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PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE

Introduction

We are presently studying the Apostles Of Christ in our series on “People of The Bible.”

What are we looking at when we examine these men?

            1.  We see real people.

            2.  We see some real lives that they lived – almost 2,000 years ago.

3. We see real change as Jesus affected them – there is no way that a person can remain unaffected when Jesus comes into their life.

We said that the “Apostles” were:

            1.  Specially Sent People – sent by Jesus

            2.  Their purpose was to establish the New Testament church and lay the foundation for it which they did in the first century.

                         a.   Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone.

                        b.   The Apostles laid the foundation according to that corner-stone.

                        c.   Once they finished their task, they died off.

                        d.   We are only building upon that foundation that was laid – there is no need to go back and change it, or try and improve on it.

             3.    There are no more apostles – there is no hierarchy handed down from generation to generation.

We have previously looked at the life of Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother.

Tonight we look at James, the brother of the Apostle John.

I.         THE BACKGROUND OF THE APOSTLE JAMES.

            A.   There Are Three James Mentioned In Scripture (Matthew 10:1-4)

                        James, son of Zebedee, an older brother of the Apostle John.

                        James, Son of Alphaeus, an apostle, but little is know about him. (James the less)

James, half brother of Jesus, a leader in the church of Jerusalem and the author of the book of James.

                        James was a very common name.

                        It is the Greek name for “Jacob” which means “supplanter.”

            B.        What Do We Know Of James, The Son Of Zebedee’s Family? 

                        1.         James’ Family Was Prosperous. (Mark 1:19-20)

Zebedee, was a Galilean fisherman and apparently very prosperous, since the Scriptures say that he employed servants to assist in the management of his boats.

                        2.         James’ Family Was Positioned. (Socially) (John 18:13-16)

Zebedee had a house in Jerusalem and was known as a friend of the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his household. This would mark Him as a man of social position.

                        3.         James’ Mother’s Name Was Salome.

Tradition says that she was a sister of the Virgin Mary, which may help to throw light upon the relation of her sons to Jesus. If this is true, it would make James a cousin to Jesus after the flesh.

            C.        What Do We Know Of James Before His Apostleship?

                        James was a fisherman. He worked in the family business.

James worked in partnership with his father and brother and Simon Peter.

                        He was busy with his boats and nets when the call of Christ reached him.

II.        THE CALL OF THE APOSTLE JAMES. (Matthew 4:18-22; Luke 5:10)

            It was a similar call as the call of others Jesus called!

            The call was to “follow!” The call to us is to “follow!”

The call is not to imitate – as in act, or mimic – there are enough of those around.

            But rather the call is to be like Jesus! To keep our eyes on Jesus and learn from Him!

            Hearing and answering this call forever changed the course of his life!

James’ name is coupled with his brother John in the lists of the apostles, which could mean that when they were sent forth two by two, James and John would be paired.

            Evidently they were men of like spirit and disposition and received from Jesus the title

            “Sons of thunder.”

III.       THE TRAINING OF JAMES.

            So we know that James had a trade – he was a fisherman. He grew up by the sea.

            Then spent about 3 years with Jesus. During that time:

             a.   He Learned How To See Life Through Christ’s Eyes!

            b.   He Learned How To Face Most Anything In Life, And Conquer By Faith Alone!

IV.      JAMES’ RELATIONSHIP TO JESUS AS PART OF THE INNER-CIRCLE.

            A.   We See Him At The Mount Of Transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1)

            B.   We See Him At The Healing Of Jarius’ Daughter. (Mark 5:37)

            C.   We See Him Learning About The Coming Tribulation. (Mark 13)

            D. We See Him At The Garden of Gethsemane. (Mark 14:33)

V.        THE CHARACTER OF JAMES REVEALED.

            What we are about to see in the life of James is not his “spiritual side!”

It is the natural out-working of the old-man that is in all of us. If we are honest, we’d probably have to say that there is a whole lot of James in all of us.

            There are two events we want to look at that illustrate James’ inner character.

                        He Handled Pressure With Wrath.

He Sought The Pre-Eminence. (Mark 10:35-41)

It is during these two events that the Lord really begins to mold and change James’ character – and he doesn’t even know it – at least until after the resurrection!

Jesus even renames both James and John to “Boanerges” or “sons of thunder” which suggests that they were quick tempered or quick to react. (Mark 3:17)

            A.        He Handled Pressure With Wrath. (Luke 9:51-56)

                        1.    Background to what’s Happening. (Luke 9:51-54)

                                     a.  It had been 3 ½ years since Jesus started out in His ministry, teaching, healing, methodically demonstrating that He was the Messiah.

                                    b.  James, as well as all the twelve Apostles had been with Jesus now for most all of those 3 ½ years.

                                    c.  It had been a long trek of faith – and it had not been easy.

                                    d.  Now, Jesus stops doing any miracles, and sets out for getting to Jerusalem in time for the Passover.

                                    c.  As He passes through Samaria, Jesus almost ignores the needs around Him:

                                                 1)  People are brought to Jesus needed to be healed.

                                                2)  People were waiting to hear Him teach.

                                                3)  But they are only greeted with “I must needs get to Jerusalem.”

                                                4.  This makes the Samaritans ANGRY.

a). They may have felt betrayed, hurt, rejected.

                                                            b)  But they were just simply spoiled.

                                                            c)   Jesus had not come to primarily do all those things.

                                                            d)  He had primarily come to die for sinners.

                                     d.  The anger of the Samaritans triggers the anger that rested in the bosoms of two Apostles – it affects both James and John.

