The"American
Wisdom Series"
presents
Pamphlet #5134 KCJames10
Money?
Power? Ego?
What
good will any of those be to you when your life is suddenly over and you
die?
It is now time for a final reality
check!
"Come on now", says James!
Do you truly believe that your heavenly
Father is in complete control and that He alone has all power in heaven
and on earth?
Does not mere observation itself
confirm that our existence in these flesh bodies is but "a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).
Then what is there "under the sun"
that can be so "all fired" important?
Money? Power? Ego?
What good will any of those be to
you when your life is suddenly over and you die?
"Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,
all is vanity!" (Eccl. 12:8)
It is "high time" to place all things
in proper perspective because just ahead of us there is a time of great
tribulation approaching, a time of trouble "such as never was since there
was a nation..." (Daniel 12:1).
"Come on now!"
Time for a reality check!
Will you believe the very words
of Jesus Christ concerning the tribulation to come?
Matthew
24:21
For then shall
be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world
to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Do you SEE why it is James
opened his timely instruction book with the following words?
James
1:2
My brethren,
count
it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
[3]Knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Our faith is soon to be put
to the final test and we better realize that our Father is in complete
and total control and get our act together by exercising the patience that
can ONLY come from trusting in Him.
Let's start by not causing division
among ourselves, even that division which causes denominations to separate
us one from another.
James has already made it quite
clear that when we do that, even in ignorance, we break the perfect Law
of Liberty and the Judge who stands at the door will hold us accountable.
Do not allow yourself to be condemned
because you cannot let go.
Become mature in His Word which
alone can bridle the unruly waggly tongue!
James
5:9
Grudge not one
against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door.
The hour is late!
There is no time to waste bickering
with one another.
Why?
Remember in our last study what
James told us in verse 8?
James
5:8
Be ye also patient;
stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
We are going to NEED to be
PATIENT, and STRENGTHEN our hearts (minds) because... why?
The Day of Lord draws near!
The question is, "Are you putting
on the Gospel Armor (Eph. 6) and preparing to 'take a stand' or are you
busy making next year's business plans without including Him?"
(There is nothing wrong with making
wise
business plans.)
Another question is, "How will you
handle the coming tribulation?"
Listen to the wise brother of our
Lord and Savior!
[10]
Take,
my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for
an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Have you ever read Hebrews
chapter 11, often called the "faith chapter"?
What a "great cloud of witnesses"
(Heb. 12:1) we are surrounded by!
What great testimonies the prophets
gave to us as visible examples that we might SEE how the
trying
of faith worketh patience!
Are you not thrilled when you read
how they endured suffering and trials and tribulations and then emerged
victorious through the grace of the Lord who gave them that victory?
[11]Behold,
we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job,
and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy.
"Come on now!"
Think about this for they actually
DID IT!
We "count their trials and tribulations
as joy", don't we?
We read their testimonies, which
are but portions from the books of their lives, and we are thrilled with
their victory in Him.
So the question is, "What about
your testimony, your "book" that you are writing in "real time" as you
live your life?"
Would someone in the Millennium
who was reading your book, your testimony, about how you handled your trials
and tribulations be as thrilled as you are reading of our forefathers and
foremothers of old?
Do you SEE why and how it is that
in the "strengthening" of our hearts we can "count all our trials as JOY"
(James 1:2)? Consider Job!
What a story!
He lost everything he had "under
the sun" except his life, yet he would not curse God, the Judge who stands
at the door.
And because he endured with patience
he received a DOUBLE PORTION of all that he had before.
Job was a type, a forerunner (let
us run the race, Heb. 12:1) of God's elect.
Those who "endure to the end" with
patience and prayer in this final generation will also receive a "double
portion" as firstfruits.
BUT.... above all things!!!
James
5:12
But above all
things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth,
neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay;
lest ye fall into condemnation.
Again, our lives are but a
vapour and we are not the ones in charge, our Father is!
For example, can we swear by anything
that we can make our business plans work out for sure?
No, our Father who is in heaven
is the Lord GOD!
Of course we should not be doubleminded
and our word should be honorable and we should keep our words of yea, yea,
and nay, nay, when we give them, but on a deeper level what James is saying
is that our attitude should always be reverent towards our Father as in
"Yes sir, no sir, let it be according to thy will Father!"
Whether we have trials or whether
we don't we should always trust in Him and remember to show our love for
Him.
He is very, very good to His children
who love Him.
[13]
Is
any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Do you have hardships, trials,
and tribulations?
He knows!
Talk to Him about them.
That is what prayer is. Understand
the purpose of trials and tribulations.
How can there be a victory without
a struggle?
