Crystallization-study of the Epistle of James

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

This book is composed of messages given by Brother Witness Lee in Anaheim, California, on April 26 through June 7, 1995.

Its stress — Christian perfection (1) _ch.1

Outline
The virtues of Christian perfection stressed by James
Counting it all joy whenever falling into trial and enduring it by faith with the hope of receiving the promised crown of life
Asking of God in faith for wisdom to know how to be perfect
Rejoicing of the lowly brother in His exaltation and of the rich brother in His being brought low
Resisting temptation (which draws the believers away and entices the believers by their own lusts)
Receiving in meekness the implanted word
Having no respect of persons by not dishonoring the poor and by not regarding the rich
Being justified by works, not by dead faith, in supplying the daily necessities of the needy ones, as both Abraham and Rahab were justified by their works after being justified by faith
Not stumbling in word by bridling the tongue
Not cursing man, whom God made according to His likeness, by the mouth with which one blesses the Lord
Behaving in wisdom
Dealing with pleasures, the world, and the devil by loving God, by the indwelling Spirit given by God, and by the grace given to the humble
Not speaking against the brothers by keeping the law
Confiding not in self-will but in the Lord
Awaiting the Lord’s coming with long-suffering
Taking the prophets and job as examples in suffering evil with endurance
Speaking honestly without swearing
Praying according to the example of Elijah
Turning back the brother led astray from the truth
The items listed above implying:
The factors of which the Christian perfection stressed by James is produced
All good giving and every perfect gift
The begetting by God, the Father of lights, to be the firstfruits of His creatures
The word of truth
The implanted word
The Scripture
The indwelling Spirit of God
The grace given by God
The means by which the Christian perfection stressed by James is carried out
Faith
Wisdom given by God to know how to be perfect
The crown of life
The (perfect) law (of freedom)
The promised kingdom of God
The judgments of God
The examples of the Old Testament: Abraham, Rahab, the prophets, Job, and Elijah
The likeness of God according to which man was made
Confiding in the Lord
The Lord’s coming back
Prayer
Probably the cultivation of man’s natural “bright virtue” created by God, thus becoming the cultivation of man’s self
The functions of the Christian perfection stressed by James
Making oneself perfect in living a pious life but not in fulfilling God’s eternal economy
Benefiting others
Glorifying God

Its stress — Christian perfection (2) _ch.2

Outline
The genuine Christian perfection revealed in the entire divine revelation of the New Testament
The factors of which the genuine Christian perfection (Christian living) is brought forth
The processed and consummated Triune God
The all-inclusive Christ
The consummated, compounded, all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling, sevenfold Spirit of Jesus Christ, who was not yet before the resurrection of Christ
The divine life
The divine nature
The hand of love of God the Father and the hand of grace of God the Son
The unlimited fullness of the Father
The unsearchable riches of Christ
The bountiful supply of the Spirit
The abounding and sufficient grace
The means by which the genuine Christian perfection (Christian living) is carried out
The vision of God’s eternal economy
The organic Body of Christ as the organism of the Triune God
The power of Christ’s resurrection
The cross of Christ
The union and mingling of the believers with the Triune God
The joining of the believers to the Lord as one spirit
The regenerated spirit of the believers
The discernment of the believers’ spirit from their soul
The denial of the believers’ self (soul) through the cross of Christ, leaving no ground for self-cultivation
The functions of the genuine Christian perfection (Christian living)
Making oneself perfect and maturing oneself in life
Perfecting the members of Christ
Making the church the fullness of both God and Christ as Their expression
Building up the Body of Christ
Consummating the New Jerusalem
A concluding word

The mistake of James _ch.3

James’s beautiful portrait of the mosaic law
The purpose of God in having James as a book of the Holy Scriptures
Paul’s attitude toward the law

Its lacks (1) _ch.4

Outline
The genuine Christian perfection being not only for living a pious life but mainly for fulfilling God’s New Testament economy
James’s application on the negative side
The New Testament’s application on the positive side
James being devoid of God’s eternal purpose
James not saying a word concerning the cross of Christ
Denying ourselves and taking up our cross
In the Christian life it needing to be no longer our old crucified “I” who lives but Christ who lives in us
Not determining to know anything except Jesus Christ and this One crucified
Boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
Crucifying the flesh
Conformed to the death of Christ
No possibility of having the genuine Christian perfection without the cross of Christ
The cross of Christ being the greatest lack of James
James not saying anything about the many marvelous aspects of Christ stressed in the New Testament
The all-inclusive Christ, who fills all in all
The unsearchable riches of Christ
The embodiment of the fullness of God
God’s allotted portion to the saints as the good land for us to walk in, that is, to live, to walk, and to have our being in Him
The preeminent One in both God’s old creation and God’s new creation
The Head and all the members of the Body and the One who is in all the members of the Body
The life of the believers
The need to experience such a marvelous Christ
The defect in James’s Presentation of Christ
James mentioning the Spirit of God only once as the indwelling Spirit in us
The life-giving Spirit
The compound Spirit
The all-inclusive Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus Christ
The Lord Spirit
The sevenfold intensified Spirit

