the book of John in chapter 7 gospel according to John in chapter 7

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Let me begin reading in verse 1

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After these things Jesus walked in Galilee For he did not want to walk in Judea because the

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Jews sought to kill him Now the Jews feast of tabernacles was at hand

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His brothers therefore said to him depart from here and go into Judea That your disciples also may see the works that you are doing

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For no one does anything in secret While he himself seeks to be known openly

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If you do these things show yourself to the world

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Now this may sound positive on the one hand Jesus if you are the

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Messiah His brothers are saying get out there go down to Jerusalem and tell the world

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That you are the Messiah The look at verse 5 it says for even his brothers

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Did not believe in him James who would be the spokesperson of the

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Apostles who would be the person who would lead the Jerusalem Council Not many years from this at this stage does not believe in his

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Brother, he doesn't see him as the Messiah Turn over to the book of Acts Acts chapter 1

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Again, we're on authorship trying to answer the question who is James I'm gonna go ahead and begin reading in verse 4 of Acts 1

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And being assembled together with them. He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem But to wait for the promise of the father which he said you have heard from me

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For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now

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Therefore when they had come together they asked him saying Lord will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

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And he said to them it's not for you to know times or seasons which the father has put in his own authority

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But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come Upon you

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You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth

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Now when he had spoken these things while they watch he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men

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Stood up stood by them in white pair apparel who also said men of Galilee Why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

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this same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven

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And they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem a

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Sabbath day journey. I Want you to listen here in verse 13 And when they had entered they went up into the upper room

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Where they were staying And we're gonna have the list of the four candidates for the authorship of James here

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Peter James John and Andrew Philip and Thomas Bartholomew and Matthew James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the zealot and Judas the son of James All of those connected with the apostolic band are here

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Witnessing this event of Ascension returning to Jerusalem Look at verse 14.

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It says these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication With the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers

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Something's happened between John 7 and Acts 1 as it concerns the brothers of Jesus They believe in the risen

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Christ Turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 again.

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I appreciate your patience with me We're trying to make the case for authorship 1st

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Corinthians 15 Children and parents

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I would say if there is a chapter of Scripture that would be very

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Helpful to know I would know 1st Corinthians 15 inside and out

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Teach 1st Corinthians 15 to your children as a family know it 1st

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Corinthians 15 1 moreover brethren. I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you

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Which also you received and in which you stand? By which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which

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I preached to you unless you believed in vain For I deliver to you first of all that which

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I also received That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen by Cephas and then by the twelve and After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remained to the present

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But some have fallen asleep Now pay attention After that, he was seen by James Then by all the

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Apostles And last of all he was seen by me Also as by one born out of due time

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After the resurrection Jesus personally appeared to James now

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For those of you who have brothers, I don't have a brother. I had an uncle who was like a brother to me

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But can you imagine the person who maybe was your Roommate in the bunk beds or whatever they had in Galilee That you grow up with this man.

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Who's your older brother and he is He's a perfect child in every way

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The apple of the eye of his mother and You find out that he is

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God in the flesh He is the Messiah He is your only hope of salvation

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Your brother this was hard.

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No prophet has honor in his hometown or in his own house

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But Jesus and his mercy saves James and Jude and all of these brothers

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Joseph and Simon Salome and Mary and all of his family it seems and this man who is not an apostle, but he has an

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Apostolic air about him because he is the Lord's half -brother and he meets one of the qualifications of Apostleship, he knew the

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Christ on earth and he is a witness to his resurrection James the half -brother of Jesus has seen the risen

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Christ this also makes

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Some of this other material we're going to consider that much more significant. I appreciate your patience again

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Let's turn to the book of Galatians In chapter 2 I was a little surprised about what

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I discovered Here, I've studied James before I've preached on it before but I was surprised what

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I Encountered when I began to study this this Paul Much like what we were learning in Sunday school today.

