General Epistles Class 2 Transcript

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General Epistles Class 2 Transcript

Greetings and welcome back to FI Online. Glad you can join us again for this second class in

the series on the General Epistles. We had no questions from the first class, so we will move

very quickly into this second class.

In this second session, we will be finishing the background of the book of James, and we will

look through about the first half of the first chapter of James. It’s got some fascinating passages

in it. It’s very important for us to be able to understand and see how they fit together.

So let’s ask God’s blessing, as we always do, so that we can make the most of these classes

and learn the lessons that He has for us there.

[Prayer]

In the last class we finished up talking about when the epistle of James was written, and of

course, we looked at the overview of the General Epistles and now finishing up this background

for the book of James.

Sometimes I think when we spend an entire class—as we did yesterday, going through

background material—sometimes people may begin to wonder: Well, you know, when are we

going to get to the book—which I sometimes am asked. But I think it’s really important for us to

get that background material to understand what the book really is telling us, and to put it into

the context that we need to have. It’s a tendency I think we have sometimes, if we don’t have

that kind of material then we read the book through 20th-century eyes. And sometimes that’s

not really giving us the fullness of what’s there. Is it relevant 20th century? Sure it is. But you

can draw a lot more when you have a little bit more of the background. So let’s continue on.

There’s just a little bit more we need to cover before we actually get into the book of James

itself.

[2:40]

The next question is what we call the canonicity of the

book. When did it become a part of what we consider to

be the New Testament canon?

What we would find is that very early on there are quotes

from the book of James, where individuals have quoted it

and viewed it as being very helpful here and there. And

we’ll see, in just a moment as we look at the structure of

the book, why it might be that people would pull things

out and not really concern themselves with the context

per se. In some cases, almost reading the book of James as if it’s a book of quotations that you

just pull this out here or there. There’s more to it. Not that, again, that’s necessarily a wrong

thing, but we would find that the early writers—even who quoted James—very often questioned

whether it ought to be considered a part of Scripture. There was considerable resistance to

including it in the New Testament canon, especially in the western portion of the Mediterranean

world, which again was the area dominated by Rome, and they had a problem with it.

It did not appear in the western canon until about A.D. 350. Jerome, that we’ve mentioned,

included it in his Vulgate translation, but he really questioned who actually wrote it. He wasn’t

totally happy with it.

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The Western Church finally accepted James because of the writings of Augustine. The Eastern

Church, which again was the more Greek speaking as opposed to Latin, began to accept it

earlier, probably around 250, at least 100 years earlier. But even there, there was still question

about whether James is actually the author or not.

Eusebius lists it in his list of Scripture around 350. He was again in the eastern portion of the

empire, the rapidly declining Roman Empire, but the Eastern Church did accept it. The Council

of Hippo, which was in A.D. 393, and the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397 both accepted it as

being a part of the canon.

And then finally, what is actually famous in Church history, the Senate of Trent, which took

place in 1546. [It] was a Roman Catholic meeting but they considered what books should be in

the Roman Catholic Bible. If you look at a Roman Catholic Bible you find it does have the

apocryphal books that are listed there as well. So this all came about through the Senate of

Trent in 1546. But even there they divided the books into two categories:

• One that was called protocanonical, which meant those that had been basically

universally accepted by that point.

• And what they called deuterocanonical, those which gradually won acceptance as a part

of Scripture.

James was included in that latter part.

[5:54]

In his printing of the German New Testament, Martin Luther had a contents page. You

remember our good friend Dr. Luther. In it he set out the books that he felt should be there and

numbered them. At the end of his list was a little group separate from the others with no

numbers assigned to them. That group included James, Jude, Hebrews and Revelation. These

were books that he held to be secondary.

Luther wrote:

In sum [to sum it up]: the Gospels and the first epistle of St.

John, St. Paul’s epistles, especially those to the Romans,

Galatians and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are

the books which show Christ to you. They teach

everything you need to know for your salvation, even if

you were never to see or hear any other book or hear

any other teaching. In comparison with these, the epistle

of James is an epistle full of straw because it contains

nothing evangelical... I therefore refuse him a place among the writers of the true canon of

my Bible.

And, of course, if you know much about Martin Luther, he tended to be kind of opinionated at

times! And this is one of those indications that good old Dr. Luther—I mean, when you use a

phrase like “my Bible,” it obviously tells us something about the character of the individual

involved.

Luther did not like the book of James at all because it seemed to contradict what he believed to

be so very important. Now, in fairness to Luther, remember he is in revolt against the Roman

Catholic approach that was taken, which put a great emphasis on doing things as a way of

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penance, as a way of doing things in that way. So Luther is very, very sensitive to the idea of

works, and obviously James is going to talk about the importance of living this life and doing the

works.

Then we come to a more important question in a sense—I mean not that canonicity isn’t

important—but why, why is this book written? What’s the purpose that we find? Again, I think we

are always—if you read a book today, very often—I just finished a book called Nuclear Folly,

which was about the Cuban missile crisis. Fascinating book. But you start the book by reading

the author’s foreword because he tells you: Why I’m writing this book; what I’m trying to say;

what the purpose of this is. So it’s important to do that.

[8:39]

With the epistles we don’t have that. We don’t have any foreword from the authors. So when we

start talking about what’s the author’s purpose, we’re trying to read his mind and we may be

fairly accurate. I think for the most part we are. But we also have to understand there probably

were situations that were motivating him in certain ways that we don’t fully understand. We’ll

see a good example of that when we get to the book of Jude because Jude starts off saying:

You know, I intended to do this, but now I have to do this. And so we’d really like to know a little

bit more about that. We don’t have that right now.

