FBCMW, 19 July 09 Sunday School Lesson SS-James_1a.doc

LESSONS THIS QUARTER

1)  Jun 07 Gal 1:1-2:10 Talking about the Gospel

2)  Jun 14 Gal 2:11-3:25 Receiving the Gospel

3)  Jun 21 Gal 3:26-4:31 Living by the Gospel

4)  Jun 28 Gal 5:1-15 Claim your freedom

5)  Jul 05 Gal 5:16-26 Follow the Spirit

6)  Jul 12 Gal 6 Be Responsible

7)  Jul 19 James 1:1-18 When common sense isn’t enough

8)  Jul 26 James 1:19-27 How genuine are you?

9)  Aug 02 James 2:1-13 Let’s be fair about it

10)  Aug 09 James 2:14-26 Show me your faith

11)  Aug 16 James 3 How to sail through life

12)  Aug 23 James 4 Who is your best friend?

13)  Aug 30 James 5 How to live with confidence?

INTRODUCTION

Martin Luther vehemently opposed the Book of James calling it "an Epistle of straw, and destitute of an evangelic character". This was due to his mistaken idea that it (#Jas 2:14-26) opposes the doctrine of justification by faith, and not by works, taught by Paul

Authenticity. An especially strong proof of its authenticity is afforded by its forming part of the old Syriac version, which contains no other of the disputed books (Antilegomena, [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 3.25]), except the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Potential Authors

·  James the Apostle, son of Zebedee, brother of Apostle John
(but he was martyred by Herod not long after crucifixion)

·  James the less (also an Apostle), the son of Alpheaus (possible cousin to Christ, and could be called a ‘brother’)

·  James, the Lord’s half-brother

Other Items of Interest

·  The Epistle of James is considered the NT book of proverbs

·  James was stoned by the Sanhedrin, then clubbed to death (recorded by Josephus and Hegesippus, a 1st century Christian historian)

Passage / Comments
1:1 / ·  James doesn’t even acknowledge he was the half-brother of Jesus. He didn’t need to since his audience knew who he was
1:2 / ·  Count troubles as Joyous? Tough paradox
·  Other paradoxes in Scripture
w  We must give to receive
w  We must scatter to increase Prov 11:24
w  To save our life, we must lose it Lk 17:33
w  To be wise we must become fools 1Cor 3:18
w  To be exalted we must be humble Mt 23:12
w  The last shall be 1st, the 1st last Mt 20:16
w  We must die to live 2Cor 6:4,8-10
1:3-4 / ·  Faith à Patience à Maturity
1:5-8 / ·  Need Wisdom? Ask God
·  Ask “in faith” or with confidence that God will provide
·  God rewards those who diligently seek Him
- the reward is finding God Heb 11:6
1:9-11 / ·  Riches in life mean nothing
w  Food and clothing is all we need 1Tim 6:8
1:12 / ·  Motivation tool to endure the trials – Crown of Life also see Rev 2:10
1:13-16 / ·  Do not error ~ be not deceived, acknowledge proper perspective on where trials come from
1:17-18 / ·  God is the author of all good things
·  Yet, God also allows for accidents & calamity
Amos 3:6

APPLICATION FOR TODAY

God provides us with everything we need to be conformed into the image of His Son

·  Trials

·  Wisdom for the asking

·  Motivation through heavenly rewards

·  Ultimate goal à maturity

SUPPORTING PASSAGES

Amos 3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

1Tim 6:8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

NEXT WEEK

More proverbial tidbits of wisdom on

·  Hearing and speaking

·  God’s word saves

·  Vain religion

·  Pure religion

Posted to: http://fbcmw.org/oneil_ss.asp Page 1 of 1 Printed: 19 Jul 2009