Introduction – Book of James
[01:44]
We are looking at a Book of James but I like to begin with another James. His name is LeBron James or King James for those who like basketball. LeBron James is probably one of the most famous basketball players of all time, arguably one of the best, but he was a phenomenon not only when he entered the NBA, he was already quite a superstar even in his teenage years. Sports illustrators would call him “The Chosen One”. Now he doesn't live or grow up with a brother but imagine he has a younger brother who grows up with him, lives with him in the same family. Can you imagine the kind of stress and pressure, and comparison and jealousy that he would have to go through because his younger brother is looking up to LeBron James as his older brother.

James the brother of Jesus

But let me then switch, imagine there's another man who has to grow up with another brother who is a superstar not in basketball but in everything, in his behaviour, in his obedience to his parents, in IQ, in smartness, in wisdom, in knowledge of the Torah or the Bible. Well, there is such a man, his name is also James. James is born into this family where the father is called Joseph and the mother is called Mary. But James' family is special because in his family he has an older brother called Jesus, and Jesus, the very Son of God, never sinned. Jesus, the Son of God, grew in wisdom and knowledge and stature and favour with men. If you see him in the streets playing with other kids, he is the perfect model of a child and I am sure James growing up would often be compared with his brother. But James is not the only sibling Jesus had, he had other brothers and sisters. Their names are Joseph and Judas and Simon and unnamed sisters, at least two sisters. Well, this is information given to us in the Bible in Mark chapter six, “Is not this the carpenter,” Jesus is born into the carpenter home. Joseph was a carpenter. So “Is not this” Jesus “the carpenter,” and his mother, “Mary and brother of James and Joses” which is another way of saying Joseph, “and Judas” which is another way of saying Jude “and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” [Mark 6:3]. So, you have James who we think is the author of this New Testament book that we are going through in the next three to four months. He came from this very privileged family but James is not the only author of a book in the Bible.

There's another person here who writes another book of the Bible. Do you know his name? Be very confident… His name is… Jude or Judas. Now, I'm sure you know that this Jude or Judas is not Judas Iscariot but this is Jude, the half-brother of James. So, we have two writers of the New Testament here in this family. Now, you might have thought… Wow! They grew up with Jesus, they must be the most godly man also growing up, they learned from Jesus but the reality is growing up, they did not believe in Jesus. They saw their brother, Jesus, live a perfect life, give all the right answers to anyone who has any questions about the biblical faith but they themselves did not believe, because we are told in John chapter seven, “For not even his brothers believed in him.” [John7:5] that is Jesus. They were not believers. They saw Jesus' life but they were not convinced.