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He is arguing against the Judaizers the issue in Galatia is

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Circumcision as a prerequisite to gospel and Christ and salvation in Galatians 2 says this

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Again at verse 1 After 14 years. I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Also took

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Titus with me and I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which

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I preach among the Gentiles But Privately to those who were of reputation lest by any means

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I might run or had run in vain Yet not even Titus who was with me being the

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Greek was compelled to be circumcised And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty

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Which we have in Christ Jesus That they might bring us into bondage

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To whom we did not yield submission even for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you

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But from those who seem to be something whether ever they were it makes no difference to me

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God shows no personal favoritism to any man For those who seem to be something added nothing to me

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But on the contrary when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter for he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the

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Gentiles Now listen carefully They're pillars of the church in Jerusalem There's three names listed in verse 9

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The first name is James Cephas is

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Peter and John the beloved disciple James Peter and John I Believe this is

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James the Lord's half -brother not James the brother of John These are the pillars of the church in Jerusalem.

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This will be very important They perceived that the grace that had been given to Paul it says they gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship

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That we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision

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They desired only that we should remember the poor The very thing which

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I was also eager to do and listen carefully Now when Peter had come to Antioch I was stood him to his face because he was to be blamed for before certain men came from James James the writer of our epistle

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James the half -brother of Jesus James who is the leader of the Church of Jerusalem Before Peter would eat with the

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Gentiles But when they came he withdrew and separated himself fearing those who were of the circumcision

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Now what I want to point out to you here is that Peter has already had his vision

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Peter has already heard from the Lord that the Gentiles are included in this salvation in Christ But Peter is in some way submitting to the

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Authority of the men who are emissaries who have gone out from James James is the leader of the

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Church at Jerusalem Peter takes a submissive stance toward James Now I don't think of Peter as doing that.

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I think of Peter as an apostle now We know in his first epistle. He says he's a fellow elder, but Peter is one of the top guides in the faith one of the biggest leaders in the church, but he's submitting

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To these men because they've come from James And they've now made him feel squeamish about eating with the

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Gentiles in this issue of uncleanness He withdraws

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From the Gentiles separating himself fearing those who are of the circumcision and The rest of the

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Jews also played the hypocrite with him So that even Barnabas Was carried away with their hypocrisy

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Another thing before we leave the book of Galatians look back to chapter 1 Galatians 1 says after three years after his seminary personal seminary with Jesus I Went up to Jerusalem to see

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Peter and remain with him 15 days But I saw none of the other apostles except James the

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Lord's brother Everybody knows who James is

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Paul is deferential to James recognizes his authority. He's one of the pillars.

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He's one of the guys I have to talk to Peter is deferential to James Now let's turn to Acts chapter 15

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Again, thank you for going with me knowing something of the man who is used to write our

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Epistle is going to be helpful In the days ahead Won't you listen?

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This is the decision of the Jerusalem Council Acts chapter 15 verse 1

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And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses You cannot be saved

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Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others should go up to Jerusalem to the

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Apostles and elders about this question So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria describing the conversion of the

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Gentiles And they caused great joy to all the brethren When they had come to Jerusalem they were received by the church and the

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Apostles and the elders That they and they reported all things that God had done with them

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But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believe rose up Saying it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses There are

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Pharisees who have been converted to Christ. They're described as believers who believed in him

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And they're struggling and wrestling with this question. It's in Philippi.

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It's in Galatia It's in Antioch. It's in Jerusalem verse 6 now the

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Apostles and elders came together to consider this matter and When there had been much dispute

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Peter rose up and said to them men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the

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Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe So God who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the

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Holy Spirit Just as he did to us And made no distinction between us and them purifying their hearts by faith

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Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers?

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Nor, we were able to bear But we believe through the grace of the

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Lord Jesus Christ We shall be saved in the same manner as they then all the multitudes kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders

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God had worked through them among the Gentiles and now the decisive word

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Understand the prominence of this man's position Peter has spoken Paul and Barnabas have spoken.

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There's a man who's going to give the final word James answers verse 13 saying men and brethren.

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Listen to me Simon has declared how God at the first visited the

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Gentiles to take them take out of them a people for his name and With this the words of the prophets agree

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Just as it is written After this, I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which had fallen down I Will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the

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Lord Even all the Gentiles who are called by the name says the Lord who does all these things.