So what was James trying to do? James had been the pastor in Jerusalem shortly after the

persecution that caused them to be scattered. He would know many of these people personally.

And he probably talked with many of them as they came to Jerusalem from time to time, maybe

on the annual pilgrim festivals and so on. Now, we haven’t gotten to the first verses yet, but it

will say: To the twelve tribes [which are] scattered abroad. So James is going to recognize that

here are people who he’s had some contact with, but he’s writing to a dispersion, he’s not

writing to a specific congregation.

He was certainly aware of the trials and the problems that they were facing in the various areas.

And he wrote to help them as one that they knew and trusted. If the epistle is written after the

Jerusalem conference—49 A.D., which I think it very likely is—he may have been exhorting the

Jewish Christians by reminding them of their responsibilities toward the newer gentile converts,

trying to help them to recognize their duties there.

One of the commentaries says:

The epistle is written from a Jewish standpoint. (We will see that.) Christianity appears in

it, not as a new dispensation, but as a development and perfection of the old. It reveals no

new principle of spiritual life, but only the pure and perfect morality, which was the true

fulfillment of the law.

And again, I think that’s something to keep in mind. We have emphasized all along that the New

Testament Church was not this sudden change in direction from the way God had instructed

people to live. There was an addition, there was more to it, the giving of God’s Spirit and all of

that, but it was an extension of the promises God had made. It was not some new religion. It

was the fulfillment of what He said was going to take place under the Old Covenant. So that’s

what we see from the book of James as well.

[11:23]

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It reflects the language of the Sermon on the Mount more than any other New Testament

book.

One of the researchers, name was Ryrie, found 15 direct references to the Sermon on the

Mount in the book of James. Kittle, who is one of the great scholars of Greek, listed 26

references to the synoptic Gospels, so Matthew, Mark, Luke—so we see a connection there.

Those were probably well known and written at this point, so James could refer to those things.

The central theme of the epistle is found in chapter 2 verses 14 through 26, and I’m going to

summarize it with one verse in just a second. But this is really the theme—the theme that faith

and obedience are inseparable. James makes many references to the Old Testament,

emphasizing the unity and continuity of God’s revelation in

His Word. There is not a new thing. It is a continuation. The

verse that probably best exemplifies the theme of this

epistle is verse 17: Thus also faith by itself, if it does not

have works, is dead.

And I think we will see that emphasized over and over as we go further in this.

Now let’s consider the structure of this book because it is unique. Sometimes it’s good to try to

even outline a book, you know, what’s the flow of this whole thing? Probably many of us

remember in school when you had to outline certain things in that way to give you the plot and

so on. This book is not exactly that way. Many people consider it essentially impossible to

outline the epistle. James addressed a great variety of subjects in a way that seems

disorganized to most of us. But if you understand the methodology of Jewish teaching, it makes

it a lot clearer.

It has a unique structure to it. And again, I want to give you quote here. This is from, again, one

of our resources here:

The epistle reflects a particular type of literature known as paraenesis.

Now I looked up the word paraenesis. You know if you go online, you see: How do you

pronounce this word? And I found about eight different pronunciations, though obviously this is

one of those words nobody knows how to pronounce! So I will say paraenesis, and you will

accept that I know what I’m talking about when I really don’t! Just saying it’s one of those terms

that we sometimes come across.

[14:16]

What does that mean?

During the first century, paraenetic writings were commonplace in the Jewish and Greco-

Roman cultures. This kind of writing is characterized by ethical instruction and rules for

living. Normally these are somewhat loosely joined together according to major themes.

This type of writing is also reminiscent of Jewish wisdom writings.

Again, think about outlining the book of Proverbs. How would you do that? It’s just got so many

different subjects and themes in it that it’s just not possible to do that. Was that because it was

poorly organized? No, that’s the way it was done at that time. That’s the way they put those

things together.

Furthermore— Oh excuse me, I didn’t finish that quote:

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This type of writing is reminiscent of Jewish wisdom writings. For example, the short, pithy

style and frequent use of the imperative mode. Furthermore, useful illustrations and

applications are interspersed, vices and virtues are listed, often dialogue takes place

between imagined opponents.

This is known as a dialectic. We’ll see that with Paul a little bit further on. Barclay goes on, and I

think he makes a really interesting point, and it really gives me the kind of the theme that I want

to use for this particular book and why I’m calling it what I am. Barclay says:

Jewish preaching had one curious characteristic. It

was deliberately disconnected. The Jewish masters

instructed their pupils never to linger for any length of

time on any one subject but to move quickly from one

subject to another in order to maintain the interest of

the listener. Hence, one of the names for “preaching”

was charaz—Hebrew word charaz—which literally

means stringing beads. The Jewish sermon was

frequently a string of moral truths and exhortations coming, one after another. That is

exactly what James is. It is difficult if not impossible to extract from it a continuous and

coherent plan. Its sections follow each other with a certain disconnectedness.

Goodspeed—again, this is one of the Greek scholars—writes:

The work has been compared to a chain, each link related to the one before and the one

after it. Others have compared its contents to beads on a string, and perhaps James is not

so much a chain of thoughts or beads as it is a handful of pearls dropped one by one into

the hearer’s mind.

[16:58]

So I have chosen to refer to this, I’ve titled my slides here: James, A String of Pearls. And what I

will attempt to do as we go through the book, is not only to look at the individual pearls, but to try

at least to give a little bit of connection between this pearl and the next one and the next one so

that we can see how they go together. And I think there actually is a good connection there. But

I will make a suggestion for you as you study through this book: Make your own string of pearls.