James’ Conversion and Leadership

But things changed because after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we will read about James not only becoming a Christian but become a Christian leader, so much so that he became the leader in the church at Jerusalem. We read, for example, in Acts one and verse 14, “All these”, that is the apostles together with other men and women, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” [Acts 1:14]. So, something happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, James who was initially a sceptic believed in Jesus and was gathered together with the disciples of Jesus, and was praying. Then we read later on in Galatians one, Paul saying, “[But] I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother.” [Galatians 1:19] James became an apostle, not just an ordinary one of the 12 kind of apostles, but he became one of the key leaders of the church at Jerusalem. “… James, Cephas”, that is another name for Peter, “and John”, the three of them “[who] seemed to the pillars…” [Galatians 2:9] or the main leaders of the church at Jerusalem. And when there was a major question or controversy as to whether the Gentiles are part of the church, there was a big Council gathered and the man who stood up and spoke was James. “After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.” [Acts 15:13]. So, this is a remarkable man, a Christian man, a Christian leader, and according to Jew or Jewish history or tradition, this is not, of course, written in the Bible. James was a man who prayed so much that he was called “camel knees”. There were this kind of keloid or scars that are formed on his knees because he prayed much. And according to Josephus in Jewish antiquities, he was ultimately persecuted to death at the order of the high priest at AD 62. So here was a remarkable man, James, grew up in a Christian home, literally Christ's home, but never believed but believed only somewhat later, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Do you know something? I think this is already obvious to many of you but maybe some of you are wondering, what does it mean to be a Christian? Does it mean that I'm a Christian if my parents are Christian, if my brother is a Christian? The answer is no because you can be a James before he believed in Jesus. You can be raised in a Christian environment but that doesn't make you Christian. James became a Christian, I think, when he saw the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and he believed in him. You today need to believe in Jesus Christ yourself because Christianity is not passed on by diffusion or osmosis. It's got to be something you believe in your own heart. But when someone believes there is this miracle of a new birth, there's a miracle of a new life. Old things are passed away and all things are become new. And so, James, the former sceptic is now a leader and a martyr for the name of Jesus Christ. I think about myself, I'm nowhere like James but I was a sceptic. I ridicule my Christian friends. I think Christians are all stupid. You all need an emotional crutch. You all are fools. But when I got to know the Scriptures, when I read the Bible, when I heard the preaching of God's Word, when I heard about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, my life changed. There came a point where I repent of my sin. I believe in Jesus Christ and, lo and behold, the former sceptic is now serving God in the church. And if you today come to know Jesus, there must be a radical change. It is not just business as usual. It is not just carrying on life as it was, just add on a bit of church attendance. No, all things… old things are passed away, all things are become new. You have a new perspective. You have a new goal. You have new delights, new appetites, new ambitions, new love. James is a saint. The word saint, we think is reserved only for a select few group of very special people but according to the Bible, a saint is someone who is set apart to belong to God, and who is set apart to belong to God? Those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. So, let's look at James. He's a saint.

The Identity of the Author of James

Now let me, let me ask, how many of you are called John here? Oh, we have one John, any other Johns? Two John, oh very good. Any other Johns? Whaa so many people only two Johns… three Johns. Okay, there are three Johns, at least. Now, when I say, John, can you come up? Then you ask, Which one? Because there may be even other Johns. The reality is that the word or name John is quite common. Do you know that the name James is also quite common? Basically, actually the James is another… another way of saying James is Jacob. So, in your Chinese Bible, it is called what book? Bù Shì Yǎ Mǐ Shū [不是雅米书 – Not pronounce as Book of Jamie in Chinese], Yǎ Gè Shū [雅各书 – Book of James in Chinese]. So, it is a common name in Jewish background, just like Jose and Joseph, Judas and Jude, you have James and Jacob. So, when we say James, actually, there are a few possible candidates who are the possible authors of this book. There are at least five James, five in the New Testament.

First one I'm proposing to you is James, the brother of Jesus.

The second… another James that is quite famous in the Bible? James, the brother of John, and they are the sons of Zebedee, right? Sons of Zebedee… Peter, Andrew, James and John… ahhh… this James, this James is the brother of John, he's the son of Zebedee. He is a very well-known character in the New Testament. These two, I think you know. The next three, I think most of you don't know.

The third one is James the Son of Alphaeus, who is another apostle. So, amongst the 12 there are two James. The 12 who followed Jesus, one is called James, the Son of Zebedee. Second one is James, the Son of Alphaeus. It's almost like John Lim and John Tan, can? So, there are two Johns in the apostolic band, John Lim, John Tan. So next time you call them, you don't call them James because confusing. Ah Tan, Ah Lim, OK, that's clearer, alright.

Then the fourth James is the father of Judas, not Judas Iscariot because Judas or Jude is a common name too. So, there is a distinction there.

And the fifth James is James, the last son of Mary, given to us in Mark for example. So, there are five James, which one is the author?

It is not entirely indisputable but most of them will rule out the last three, because not a lot of data is given about them in the New Testament. So, we kind of focus on James, the brother of Jesus, or James, the son of Zebedee, but James, the son of Zebedee, died quite early. He died in Acts chapter 12 and Herod beaded him and served his head on a platter. He died at about AD44 so most people don't think that he is the likely author and that by exclusion, leaves us with the likely James, the half-brother of Jesus.