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I Hope that resonates more with you now as we've concluded the series in Zechariah James says this is what this prophecy all this has been building and leading up to is the revelation of Christ and the salvation of the nations in him continues

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Known to God from eternity are all his works Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the

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Gentiles who are turning to God But that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols from sexual immorality from things strangled and from blood

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For Moses had through many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every

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Sabbath It should be pointed out That James doesn't start and reinvent the wheel of everything

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He's a very decisive man a very black and white man. I love that about him John is very much this way

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Peter is this way. It's first 22 Then it pleased the

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Apostles and elders with the whole church To send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas Namely Judas who was also named

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Barsabbas and Silas leading men among the brethren They wrote this letter by them

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The Apostles the elders and the brethren to the brethren who are the Gentiles in Antioch Syria and Cilicia greetings

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They remember Galatians 2 People who came from James who

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Peter was dragged away and was fearful of eating with the Gentiles Verse 24 since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words

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Unsettling your soul saying you must be circumcised and keep the law

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To whom we gave no such commandment Men went out from Peter operating under his authority

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But he didn't say that It seemed good to us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men to you with our beloved

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Barnabas and Paul Men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ We have therefore sent

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Judas and Silas who also report the same things by word of mouth for it seemed good to the

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Holy Spirit and to us To lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that you abstain from things offered to idols from blood from things strangled and from sexual immorality

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If you keep yourselves from these things you will do well Farewell the man that Paul Barnabas and Peter look to To make the final ruling in a sense on this to speak for them

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Decision they've made is James What kind of man?

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Is it that even Peter and Paul look up to him for leadership?

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His name they called him James the just That called him camel knees

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Because he spent his life on his knees in prayer And I can picture in my mind the camel as he drops down I get that picture of James always dropping to his knees in prayer

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He's not one of the twelve apostles He's so learned in such a

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Jew and it gives us some insight into the life of Jesus If this is if this is Jesus's brother

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He is basically the most Jewish man that anybody knows he knows the law inside and out

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Dispelling any myth that Jesus is an innovator when it comes to things like the law of God James is a decisive man a black and white man

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His yes is yes and his no is no let's not turn back to our text It's gonna be a long study if that's only the first word of the book of James The second point of outline and this next parts will be a bit quicker

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Was how does James Describe himself. We had to go into internal evidence of the scripture to get his

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Curriculum vitae is his resume. We had to go through and piece it all together But what does

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James say about himself? And this is echoing those two prominent men Peter and Paul He calls himself a slave

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Dulles He doesn't invoke his pedigree here, this is a great lesson for us particularly men the greatest men in scripture are

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Characterized by their humility Weak men rattle their sabers and flex weak men do that It's been my experience

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The strongest men in Christ are humble men They don't have to make extravagant boasts

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They don't have to talk about all of their accomplishments They are content to be slaves

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Of Christ James is great qualification to speak to them is not that he presides over councils and is the pastor of Apostles think about that seems to be he's the pastor of Peter and John and people like that he says

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I'm a slave of Christ. I Was bought with a price.

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I Am NOT my own and that is the testimony of you and of I that that we have been bought with a price

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We were slaves of sin and now we are slaves of righteousness We have the same kind of qualification that that James does that that Christ's blood has been spilt and it pays for our

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Redemption I can understand or less than better this morning

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James has a pretty good pedigree. I'm the Lord's brother

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Doesn't invoke that here. It's very telling very telling about who he is

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I'm a slave of Christ And the structure and the grammar of in the

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New King James It says a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and and that maybe for us in English causes some

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Tension, but if you understand the structure and the grammar James is saying that he's a servant of God The Lord Jesus Christ even the

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Lord Jesus Christ he sees no lack of divinity in Jesus again, it's astounding when you think

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He probably shared a room with him. His brother is the king of glory

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Mary's son is Mary's Lord The one she gives birth to the one she nurses the one she cares for is her salvation

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So to James has been confronted with the reality of Christ in his gospel

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He has seen his brother who was crucified and died risen and ascended

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And now mr. Camel knees spends the rest of his life as his slave serving him the application for us is

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We need to divest ourself of self -interest We have three elders in the room today

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Paul Levine is an elder st. Peter Presbyterian Church In Virginia mark and I serve as elders here here this church

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And we are as part of our qualifications commanded to not be self -willed our self -interest means nothing because We got a collar around our necks were slaves of Christ Let's remember that brothers

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Our self -interest It doesn't matter Not our will be done, but his will be done the

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Savior Jesus Christ saved James His qualification his great credential that he

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Espouses his authority that he asserts here is that he's a slave of Christ.

