All About James

James, a bond-servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

to the twelve tribes who are dispersed aboard: Greetings. James 1:1

If you say that you “believe,” why do you act as though you don’t? That seems to be the main issue that prompts James to write this letter. Generally speaking, the book of James is not considered a great doctrinal treatise. For example, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ appears only twice in the entire letter, and once here in verse one. The author never mentions the cross, the resurrection, or the Holy Spirit. It seems that this letter was not written for the purpose of establishing the doctrines of the faith (although, there are great truths taught in it). As Chuck Swindoll has written:

You won’t hear any mysterious, stained-glass theological discussions in the hallowed halls of this inspired letter, only grass-stained advice from someone following Christ in the grass-roots of life!

The intention of James is to drive home the importance of living out the truth in a practical way.

HEARTFELT PRAYER - PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11

One of the great men of prayer in Christian history was George Mueller (1805-1898) who spent his life in the service of Christ in London. After a dissolute early life, he was converted during a prayer meeting in 1825. Mueller came to London in 1829 to train for missionary service among the Jews. He decided to stay in England and eventually focused his attention on the needs of children.

There he established an orphanage in Bristol which grew from a rented house into a complex of buildings. He renounced a regular salary and refused throughout the rest of his life to make any requests for financial support either for himself or for his philanthropic projects. He depended entirely on prayer. He also kept a notebook with two-page entries. On one page he gave the petition and the date. On the opposite page he entered the date of the answer. Mueller testified that in his lifetime 50,000 specific prayers were answered. Prayer was the secret of George Mueller’s productive life for Christ (Harbour pp.15).

Like George Mueller, the Apostle Paul was also a man of prayer. Last week we said that one of the ways that Paul expressed his thankful spirit was through prayer. In verses 3-8 we were given insight into the why and how of Paul’s prayer life. Why did Paul pray for the Philippians? Because of the fond memories he had with them; because of the firm confidence he had that God would continue to work in them; and because of the feelings of love he had for them.

How did Paul pray for the Philippians?

q Joyfully – “with joy”
q Constantly – “always”
q Repeatedly – “in every prayer”
q Individually – “for you all”

Paul also prayed for them specifically…“And this I pray,” this is the what of prayer.
What did Paul specifically pray for on behalf of the Philippians? I see four specific requests in v.9-11…..

THE THANKFUL HEART - PHILIPPIANS 1:3-8

For what are we most thankful? Most would say they are thankful for friends and family.

q William Barclay – British Scholar wrote in his autobiography that he was thankful, “that being such as he was, he had the friends he had.”
q Helen Keller – expressed her thankfulness in these words, “I thank God for my handicaps for through them I have found myself, my work and my God.”
q One little boy said – “I’m thankful for my glasses because they keep the boys from hitting me and the girls from kissing me!”
(Quoted by Harbour, pp. 15-16)

The Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Philippians by expressing what he was thankful for – I thank my God in all my remembrance of you (v.3). In fact, this was not unusual, because Paul opened many of his letters this way. For example,

q In 1 Corinthians 1:4 he wrote – “I thank my God always concerning you…”

q In Ephesians 1:15-16 he wrote – “I also…do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers”…

q In Colossians 1:3 he wrote – “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you”…

q In 1 Thessalonians 1:2 he wrote – “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers”…

q In 2 Timothy 1:3 he wrote – “I thank God…as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day”…

q In Philemon 4 he wrote – “I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers”…

These were not just trite, obligatory opening remarks. Rather, they were statements of Paul’s true feelings toward the believers to whom he was writing. In fact I believe that one of the keys to Paul’s spiritual success was his thankful spirit – attitude of gratitude. So when Paul says to the Philippians, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,” he was expressing something that was real and meaningful! This is all the more remarkable when you recall the circumstances surrounding his first encounter with the Philippians (Acts 16:16-40).

How can Paul be thankful for his memories of the Philippians? Two key words help us to understand this ability.