As you go through it, look at each point: Okay, what does this mean and how do I put it

together?

I did that as I was, again, putting this together for this presentation. And my own list, I came up

with 30 different pearls that you can draw from and at least a somewhat connection between

them. I may not have been totally clear on all of them, but at least I can see a little bit of

connection, and as we’ll begin, I think you’ll see very early on how these connections go

together.

And I also learned a little bit about how jewelers put together a pearl necklace, that it’s really

quite an interesting task. And each pearl—it isn’t just a matter of you drill a hole and you string

them on there—each one is actually tied in position with very tiny special knots. And so there is

a connection and yet there’s a distinct separation. And that’s, I think, a part of what we will find

here.

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So I would encourage you as you go through this to, on your own, make your own string. And,

of course, today because of all of our wonderful technologies, you could go through the whole

book and come up with five, and then you go through the next time and you can edit your list,

and you can keep adding to, and so on. So I think it will help make the book a little bit more

useful for you.

As again, I say sometimes we have had a tendency to take this approach of pearls with

Scripture that really wasn’t written that way. It was really written in a context, and we need to

know the context. But I think James is a unique one in this way, in that we are able to look at

these individual points, draw them out, see a connection, but be able to see as individual points

what we would use them for.

[19:23]

Obviously, again, I think for most of us today, if we were to go to church services and we heard

a sermon constructed this way, we would probably leave somewhat confused. You know, it’s

like trying to follow a—what’s my term—pinball machine where the ball is just going all over.

And it seems that way. And yet we will see there is actually a connection. I’ll especially show

you that when we get to the beginning of 2 Peter. There is a section there where it’s very clear

that there is a continuity to it. But if you don’t really stop and think about it and work through it,

you may miss that continuity. So it’s important for us to get this.

So let’s begin in verse 1 of James chapter 1: James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord

Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:

Greetings.

Now again, it’s interesting here. We would call James an apostle. He is referred to that way by

Paul, but James doesn’t call himself that, nor does he say: I’m, after all, the half-brother of

Jesus. He doesn’t claim any authority whatsoever. He simply says: I’m a bondservant of God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s my job. That’s my function. That’s what I do. And again,

wonderful example from James in that way. He acknowledges this.

We’ve looked at the term bondservant many times. Doulos refers to neither a free man, nor a

hired servant, but a slave who belonged body and soul to his master. So that’s the relationship

Jesus Christ’s servants have—we belong to Him.

The phrase that he uses here is unique and interesting: To the twelve tribes. It indicates that the

recipients of this epistle were primarily Israelites who were not in Palestine. We will see, if we

look at chapter 2 and verse 1—let’s just look there real quickly, James chapter 2 and verse

1— we notice an important point here. James says:

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

Now we’ll look at what that means. But notice he talks about brethren and the faith of our Lord

Jesus Christ. He is not writing to unconverted people. He is not writing this to the world. He is

writing it to converted people, primarily Israelites it appears. They would be the ones who would

be most responsive to this. In doing this, James is certainly not—you will not see anything in

here that is negative toward the gentiles. It’s not that at all. But he is writing to people, I guess

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you could say, with an understanding of their culture, their approach, how they’re going to

respond to things, and building upon that. So he’s using it in that way.

[22:28]

It also indicates that James is not under the impression that the 12 tribes have disappeared.

They’re still around and they are dispersed, as he says there, which are scattered abroad. Or in

the dispersion, another one puts it. So he certainly recognizes they’re scattered; they’re not in

the original places where they were, but he recognizes they still exist.

So here, after the death of Jesus Christ—it is still 2000 years ago, yes, but at this point—where

are we—the 12 tribes went into captivity 721, isn’t it, B.C.—so it’s been seven and a half

centuries since they went into captivity to the Assyrians, and yet James still refers to them as

the twelve tribes. They’re out there. So again, they’re scattered. He makes that clear. They’re

not in one particular place, but he does address them.

Another commentary puts it:

Israel, in its fullness and completeness.

He’s addressing all of them, and again, acknowledges that they’re scattered abroad. And then,

of course, he says Greetings.

Greetings is an interesting translation of it. Literally the word means “rejoice,” and that was

again a common epistolary phrase. It is actually used twice in Scripture. If you remember, when

we were reading in Acts chapter 23 and Claudius Lysias sends a note to Felix the governor, he

uses this word “rejoice.” Again, that obviously shows it’s a formality in that sense. But we also

find that when the letter went out from the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15, it also begins with

this word. So it’s kind of one of those unique things that we find of James that is included in that

letter that went out.

So he now drops a pearl on us. The very first of the pearls:

[James 1:2] My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

Okay. A bit of a challenge for us as we start! He begins this concept, and obviously he

recognizes the people he’s writing to are going to, at times, be going through trials. He

recognizes that aspect of it. Now the fact that they were scattered. Remember that from the

Jerusalem church, people were scattered in all directions because of persecution. And though

the persecution ebbed and flowed back and forth—it got stronger, got weaker—they still were

scattered all over because of this.

[25:22]

So people are going to be going through trials. And he begins by telling us there is an approach

to trial that we need to have, an outlook. Now again, what is he talking [about], count it all joy?

Joy is a way of thinking. Joy is an outlook. Joy as a lens through which you view what you’re

facing. You’re facing a trial and you are to view it in this way. And

you are to consider it this way. There is a way in which you are to

look at your trial almost as if you could stand back and look at it

and say: Okay, this is important. There is a value to this. I should

be grateful for this.