Language and Structure - Letter of James vs James in Acts 15

Now this is further corroborated by some circumstantial evidence in the Scripture itself because people do a study of how James wrote the Book of James, and how James, this James spoke in Acts chapter 15 and they find a lot of similarities. Now you must understand James’ speech in Acts 15 is very short. [14:59] And so, you see some similarities like they both open with greetings. The word greetings “Kairos” is a word that is commonly used, but it is only in these two instances where they are put right up front as introductory words, so that's where it is unique. Both texts would review the word “Beloved”, “Keep yourself”, “Listen”, “name by which you are called”, and “Turn”. So, there are many similarities, I mentioned that this speech in Acts 15 is very short, but even within this short speech, you see a lot of parallels with the Book of James. So, it is based on these possibilities and evidences that most today think that the James book that we are studying today is written by James, the brother of Jesus.

James’ Humility and Servant Leadership

Now, if that be so, it is remarkable because James does not introduce himself as the brother of Jesus, but a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I was the one and I lived, and grew up with Jesus, I would say, “Hey, you know who I am or not? I'm part of the royal family, you know… Jason, the brother of Jesus.” I would have thought I would write that, but James doesn't do that. It's almost like what is more important, what is more precious to me, is that I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing more important, nothing more privileged than to call myself a servant. The word servant is the word “Doulos” in Greek which means a slave, a lowly slave who lives to fulfil the wishes and commands of his master. So, James said, “Yes, I am a brother of Jesus but my greatest identity is that I'm a doulos. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ.” I don't think there is a higher privilege in this world than to be a slave of Jesus. I am proud, I'm privileged, I'm happy, I'm glad I can be a slave of Jesus Christ. I do; I really do. I think there's no higher calling. In this church, we don't have any celebrities or VIPs. We don't want that. Sometimes in jest, some of our staff members, some of you, call me, “Boss”. I said, “Please, I don't look like a boss. I'm far from it and I never thought of myself as one.” There's no boss in this church because there's no VIP in this church. We believe we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are all doulos of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just yesterday and last Saturday, there was a lunch meeting held for some of our people in ministry, people in the front-line ministry, that is to say our welcomers, greeters, ushers, befrienders, and another lunch for the kitchen ministry. I think there were like 40 people in our frontline ministry and there were 130 plus people in our kitchen ministry. That's a lot of people, right? And we celebrate that, I… when I heard that number, I was so glad because that shows there are many here who are willing to serve. Roll up their sleeves, get themselves dirty and wet and to serve God's people. I hope this will be the culture of Gospel Light [Christian Church]. No big shots, no VIPs, no one strutting around expecting you to call me Prof or Doctor or something dignified, but to say, we are all slaves of Jesus because that is wisdom. Jesus said, “…whoever would be great among you must be your servant,”. Servant leadership is a term that is very popular in the business world today but it is not new. Jesus demonstrated that, taught that many years ago, “…whoever will be great among you must be your servant,”. “Diakonos” from which we get the word Deacon. It refers to a lowly servant as well, “and whoever will be first among you must be your slave,” your doulos. That's wisdom, not trying to climb on top of another, not trying to prove yourself better than another. But if you are really better, use it to serve one another because Jesus himself “…came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” [Matthew 20:26-28].

What is Christianity? What does it mean to follow Jesus? I think this is what it looks like, that we recognize and we rejoice we can be servants. We serve people because we serve God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I pray for a church that would model after James, who with his natural advantages put that all aside and said, “I am glad to be a servant of God and of Jesus.” Why? Because Jesus gave his life for me.

