James

Wildfire podcast is an extension of Wildfire Ministries, an organization that has a focus of igniting men and women of God into a deeper discipleship with Christ, instilling them with a passion to radically and relentlessly pursue Christ wherever that leads, that God's truth will spread like a wildfire.

Hey everyone, so welcome to another podcast.

I'm Luke Taylor and I'm joined with...

Peter Wright.

Perfect, we're getting good at those.

Those are the lenders.

So today we are going to be talking about James.

Did you know my middle name is James?

My brother's called James.

So we're very educated to talk about this topic then.

So how about you just go on ahead and lay a bit of context for James.

Yeah, so like most of the books in the New Testament, it's a letter again.

But this time, James is the author as opposed to the place it's going.

And it opens with saying James is slave.

Like he's calling himself a slave again, which links back to our conversation on Titus.

So if you want to learn more about what he actually means by that, you can go and look at our conversation on Titus to understand the full meaning of that term he's given himself.

And James was, he was actually related to Jesus.

He was Jesus' half brother.

So Jesus' parents were obviously Mary, and then she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And James was the son of Mary and Joseph.

So he was Jesus' half brother or brother.

So he was the son of Mary and Joseph.

Yes.

Whereas Jesus was Mary's son, but the Holy Spirit is...

That's right.

I was really confused by the half brother thing.

Okay, that's what you thought of it.

Yeah, but you just clarified it there for me, so that makes sense.

As long as it's made clear.

And so he actually didn't believe in Jesus, like who Jesus came to be, until after the resurrection.

So that's just further evidence of the resurrection.

That this guy who grew up with Christ his whole life, didn't believe who he was until he rose from the dead.

So that's just another claim to his resurrection.

And James was obviously a Jew, so he sent this letter to the Christians and Jews who had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire, because he led the Church of Jerusalem through its trial phase, so he thought he could aid those other Jewish Christians around them by sending out this letter.

And so his intended audience is Jewish Christians who were having problems with their personal lives and in the Church.

Okay, and this is just a little disclaimer about Judaizers, which in that context was those who were Jews, and then were hearing the Gospel message about grace, and they were professing to be saved, but they were holding on to cultural traditions or things taken from the Torah of what had previously been instituted by God.

And so there's nothing inherently wrong with, in this case, we'll just umbrella statement it.

In this case, it's the Judaizers, but there's nothing inherently wrong with cultures and traditions, as long as they are not hindering your relationship with God, and that these cultures and traditions are bringing you closer.

So obviously God's word takes pre-emissary, or pre-emissary.

Yeah, I was gonna call you up and up.

Pre-emissary, and that you are obedient to everything that it says, and you make sure that everything that you do is not infringing on any scripture, or is causing disobedience.

And there's certainly many cultural traditions out there that do not do that.

And so you can hold that.

But the problem with Judaizers is that they were becoming like a Pharisees.

They were becoming Pharisees.

Within the church, is that?

I say, well, within the church environment, they would have been engaged with because they would have been professing to be Christians.

But elsewhere, again, specifically, we don't know, but it would have been in, I'd say, the church setting.

And that's why James is writing this letter.

So it's just to counteract that and to talk about how they're holding on tightly to these rituals.

So ritualism, which is why Jesus came against the Pharisees.

So James is reiterating that point.

Some other themes of James are people are not living what they believed.

So these are things that he's addressing in his letter, that there's unnecessary and divisional talking, that there's worldliness and secularism creeping in to the church, that there's straying away from the church and thus God.

And so there's a clear correlation, and there's also this idea of faith evidenced by works, so that they're synonymous.

James is a straight talker.

James wanted his brothers and sisters in Christ to be fully obedient to God's word.

He shatters superficiality and addressing what real faith is within this letter, and he includes wisdom that is still lasting to today.

That's what I quite like about James.

It's like the Proverbs of the New Testament, so it's just really practical stuff, and only it's not 31 chapters long, so you get through a lot faster.

