Or if you would, take your scriptures and let us turn to the letter of James. The letter or epistle of James. We begin a new series this day and we come to the letter of James. It's kind of, a lot of people don't know, but James is the Greek, actually comes from the Latin, but the Hebrew of James is Jacob. So this is the letter of Jacob, which makes sense since he says it's to the 12th tribe, right? But again, in the Hebrew, Yaakov is Jacob, Jacobus. and yet in the New Testament it is James. That's why James is so prominent as a name in the New Testament. But we begin James today with an introduction. We'll only be looking at the first verse and just the introduction in verse 2 of My Brethren. And we want to consider, again, this one that has been used by the Lord, and who He is, and what kind of man He is. And we want to look at that for instruction today before jumping into the letter, embody the letter proper. But before we come to the reading of God's Word, and the preaching of God's Word, let us seek the Lord's help and prayer. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Word. We thank You for the wisdom that You have bestowed in Your Word. We thank You for teachers and preachers of Your Word, O Lord, that they might expound the truths of Your Scripture in a clear way and apply them to our lives practically And as we do so Lord, we do pray that you would pour forth your spirit that we again the realities and the truths of your word would go down deep that again It would move through our whole body and veins and be part of our very being in our life Lord that we would see your word is that life blood that runs throughout our Again, as the Puritan John Bunyan, they said that he, I think Spurgeon said he bled Babylon, that the Bible is running through us. Your Word, again, gives life, O Lord, and we pray that You would bless Your Word to Your people. this day and this letter in particular, as we open it up this day and we continue on in it, that it would be a word of life unto your people and it would revive us and refresh us and restore us and especially our relationships with one another. We pray that you bless your word to your people this day. We pray in Christ's holy and blessed name. Amen. And now, brothers and sisters, if you're willing and able, please stand in honor of the reading of God's holy word. It comes to us from James, beginning in chapter one. I do remind you, Church of God, this is the word of your God. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings, my brethren. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God, it stands forever. Please be seated. Who are you? This is a very pointed question, isn't it? Who are you? But it's also a very profound one. How we answer such a question says a lot about how we see ourselves, how we perceive ourselves, how we identify ourselves. John Calvin, in his infamous Institutes of the Christian Religion, begins right here, of knowing yourself and of knowing God. Calvin says to know God is to know yourself. And to know yourself is to know God. To truly know yourself is to know God. And so considering ourselves and the kind of estimation that we have of ourselves is very practical in how we think, how we speak, how we behave, and again, how we respond to God and respond to others. And so this brings us right to where we want to go now and plant ourselves for a while in the letter of James. Now, why James? Why study James? Why study this letter of James? Well, I'm going to give you four Ps to answer this question. First of all, because James is a very practical book, a very practical letter. It speaks truth for life. It focuses us on the working out of our faith. It seeks the behavior behind our beliefs. It is also a pastoral book, not only practical, but pastoral. It becomes quite clear that the author is deeply concerned with the average Christian's daily struggle against the pressures of this life. the tug of temptation, the subtle suggestion of compromise. James desires to help you right where you are. So why James? Well, because it's practical, because it's pastoral, because this letter is also very penetrating. It's very penetrating for it plunges down directly to the heart with soul searching truth. James probes the depths of the inner man, how we think, how we feel, how we are inconsistent, with how we think and feel and act. He speaks of patience, of doubt, of our instability, of humility, of our loss of drive and pursuit, of our resisting inward temptation, of our being drawn away into sin by our own ungodly desires, of how we move from desire to sin to death. He deals with anger, He promotes the implanted word of God in our hearts. He tells of our proclivity towards self-deception. He commends self-reflection. He reminds us how forgetful we can be and considers how someone who thinks they are one thing when they actually are not, they are something else. Therefore, their self-perception is distorted. And brothers and sisters, that is only chapter one. That is chapter one of the letter of James. James, again, is very probing. Why James? Because James begins, brings us face to face with ourselves. who we truly are, but also helping us focus on how we ought to be pure and holy as our God is pure and holy. And how we are to treat one another as brothers and sisters in the family of God. James is a letter about relationship. the responsibilities of the haves and how they are to care for the have-nots. We are to be impartial in our courtesy and care of others. He emphasizes the duty of loving your neighbor. He scorns a profession of faith which fails in love and compassion and applauds the life that risks itself for the sake of those who are at risk. He warns against feelings which imperil fellowship as well as words which denigrate a brother or sister. You are to pay your debts. You are to