Now he goes on to say “…to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.” [James 1:1]. Now there is a way for people to read 12 tribes in the Dispersion as referring to Christians in general, because 12 tribes can be a way of describing God's people. And the Dispersion here can be a way of describing how Christians are strangers and pilgrims or exiles in this world because ultimately, if you belong to God, your home is not here. Your home is not Singapore, is not in Hougang, not in Buangkok. These are only temporary hotel stays because your home is in the heavenly city. So, there is a way for people to look at the 12 tribes in the Dispersion as simply describing Christians in general, scattered in this world. But I think most, I myself included, would think that the 12 tribes in the Dispersion refer specifically to the Jews. The 12 tribes, the Jewish people, who are dispersed. They have been a dispersed people since the Assyrians attacked them, since the Babylonians attacked them, since Saul attacked them in Acts chapter eight, and since Herod persecuted and killed John the apostle in Acts chapter 12. So, I think most likely he's referring to the Jews who have been dispersed at various stages of time. They are now living in different parts. The reason is because James goes on to use very Jewish references in James 2:2. For example, he talks about the assembly and the word “assembly” there, is the word “synagōgē”. Sounds like?... Synagogue. Who goes to synagogues?... Jews. So, he talks about the assembly of the Jews in synagōgē. He talks about the Torah. He talks about one God not many gods. So based on these Jewish hints, we say that James is writing to Jews who have been dispersed, who are likely persecuted, who are suffering, who may be poor, and that gives you the context to some of the things we are going to read in the next few weeks.

The Structure and Themes of James

Now, my remaining time I have is going to be spent sharing with you what is the big idea of this book. Why?... What is this all about? What is this whole book about? Because when you read this book, you will realize that it touches on many things. It seems rather scattered and random. Now I think March holidays is coming up, many of you must be planning for some of overseas trip, and when you plan for a trip, some of you would… No, I never plan for trips because I'm hopeless in it. I'm a very, very lousy organizer and planner. So, it's left to someone else but when you organize a trip… actually, I would like to know where I'm going lah. What I'm seeing, where… why I'm eating? What are the things I need to do? So, when you travel somewhere, you may want to plan your route, what you want to see. Now, I'm not going to Europe but this is what I found on internet. When you travel somewhere, like you want to go London, Paris, Holland and so on. You kind of map out in advance so that when you actually arrive there, you can enjoy it better. Ah…I know Paris, I should see this. Ah…I know when I go to London, I should see this. It's easier.

So, I'd like to give you a little tour, sneak preview about the Book of James. We're going to travel through James the next few months. I'd like to give you a big picture so that you can enjoy your journey later on. What is the big idea of James? What is it? How is it organized? If you read 20 commentaries, I'm not kidding you, I read probably a lot more than that. [24:42] There will be… if you read 20 commentaries, there will be 20 outlines. It's a book that is very difficult to outline because nobody seems to agree on what James is really all about. So, there are people who say, actually there's no outline to James. He’s just hitting on various issues and that is possible, actually that is quite… erh… I think fair read of this book too… erh… but I do see something and I'm going to stick my neck out. If you don't like, you can chop it off in your minds and I don't care about this guy… erh… but please be understanding that because 20 commentaries can have 20 outlines, we can have some suggestions and I'm just suggesting this one for you to consider.

James 1:2
So let me bring you on a tour, there are some highlights in the Book of James. Five chapters, some well-known passages, I'm sure if you have been a Christian at any duration of time, you'll be familiar with… for example, verse two of chapter one, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds”, familiar? So most like[ly] every Christian will hear this verse one. So, we kind of see this verse as a highlight in chapter one.

James 2:15-15
In chapter two, you see another highlight where a story is told of a poor man coming into the assembly, in the synagōgē and you look at him and say, “Aiyo, tsk tsk tsk… whaa you poor thing lah. Go in peace. May God bless you. Be warmed and filled. NATO - No Action, Talk Only. Without giving them the things needed for the body and James is saying, what's the use of that? So, this is another famous, well-known issue highlighted by James in James chapter two.