But that's what I quite like about it.

Again, he is a straight talker.

He's just trying to help you as much as he can without kind of blurring the lines between different truths.

Yeah, okay.

So with that, let's uncover some of that wisdom now, because it really is verse by verse.

It's incredible.

Yeah.

So the way we're going to break down James hopefully is just, we'll read out a few verses, and then we'll just talk about it for a minute or two.

Just to give you an idea of the kind of content James has and how it can be applied, and what other passages in the Bible it may link to.

And there's lots.

We need to have like a filter system of what not to include and to include, which shows you the depth of just this passage and so many others.

Yeah.

So we'll start off with chapter one, naturally.

So chapter one, verse two, three and four say, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.

Well, so basically what that verse is trying to say is that God is author and perfecter of our faith and the whole point of suffering and trials, they are the refining place in which this takes place.

And that's why James is talking about this, how the trials and suffering that we that we take, they wouldn't actually be beneficial if they were removed from our lives, because they are the very things that force us to see our complete need and reliance on God.

That's just one of the many reasons.

Do you have anything else on that?

Yeah, I think it links as well, the first Peter, I think it's either chapters two or three, possibly one as well.

Again, I can't so widen that, so don't make sure you miss the verse.

Peter talks about how our trials are like a furnace and the fire purifies us.

It's like gold going through a smelter and it becomes pure with the trials and temptations.

And that's a theme throughout the whole Bible.

It talks about that in Malachi, I think.

I'm pretty sure.

Okay.

Again, casting a wide net.

Casting a wide net.

Minor profits.

Just to be safe.

And then, so we'll move on to another verse.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Finally, we come to specifically addressing this verse, because if you were to take a counter and check how many times we have said this in the previous podcast, it is loads.

So we can be self-assured that it is James.

So if any of you lacks wisdom, we all lack wisdom.

Daily, every day, I pray that God will give me more wisdom in high ideal situations, with conflicts, with my parents, with decisions.

And I completely, that's one of the promises given by God.

And whoever says and does not doubt in his heart will have whatever he says, which is a verse, I think, in the Gospels.

It talks about having faith in these promises that God has given us.

And one of these promises is wisdom.

God will give you wisdom.

He is a father who wants to give.

Yeah.

And then just to, again, link that to another conversation we've had is on Proverbs.

Solomon, look what happened to him.

When he asked for wisdom, he was able to write all the Proverbs.

So just fill it with all this wisdom and knowledge God had given him.

So that's an example of what can happen if we follow God's wisdom in his book, the Bible.

So another verse that stuck out to me quite a lot was, and I'm not a poet or anything, but I thought this is quite cool imagery, probably because I like surfing and stuff.

So the sea kind of, I like that imagery.

But it's, do not be a wave of the sea that is tossed and blown by wind.

Yes.

So this verse is just talking about this idea of having an assured foundation within God, that he is the springboard to which we enter all of our decisions.

And so often, especially with myself, I find myself making decisions that take a while.

It's like, do I do it?

Do I not?

And I'm tossed.

And what you find is that then causes stress and worry.

And it's not very helpful for anybody around you.

So this is saying about be assured in your decisions.

Three goals word.

Yeah.

Have you ever been out in rough sea conditions?

Like the ones described in the verse?

Not really.

One time, going to Rathlin, and then my dad dropped the camera in the ocean.

That's another story.

Yeah, I've heard of that before.

What about you?

All the time.

Yeah, I'd say it's more fun when you're getting tossed around.

But again, that's the opposite point of the verse is making.

We do not encourage.

It may seem funny at the moment, but then if there's rocks nearby, you're stuffed.

So even whenever it's a calm day, even just a simple rip current can take you completely down the other end of the beach.

Yeah.

So with wind and waves, it's so much worse.

The risks are just incredible.

Yeah.

So is that imagery.

There's so many things that can take us like a rip current so far away from what God wants.

Yeah.

And then I guess that links to another verse in James, which is chapter four, verse four.