guard your reactions. You are to minister to the sick and the ill, share with the distressed and urgently pursue those who stray from the truth. James is packed full of practical, pastoral, penetrating truth, which makes this letter, the last P, pertinent. Pertinent. It is relevant for you and me. Relevant doesn't fit with the P, so I said pertinent. But anyways, it is relevant for our lives. It is what we need as we confess one thing and do the opposite. James calls us to consistency. He doesn't allow faith to merely profess without works to attest to that faith, to confirm it. He reminds us that faith without her necessary works is dead, and that is not a saving faith. Is what we possess only a belief? that does not bear the true godly fruit of a transformed behavior? So why? So this is the why of James. This is the why of James. But before we go any further with the why, we want to first turn to the who. We shift from the why to the who. Who is the writer of this letter? Who is the man behind the message? And so to introduce the beginning of a study of this letter, what better place to begin than at the beginning, where its author introduces himself. He also introduces the one for whom or whose behalf he is writing, as well as his audience. Introductory matters. It's like the envelope in which a letter comes that tells you from whom and to whom, but also on behalf of whom. Which brings us to our primary point for our message today, which is the qualities of a faithful servant. the qualities of a faithful servant. And we'll consider our text in this primary point under three further points today. And although the words before us in James 1.1 are very plain, yet they are also quite profound and instructive. These are things when we're reading, we usually just pass right over. But remember, this too is the word of God. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Greetings, my brethren. And so our first point is James has a lowly view of himself. James has a lowly view of himself. Before we begin our passage, we need to identify which James. Like I said, James is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Jacob. So Jacob, being the father of the 12 tribes and the 12 sons of Israel herself, changed his name to Israel. Again, it was a very popular name. There's all kinds of Jameses when you read the New Testament. Which James are we talking about? And again, James only identifies himself as a bondservant. So as we think through this, again, scholars have come to a pretty well consensus on this. The first James we want to discuss is the brother of John, the son of Zebedee. Remember, James and John were called the sons of thunder by the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you recall that James, John's brother, was killed very early by a Herod. He was killed by Herod. So it's very unlikely that this is the James that we have here. There was also of the twelve James the son of Alphaeus, like James the son of Zebedee, another James the son of Alphaeus that we don't really know much about except for he's among the twelve. He was called by Jesus Christ among the twelve disciples. He's there in the upper room. But other than that, we don't know anything about James Alphaeus. Then there is James the father of Judas, Judas being another disciple and yet distinguishes him His father being James is a distinguishing mark that distinguishes him from Judas Iscariot. And again, we don't know anything about his father. But then there is James, the brother of our Lord. James, the brother of our Lord. We read in Matthew chapter 13, verse 55, as Jesus is at Nazareth, it says, Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? And so again, scholars are pretty much understanding of the reality that this letter is from James, the actual earthly brother of our Lord. If you recall that James did not believe in his older brother Jesus during his earthly ministry. The Apostle John says that he came to his own and his own received him not. And John 7 says even his brothers, his earthly brothers, did not believe in him. And yet he obviously experienced belief and conversion at a later time in his life in the New Testament since he is among those gathered in the upper room with Christ's disciples, and they are praying together in Acts chapter 1 verse 14. So what is it that affected the change from unbelief to faith in this man's heart? And there's only one answer that the Bible gives, that like with Saul of Tarsus, the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, appeared to his brother James. Actually, the Apostle Paul, he actually tells us probably more about James than anybody else, and they pit Paul and James together. And yet Paul tells us more about this man James than anyone else. But he says in 1 Corinthians 15, 7, after he had appeared to Peter, he also was seen by James, And then, by all the apostles, he's referring to James, the earthly brother of Jesus. And so we need to praise the Lord that when the Lord Jesus reveals Himself to the unbelieving heart, then faith is born in the heart, transforming us from unbelief to belief in the glorious, risen, victorious Lord Jesus Christ. But James was also a leader. of the church in Jerusalem. He was a leader in the church of Jerusalem. Actually, Paul refers to him as a pillar because others had seen him and John and Peter as pillars. We read about that and we say that in Galatians. James is one of the primary speakers at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. And so James was a man of profound prominence among God's people. He was a pronounced leader, and yet consider closely how he defines himself here in this eternal God-inspired letter. James, a servant. James a servant. The word servant or bondservant literally means slave. It is the word doulos in the Greek. It conveys the idea of a