James 3:10, 14, 17-18
And then you go to James chapter three, James will talk about the same mouth coming forth blessing and cursing, and he says that cannot be so. How can a spring bring forth good water and poisonous water? Cannot be so. Now these three, I think you’re very familiar, the next one may not be so but he talks also about bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. People fighting, people squabbling. And then he brings us to a passage that describes wisdom from above. How beautiful it is.

James 4:1, 11
Then he goes on in chapter four and talks about quarrels and fights. He talks about speaking evil.
James 5:5-6. 5:10-11
He talks about living a self-indulgence life and thereby condemning the righteous, and even murdering the righteous, bullying them. Reminds me of something that happened in US, but erh…Chapter five, verses 10 and 11, we are back to suffering and patience.

I do not know if you notice something but here's what I suggest, I take out all the words in white, I bring back all the words in orange and you will see James starts with a message about trials of various kinds. Then he moves on and talks about people who NATO - No Action, Talk Only. All absorbed about themselves and don't care about others. Don't give to them even though they have clear needs. He talks about the tongue. How it spews both blessing and cursing at the same time. He talks about selfish ambition and bitter jealousy. And he gives a beautiful description about wisdom from above.

And then he comes back down, talking about quarrels and fights. He talks about speaking evil against one another. He talks about living in luxury and self-indulgence, and he talks about suffering and patience like that of Job.

Erh…. Is this obvious enough? If it's not obvious enough, let me try to bring it into two words or one word in each line. Trials of various kinds in chapter one. Suffering and patience in chapter five. Both of it… how it starts and how he ends, and he both talks about suffering.

You come a bit closer and you will see not giving them. And then you yourself living in indulgence and luxury. And you see he's talking about self-centeredness. You don't love; you don't care. It's all about yourself to the degree that you bully others.

And then you come closer, it talks about the mouth and about speech. And so, I think he's giving a parallel or a reflection of speech.

And then you've come a little bit, a little bit closer, bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, quarrels and fights. It is about strife.

And then I think that pinnacle or that climax is all about wisdom from above. If I may say, spiritual wisdom from God.

The Practicality and Relevance of James

So, I think James is not randomly writing things but he's organizing his material in a chiastic fashion. In other words, it kind of crosses there at the apex so that there is symmetry and unity, a sense of completeness. But most of all, it drives home that very important point that we need to live in spiritual wisdom. And if you live in spiritual wisdom, you will know how to behave and respond in all these various situations. Quarrels and fights, speech and how to love others, and how to navigate through sufferings. James is an extremely practical book. It is said that in this book, there are 108 verses and 50 over of them are imperatives. You say, what is imperative? Imperatives are commands. In other words, do, do, do. This is a very concise and practical book. It's all about living, [31:09] living in wisdom.

[31:15] The word “Wisdom” for the… for you today might be about knowledge. In modern thinking, we think a wise man is someone who knows a lot. But for the Jews, wisdom is not so much about knowing what but it's knowing how. Because the word “Wisdom” is about skill, being skilful. A wise man is skilful. So, wisdom is knowing how to live, how to live at home, how to live in your office, how to live in your neighbourhood, how to live with friends, how to live with enemies. Wisdom is how to live and James is teaching us about wisdom, how to live. It's a super practical book. That's why it's such a popular book. It's short, it's punchy, it's practical.

Book of Proverbs - Wisdom
Now, the structure leads me to think that James is about wisdom but there are two other reasons why James is likely to be about wisdom. And that is this, James resources a lot from the book of Proverbs. If you check the Book of James, you read it through you'll see many references, many similarities with the Proverbs in the Old Testament. That's why many commentators say James is the New Testament Book of Proverbs. I give you an example. I know it's very small but that's the best picture I can find without me having to type it out myself. I'm a bit lazy, I admit that but I just want to show you James. In all its various references are very similar to many references in the Book of Proverbs. It deals with issue like anger, boasting, about future and so on and so forth. So, it's almost like James soaked himself in a study of Proverbs and now he writes it on his own filtered through his brain and teaches us about wisdom, and how to live.