Its lacks (2) _ch.5

Outline
Not stressing the divine life
The Lord Jesus being life to us
God’s salvation commencing with and consummating in the divine life
Repentance unto life
Heirs of the grace of life
God’s divine power granting to us all things relating to life and godliness
Reigning in life
Eating of the tree of life
The river of water of life
The tree of life being a great blessing to the redeemed
James speaking only of the crown of life
James mentioning the church only once
The Epistle of James not telling us about the following items
The divine nature
The hand of love of God the Father and the hand of grace of God the Son
The unlimited fullness of the Father
The elements of James’s tremendous lack
Besides the above lacks, the Epistle of James being devoid of the five following critical items
The union and mingling of the believers with the Triune God
The believers being joined to the Lord as one spirit
The believers’ regenerated spirit
The discernment of the believers’ spirit from their soul
Living by the Spirit and walking according to the spirit

Its vague vision, the side effects of James’s teaching, the tragic issues of James’s mistake, and the wiping out by God _ch.6

Outline
Its vague vision concerning God’s dispensation
Calling the Jewish believers “the twelve tribes”
The kingdom of God being taken away from the Jews and given to the church
The church being separate from the Jews
Calling the meeting place of the Jewish believers a “synagogue”
The meeting place of the scattered Jews
The place where the Jews persecuted the believers
The synagogue of Satan
Teaching the Jewish believers to keep the law of the Old Testament
Confirmed by James’s word
James appreciating the law
Christ having ended the law
The believers not being under the law but under grace
Freed by Christ from the law’s yoke of slavery
The believers having died to law
The side effects of James’s teaching under His vague vision concerning God’s economy
A mixture of God’s New Testament dispensation with God’s Old Testament dispensation
Using the terms of the Old Testament Jews
Its words in 1:27 and 4:14 bearing the element and flavor of the Old Testament
The examples James uses being only of the Old Testament
A mixture of God’s New Testament chosen people with God’s Old Testament elect
A mixture of the church practice with the Jews’ way of meeting
A hidden mixture of the regenerated persons with the natural persons
The tragic issues of James’s mistake
The blinding of thousands of believers
From James’s time to today
From seeing the clear view concerning the economy of God
The divine revelation in the Scriptures being progressive
Job’s perfection
Saul of Tarsus’s perfection
The perfection stressed by James
The genuine perfection
The snaring of the top apostle
Paul rejecting the law in Galatians
James persuading Paul to go back to the law
The Lord not tolerating it
That snare causing Paul to be arrested
The wiping out by God
By the thorough destruction of the city of Jerusalem with its temple
God’s wiping out the vague situation and mixtures among the believers

A critical word to the study of the Epistle of James _ch.7

Outline
The genuine Christian perfection as taught in the New Testament
The genuine Christian perfection being according to God’s New Testament economy
The issue of the dispensing of the processed and consummated Triune God into the believers
By God the Father as the source, the origin
With God the Son as the element
Through God the Spirit as the dispensing fellowship
Second Corinthians 13 encouraging the believers to be perfected
This kind of Christian perfection being for the building up of the Body of Christ
The perfecting ones of this kind of Christian perfection being the gifted persons
The apostles
The prophets
The evangelists
The shepherds
The teachers
The standard of such a Christian perfection
The Scripture being God’s breathing
All Scripture being God-breathed
Not every word written through the Spirit of God being the word of God
The serpent’s word recorded by Moses
The speaking of Job, his three friends, and Elihu
The natural sentiment of the psalmists
Peter’s word in Matthew 16:22
After he received the Father’s revelation
Peter’s intention in speaking this word
Peter’s word in Matthew 17:4
Stopped by the voice from heaven
The indication of this stopping word
Peter’s word being spoken under his vague vision
Peter’s word in Acts 10:14
Stopped by the voice from heaven
The indication of this stopping word
Spoken according to Peter’s revelation concerning God’s Old Testament economy
The words in the Epistle of James according to His Old Testament concept
Two governing principles of the interpretation of the Scripture
The first principle
The second principle

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