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In a sense, perhaps we could put it this way: Trials have a purpose, and our attitude in a trial

matters.

So we begin with that concept, and the attitude and approach we have is important. We’ve

probably all met people for whom the slightest issue in life is a trial. You know, we talk about

drama queens and some of those things. Okay, you know, “I spilled a cup of milk this morning,

oh my whole day is ruined!” Okay. Come on, we need to approach things a little bit differently.

Why would we be joyful about a trial? Well, what he’s going to show us as we go a little

further—and it’s interesting the way this is put together—there’s kind of a parenthetical section

we’re going to go through and then we’re going to come back to the joy in the trial thing again.

Trials are a reason for rejoicing because trials have a purpose. They produce something which

is good. They affect us in a way that produces good things. God wants those characteristics,

those things that are produced in trials to be in His children. They’re characteristics that we

need to have. When you go through certain trials, you have a different perspective on things.

I remember one minister that I was working with years ago—very fine man—but he had just

really never been through very much. And he said sometimes he just had a difficult time being

as compassionate as he realized he really should be. And then he went through a trial. It wasn’t

a long-term one, but it was a difficult one for a short-term. And he said: “This has really affected

me a great deal. I am a lot more understanding of what people are going through with some of

these things now.” So it produces something good. We learn various lessons in the midst of

trials.

[28:09]

Now, I mentioned that one. What other lessons could we learn? Well, we learn patience. We

learn endurance. We learn faith in God in the midst of a trial, to recognize that even when I don’t

know what’s going on, God does. He’s producing something good. So there are many, many

lessons that are learned there, and therefore we can be joyful even in the midst of a trial.

Now I’d say that personally I find it a lot easier to be joyful when it’s over, but it’s one of those

lessons that we still have to learn. I can think of many times when I’ve gone to God and said:

“Okay. I learned that lesson! Thank you. It was a really worthwhile lesson. I don’t need to learn it

again.” Okay. We just go on from there. But he makes this point. Okay. The term when is

actually a little broader. It’s: Brethren, count it all joy whenever it is that you fall into a trial, or

literally, are surrounded by a trial. That’s the sense of it. It’s not so joyful when the trial is

something that you brought on yourself. But when you find that this is something that God is

using to help you, okay, that’s a good thing.

We also—and again, it’s just fascinating to me how each word has an importance to it. He says:

when you fall into various trials. He’s making the point that trials can come in a lot of different

ways. What may be a trial for one person may not be that big a trial for someone else. But the

word that he uses for trial is an important one. It has to do—the word is peirasmos, which has to

do with putting a person to the test. It often applies to temptations or inducement to do evil, but

it always includes the idea of trial. And as God is using it, it doesn’t have the idea of inducement

to evil. It has more the sense of—again, let me read what Barclay says:

Peirasmos is trial or testing directed towards an end, —

It isn’t just a bad time. There is a purpose involved.

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—[and] the end is that he who is tested should emerge stronger and purer from the testing.

The idea is not that of seduction into sin, but of strengthening and purifying. For instance,

a young bird is said to test its wings. The Queen of Sheba was said to test the wisdom of

Solomon.

All kinds of experiences will come upon us. There will be the test of the sorrows and the

disappointments which seek to take our faith away. There will be the test of the seductions

which seek to lure us from the right way. There will be the tests of the dangers, the

sacrifices, the unpopularity which the Christian way must so often involve. But they’re not

meant to make us (weaker,) they’re meant to make us soar. —

S-o-a-r—I want to make that clear—not s-o-r-e! They’re intended to make us soar, to be better.

[31:10]

—They are not meant to defeat us; they are meant to be defeated. They are not meant to

make us weaker; they are meant to make us stronger. Therefore, we should not bemoan

them; we should rejoice in them. The Christian is like the athlete. The heavier the course

of training he undergoes, the more he is glad, because he knows that it is fitting him all the

better for victorious effort.

Okay, so he says this is one of the things that you should rejoice in; that you are being made

stronger through the trials. But he has another point here. Maybe we could even make this a

separate pearl. I didn’t in this case. But I think it also makes the point:

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

And again, we probably should translate patience a little bit differently, but we’ll see that in a

moment when we get there.

We’re to recognize something. We’re to keep this in mind in the midst of a trial. Know this. Think

about this. Be aware of this. How are we aware of that? Well, when you go through trials, by

experience you learn these trials are important. These trials help. They transform people. A

child sometimes may not understand, but as you mature and as you go through trials in life, you

realize: Okay, there is a good result that can come from this if it’s approached in the right way.

Again, we are being tested, and he said it produces something; it accomplishes something. And

literally, the word that’s used there, it means “to work through to completion.” It produces

something. It’s not just a little bit along the way. It takes all the way to where it needs to be, and

that’s why we’re going to see it’s what God says as we go a little further. He says it produces

patience, and I think very often when we use the word patience, we get the idea that what the

trial does is it gives us the ability to grit our teeth and hang on. That’s not the kind of patience

that Scripture talks about.

The word here is hupomonēn. It does mean “perseverance, persistence, endurance.” Again,

Expositor’s says:

Hupomonēn is translated “patience” in the King James Version, but it’s a much more

active and forceful word. It speaks of tenacity and stick-to-it-iveness. It’s not a passive

endurance. It’s the ability to stand on your feet in the middle of the trial.

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It’s that kind of courage that’s connected with it. So the testing of your faith produces not simply

a grim hang-on mentality, but an ability to rise above the difficulty that you’re going through.