Sermon on the Mount - Wisdom
A third or the second reason apart from the structure and Proverbs is that James has many similarities with the Sermon on the Mount. Harry Ironside and many commentators make an effort to point out how James deals with similar ideas with Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Now, please, no need to take photo, all our slides are available FOC on our website. No need password, no need money. You just need WIFI, you can get all our slides, download for all you want. It's okay, you can see them all right? It's available. In fact, you can just google “James Sermon on the Mount”, you have plenty of data.
Someone else would make some comparisons like this, the James references the issues mentioned and the parallels in the Book of… Sermon on the Mount. Now, some of you may say, but hey, Jason, Sermon on the Mount is Sermon on the Mount. It's not about wisdom what… Why you go and ngeh ngeh [forcefully in Hokkien] squeeze in and say that it's about wisdom. Now let me share with you why I think Sermon on the Mount is about wisdom because Jesus ended off the Sermon on the Mount with these words, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” [Matthew 7:24]. Sermon on the Mount is the King's address, Jesus the King. He is teaching his disciples what kingdom living is all about and in the sense, Jesus is teaching kingdom living is true, wise living. A wise man hears my words, practices them, and he will have a rock-solid foundation for life. So James, drawing extensively from Proverbs and Sermon on the Mount, emerges from his study and presents to us a chiasm about spiritual wisdom.

Seek Wisdom and Live Wisely
And we will journey up to spiritual wisdom and we'll let that wisdom flow down as we look at the various subjects that will be before us. So that is my goal today, my goal is to share with you the author, James. He's a saint, he's a servant and he's a sage, a wise man. And I hope also to stir up your appetite so that you are prepared, you are all ready for the next few weeks as we look at James. So that you will by God's grace, live as a sage, a wise man who will be able to make all the right decisions skilfully navigate through life, like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. May God help us in the next few weeks to come and say, Lord, give me grace not just to hear but to do your will. Not just to hear the sayings of Jesus interpreted through James but to practice them and build my house on the rock. Be wise, live in wisdom. That's the call for the next few months.

Closing Prayer

Let's bow for word of prayer together. [36:52] The Book of Proverbs say, get wisdom, above everything else, get wisdom. Wisdom is such a precious reality. People today want to get money. People today want to get fame. People today want to get power. But the Bible says, get wisdom and what an exciting journey we are going to embark upon as we look at James, because he's going to teach us wisdom. He will saturate himself in Proverbs, in the sayings of Jesus and he's going to deliver it in a concise, punchy, relevant and relatable way. I hope you will be all prayed up in the next few weeks to say, dear God, help us to live wise. And then I say to all my friends today, you are here and you hear about the kingdom, you hear about Jesus, you hear about wisdom. I want to say to you; Jesus said his kingdom is coming near. How can you come into this kingdom? What's the passport? What's the entry price? Let me say this, Jesus said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. He's calling men and women everywhere to turn from their sin, to turn from the rebellion against Him, to repent and to believe in Him who died and rose again to save you from your sins. The wisest thing anyone can do today is to believe in Jesus Christ. So, I want to urge you today to think about life, to think about how often we have messed up, and to humble ourselves and realize there is a better way. There's a better way to live. There is a wisdom that is encapsulated for us in the pages of the Bible, and you can know it. You can know it in the next few weeks. You can live this out in your life when you repent and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I pray you will do that and I pray you do that soon. Be wise and may we ask God in these next few weeks to trust and to obey. May our lives be changed through this journey. So dear God, we are looking and asking you for great things, for lives to be changed, for wisdom to be imbibed and for your glory to be made known through your church. Give us your spirit enabling as we embark on this journey these few months. Thank you and we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.