person deprived of personal freedom and under the total, that is the whole person, control of his master. And again, not a slave by constraint or compulsion, but willingly and voluntarily a slave. This reminds us that salvation is a total giving up to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says to the Corinthians, you are not your own. In redemption, redemption is paying a price and you have been purchased, you have been redeemed, you have been saved, you have been bought, what? By the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, brothers and sisters, you are not your own. You belong to God. And the sole purpose today for your existence is to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." This is a sanctifying truth. And this is the kind of man James is. It is remarkable that James is content to call himself a slave. Think about the titles that he could have used of himself in the opening address here. He could have said, James, the senior pastor of the church of Jerusalem. That gives him some prominence, right? He might have said, James, a pillar in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. A pillar. He may have said, James, a son of Mary. That would have went a long way with being a Catholic, would it not? James, the son of the mother of our Savior. He could have said, James, a brother of Jesus Christ. Was he not a brother of Jesus Christ? The Scripture says he was. And although James is a man of notable authority, Yet he is content to describe himself as a servant. Again, I wonder how much of the spirit of James abides in us. Do we not all have an insatiable appetite for appreciation? For accolades? For praise? The Apostle says to the Romans, for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who's among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. That is something we all struggle with, brothers and sisters. I know you do because I do. We think more highly of ourself. And although we make some advancement in grace, let us remember what do we have that we have not received as a gift. Not a reward, a gift, something we do not deserve. And the apostle says, if we have indeed received it, why do we boast as if we didn't receive it? It's just who we are. So let this mind be in us as it was in our Lord, as is in James. He had a lowly view of himself. Again, let us be reminded that even the highest office in the church is that of a servant. If you want to be great, the Lord Jesus said, you will become the least of all. So here then is a qualification, the character of a faithful servant of the Lord. Here is one with a humble view of himself, a lowly view of himself, James, a servant. But secondly, James also has a lofty view of his Lord, He has a lofty view of his Lord, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. James serves again the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, El Elyon. He serves Elohim, the creator of all. He serves Jehovah, the covenant God of Israel. He serves El Shaddai, God Almighty, the highest holy one who alone is worshiped, magnified. He is praised and honored and glorified. And let us recognize again that the lowest service under God himself is honorable. The lowest Service under God is honorable. This is why to be a servant of God was a great honor in the Jewish culture. As we look back of those referred to as servants, we think of the father of faith. Abraham was a servant of God. Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joshua, Caleb, The prophets were servants of the Lord. Isaiah, Daniel, they were all servants of the Lord. Israel herself was a servant of the Lord. Those that are referred to the servants more often than not is the man Moses, the servant of God. And David, my servant, God says. In the New Testament, you've got Paul, you've got Peter, you've got John, you've got Epaphras, Tychicus, Timothy, Jude, and others. Every one of them bore the title of doulos, which is a slave or a servant. So taking this title, James numbered himself with those who are honored, not because of who they are, but because of who they serve. Because of who they serve, the living God. Again, it is the highest honor to serve God. It is the highest honor and privilege to serve God. James uses this same term to show that he stands in the same sacred office as God's prophets, preachers, and teachers. God's spokesmen, his heralds, his ambassadors, his representatives. His authority to speak comes from the author himself, who possesses full authority in and of himself. One has said this, if God calls you to be a servant, then do not stoop to be a king. To be a servant of God is an honorable position, an honorable office. There isn't one more honorable. If God calls you to be a servant, then do not stoop to be a king. But notice who James puts in the same position as his master, not only God, but also the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see James's theology. A lot of people will say, I serve God. I worship God. And they pray to God. but do they also serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Here is James' theology, his loyalty, his love. James did not believe, again, in his brother Jesus at first, but following his victorious, glorious resurrection, he appeared to James And like Saul of Tarsus, Jesus knocked his earthly brother off his high horse. James now publicly acknowledges his brother, Jesus, as his master, as his Lord, as his King. Christ means the Mashiach, the Messiah. That's what the word means. It's not Jesus' last name. It means Jesus is the Messiah, the Mashiach of Israel, the King, the Son of David, the King of Kings, the Savior. Jesus is both Master and Messiah. Jesus is both Master and Messiah. You see, James is another Jonathan. James is another Jonathan. Last Lord's Day, we discussed Jonathan, the son of King Saul, being a premier