[33:54]

Patient endurance now, keep in mind, patient endurance isn’t the goal. It is the tool that helps

you reach the goal. The goal’s going to be found in the next verse.

He says, verse 4: But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking nothing.

Okay. So let this patience work in you, this testing of your ability, as you go through this. Let it

carry out its work. Let it produce a result. But he describes it as a perfect work. And the word

that’s used there doesn’t mean—again, when we read the word perfect in Scripture, very often

we view it through the wrong lens. We see this as absolutely flawless; there’s nothing at all

wrong with it in any way. That’s not the meaning of the word. The meaning of the word has to do

with completeness, with fitting something for what it’s designed to do.

I think I’ve used the analogy before, but I’ll mention it again. If you have, for example, you have

a cabinet door at home where the screw has come loose and all you need to do to fix it is to

tighten the screw. But you don’t have a screwdriver that fits, so you go out and you find a

screwdriver that’s the right size, you bring it back, you use it, you tighten it up. That screwdriver

is perfect in the biblical sense. It absolutely accomplishes what it was designed to do. If it’s got a

nick on it, it’s got paint on it from... that doesn’t matter. It accomplishes what it was supposed to

do. So when he talks about perfection here, a perfect work, he says these trials enable us—as

God intended—to produce something that is exactly what God sees we need in our lives.

So He allows us to go through these things. And this is a difficult thing at times, but it helps us.

Why? So that you may be perfect, so that you may be totally fitted for what God has in mind for

you. Now, that’s where we of course have to step out in faith again because we don’t know

exactly what God has in mind for us for the future. I mean right now, yes, there’s certain things

that we do. But again, many of you are young people, you’re facing life and you don’t know

exactly where God’s going to lead you. I say it that way like those of us who are older know

exactly where God is going to lead us! Doesn’t work that way either. But I’m just saying you

don’t know exactly what God is fitting you for. You don’t know exactly, but that’s okay because

in the midst of a trial we learn to step out in faith because God is in the process of maturing us,

of bringing us to be fully what He wants us to be. And if we’re yielded to Him, that’s what’s going

to happen.

[36:57]

That you may be perfect—and again he uses the word complete and that’s a different word.

Now sometimes the word perfect—teleios is the kind of the root word of it, and that’s a form of

what’s used here—but sometimes that’s translated complete as well or at least it conveys that

concept. But with this particular word [it] emphasizes that what God is doing is filling in in us

those areas where we may particularly have lacks, where we may need to know certain things.

In other words, God doesn’t call us to continue just like we’ve always been. He calls us to

change. We are to be different people.

Again, I would have to say that’s one of the great advantages we had when we had

Ambassador College, that those of us who came as students came from all kinds of different

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backgrounds with, in many cases, very little exposure to other aspects or other aspects of

culture that may be even in our own culture. I had never been to—I had been to a symphony

before I went to Ambassador College one time, and never been to some of the other things that

were there that were very cultural. And yet, by being there and being exposed to these things,

you begin to appreciate a wider variety of things.

Growing up my parents were big fans of very, very old, old-style country western. And we would

go down the road and my parents would be in the front seat of the car singing old, old songs

that I don’t even want to bring to my mind today! And, of course, being a young teenager we

would get out somewhere and I was: I don’t know who these people are! They just picked me up

on the way. But it’s just I was embarrassed by the thing. But, okay, that’s what I was exposed to,

and some people: This is what I’ve always heard so this is what I always listen to. And yet

there’s such a bigger, richer world available, and if you’re going to be able to help people who

have [a] different experience, you need to understand their experience too.

Now, I attended one opera. I’ve never been back, okay. I can listen to some operatic music. It’s

absolutely beautiful. I really appreciate it. Three hours of it is a little more than I care for. But

some of it here and there, yeah, it’s magnificent, and I don’t fault those people who do really

enjoy, and have been trained in that way. But I’m simply saying: Okay. It’s good to understand

and appreciate different things, and God gives us the opportunity to do that.

[39:51]

Some people know—well, we talked the other day as we were talking about the offering that

was given to the brethren in Judea when they were going through a difficult time. That the

people of Macedonia, even though they themselves tended to be poor, they were very

generous. And one of the reasons we said they were generous is because they understood

what it was like to not have what you need. So they really reached out, they reached deeper

than somebody who’s never experienced that.

So God wants us to have this perfect and complete character because we’re going to be called

to help all kinds of different people. He wants us, as it says here, to lack nothing. One of the

commentaries puts it this way, which I thought was interesting, as it talks about perfect and

complete, lacking nothing:

A symmetrical development of character—we might call it a balanced approach to life.

And again, that’s something we used to emphasize a lot. We don’t say it much anymore. It says

here—Barclay says:

It is used of the animal which is fit to be offered to God, of the priest who is fit to serve

Him.

Verse 5 (And again we all know this one. It was quoted last Sabbath.) If any of you lacks

wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to

him.

Okay, how many times have you heard that verse quoted? I mean, probably over and over and

over again, which is fine. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but what does it have to do with

rejoicing in a trial? Well, if you’re in the midst of a trial, it can be really hard to figure out what I’m

supposed to be learning from this. So if you need godly wisdom to figure out what the trial is

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trying to teach you, well, you need to ask about that because God is happy to do that. And

again, we’ll see a little bit more [of] what he says there.

And it’s interesting too. This is called—as we look at this in the Greek the introductory word

here, if—is called a condition of first class. Basically, what that means is: if, as is the case. Or

we might say in English: since. Since you lack wisdom, which again, probably as it was used

last Sabbath and as most of us would use this when you use the phrase: if any of you lacks

wisdom. Yeah. Okay. That means me! All of us see ourselves in that way.

