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Scripture Reading: James 1:1-12
In our Life-study of the Bible we have covered all the books of the New Testament except the books of James, Mark, Luke, and Acts. Of the twenty-three books we have covered thus far, ten are especially strategic: Matthew, John, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 John, and Revelation. We may also regard 1 and 2 Corinthians among the strategic New Testament books, bringing the number of these books to twelve.
I would encourage all the saints to have a thorough review of the twenty-three New Testament books we have covered in our Life-study. I would encourage you to read the Recovery Versions with the notes and cross-references and also to read the Life-study Messages on each book. If you do this, you will enrich yourselves and you will also enrich the Lord’s recovery. If we are saturated with these riches, we shall be able to share these riches with others in three ways: by preaching the gospel, by presenting the truth, and by ministering life. Then if you meet someone who opposes the Lord’s recovery, you will not need to vindicate or argue. Instead, do these three things: preach the gospel, present the truth, and minister life. But in order to do these things, we ourselves must first be equipped.
There is no doubt that the saints in the recovery love the Lord. But even though you love the Lord Jesus, you may not yet have the spiritual skill or the spiritual capital with which to preach the gospel, to present the truth, and to minister life. This is the reason I encourage you to gain the spiritual education and become saturated with all the riches contained in the messages on the various New Testament books we have covered. The more you are saturated with these riches, the more you will be equipped to preach the gospel in different ways to different people. You will also be able to present the truth to other Christians. Every genuine Christian loves the truth. If you present the truth to a fellow believer, he will be attracted by it. Many of us came into the Lord’s recovery because we were attracted by the truth. Furthermore, in addition to knowing how to preach the gospel and present the truth, you will be able to minister life by testifying to others how you have experienced Christ, the all-inclusive One, as your life and life supply.
The number of the saints in the Lord’s recovery in the United States is still small, only about eight thousand. But if all the saints in the recovery would be saturated with the riches of the Word, they would become living witnesses. Then the Lord’s recovery would have thousands of reporters, thousands of saints preaching the gospel, presenting the truth, and ministering life. Imagine what kind of work could be accomplished if we all were equipped in this way!
However, a good number of saints have not yet been equipped to preach the gospel, present the truth, or minister life. When these saints come in contact with others, it seems that they do not have the word to present to them, although they have the heart to do this. Even more are not able to minister life to others. This is the reason I encourage the saints to become saturated with the riches the Lord has given to us through the years. These riches are available for us in the Life-study Messages.
With this message we begin the Life-study of the Epistle of James. Believers have held different attitudes toward this book. Martin Luther, the great reformer used by the Lord to begin the recovery, said that the Epistle of James was an “epistle of straw.” However, certain Christians, especially some Chinese Christians, appreciate this book because it fits in with their ethical background, a background that emphasizes ethical and moral perfection. These Christians especially appreciate the book of James in the New Testament and the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. In the West, when the New Testament is printed separately from the Old Testament, it is often printed with the book of Psalms. But in the Orient, when the New Testament is printed separately, it often includes the book of Proverbs. It seems that Christians in the West like the Psalms, whereas Christians in the Orient like Proverbs.
According to the concept of some, the book of James is similar to the book of Proverbs. This similarity can be seen in the illustrations James uses in his Epistle: the surge of the sea (1:6), the flower of the grass (1:10), the sun with scorching heat (1:11). As we shall see when we come to chapter three, in dealing with the problem of the tongue, James uses twenty different items for his illustrations (3:3-12). In 4:14 James uses vapor as an illustration of human life, and in 5:7 he uses the illustration of a farmer waiting for his crop to ripen. These illustrations give the Epistle of James a proverbial character. Therefore, those who especially appreciate the book of Proverbs also appreciate this Epistle. As we shall see later in this Life-study, I also appreciate this Epistle, but I appreciate it for a very different reason.
The Epistle of James opens like this: “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” James was a flesh brother of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 13:55) and of Jude (Jude 1:1). He was not one of the twelve Apostles chosen by the Lord while He was on earth, but he became one of the apostles after the Lord’s resurrection (Gal. 1:19) and the leading elder in the church at Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:2, 13; 21:18), reputed with Peter and John to be a pillar of the church, and mentioned by Paul as the first among the three pillars (Gal. 2:9).
In 1:1 James refers to himself as “a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Here James ranks the Lord Jesus equally with God. This was contrary to Judaism, which did not recognize the deity of the Lord (John 5:18).
When James was with the Lord Jesus in the flesh, he probably did not listen to Him, and at least to some extent he may have despised Him. We find an example of this in John 7. But after the Lord’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, this flesh brother of the Lord Jesus became such a believer in Him that he regarded his elder brother as having the same rank as God. This was the reason James could speak of himself as a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
James clearly recognized the deity of the Lord Jesus. I admire James for recognizing that Jesus, his brother in the flesh, is God and for saying that he was a slave of God and of this One who is the Lord. This part of James’ writing is wonderful.
In 1:1 James goes on to say, “To the twelve tribes in the dispersion: rejoice!” The twelve tribes here refer to the tribes of Israel. This indicates that this Epistle was written to Christian Jews, who had the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory (James 2:1) and were justified by faith (James 2:24), regenerated by the word of truth (James 1:18), and indwelt by the Spirit of God (James 4:5), and who were members of the church (James 5:14), awaiting the Lord’s coming back (James 5:7-8). However, to call these believers in Christ the twelve tribes, as God’s chosen people in His Old Testament economy, may also indicate the lack of a clear view concerning the distinction between Christians and Jews, between God’s New Testament economy and the Old Testament dispensation, that God in the New Testament has delivered and separated the Jewish believers in Christ from the Jewish nation, which was then considered by God as a “perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). In His New Testament economy God no longer considers the Jewish believers as Jews for Judaism but as Christians for the church. They, as the church of God, should be as distinct and separate from the Jews as from the Gentiles (1 Cor. 10:32). Yet, James, as a pillar of the church, in his Epistle to the Christian brothers, still called them the twelve tribes. (This may be the reason that he addressed the word in James 5:1-6 to the rich class among the Jews in general.) This was contrary to God’s New Testament economy.
