We will begin
the book of James this weekend. I am praying that this study will be a blessing
to all of our hearts. This book is very relevant to each of us since it was
written to those who were passing through times of sorrow, suffering and
tribulation. Since we also live in difficult times this book will prove to be a
great comfort and encouragement to each of us. The following comments are from
the Ray Stedman’s book on James. This is a part of the introduction that I will
be sharing with you on Sunday. Please pray with me that this study will bless
our hearts and give us a blueprint on how to live our lives in a fallen world.
“Eusebius tells us that in about the year 66
A.D., James the Just, the brother of our Lord, was pushed off this pinnacle by
the Jews who had become angered with him for his Christian testimony. Eusebius
says that the fall did not kill him, and that he managed to stumble to his
knees to pray for his murderers. So they finished the job by stoning him to
death, and he joined the band of martyrs.
Now it is very evident that this letter was written
during the early part of the life of the church. It comes out of that period
reflected in the book of Acts, and may therefore be the earliest Christian
document that we have, written perhaps even before the gospels of Mark or
Matthew.
You cannot read this letter of James without being struck by its
likeness to the teaching of Jesus; in fact, if you take the Sermon on the
Mount, and the letter of James, and lay them side by side, you'll see more than
a dozen exact parallels. So, it is quite evident that this man James listened
to the Lord Jesus and heard these messages, even though perhaps he struggled
with them at the time. Also, this letter, more than any other letter in the New
Testament, is characterized, like the teaching of the Lord himself, by figures
of speech taken from nature. You have the waves of the sea, the animal kingdom,
the forests, the fish, and others, all drawn from nature, just as the Lord
Jesus himself used to do.”
May the Lord bless you all,
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Dickie
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