FROM PAUL WITH LOVE - PHILIPPIANS 1:1-2

Bill Adler in his book entitled, Dear Pastor, shared some letters that were written by children of various ages to their pastor. I want to share a few of those with you.

q From eleven year old Ralph, “Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished.”

q From ten year old Anthony, “Dear Pastor, I would like you to marry me and my girlfriend when we get married someday.” Then he added this postscript, I’ll let you know when I find a girlfriend.”

q From nine year old Susan, Dear Pastor, please say a prayer for my teacher. She is sick and if you say a prayer, she would get better and come back to school.” Then she added this postscript, The other kids in my class said I shouldn’t write this letter.”

Nothing is more enjoyable than receiving a letter from a friend or family member. A letter is an intimate expression of the feelings and desires and interests of one person to another. The book of Philippians is most assuredly a warm personal letter from the Apostle Paul to his dear friends in Philippi. What makes this letter special is that its contents are inspired by the very Spirit of God and a part of the Canon of Scripture.

(ALMOST) EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PHILIPPIANS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK!

When you ask people what they are missing in their lives today, many will tell you that it is real joy and peace! That is because things like circumstances, people, things and worry have taken control of their lives and have robbed them of their joy and peace. This loss of joy and peace results in personal pain, personal suffering, personal trials and broken personal relationships.

This is why a study of Philipiians is always timely. The book of Philippians helps to remind us how we can experience real joy and peace and how we can be victorious over worry that comes from people, things and circumstances. If we approach this wonderful little Epistle with an open mind and a desire to learn we will be reminded of blessings that come from experiencing the joy and peace of God.

By way of introduction, our first post is entitled “(Almost) Everything You Wanted to Know About Philippians but Were Afraid to Ask.”

New Series - Philippians

I haven't had very much time lately to transcribe my sermons from Joshua, so I am going to share with you a series of sermons (already transcribed) I gave from Philippians. I will continue to work through Joshua, but I will try to post two or three sermons from Philiipians each week. I hope you enjoy.

As always in each series I like to give you a list of resources that I used in preparation for each sermon.

GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PHILIPPIANS BIBLE STUDY

CORPORATE SOLIDARITY PT. 2 - JOSHUA 7:10-26

In our last post, we began looking at Joshua chapter 7, recognizing that God takes sin seriously and that He sometimes holds the entire body accountable for the sin of individuals. Such is the case with Israel and the sin of Achan.

Joshua 7:1
1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan,…took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.NAS

This concept is called “corporate solidarity” and it is found in various places throughout the pages of Scripture (2 Chronicles 7:14; Nehemiah 1; Daniel 9; 1 Corinthians 5ff.). What is played out in Joshua 7 is the realization of this corporate solidarity in the life of Israel.

**Now, as we stated previously, there are six elements to the story, in the last post we looked at the first three, in this post we will look at the final three.

Element #1 – The Disobedience of Achan – v.1

Element #2 – The Defeat at Ai – v.2-5

Element #3 – The Dismay of Joshua – v.6-9

Element #4 – The Direction from the Lord – v.10-15
In verses 10-15 the Lord speaks to Joshua directly (as He has done previously), as He directs Joshua He does three things.

(1) He gave Joshua a mild rebuke –v.10

10 So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
The Lord had allowed Joshua and the Elders to stay on their faces until they got their frustration out of their system and when they finally came to an end to themselves, God said, “Get up, it is time to deal with the reason for the defeat.” There is a time to pray and then there is a time to act. Now it was time for Joshua to get up off of his face and to act.

(2) He explained to Joshua the reason for the defeat –v.11-13

11 "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.

CORPORATE SOLIDARITY PT. 1 - JOSHUA 7:1-9

Joshua is a book of successes, recounting the Lord’s faithfulness in bringing Israel into the land. Joshua 7 however, is an exception to that theme. In fact, the first word in the chapter signals that something is not quite right. “But,” a word of contrast is used to illustrate that we are going to go from the mountain top of victory at Jericho to the valley of defeat at Ai. The positive end of chapter 6 is quickly shattered by the sin of Achan in chapter 7.

The corporate consequences of this one man’s sin are nearly devastating to the nation and Joshua, its leader. As we look at this story it becomes clear that God takes sin seriously and that He often holds the entire body accountable for the actions of individuals. This concept is called “corporate solidarity” and we find it throughout the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 7:14; Nehemiah 1; Daniel 9) and the New Testament as well (1 Corinthians 5).

We will be discussing the implications of this concept as the story of Achan’s sin unfolds before us. There are six elements on which we will be focusing.