It says, friendship with the world is hostility towards God.

So you can't choose both.

Is that what that means there?

Yes.

So it's basically making a clear statement as to what is the world and what is of God, and then not being conformed to the world, and understanding that if you're friends with that, then you're creating this hostility towards God, because that's God's enemy, is what this verse is trying to say.

So it honestly could be anything with regards to drugs, sex, alcohol, extremist things that basically just require you to understand that's of the world, and I'm of God, and I'm to come out from the world as 2 Corinthians 6 says to do.

Okay.

So this is quite a long paragraph, but it's all kind of linked together, so we'll break this down a little bit.

Okay.

It says, when tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

But each person is tempted, when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Then after this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it's fully grown, gives birth to death.

Yes.

So, so often and not, whenever we're stuck with in temptation, there can be a tendency to say, well, you know what I mean?

Again, we don't want to take ownership for what's wrong and what we do wrong, so we try and blame it on God or cast that aside, which isn't a healthy thing to do.

Of course, what is saying in this passage is that God cannot tempt.

He is not a tempter.

And whenever you read Job, I think the opening chapters or the chapters, whenever the devil comes and confronts God, they are really good insight into what the Bible talks about and the relationship or the dynamic that takes place there and God's sovereignty and justice in this area.

But it's that idea that God wants you to overcome his temptation.

And by temptation being allowed to come into your life, again, that opening verse there about trials and tribulations, it allows you to force yourself to become completely dependent on God, which is where God wants you to be.

And that's where we'll find most contentment.

And then another example of that again is the Divine Council.

It's I think it's either 1st or 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 18.

OK.

I'm going to guess it's that one.

We need to get better at these references, honestly.

But again, it's another being, like a demon comes before God, or a spirit I think it's called, and says, let me be a lying voice in the mouth of Ahab's prophets.

So it's not God doing the tempting.

Yes.

It's another spirit doing the tempting, not God.

So that's just another example of it.

Yes.

Perfect.

So maybe a quick version, I don't really need to say much about this one, but it's every good and perfect gift comes from the Father.

God never changes, so he's always giving out those perfect gifts.

Yeah.

Perfect.

And then, let's see.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this.

Everyone should be quick to learn, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce righteousness that God desires.

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Yeah.

So it's again, this idea of filth and what is of the world and how that is hostility towards God.

And it's actually keeping a perspective.

Don't try and justify sin.

Keep it where it's supposed to be, as filth, and how we should be slow to anger and how we should have control of our tongue.

Again, this is something that's constantly shown in throughout James, that we need to be controlled and that we need to exhibit that fruit of the spirit, which is self-control.

And so any other verses in the chapter one?

Yeah, so we'll conclude with this, these verses from chapter one.

We spent quite a lot of time in chapter one, but the good thing about chapter one is it links to a lot of the other themes throughout James.

Yeah, yeah.

He kind of summarizes most of it in chapter one.

Yeah.

So we don't have to spend a lot of time in the other chapters, because chapter one addresses most of the...

Yeah.

That's like the preface into the end of the detail.

Yeah.

So we'll finish up with this from chapter one.

Do not merely listen to the world, or sorry, do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror.

Yes.

So basically, I thought that was very interesting metaphor about how so many of us are quick to say that we're professing Christians, but so many of us are not obedient to God's word, and John 14 talks about, if you love me, then you'll obey me.

And what it talks about is if you say you're professing Christian, and then you don't obey God's word, then it's that imagery.

You know what I mean?

How often do you look in the mirror and forget yourself?

Because you have to keep going back.

And the whole point is that you're called to meditate in God's word.

Proverbs 3 talks about tying it around your neck.

It's something that's constantly there, and something that you never forget.

So that was chapter one, which is loads.

But again, we summarized that.

So chapter two.

Chapter two.

So we'll hopefully fly through these a lot faster, but it's this kind of first white favoritism or discrimination.

It says, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Yes.

So it's this idea of I were to steal something, then I am guilty of breaking the law.