In 1:1 James did not address the believers among the twelve tribes; he simply addressed the twelve tribes. These twelve tribes are the Jewish nation. But on the day of Pentecost Peter called the Jewish nation a “perverse generation”: “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40, lit.). This perverse generation was composed of the twelve tribes of Israel. Some, however, may point out that in 1:1 James addresses the twelve tribes in the dispersion. This dispersion must have included the scattering of the Jewish believers from Jerusalem by the persecution after Pentecost (Acts 8:1, 4). But surely not all those in the dispersion were Christian Jews. Therefore, it is nonetheless a fact that James uses a term given by God to His chosen people in the Old Testament economy. In the Old Testament dispensation God considered the Jews the twelve tribes. But on the day of Pentecost Peter, speaking through the Holy Spirit, considered them a perverse generation and charged them to be saved.
Was James wrong in addressing his Epistle to the twelve tribes in the dispersion? To be sure, he did not think this was wrong. However, as we have pointed out, this form of address may indicate that James was not clear concerning the distinction between Christians and Jews and the distinction between God’s New Testament economy and the Old Testament dispensation.
In 1 Corinthians 10:32 we see three categories of people: “Give no occasion of stumbling both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God.” Here we see that in New Testament times people were of three classes: the Jews — God’s chosen people; the Greeks — the unbelieving Gentiles; and the church — a composition of the believers in Christ. This indicates that Jewish believers should be regarded as Christians for the church, which is distinct and separate both from the Jews and the Gentiles. Therefore, the Jews who were believers in Christ were part of the church and should not be classified with those Jews who were still part of the perverse generation. In the last chapter of his Epistle, James considered the recipients as members of the church. How, then, could he classify the members of the church with the Jews who were the perverse generation? This certainly indicates the lack of a clear view concerning God’s dispensational economy.
At the end of 1:1 James tells the recipients of his Epistle to rejoice. The word “rejoice” is a translation of the Greek word chairein, which means to be happy, rejoice, hail; it was a word used for greeting or farewell.
The subject of the Epistle of James is practical Christian perfection. James writes not merely concerning Christian perfection, but concerning practical Christian perfection, that is, a perfection that is not theoretical but practical in our daily living. It is a strong point of this Epistle that James teaches regarding this practical Christian perfection. The many virtues he covers in this book are related to this perfection. In 1:2 James begins to present these virtues to us.
In 1:2 James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various trials.” Here we see that the first virtue related to practical Christian perfection covered by James is that of enduring trials by faith.
The entire world lies in the evil one, Satan (1 John 5:19). Satan opposes God continually in every possible way. Satan is displeased whenever people turn to God, and he will not tolerate this. Once a person turns to God, Satan will instigate others to persecute that one. Paul once said that we Christians are appointed to suffer persecution (Phil. 1:29). Persecution, therefore, is the portion appointed to us as believers in Christ. Hence, the first aspect of practical Christian perfection is to endure trials, a word that includes persecution.
Persecution is a suffering. However, trials are not merely a suffering, for trials are a suffering that serves the purpose of trying or proving us. We may use final examinations in school as an illustration. Students know that final examinations can be a real suffering and trial. But such a trial is actually a help to the students. If there were no final examinations in school, the students would probably be careless concerning their studies. But when they know that a final examination is coming, they concentrate on their studies with much diligence. Therefore, a final examination helps a student learn the necessary material. For this reason, the parents of those who are students should be grateful for the final examinations, knowing that this helps their children to profit from their education.
There are also “finals” and other kinds of “examinations” in the “school of spiritual education.” The “principal” of this school is our heavenly Father. He has arranged different trials for us, different examinations. All these trials are good for us. Just as examinations are good for students, so the various trials we face as Christians are a profit to us.
Perhaps after you believed in the Lord Jesus, you thought that in the Christian life there would be no sufferings or trials. You may have said to yourself, “I fear God, I love the Lord Jesus, and I am a child of God. Surely God loves me, and He will not allow anything bad to happen to me.” This is the concept of many believers. But eventually trials come. One kind of trial is opposition from family and friends. Such a trial is more than mere persecution. Persecution accomplishes the purpose of the persecutor, but trials are used by God to accomplish His purpose. Someone may persecute you, but God uses that persecution as a trial to test you, to prove you.
A final examination serves the threefold purpose of trying, testing, and proving a student. Likewise, the various trials through which we must pass as believers serve the purpose of trying, testing, and proving us. These trials are surely a help in our practical Christian perfection, for God uses them to perfect us.
God uses trials to perfect us. If we see this, we shall thank God for perfecting us through trials. Trials not only help us in the matters of our spiritual education and the experience of life, but also help us with our character and our behavior in our daily living. Before you believed in the Lord, you may have been like a wild lion. But after a period of time of trial, the “lion” has been tamed. I can testify that God has used trials to “tame” me and thereby to perfect me in a practical way in my Christian life.
In 1:2 James even encourages us to “count it all joy” whenever we fall into various trials. The reason we can count it a joy when we fall into trials is that these trials perfect us. Notice that in 1:2 James speaks not only of trials but of “various trials.” This indicates that we should count all trials a joy, not just certain trials. On the one hand, we do not like trials, opposition, and persecution. But on the other hand we should count it all joy when we experience such things because God uses them to perfect us.