[42:35]

So since you lack wisdom, what do you do about it? You’re in the middle of a trial, you don’t

understand what’s going on, and you really need God to help you see what you’re supposed to

be learning, what steps you need to take. Because again in Scripture, especially in the Hebrew

concept, wisdom is practical application. What steps do I take? How do I apply the principles of

Scripture as I face this situation?

So God says: Okay. There’s a way: ask! Ask God. And how is God going to react to that: who

gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given ...

It tells us about God’s way of giving. God does not give sparingly. God does not hold back.

When you go to God and you say, “Please, I really need some wisdom in this,” God does not

say:

“Well, it’s about time you realized you were dumb!”

God doesn’t do that. He wants us to recognize that we need wisdom and help. And to be able to

go to Him and ask that, He’s happy to do. Think about again, what you would do as a parent if

your child is encountering a situation. And as the parent, you’ve had experience, you know what

to do, you know what course of action would be the best thing to take. But you also know as a

parent—I think about, you know, when I was a child, I was really stubborn. Please don’t talk to

my wife today! But I’m just saying, I used to be real stubborn, and my parents knew that if they

tried to tell me: “Do it this way,” I was probably going to say: “Any other way but that way!” And

that’s not a good thing to do. But when the child comes to the point of saying: “I don’t know what

to do. What can I do?” Okay. What would you as a parent do? Well of course I’d help them. I

wouldn’t want them to feel bad about it because I don’t want them to feel bad about coming to

me. And God as our Parent is going to approach things in this way.

So the context here is very clearly the testing that we’re talking about in the previous verses. So

what do we have? We have our second pearl. It’s related to

the first one. But it’s unique, it stands on its own. We can

ask for godly wisdom so we can learn the lessons from our

trials.

So he tells us this is how you can approach it when you’re

going through this difficult time—ask. The Greek form here,

the Greek tense is present tense. Present tense means “to ask, and keep asking.” It isn’t a one-

time thing. You ask and keep asking.

[45:29]

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And then it says: God, who gives. Or other translations put this: the giving God or God, the

giver. This is the way we’re supposed to look at God—He is the giving God. He wants to give to

us. That, again, I think as was brought out on the Feast of Pentecost, that is a characteristic that

God wants to see in us too. That as God is a liberal Giver and eager to give, not holding back in

any way, then that’s the way He would like us to be.

So, God gives liberally. He is not a judgmental Giver. Barclay says:

There is a kind of giver who gives only with a view to getting more than he gives, who

gives only to gratify his vanity and his sense of power by putting the recipient under an

obligation which he will never be allowed to forget. Who gives and then continually casts

up the gift that he’s given.

God doesn’t give that way, and that’s certainly not the way we should give.

It says He gives to all men liberally, without reproach. He doesn’t find fault. He doesn’t say: “Yes

you’re right, you’re stupid, and you need to get help.” No, He doesn’t do that. He is eager to

give.

Now, we’re going to add another pearl. This one says:

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven

and tossed by the wind.

Okay, so we have pearl:

• Number 1. Your attitude in the midst of a trial is important, and there’s a purpose for that

trial.

• Number 2. If you don’t know what it is, you can ask for wisdom.

• Number 3. When you go to God, what’s the attitude you’re supposed to have in asking?

So you see the connection between all of these, even though each one is perfectly proper to let

it stand by itself.

So, we are to ask in faith, in confidence. Again, I like this comment. It says:

The word here, pistis, as used in this epistle refers to the state of mind in which a man not

only believes in the existence of God, but in which His ethical character is apprehended

and the evidence of His goodwill towards man is acknowledged. It is a belief in the

beneficent activity as well as the personality of God.

And I think there’s a really good concept there. I would tie this in with what you find in Hebrews

11 verse 6. We will spend more time on that when we go through the book of Hebrews, or for

those who are watching online, when we went through the book of Hebrews.

[48:18]

Hebrews 11 verse 6, where the author of Hebrews says:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes

to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those

who diligently seek Him.

As I bring out when we go through that, I think when it says that

he who comes to God must believe that he is, there is a whole lot more involved in that than

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simply believing that God exists. I think it has to do with believing that God is exactly what He

says He is. And that you can base your life upon that.

As one of the authors put it though—and I really liked it, just in summarizing it: You must believe

that God is, and that He cares. That’s an interesting way to put it. That wraps up in that sense

that here is a God, we talk about faith in God, it’s a confidence that not only are you talking to

One who is there, who is your Parent, so to speak, spiritually, but One who actually cares about

you. You realize what a foreign concept that was in a world filled with pagan deities who couldn’t

care less about human beings? Your goal as a pagan was to fly below the radar for those gods.

Leave me alone and I’ll be fine. The God that is the true God is so very, very different from that.

And He actually does care about His people and intervene.

Alright. We will continue on here. We will note that one of the characteristics that’s listed here is

that we are to pray without doubting. What does he mean by that? It is a state of mind that

implies a person who is wavering between two opinions, going back and forth. It’s kind of like:

Well, I want to trust God, but oh, I’m not really sure, and what happens, and no, I’m going to

trust God. And back and forth, back and forth. And it’s saying: If that’s what you do, then you’re

probably not going to get much of an answer.

One of the commentaries says:

Doubting is not the equivalent of unbelief; it is expressing the hesitation which bounces

between faith and unbelief and inclines toward the latter.