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Well that brings us to the third point the question of the audience well, the immediate context here is striking because the twelve tribes of Israel have most certainly been scattered so scattered that the ten tribes of the

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Northern Kingdom are indistinguishable from the pagan nations in which they live

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These are the exiles who've never returned Their DNA has not been preserved.

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They're part of a Syria and they're part of Mesopotamia and all of these places They're no longer who they once were

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So, why does James say to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad

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This is so powerful. I believe also that Peter invokes this in his letters that James sees the

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Reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel now being accomplished in the kingdom of the

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Lord Jesus Christ there are people who don't even know that they the promises of God were given to their grandparents and They're out there in the world and Christ's gospel is coming to them and they're being saved and they're being reintegrated into the kingdom of God There's also as you know, if we were to take some more time to go into Acts That great persecution arose after the martyrdom of Stephen It's very likely that James as the pastor of the church in Jerusalem Had members fleeing because of persecution

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So we have this man of great authority But also of great pastoral heart

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Writing a letter probably to some of his own people who are in his church. It should be noted that Josephus said that James was martyred in Jerusalem in 8062 and when all of those flights to Tepella and all those things are happening when persecution is driving the church out

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The leader of the Church of Jerusalem the pastor of the people in Jerusalem. He can't leave

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He's their shepherd so he stays And gets martyred for Christ incredible imagery that the twelve tribes

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Scattered to the wind are Receiving the Word of God through the pen of the slave of Christ James There's another thing the last word of verse 1 says

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Greetings Always wondered why we said seasons greetings in relation to Christmas time

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If you dig into this word and its usage you you realize that it means be glad rejoice

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So James is saying I'm the slave of God. I've got a message for you

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You should be glad and rejoice. God is speaking to you through me. I'm his instrument

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Receive now my letter in the word of the Lord question for last of the points

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What is his aim? Now I could go through and do a lot of little studies on issues within the five chapters

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I want you to look at verse 4 and I'm going to start with this as my thesis of the book of James I'm going to ask you to allow me to Amend and change this as we continue to study the book of James.

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I think this hits pretty closely to the very purpose of the book of James Look at verse 4.

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It says but let patience have its perfect work

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That you may be perfect and complete

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Lacking nothing reading through the book numerous times

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Having acquaintance with it studying it. I Have a strong sense that James wants his hearers to know and he wants them to possess a

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Genuine Christian faith a Genuine Christian faith that grows to full maturity

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And I believe that thesis can be supported What we'll encounter in days and weeks ahead

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In James we'll encounter over 50 verb imperatives

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It is a very action oriented book It's a book of doing the doers of the word and not hearers

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Mark and I believe that it's fitting for us at this time and stage for us to to delve deeply into this concept an idea of practical

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Christian living and we need our

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Theology sometimes ivory tower and egghead theology very

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Philosophizing in its character We need our theology to progress to a greater richer orthopraxy and right living a couple words of application for each of us our identity

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We make much of our own family names and I look out and I see family

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Resemblances and all those things which are valuable at the end of the day Our identity is we are united to Christ That's our greatest qualification

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The greatest testimony of your family would be That you are united to Christ and you live for him

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That'd be the greatest accomplishment your family could ever achieve The message of Christ in his gospel is hopeful

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It's triumphant it goes to places where people seem too far gone and lost and it redeems them and Restores them and reconciles them to God and we must have this confidence and hope when we're

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Preaching Christ to the lost and every creature under heaven and the

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Lord through his servant Tells us to be glad and rejoice

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I'm gonna learn more of the hardship of The hearers the original audience of the letter and so this becomes more powerful as we get

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Into the book May the Lord prosper our study in the book of James Please pray with me now.

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Oh Lord. We thank you for your servant Your slave

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We thank you for his humility and O Lord. We ask that you would grant us

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This kind of humility that we might be fit for service

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Oh Lord, may the aim of James That his hearers would have a genuine

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Christian faith and that it would grow to full maturity Oh Lord, would you grant that to to these your people here today?

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May we rapidly be sanctified and grow in Christ likeness that we might be mature and complete lacking nothing

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We know that you are able to accomplish this The power of your Holy Spirit for the glory of your righteous name

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To show the world the victory of your dear son. We ask these things in Jesus name