And if you become "merry" while
talking to Him because you "suddenly remember" James 1:2 and James 5:10
and you remember the prophets of old and you understand that you are in
the midst of writing your book, your testimony, then praise God and sing
psalms of joy for you know with certitude that He shall give you the victory!
Let "the author and finisher of
your faith" finish each chapter of your book.
Count it all joy!
Christ did!
Hebrews
12:2
Looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ counted His crucifixion
as JOY!
Why?
He KNEW WHY he was suffering (to
pay the price for you and me) and He KNEW where He was GOING, to sit down
at the right hand of the throne of God!
James
5:14
Is any sick
among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
The elders of the church are
those who are mature Christians, not mature of age but of wisdom and knowledge
in the Word.
They are known by their fruits,
not by their status.
It is an act of obedience and the
call of the sick to ask for the elders to come and pray and anoint them
with olive* oil
in the name of the Lord.
Why?
The olive oil is symbolic of the
Holy Spirit for it is the Lord, in whose name we pray, who does the healing.
The "elders" of church are mature enough to know full well they DO NOT
have power to heal!
*Olive = elaia, el-ah'-yah,
Greek 1636; feminine of a presumed derivative from an obsolete primary;
an olive (the tree or the fruit) :- olive (berry, tree).
The word "olive" contains both
"El" and "Yah", the names of God.
Isn't that amazing?
[15]
And
the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The Holy Spirit does NOT knock
people down when He heals them. He raises them up!
[16]
Confess
your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
This doesn't mean "air your
dirty laundry" to everyone but instead of bickering against one another
(vs. 9) and pointing fingers at one another we should acknowledge that
we in the flesh do ALL fall short at times.
We are one body in Jesus Christ
and when one of our members is ill, either physically or spiritually, we
should pray for God to lift him up.
Our Father does hear His righteous
servants who by their faith do bring forth goods works.
Speaking of being human, have you
considered Elijah?
(Hey, El-i-Jah, kind of like "olive".)
James
5:17
Elias was a
man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years
and six months.
The effectual fervent prayer
of this righteous man did truly avail much, didn't it?
The point is that Elijah fell short
at times also for he was just like you and me, made out of flesh and blood.
In fact, he got so depressed at
one point that he wanted to end it all right there.
Yet God heard Elijah and He, not
Elijah, did cause the rain to cease from falling.
Remember, the Day of the Lord is
nigh at hand and it is no coincidence that James brings Elijah into the
picture here.
We read in Rev. 11 about the 1260
days (3 1/2 years) of the two witnesses in this final generation?
Rev. 11:6 "These have power to shut
heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: ..."
[18]
And
he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth
her fruit.
Prayer is a BIG part in bringing
forth fruit in these end times, lest we begin to think that we are able
to judge and save.
It is Christ who does the saving!
Will you remember the victory God
wrought through the Patience of Job and the power God wrought through
the effectual fervent Prayers of Elijah?
These are two very important words
to keep in mind and "do" in these last days.
[19]
Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
If you help turn about one
our brothers or sisters who has gone astray...then...
[20]
Let
him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way
shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
"Oh boy, oh boy, I'm going
out and save souls!"
What?
"Come on now!"
The sins that shall be covered are
not your own but those of the one who was converted.
Did you not understand the Book
of James?
Can the olive oil itself heal?
Can your patience restore that which
is lost?
Can your prayers save a soul?
Can you convert the sinner from
the error of his way?
The answer is NO to all the above!
Our Father alone does the healing
and our Father alone "giveth and taketh away" and our Father alone opens
the eyes of the blind, and our Father alone is Judge who is able to SAVE
and DESTROY!
But He allows the humble "doers"
of His Word, those who love and serve Him, to share in the joys of His
healings and restorations and in the victory over death!
And the love of God we have obtained
by the freedom we have through the perfect Law of Liberty Christ gave us;
that love of God also covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8).
The real blessing though is in knowing
you are a child of the Living God, "knowing" you are freed from death by
Christ's shed blood on the cross, and "knowing" how close He is to you
because you have drawn close to Him (James 4:8)!
The Book of James, written by the
dear brother of Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which ARE scattered abroad,
even here in this final generation of the fig tree.
He has given us who wait upon the
Lord's Day the very key as to how to endure the divers trials and tribulations
which are presently upon us and which are to come "such as never was since
there was a nation".
What is that precious key of wisdom?
James told us right away, first
thing, "Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations (1:2)."
It is easy when and if your faith
is not a dead faith but the faith that knows without doubt through the
stablishing of your heart the reality that "Thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever."
One cannot "believe" that and NOT
be a doer of His Word.
One cannot believe that He is Lord
and NOT say "thy will be done" in all his or her plans and affairs!
"Thank you Father for this precious
Book of James."
Amen.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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