                                    e.  Look what they want to do:

                                                1)   They ask Jesus if it would be ok to show these UNGRATEFUL, WORTHLESS Samaritans just WHO Jesus really was!

                                                2)  They want to overwhelm the anger of the Samaritans with THEIR APOSTOLIC anger!

                                                3)  They want to go head-to-head with these “reprobates!”

                                                 4)  They even have Scripture to back up the way they feel.

                                                            a.   They pointed to how Elijah burned up his enemies.

                                                            b.   They felt they should be able to do the same too!

                         2.   Here is the Crux of the Lesson Jesus Deals with. (Luke 9:55,56)

                                    a.  Jesus confronts the real problem – a WRONG SPIRIT!

                                                 1)  Wrong attitudes abounded here in this situation.

                                                2)  The manner of spirit they had was some bad emotions.

                                                3)  The attitudes, the outlooks of James and John were being wrongly influenced by something – to the point that they thought “blowing a village off the map” was the thing to do!

                                    b.  Wrong spirits are damaging to the mission of Christ!

                                                 1)  Remember how Moses allowed himself to get caught up with a wrong spirit? (Numbers 20:10-12)

                                                2)  Remember how Peter, right after declaring that Jesus was the Messiah, the very Son of God, yielded his emotions over to a wrong spirit. (Matthew 16:23)

                                                3)  How about Job’s wife’s WOUNDED spirit (Job 2:9,10) led her to want to just GIVE-UP and die.

                                                4)  Paul told Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear. (2 Timothy 1:7)

                                                5)             Paul Had A Religious But Wrong Spirit Prior To Coming To Know Christ. (Acts 26:9-11)

                                    c.   This world is filled with wrong spirits.

Not just demonic forces (Ephesians 6:12), but people who live their entire lives controlled by those wrong spirits!

                                    d.  We need the opposite of having a wrong spirit:

                                                1)  Daniel had an excellent spirit. (Daniel 6:3)

                                                2)  Joseph had the Spirit of God. (Genesis 41:38)

                                                3)  Peter talks about a meek and quiet spirit in woman.

                                                            (1 Peter 3:3,4)

                                                4)  Paul told Timothy that we have a conquering spirit.

                                                            (2 Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 2:14,15; 1 John 4:18)

                                    e.   That’s why God gives us His HOLY Spirit.

                                                 1)  To replace all the wrong attitudes.

                                                2)  To conquer all the unclean spirits in our lives.

3.     Note the following facts:

                                    a.   The Samaritans were wrong in THEIR attitude towards Jesus.

                                    b.   That wrong attitude affected the attitudes of the APOSTLES.

                                                 1)  Should that have been possible? Shouldn’t the APOSTLES of all people been “above” that attitude? Of course!

                                                2)  But since they weren’t, don’t think that any of US are free from this failure as well?

                                     c.   The apostles were not even aware that they even had a bad attitude.

                                    d.   Their bad attitude is not referred to as an attitude problem, but a SPIRITUAL problem!

                         4.   What Was Jesus’ Answer to James’ Reaction?

                                    a.  Remember, this attitude that James and John had was not a good thing.

b. It was another spirit in control of their whole outlook on life, and situations, and problems.

                                    c.  This attitude problem was so serious that Jesus knew that if He did not deal with it quickly, it would spread throughout all the Apostles.

                                    d.  Jesus very quickly deals with their problem.

God seeks for US to bring into control our attitudes (our spirit) like we would seek to control a chainsaw, or a car, or a loaded gun, or a spoiled child!

Proverbs 16:32–“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”

Proverbs 25:28–“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

Proverbs 15:18–“A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”

Psalm 103:8–“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”

James 1:19–“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”

Proverbs 14:29–“He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.”

Proverbs 19:11–“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”

Proverbs 16:19–“Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”

Romans 12:21–“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

From those Scriptures the following truths are self-evident

                                                1)  We are wicked when we allow our bad attitude to show.

                                                2)  We are sinning when we allow other people’s wrong actions and attitudes to affect OUR attitudes and actions.

                                                3)  The Lord is very slow to show His anger – so, we have no right to act against Him – if He has grace, then so should we.

                        5.   We Need To Correct Any Unreasonable Expectations We Have Of Jesus.

                                    a.   James expected Jesus to want to destroy His enemies.

                                    b.   James expected that Jesus is only against other’s sins, and will overlook his!

                                    c.   The Book of James says back in James 1:22-26, to conquer wrong spirits in our lives:

                                                 1)  We Need To Hear God’s Word!

                                                2)  We Need To Do His Word! – live it, every hour of every day – not just when easy or convenient

                                                3)  When we see our sin exposed by this Book, we need quickly repent of it, and ask God to change us – FAST!

                                                4)  That includes God teaching us to BRIDLE (restrain) our tongues most of all!

Conclusion

Psalm 51:10–“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right Spirit within me.”

There are three attitudes that folks have:

1.  Some don’t care – there are so many who don’t care about God, or obeying His word.

2.  Some don’t know – unaware of their attitudes swinging around like a man waving around a gun.

3.  Some don’t want to be this way!

Remember, James was NOT this way after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

After He saw the resurrected Lord, James was not only ready to stand as a follower of Jesus, but also ready to die for His Lord! AMEN!

What manner of spirit do YOU have? What are YOU like with your kids, your enemies, your husband, your wife?

Do you have a short fuse?Are you full of fears and stress? Are you religious only – full of outward acts, but nothing much on the inside?

Confess it as sinful, and ask for Jesus to renew a right spirit in you!

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!