JAMES 1
15 Outlines
JAMES 1:2-4
COUNT IT JOY!
ATTITUDE TOWARDS TRIALS
Vs. 2
ASSESSMENT OF TRIALS Vs.
3
ACTION IN TRIALS Vs. 4
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James 1:2-8
GOT PROBLEMS?
COMPLIANCE WITH GOD'S PLAN - Vs. 2
When troubles
abound comply with God's plan. Count them as joy!
COMFORT FROM GOD'S PURPOSE - Vss. 3-4
God's purpose for allowing you to go through trials is
so that you will become perfect or mature.
COMMITMENT TO GOD'S PROCEDURE - Vs. 5
When you don't know what to do during trials, ask God.
He'll show you.
CONFIDENCE IN GOD'S PROVISION - Vss. 6-8
We are to ask in faith,
confident that God will answer.
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James 1:2-8
THERE’S A REASON
THERE’S A REASON FOR PRAISE – Vss. 2-3
THERE’S A REASON FOR PATIENCE – Vs. 4
THERE’S A REASON FOR PRAYER – Vss. 5-8
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James 1:2-8
HANDLING TRIALS
COUNT ALL TRIALS AS JOY
- Vs. 2
CONSIDER ALL TRIALS AS
VALUABLE - Vs. 3
CONCEDE TO THE WORK OF
PATIENCE - Vs. 4
CALL CONFIDENTLY ON GOD
FOR WISDOM - Vss. 5-8
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James 1:2-8
WHEN TROUBLES STRIKE
A COMMAND TO FOLLOW -
Vs. 2 - Count it joy!
A CAUSE FOR JOY - Vs. 3
- Trials lead to the development of patience.
A COURSE OF ACTION -
Vss. 4-5
1. Let patience have her
perfect work so that you become mature. Vs. 4
2. Ask God for wisdom.
Vs. 5
A CHALLENGE FOR FAITH -
Vss. 6-8
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James 1:2-12
EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
THE PLACE OF PATIENCE - Vss. 2-4
THE PLACE OF PRAYER - Vss. 5-8
THE PLACE OF POSITION - Vss. 9-11
THE PLACE OF PERSISTENCE - Vs. 12
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James 1:5-8
SEEKING GOD'S GUIDANCE
ASK FOR GOD'S LEADING Vs. 5
ASSUME THAT GOD WILL ANSWER (Vss. 5-6a)
AVOID THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNBELIEF
No answer - Vs. 7
Instability - Vs. 6b,8
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James 1:5-8
A DAILY PRAYER
There are many things we
do daily. We get up. We eat, We sleep. We wash. We
brush our teeth. We get dressed. We talk We smile. etc.
Due to the many trials we
face as Christians (Vss. 2-4), there is another thing we should do daily. We should daily be asking the Lord for
wisdom.
THE CRY FOR WISDOM Vs. 5
THE COURAGE OF FAITH Vs. 6A
THE CONSEQUENCES OF
DOUBT Vss. 6b-8
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James 1:9-15
REASONS
REASONS TO REJOICE -
Vss. 9-11
The Brother of Low
Degree Is Exalted - Vs. 9
The Rich Brother is
Humbled - Vss. 10-11
REASONS TO BE RELIABLE -
Vs. 12
The person who
faithfully endures trials will be rewarded.
REASONS TO RESIST - Vss.
13-15
God tempts nobody. Vs.
13
A tempted person is
someone who has been drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Vss. 14-15
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James 1:12
WHEN TRIALS CONFRONT US
"Blessed is the man
that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him."
ENDURE THE TRIAL -
"Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation:"
EYE THE REWARD -
"...for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life..."
EXPRESS YOUR LOVE -
"... which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."
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James 1:17-19
OUR GOD!
OUR GIVING GOD -
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...
OUR GREAT GOD -
"...and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.
OUR GRACIOUS GOD -
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
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James 1:17-22
A WONDERFUL LIFE
GIFTS FROM GOD - Vs. 17
God sends good and perfect gifts.
GRACE FROM GOD - Vs. 18
We were born again by the word of truth.
GROWTH FOR GOD - Vss. 19-22
1.
Control anger - Vss. 19-20
2.
Lay sin aside - Vs. 21a
3.
Receive God's Word humbly - Vs. 21b
Be a doer, not just a hearer - Vs. 22
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James 1:18-27
THE SERMON SAMPLER’S GUIDE
James has something to say to those who listen to the
Word of God preached. He gives what I would call "The Sermon Sampler's
Guide”. James shows us that listening
properly to a sermon will involve:
REACTION TO THE SERMON - Vss. 18-20
Vs. 18 shows us that a man is forgiven of his
sin and saved when he is born again. The first birth was a natural birth. A
man’s second birth takes place when he acknowledges his sin, and trusts that
Jesus Christ paid for it all on cross of
James also points out that the new birth takes place
in response to the preaching of the "word of truth" or the word of
God. A person is influenced to trust Christ when the Word of God is preached
concerning salvation. It is the preaching of the cross from the Word of God
that is effective in leading people to Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:18
The ministry of the preached word does not end with
salvation. The Word of God is to be preached to those of us who are saved.
