November 21, 2021

JAMES: THE CALL TO MATURITY
November 21, 2021
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Has anyone ever experienced a time of conversation with a stranger, only to later learn they were a well-known or important personality? How did you feel?

This week we have read the Book of James, half-brother to Jesus, who was in the household as Jesus grew to adulthood. Although He had grown up with James and the other siblings, they did not believe He was the Messiah and even asked Him to take His miracles elsewhere. Yet immediately after the Resurrection, the Bible states that Jesus sought out James (1 Cor. 15:7), and soon after notes the presence of Mary and “His brothers” praying with the others (Acts 1:14). Seeing his risen Brother alive had to have been a pivotal moment for James, and he became the leader of the church at Jerusalem. This short book is a picture of how to grow in the Christian faith and is a practical, powerful book encouraging us to be light in a dark world.

Focal Passage: The Book of James

A mature believer has a calm spirit

• Read James 1:19-20. James condenses most of his letter within these two verses, telling us three keys to Christian living. What are they? Is one more important than the other two? Explain how all three have a basis in love.
• What do you think he means by being “quick to hear”? What is at the root of the problem of waiting until someone stops speaking? How do we discipline ourselves to listen to others without interrupting?
• Read James 1:21-22. What result should be brought about if you are listening to someone teach? If your hearing does not turn into action, what is the problem? How useful are you to God if you simply listen, but do not “do”?
• What does James mean that we should be “slow to speak”? Read 1:26. What are some ways to discipline ourselves to control our tongue? Read James 3:6, 8. What is the ultimate grief the tongue can create? Read Psa. 39:1. Why is this a great verse to memorize?
• What is his final admonition? What is the reason he gives? What is usually the root of anger (Read Prov. 13:10)? How can anger destroy a family? Read Prov. 16:32, 19:11. How can an angry person achieve holiness, as God commands?

A mature believer is in a constant state of resetting

• Read James 1:21. How can we daily rid ourselves of the moral filth and evil that we hear or are subjected to? If left in our lives, what will eventually happen? What do you do to your computer to keep the viruses, malware, or other issues from getting into your hard drive? How is that like our hearts with evil?
• Read Psa. 119:11. Why is Bible study and memorization necessary to protect our hearts? What is another way we can shield our hearts from the world?

A mature believer speaks wisely

• Read Jas. 1:26. What is the defining truth in this verse? Read Prov. 10:19. This reinforces Jas. 1:19. How can we develop such control? Read Jas. 3:9-10. This is becoming a bad problem among believers. What can be done about it?
• Until we learn to speak wisely, how will we be able to be used by God?

A mature believer cares for others

• Read Jas. 1:27. What are the two areas where James says we should strive for fruit? How do those illustrate the mission statement of our church?
• Read Jas. 2:15. Why is he emphasizing this point concerning the poor? Besides giving our tithe to the church to distribute, how can we teach ourselves to keep our eyes open when among people, looking for those whom we can help, as it were “without our right hand knowing what our left is doing”?
• Read Jas. 3:16-18. These qualities are the essence of being a Christ-follower. Why do they sum up the different actions he has been suggesting that we follow?

Close

The book of James is one of the smallest, yet greatest, letters in the New Testament. Can you even begin to imagine what it must have been like to be raised in the home with Jesus, but ridicule Him, belittle Him, sometimes following at a distance watching His miracles, but with a hard heart? Probably James stood away from the crowd as the crucifixion and subsequent burial took place. Then, after the resurrection, to have Jesus seek him out and for James to see his Brother alive again? Oh, the anguish, the sorrow! Probably much greater than even Peter had suffered after denying Him. Immediately it seems James and Jude, if not also the other siblings, were part of those who believed, and with such joy!
James covers the main subjects that impact the life of a believer: the tongue, the speech, the listening ear, and the heart. Each of those can stand alone in importance and yet are covered in the rest of the letter by James. Recently we said that the book of Titus is great for encouragement, edification, and help, but James is right beside it! His writing is full of practical insight.
Re-read this book, and underline passages that God brings to your attention. Try to absorb the holiness that can be attained by learning the three important phrases: be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry—all with a great attitude. Or, to sum it up as James did, pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God is to care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the sins of the world. Or, as chapter four ends, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”