James study outline

 James 1:1-11

STEADFAST FAITH

There are three urgent requirements for us all: (1) Wisdom to act and speak wisely in the hour of trial; (2) faith that refuses to respond to the surging billows of doubt; (3) humility and contentment with God’s dealings.

James 1:12-18

GOD REWARDS, NOT TEMPTS

Notice the genealogy of sin, Jas_1:15. Lust is the parent of sin, and sin when matured is the parent of death. How different to the blackness of this dark picture is the light and glory of our Father’s home and realm! All the good things of our lives are from His good hand. He is not fickle and changeable. Even our sin cannot make Him turn away. His sun still shines on the evil and the good, and His rain descends on the just and the unjust. See Mat_5:45. We are His children; let us be sweet to the taste as the grapes of Eschol!

James 1:19-27

DOERS, NOT HEARERS ONLY

The one and only way of making holy impressions permanent is by translating them into Christian living. It is not enough to see ourselves reflected in the mirror of God’s Word; we must so continue, not as hearers who forget, but as doers that perform. Many appear to think that blessedness results from hearing, and are always on foot to attend new conventions. No; the true blessedness accrues from doing. The heart of our Christian faith is purity, the stainless garb of the soul, and thoughtful ministration to the widow and orphan-but these are possible only through the indwelling of Christ by the Holy Spirit.

James 2:1-13

AVOID SERVILITY TO THE RICH

The law of love must be supreme with us; and we must love our fellows, whatever their position or property, as ourselves, for Christ’s sake. 

James 2:14-26

DEEDS THE EVIDENCE OF FAITH

The presence or absence of results in life and conduct is the real test of faith, as the green shoot of a living seed. James calls these results works. We are justified by works, because they prove our faith to be the real faith. Real faith binds the soul to the living Christ, produces deep penitence and humility, and brings about an absolutely new sort of behavior-as when Abraham was willing to offer Isaac, and Rahab received and assisted the spies. To reckon on God is to be a friend of God.

James 3:1-12

BRIDLE THE TONGUE

A single spark may burn down a city. The upsetting of an oil lamp in a stable led to the burning of Chicago. Lighted at the flames of hell, the tongue can pass their, vitriol on to earth. Man cannot tame the tongue, but Christ can. He goes straight for the heart, for, as He said long ago, the seat of the mischief is there. See Mar_7:14-15; Psa_51:10.

James 3:13-18

SEEK WISDOM FROM ABOVE

The true wisdom is not the child of the intellect, but of the heart. It consists not only in what we know, but in what we are. It is in this sense that it is used in the earlier chapters of the book of Proverbs and in Job_28:1-28. Some who profess to be wise are jealous and factious, despising others and confident in their superiority. This spirit and temper are from beneath.

James 4:1-10

“DRAW NIGH TO GOD”

There are four conditions which we must fulfill, if God is to have full possession:

1. We must be subject to the will of God, Jas_4:7;

2. We must draw nigh to God, Jas_4:8;

3. We must cleanse our hands and purify our hearts, Jas_4:8;

4. We must humble ourselves in His sight, Jas_4:10.

Then God will fill the soul, the sluice gates of which are open to Him.

James 4:11-17

“IF THE LORD WILL”

When we speak evil of another, we usurp the functions of the only lawgiver and judge. If that other is endeavoring to model his life by the law, to speak evil of him is to question not his action alone, but the law he is trying to observe. Let us turn the light in upon ourselves and be merciless in self-criticism, while merciful to all others. When you see another doing wrong, always ask yourself whether the same evil is not hiding in your own character. Do not speak of men, but to them, when their faults confront you.

We are prone to make plans without reference to God’s will. Life is so transient and brief that if we are to make the most of it, we should ask the divine Spirit to choose for and guide us. Our one endeavor must be to discover God’s will and do it. If we are not constantly saying, “If the Lord will,” the sentiment it expresses should always be uppermost with us. “Thy will be done” in me as in heaven!

James 5:1-11

PATIENTLY AWAIT THE LORD’S COMING

In the light of this passage, it is as great a wrong to hoard up for selfish ends money entrusted as a stewardship, as it is to obtain it unrighteously.

There is a sense in which the Lord is ever at hand and present. But He shall come again at the end of this age. Then all wrongs shall be righted and the oppressed avenged. Everything comes to him who can wait for it; do not judge the Lord by His unfinished work. Be patient till He unveils the perfected pattern in glory. Await the end of the Lord!

James 5:12-20

EFFECTUAL PRAYER

The Prayer of Faith

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 

Jas 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: 

Jas 5:15  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. 

Jas 5:16  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. 

Jas 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. 

Jas 5:18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 

Jas 5:20  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.