example of a brother to David. He humbled himself and offered allegiance to David as the true king. Jonathan was in the position of being the crown prince, of being the next in line to the throne. And he set that aside and elevated the one whom God had chosen and had anointed and promised, and that was David. He humbled himself. He considered himself, again, nothing. And here, James also shows the key to true brotherhood. He was literally a brother of Jesus. And yet when he describes himself, that is who he is, what his testimony, his confession, his answer, he says, I am James, a servant, a servant, a willing bond servant to my master and king, Jesus. James serves his brother because that is what a true brother does. That's what we learned last time when we talked about brotherhood. Not every servant is a brother, my friends, but biblically speaking, every brother is to be a servant to his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus, as the elder brother, served his brothers to the highest and deepest degree that a brother can, and that was he gave his own life for his brothers. Therefore, James now willingly gives up his life for the service of his brother and master and king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we are called to do, is it not? Christ has given himself to us, therefore we need to give ourself in service to him. That's how we are to serve. Again, we are to serve our brothers and sisters. In fact, James' service toward God is now accepted and received because of Jesus. It was through the merits of Christ that James' work for God was accepted. We are accepted in the Beloved, the Apostle Paul says. The author of Hebrews says that you are made complete in every good work to do God's will. How? Through Jesus Christ. Paul says, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We are his workmanship, how created in Jesus Christ. James serves God and Christ, but he also serves God in and through Christ. Not only is James accepted in Christ, but he's assisted by Jesus, isn't he? He's assisted by Jesus. James confidently sought the assistance of Christ. Without Christ, we are overcome with feelings of incompetence because we are bought in of ourselves. Paul says, who is sufficient for these things? And yet, he also declares, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is why James served, ministered, preached, and taught This is why James did not fear. He could speak boldly because he knew that whatever God called him to, He would strengthen him to perform in and through His Son. And this is the very same promise you have today as His children. Whatever God calls you to, He will provide all you need to perform it because you serve God through Jesus Christ. James is a servant. He is a servant of God, and he is a servant of God for the sake of Christ. And for this same reason, we take our servanthood from Christ. Is not the Lord Jesus Christ the servant of servants? He said, I have come not to be served, but to serve and give my life a ransom for many. So James has a humble view of himself, but he also has a lofty view of his Lord. And finally, those qualities that make for a faithful servant, third and finally, that we see in this opening passages, James has a loving concern. for his brethren." James has a loving concern for his brothers and sisters. To whom did James write? James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. The 12 tribes of, in the Greek, the word scattered abroad is the word diaspora. It recalls back to the captivity of God's people in which they were exiled out of the land. They went into captivity in 722 to the Assyrians and then in 586 to the Babylonians. And yet, With the coming of Christ in Acts 2.5, there was a return to the land, and yet there were still many that were scattered abroad in every nation. And we read in Acts 2.5 on the day of Pentecost, and they were dwelling in Jerusalem. The Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. These Jews had been converted by the mercy of God, and they had now come back to Jerusalem. They had been scattered. So James addresses Christians of Jewish descent who were living outside of Israel, scattered for the gospel's sake. They were also scattered because of persecution. We read of the persecution in Acts 8, again, because of Saul's Tarsus. And then also in Acts 11, persecution scattered them. And everywhere they went, they went proclaiming the word of gossiping or gospeling the gospel. So clearly James ministered to physical Israel after the dispersion. But the question is, is that all? Is it just them and no one else? Is James not also writing and speaking to us as well? He speaks beyond physical Israel of God. He also speaks to the spiritual Israel as well. Both physical and spiritual Israel. We are the Israel of God. We've studied that. We've seen that in Galatians. We've studied it in Sunday school. The twelve tribes that have been scattered, it is a term to speak of every child of God, every brother and sister in Christ. Remember, Paul said that if you are united in faith with Jesus Christ, you are a son, a daughter of Abraham. For the last 2,000 years, the saints have been scattered, sometimes by persecution, also the cause of preaching the gospel. But in every corner of this globe, you will find the saints of God, the Israel of God. Church history can be very sad. Scattered homes, families, persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Most have endured much for Christ's sake. In many instances, our forefathers were afflicted every single day. And notice how God moves James to minister to such as these. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into trial. He is James, a servant of God for this very purpose, to minister to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. And again, this reminds us that God never forgets or loses His scattered children. Why? Because He sent His servant to gather them. Ultimately, Jesus. But then He has His underservants as well, under Christ, to gather us together. to preach and speak his word. It also reminds us of God's promise to regather us together to himself in Christ. Does not matter where you are today. It matters not how you got there. It matters not what state you find yourself in. God moves his servants to minister to those who are scattered abroad, whether that is physically scattered or even in our own lives, our own inconsistencies, our own struggles and trials that we have is our minds scattered. If we can't see, we can't hear. Again, we have a hard time thinking straightly. Notice how James is used by God in Christ to minister to the needs of his people. James is intimately connected to us. Again, these, again, we are his brethren, his brothers and sisters. That's how he addresses us. He takes personal possession. My brothers, he says, my beloved, dear brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ. He's speaking intimately to us. He's one of us that's been raised up by the Lord as a servant to come and to teach and to preach to us. And yet, he can be extremely frank and bold, some think even rude, when he addresses them as, perhaps us, as adulterers and adulteresses. He speaks of you rich. Why such extremes? Because in James' estimation, we are family. And who but family can be so blunt and seemingly callous, but also be affectionate and caring? It is one who is concerned. who is invested in the relationship to a deep degree. It is one who is a brother and also a servant. Here is one called to speak, to preach, to teach, to counsel, to care, to be concerned for you and your struggles in your relationship with God and in your relationship with one another. Do you see, brothers and sisters, how James is an example to us? Remember, the Apostle Paul says that you, again, to be like your God, but you can do so as you follow me. Imitate me as I imitate Christ." James is an example to us all. So this is where James begins with an introduction of himself, a man transformed from being an unbeliever to becoming a believer, a brother in Christ and a leader among God's people. but primarily a servant. How do we lead among God's people? Men, here in the congregation, how do you lead your families? By being a servant. By being a servant, first and foremost, of God. Notice James doesn't say he's a servant of the people, he is. But if he is truly to serve them well, he must serve God. you must serve God. Not being men-pleasers, but serve them and serve the will of God. Remember what Jesus said. Who is my mother, my brother, and my sister? The one who does the will of God. That reality, those words that James probably heard from the lips of his brother, again, is why he goes to the extent that he does in writing to us. He is seeking to do the will of his heavenly master, to do his will. and therefore that we too would follow in doing the will of God. Here then are the qualities of a faithful servant, which we all should seek to emulate. He was humble and lowly concerning himself. He had a very high view of his Lord and Savior, his God. And so is it any coincidence that he has a loving concern for his brothers and sisters, the saints of God? My friends, as we think of James, do our minds don't, do they not turn in faith toward another who exudes these same qualities to a much greater and grander degree? As we've already noted, as we think of one who has a lowly consideration of himself, remember our Lord, who made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant. He became the servant of servants, the suffering servant of God. As we think of James having a lofty view of God, there was no one that had a higher view of his God and Father than did the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we think of the loving concern that this man James has, it is nothing of the love that Jesus himself has for you. James points us to His Lord, His Master, His King, His God, so that we too would desire to become faithful servants in order to please Him who we too serve. James is here to help us become better servants of God and better servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then ask yourself, What kind of estimation do you have of yourself? What kind of estimation do I have of myself? What kind of estimation do I have of my God and heavenly Master and King? And what kind of concern and love do I have for those sitting around me, those around me and amongst me, my brothers and sisters? May God help us all to see ourselves as we really are through his eyes, his perspective. May he help us to see him as he really is, as he truly is. And may he put a pulse, a passionate pulse, and a burning desire in our hearts to love one another as we ought. As brothers and sisters, in the family of God. For indeed, this is well pleasing in our Lord's eyes. Well done, my good and faithful servant. This, these words, again, from the Lord's lips, this was James' greatest desire to hear. Well done, my good and faithful servant. May this be our desire as well. Amen. Let us pray. Our gracious and holy Father, we thank you for your word. And we pray, Lord, that you would bless your word to us, your people, this day. Lord, we aren't who we want to be, but thank the Lord, thank you, Father, that we are not who we were. We pray now as we begin this study into this letter, that we would again, that you would pierce our hearts and open them up, that we again might have refreshed and renewed and restored hearts. Renew your people. Oh father that we might be happy humble and that as we become humble you would pour and shower your grace Upon us your people your church Your servants here at Knox and we pray it in Christ. Holy and precious name. Amen