That's what we say.

So it's not like saying whenever you commit adultery, you've committed murder, or whenever you steal a pencil, you've committed murder.

It's again talking about how you are a law breaker.

And again, it's that whole idea of how do we approach our sin, which we talked about in the previous podcast of how you deal with sin.

So then some of us know it's faith and work.

So it says, just as a body without a spirit is dead.

Yes, so is faith without works.

So again, a body without a spirit is dead.

It doesn't exist.

And the whole point is that if you have a faith, it needs to be reflected by your works.

If it's not, then it's dead, just as this body is dead.

I guess that's what that metaphor is trying to emphasize.

Yeah, it's a process of sanctification.

You're becoming new every day and you're becoming more like Christ.

So it will be demonstrated in your actions and your character.

Yeah, your outer character is being destroyed, but your inner character is being renewed day by day.

You can find that in Corinthians.

And then I guess that kind of links as well.

Abraham and Rahab, is their faith and actions justified by faith?

And then they demonstrate that.

So Abraham sacrifices Isaac after he's been justified by faith.

Yep.

In chapter 12, I think, when he's called by God.

And then it's in chapter, in the 20s, anyway, in Genesis, where he sacrifices Isaac as a demonstration of that faith in God.

Because he knows God is going to keep his word to him.

And then Rahab as well, with the spies.

That's Joshua.

In Joshua, yes.

Yep.

So it's again, that emphasis.

So that's chapter two.

Again, chapter one led a lot of the foundation.

So chapter three is, one of the verses within it is, we who teach will be judged more strictly.

So, you know, for doing this podcast or under a lot of scrutiny.

Yes.

Yeah.

So Luke and I take this verse very seriously.

So like, we do see ourselves in a position of teaching the Bible, even when we're just talking to our friends about the Bible, like that's a serious position.

So, and with a lot of responsibility.

So we always make sure we check everything we say, we keep each other accountable in what we're teaching, to make sure it is actually from the Bible.

Which is why we try and provide so many references for everything.

Yes.

It may seem kind of monotonous reading them all out and saying, oh, I think it's here, but we're just trying to show we've done the hard work.

That verse shows the mistakes.

We've got God's word, we've got the Holy Spirit, we've got other people who are all discountable.

And of course, when we make some mistakes, we hope to reconcile that.

Yeah.

You may have noticed in some of the footnotes in other podcasts, we've done a few asterisks like, by the way, this is from such a verse.

So if you've read the descriptions, it shows you that we've made mistakes, but that we correct them.

And so another verse is, don't cover up truth.

It's basically just saying, you know, to be honest.

Again, that hot and cold type of analogy, which again is talked about in Revelation.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace and loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good for it, impartial and sincere, peacemakers who sow in peace, reap a harvest of righteousness.

That's kind of like in wisdom from the Proverbs and obviously wisdom from James as well.

And peacemakers and a lot of those kind of virtues and stuff, that's all talked about in the Beatitudes with Jesus' sermon in the mount.

So it's just like in the teachings of Jesus to all the rest of the teachings throughout the Bible, and showing what true wisdom is.

Yeah, just to elaborate on that, don't cover up the truth.

So many of us are in the habit of doing so whenever it doesn't fit in with our schedule.

Again, that's the whole theme of James is, do not conform to the world or secularism.

Don't make friendship with the world because friendship with the world is hostility towards God.

So again, don't be lukewarm, be hot, be on fire for God.

So chapter 4, again, the context is that quarrels were taking place in the church, as I already talked about in James 4.4 and in Matthew 5, I think we are called to be soft and light.

It's called to be different to the world and the different to the quarrels and arguments that take place.

The Bible says, humble yourselves before God.

I said humble, where did I?

You did?

Humble.

I wasn't sure whether to gloss over that.

I brought it up.

Humble.

Humble yourselves before God.

It's self-explanatory.

Yeah, pretty much.

And the Bible says to resist the devil and he will flee from you.