Preaching to the saved accomplishes other things besides salvation:
2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:2
Vs. 19 - Just as we were born into the family
of God by responding to the Word of Truth, we will grow spiritually as we
respond to the preaching of the Word of truth. There are three reactions we are
to have to the sermon in this verse.
1. Swift to Hear.
“Swift to Hear” means being ready willing, and able to
listen to what is being said.
I think of being swift to hear in two ways.
First, I am swift to hear if I show up to church
regularly.
By showing up, I am not only saying “I am here to
worship God.” I am also saying, “I am
here to listen to what God has to say through the speaker.”
The second way I must be swift to hear is my attitude
towards the sermon. I must force my mind
and my heart to listen to what is being said.
The reason that I am to be swift to hear is because
the Word of God is coming to me from God’s servant, using God’s Word, to bring
God’s message. We should actually be listening to hear what God has to say
through God’s man.
We should imitate the Thessalonians, of whom Paul said
in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: For this cause
also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God
which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in
truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh
also in you that believe.
2. Slow to Speak
Many of us speak before we think. The preacher says
something we do not like and our reaction is hasty.
The preacher isn’t always right, but often we react
before we have meditated on what he has said. How often have we thought someone
wrong when we’ve heard their ideas, but the more we thought about what they had
to say, the more we thought that they were right!
When we criticize a sermon before thinking it through
we are accomplishing some not so nice things.
·
We are sowing discord among the brethren in the
church.
·
We are giving our families a negative attitude about
the church and God’s servant.
·
We are setting ourselves up as another’s judge.
Check out what the preacher says with the Word of God.
If he’s wrong show him. If he’s right, do what the Word of God says.
3. Slow to
wrath
Sometimes the preacher will make us angry by what He
has said. Even if the preacher is
incorrect, the wrong kind of anger will accomplish nothing. Many times we are angry about what the
preacher has said because we are under conviction.
Vs. 20 tells us that there is a right kind of
anger. That anger is a righteous anger. But more often than not our anger is
man’s anger. We are personally hurt, personally bitter, personally holding a
grudge.
This anger is often present before the sermon begins.
Don’t expect to get much out of the sermon if you’re angry with the preacher
about something else.
RECEPTION OF THE SERMON - Vs. 21
Verse 21 is basically telling us to get rid of
anything we know to be sin in our lives. We are to confess it, and make it
right. 1 John 1:9
As we confess our sins we are helping our hearts to be
ready to receive the message that God has for us with a receptive heart.
James 1:21 - Wherefore
lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
The reception of the engrafted word is able to save
our souls.
Wait a minute!
I’m already saved!
Yes, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you
are.
However, the humbly received word received in good
soil will save you from the problems caused by sin now.
It will save you from a lot of grief.
REPRODUCTION OF THE SERMON - Vss. 22-29
What is a good sermon? A good sermon is one that sends
you out the door doing things differently than when you walked in the
door. The best sermon samplers take what
they have heard and reproduce it in their lives. A good sermon sampler is a
"doer of the Word".
James shows us at least 3 ways that a good sermon sampler
is a doer of the word:
The best sermon samplers take what they have heard and
reproduce it in their lives. They put the Word of God into shoe leather!
Vs. 22 – There are many samplers of sermons in
our churches, but there are few doers.
If you are just a hearer of the word and not a doer
you are fooling someone. You are not fooling God and you are probably not
fooling others. You are just fooling
yourself!
Vss. 23-24 – A person who is a hearer is like a
person who looks in a mirror and forgets what he looks like. A mere hearer of
the word looks into the mirror, the Word of God, and then walks away and
forgets what the Word of God says.
Vs. 25 - A doer of the Word looks into the perfect
law of liberty, the law of Christ, and does what the Word of God says and he is
blessed.
A doer of the Word is free to serve God the way He
should be served.
Vss. 26-27 contain a
challenge from James to the one who thinks that he is religious. A truly religious person does three things as
a doer of the Word.
1. He bridles his tongue. Vs. 26
2. He assists the fatherless and widows. Vs. 27
3. He keeps Himself pure and unspotted from the world.
Are you a good sermon sampler? If not, become a better one through:
REACTION TO THE SERMON
·
Swift to Hear
·
Slow to Speak
·
Slow to Wrath
RECEPTION OF THE SERMON - Vs. 21
REPRODUCTION OF THE SERMON - Vss. 22-29
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James 1:19-22
GLORIFYING GOD
God is glorified by the Christian when there is:
REACTION OF PATIENCE Vss. 19-20
REMOVAL OF SIN Vs. 21a
RECEPTION OF GOD'S WORD, Vs.
21b
RESPONSE TO GOD'S WORD Vs. 22
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JAMES 1:22-27
DOER OR HEARER?
There is a contrast in
this passage between a doer of the word and a mere hearer. Each of us who listen to the preaching of the
word of God are one or the other. Which are you?
COMMAND - Vs. 22
COMPARISON - Vss. 23-25
CONDUCT - Vss. 26-27
Control the tongue
Help the needy
Keep yourself pure
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