He goes on there and he says it’s like—again just reading what the verse says—he says:

The individual who is not asking in faith but is doubting or going back and forth, he who

doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Now again, I think it’s one of those things to realize

that the metaphor that he’s using here is not of just

the normal waves breaking on the shore because

that can be very rhythmic and predictable. But with

the wind, things go in all directions, and you never

know exactly what’s going to take place. It

describes instability, changing from moment to

moment. So that’s the sense of what he’s saying.

The person who asks, but they’re doubting, they’re bouncing back and forth, is just like this—

you can’t count on them. You don’t know what’s going to happen. So the person who goes to

God with that kind of an approach is really not going to get the answer he or she is looking for.

[51:45]

Verse 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

And frankly, the phrase that man is, again, almost a derogatory term. “Let not that man think he

is going to hear anything.”

Yes?

[Question from student]

He who doubts

is like a wave of

the sea driven

and tossed by

the wind.

James 1:6

15

Okay. So the question is: Are we talking here about asking for wisdom that God gives

liberally?

Yes, we are. And yet I think it’s one of those pearls that we have to say you can apply in a

broader sense. In other words, is there any time we can go before God with doubting and

expect to receive an answer? And I think our answer would be no. If we’re going to go to

God, we need to trust God for the answer.

Now this, again—and we’ll look at this in a moment because I think there’s another aspect of

this that we need to understand.

He goes on to say: why not?

Verse 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

So he is describing an individual—literally it is dipsuchos, which basically means “two souled.”

It’s like he has two lives going in different directions. He’s got one that’s serving God, and he’s

got one that’s kind of got his foot in the world, kind of thing. And so this is the double-minded

thing.

Expositor’s says:

This sort of instability is not only apparent when the man prays, it marks all of his ways. It

marks all he does.

And that’s what it says here. In this, in his personal life, his

business life, his social life, as well as his spiritual life,

indecisiveness negates his effectiveness. He is the

individual that’s standing there saying: “Ahh, okay, what do I

do? Where do I go? What step do I take?”

But I want you to think about another incident where there is

an individual who’s struggling with belief, and Jesus Christ does not correct him for that. It’s

found in Mark chapter 9 verse 24, where the man is asking for Christ to intervene for his son in

a very serious situation and Jesus says: “If you believe, this will happen.”

And he says: “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.”

Okay. Is this a double-minded man? No, not in the sense of what James is talking about. This is

an individual who recognizes he’s struggling with his own ability to step out in faith. Okay. That’s

not a terrible thing. We all reach those points. That’s not the man who can’t decide what he

needs to do or wants to do. This is the man who’s struggling to have the strength of character

do it, in which case God is willing to step in and help him out. That’s not a problem. The man

James describes hasn’t decided whether he’s going to trust God or not.

[55:08]

And again, I think as we read there in Expositor’s, and it’s important to see, this is going to show

up throughout the individual’s life. When it says he’s unstable in all his ways, it means

“inconstant, fickle.” One says “reeling like a drunken man, pertaining to being unable to be

controlled by something, uncontrolled.” You never know exactly what he’s going to do. We will

see when we get to chapter 3 the word unstable that’s used here is the same word that used to

describe the tongue.

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Yes?

[Question from student]

Sure! Yeah.

Would this—and again, I’m not sure how clearly the questions come through, so I’ll try to

repeat it.

But could this describe an individual who’s been letting down, and therefore because of

guilt and some of those things, is not as confident in his prayer to God as he or she might

be?

Sure. I think there are a number of things that might contribute to that instability. And when

we know that we have not been consistent in our relationship with God, sure, that’s going

to undermine your prayers for sure. We’ll see later on, when we get to—what is it—1 Peter

3 I believe, we will even find that when you have upset within the family, it undermines

your ability to pray to God fully. Your prayers are hindered, as Peter writes it.

So we come through this part of it, and we come to verse 9, and it almost sounds like we’ve got

a sudden change of subject.

Okay. Verse 9 says: Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation.

Alright. Now, basically, the commentaries will tell you—and I think this makes sense—that

verses 3 through 7 are parenthetical—even into verse 8 perhaps—telling us how to rejoice in

trials with the help of godly wisdom. This now brings us back to the perspective of rejoicing in

trials.

Okay. The lowly brother in the midst of a trial. Why does this person rejoice in the trial? Well,

one of the things that it shows us is God is dealing with all His people. He doesn’t deal with

some in a way where He’s trying to develop character in them, and others He’s like: “Ah, well,

I’m not going to worry about that person.” No, the lowly person—and this would imply probably,

as we’ll go a little further—dealing with, they’re viewed as lowly because of their economic

situation. They’re poorer, they’re perhaps a slave, one of those individuals.

[58:06]

And he’s saying: “Well, okay, you’re in the midst of this. Glory! Glory in the fact that God is

taking a hand in your life to build godly character in you.” Sometimes poor people may blame

others for their trials and see themselves as helpless victims. I don’t want to paint with too broad

a brush—that’s not true for every person who is in economic difficulty. I could certainly think of

some that I know who have been through some difficult times that really were not their fault at

all. So I’m not saying that. But we simply recognize that some people are very quick to blame

circumstances for where they are, instead of realizing that they have something to do as well.

Through the trials, God teaches them that He does not play favorites. They have just as much

help available to them, as much godly wisdom, as the rich person does. Riches don’t help you

have more godly wisdom. You can go to God in faith, and He will help you through the trials.

On the other hand, sometimes rich people tend to feel entitled to an easier life. You know, I’m

supposed to have things good. Now I say that— “rich people” in the sense of economically, but

think about how sometimes even we in the Church with the richness of the truth that we have

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sometimes feel like: Well, why am I going through a trial? Because you need the trial, I need the

trial; because God’s building something in us. So it’s important for us too. Each one is important

to God, and He is willing to give help and wisdom to both.