That's James, James chapter four.

Yeah, I think we kind of take that.

We either don't even consider that verse.

I think it was, I read this this week, CS.

Lewis said the greatest triumph of the devil was convincing the world that he didn't exist.

So in the world, we either say, like we almost take it too extreme.

Sometimes it's like, oh, the devil doesn't exist, or why I can't even resist him?

Like, what's the point in even trying?

I'm just gonna give in the temptation anyway.

So, but this verse clearly tells us if we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

Not because of who we are, but because of who we have in us.

We have the Holy Spirit in us.

Yeah, so it's knowing your enemy.

Yes.

But also knowing God is far greater and called to resist every single day of our lives.

We're in a battle.

Another verse within James chapter four is, wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Grieve, mourn and weal.

Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord.

You did it.

I can't say humble.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

That's ridiculous.

Okay, so what's that verse?

Tell us about it.

It's showing us kind of the severity of sin.

And like, you need to take your sin seriously.

Yeah.

I've definitely taken my sin too.

Like, oh, it's just a lie.

And you try to justify it, and at the end of the day, there's still sin.

It's still, like James said before, I think it was a chapter two we talked about, if you've committed one sin, you've broken the entire law.

Yes.

Or you've broken the law.

So it's a very serious thing.

And then we do need to humble ourselves before God as a result of that.

Yeah.

So can I remember whether that was James 2 or James 3?

Yeah, we went over those two quite fast.

James 2 or 3, was that their verse?

And then, so again, emphasis on your sin, but emphasis on God's grace.

But again, that just sounds like a very depressing verse.

Turn your laughter to mourning, your joy to gloom.

But at times it's something that we need to do.

We don't need to skip the stage of falling to our knees and confessing our sin.

So often we do that.

It's like, oh, I've got God's grace.

Well, in order to access God's grace, there needs to be the sin that precedes it.

So confess that first and then experience God's grace in its fullness.

So again, another verse is that God alone is the judge.

It seems like James is judging here though.

Like in his other verses that he's talked about?

Yeah, as in he's clearly looking at Judea, he's just saying what they're doing is wrong, or clearly saying, you know what I mean?

French, yeah.

So obviously he's coming from the divine input of the Lord.

So how would you elaborate on that as a person who's saying it?

God alone is judge, but God's told us in the Bible what he thinks is right and wrong.

Therefore that allows us to say, okay, this is right, this is wrong.

Again, how we go about doing that in a way that doesn't come across as a judgment.

Yes, that's where probably the debate lies, but we do have the, we do know what God, how God judges from his Bible, from his word.

We know how he judges, so then that we can again apply that to our lives.

Yeah, and the last verse of James is, if anyone wonders, the person who brings them back will save them from death.

Again, just ellipsis there, but it's saying the same thing, so read that fully to get a fuller understanding.

But it's talking about how there is an ownership on us to bring one another back, and Galatians 6 talks about, if any views are overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore one another.

So again, there's clearly an ownership on us to hold one another accountable, and that's one of the greatest gifts that we can do.

Whenever someone holds you accountable, your default should be saying that's love.

That's love being manifested.

And then, so one of the last verses of James 4 is, What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes, and then do not worry about tomorrow.

You get in that there verse.

So what do you think of that?

Again, James likes his poetry, doesn't he?

He's got the ocean, he's got mist.

Does he not say about tumbling a sword as well?

I don't know if that's specific.

He does talk about the tongue and the danger.

The tongue and the danger and the mirror as well.

So he likes his metaphors anyway.

You'd probably be better equipped to talk about that.

He's clearly talking about the elusiveness of life and what we have.

Francis Chan is good at that with the Ropinology, but we won't go into that.

But again, talking about the temperance of it.

So chapter 5.

So a verse between chapter 5 is, be patient in waiting for the Lord's return.

Yeah, so we always need to remind ourselves, like Jesus said, I will come again soon, but then we know time works differently for God.

But he could return any minute.

So it's up to us to be ready for his return.