Verse 10. Now he’s just said the poor person should glory in his exultation and the fact that God

is taking a hand in his life.

10 but the rich in his humiliation, [because as a flower of the field he will pass away.]

In other words, he’s being reminded: Don’t rely on your riches. If you’re not reminded of that,

you probably are going to rely on your riches. You read in the Proverbs [10:15] about the

individual, it says his riches are his strong city. He thinks he’s safe “because I have all of this.”

Well, God’s saying, no, your riches aren’t going to help you much.

[1:00:20]

Think of a simple example, and we can see prophetically as well, because God talks about,

through Ezekiel, the time when the gold and silver is thrown in the streets because it’s not going

to be of any value. But we don’t have to go that far. When you’re sick, how much does your

wealth do for you? You’ve got the flu. You’ve got the same flu the poor person has, and you feel

as lousy as they do. If you’ve got a serious health problem, your riches aren’t going to get you

where you need to be.

So, it is a reminder, okay. It’s not wrong to be poor. It’s not wrong to be rich. It’s not better to be

poor. It’s not better, spiritually, to be rich. But you do need to recognize that all of us have to go

through trials to learn the things that we should. And the same God who helps the rich person

helps the poor person; the same God is available to those who reach out to Him in confidence

and faith.

We also note here something which would’ve been a little bit different in the Greek world,

probably in the Jewish world as well; let’s just say the first-century world. The idea of being

humble was not something that many people saw as a positive thing. You were, especially in

the Greek world, you were taught never to let anybody disrespect you, that you should get even,

that you should put them down, that you should humiliate them. James is saying humility is not

something to avoid. Humility is a good thing; we all need it. We all go through those times.

There’s certainly a big difference between being humble and being humiliated.

Verse 11, he says let’s put this in perspective: For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning

heat than it withers the grass; —

Probably grass is not the way we would normally put it. Think of a field full of wildflowers. We’ve

just been through spring here in Texas, and I am sorry to tell you we’ve been through it, but

that’s the way it is here! It’s going to get summer in no time, believe me! But you see all the

beautiful wildflowers that come up, and they’re there for a very short time. And then they’re

gone. Then they’re gone. And yet they’re beautiful during that period of time.

He’s saying, okay, keep this in mind. As beautiful as these things may be, the sun comes up, a

burning heat comes, and it withers the grass.

—its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man [also will] (is going to)

fade away in his pursuits.

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He may stand out, may be recognized, but he’s not got any longer life or better life—in the

sense of he’s going to avoid trials and difficulties—than the poor person does.

It’s also interesting—this is a small point, but I think it’s helpful. It’s a word that I had to learn.

The word for here in Greek is what’s called gnomic aorist. Basically, what that means is “it

expresses the way things always are.” And this is the way it always is. It’s not some unique

thing. So again, you’re going through a trial, you can very easily think: Oh, this has never

happened to anybody before. Sure it has. It’s the way things happen. It’s the way God works

things.

When it talks about a burning heat, again, we probably don’t have quite the sense of it there.

But I’ve had the privilege of being in Israel through all the harvest seasons, and I’ll tell you, you

finish around Pentecost time. In the spring the wilderness areas of Israel can be covered with

wildflowers, and they’re quite beautiful, and it’s like overnight here comes this blistering heat.

And the last time we were there, which was around Pentecost time, we had temperatures of 100

and higher and very, very dry. And, you know, a week earlier it had been in the 80s. So those

things happen. And that’s, I think, the metaphor that he’s talking about, that you may think: Oh

well, it’s going to be a long time. No. It can come very, very quickly.

Verse 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; —

And again, temptation is not the sense of it. It’s “trial,” is what he’s talking about, who go through

those trials.

Blessed is that person—the word that is translated blessed—blessed is a perfectly legitimate

term—but the word is makarios and it also means “happy.” So I like to see it that way—happy is

the individual who endures the trials, who goes through, who has that patience, that

perseverance, that confidence in God as he goes through it.

—for when he has been approved, —

Okay, what does a trial do? It tests to see what’s there. And when you’ve passed the test, it’s

approved; whatever you’re testing has been approved. So the individual has been approved.

Expositor’s says:

It’s used to describe the successful testing of precious metals and coins. It referred to the

process of testing and also to the consequent approval of the tested object.

What happens then?

—he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

The Bible uses the term “crown” in a number of ways. Barclay says:

The phrase here (and I think he is correct) means “a crown which consists of life.”

It is a crown that you have that brings life, not just temporary physical life, but eternal life. In the

ancient world the crown had various meanings. The crown of flowers was a sign of festive joy. It

was worn at weddings.

There was a crown which was a mark of royalty, and that could take different forms.

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There was also the crown of laurel leaves—or as the ancient example here is

given of a gold version of that—but of laurel leaves that was the victor’s

crown in the athletic games. There was a crown which was a mark of honor

and dignity which is a part of this.

But I really like the graphic that I found that I thought illustrated this as well,

where he talks about that the individual receives the crown of life. And when

he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has

promised to those who love Him.

And again, you will note that it uses the word God has promised. It’s

not something that it’s a good idea; we can kind of hope for it.

God’s committed Himself. He’s signed the document. He’s put

His name on the line: This is what I promise you when you

come through those trials. So it puts a perspective on those

things.

Well, that’s a good break-off point for today, for this class, and

we will pick up in next class in verse 13.

[1:07:25]