And we always need to be living in expectation of that.

So not in sin, following his word, taking responsibility for our actions, and trying to be more like Christ when he does return.

And we can know that we've done what he said.

Yeah, Paul said to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Yes.

I think it's Philippians.

And so that's an amazing verse, which is talking about, again, doesn't mean that we go to a graveyard and dig it up and lie in it and wait.

That's not what it's talking about.

But it's talking about my perspective, my focus is I would rather be with God, because that's the pinnacle.

But the reason why I'm here, the only reason why I'm here, is to accomplish God's purpose, which is to grow closer to Him and glorify Him in everything that I do.

And it talks about, again, endurance within this chapter.

It talks a little bit about Job, as I alluded to earlier.

He's a brilliant character for talking about endurance.

And another verse is let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Yes.

Isn't that a plan to swear?

And quite often it's like, oh, I swear on my mother that this won't happen.

Don't say that.

Like it's just unnecessary.

Just as Christians, whenever we tell someone, this is something I was convicted about over the summer.

I'm usually quite late to things.

Yeah.

And that really worked.

I don't think if it's just like a casual greeting or casual meeting, I'll turn up whenever I want to.

I was listening to something over the summer and it listed this verse.

It's like, whenever you say you're going to be there at a certain time, you be there at a certain time.

People need to know that whenever you say something, you're going to follow through.

Because if they can trust you in little things, they'll trust you in the big things.

In regards to Christianity and how you live in general.

And again, we're called to live as Jesus lived.

Philippians 2, 2 Corinthians 3.

Anything he said, he did.

So we're called to follow the example.

So that's another example.

Is anyone among you in trouble?

Let them pray.

Is anyone happy?

Let them sing songs of praise.

Is anyone among you sick?

Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

So again, that's verses 13 to 14, James 5.

What do you think of that?

I think it's just again, practical wisdom for us, how that certain situation is within the church, within church life, because all these situations are inevitable at some stage.

Yeah.

Again, it's talking about like, pray, sing songs, first Thessalonians 5, and everything give thanks to the Lord for this is the will of God for your life.

So again, it's that.

So again, it seems like it's contradicting because the verse says, turn your laughter into mourning or that type of.

But again, it's the talking about kaisas.

There's just a time for everything.

There's a season for everything to laugh, to weep.

So when you're sin, you weep, and then you come out with this just abundant grace, and then you go and sing praises, etc.

Yeah.

So there's another verse that says, therefore confess your sins to each other.

I pray, sorry, the reason why I just started there is because there is something there that we could talk about, but I think that's a bit of a rabbit hole, so we're not going to talk about it.

A verse that is in James 5 says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Peter.

Yeah.

So Luke and I applied this over the summer in our community group.

So you just come together with a group of guys, and not a massive group that you don't feel comfortable with each other, but just a group, a small group.

I think we had seven of ours, so probably seven or less would be a good number.

And you just are completely honest with each other about your sin, whatever that means.

And that's not the only part it tells us about though, you have to pray for each other.

So together, whenever you're apart, you're praying for everyone in your community group, so that you can all be healed from this sin, because sin leads to death.

Yeah.

So getting a band of brothers that you're held accountable by, again, that accountability, it's all come in full circle within James, and talking about praying for one another.

Our prayers are powerful and effective, so confess our sins and bring sin into the light, as the Proverbs tells us to do.

Yeah.

So that's all of James.

We hope you go and read it now, because there's tons of wisdom in there to be gleaned, and if you can't be bothered with Proverbs, it's a nice alternative with New Testament wisdom.

Yeah.

So how would you summarize it?

Yeah.

Just in a line.

Okay.

To summarize James, I would say it's wisdom, it's knowledge, and it shows that you can't just say you have a faith.

You have to actually demonstrate to those around you, and then James tells you exactly how to demonstrate it.

So thank you very much for listening, guys, this week, and I hope you have a good week, and read your Bible tons.

Goodbye.

See you next week.