James 1:1
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”
Quite the interesting greeting James gives when he calls himself “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word "servant"
can certainly carry a negative meaning if not quite understood. A
servant is different from a slave in that a slave is held in an
involuntary manner while a servant voluntarily serves his master. Both
serve their master, but one does it out of obligation while the other
does it out of love for their master. Now the question we should ask
ourselves is this, are we a slave or a servant of God? In this chapter,
God shows us four characteristics of a servant.
Isaiah 26:1
“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We
have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.”
Isaiah said, “We have a strong city…” This verse looks
forward to the day when Christ sets up His kingdom. Yet, though this is
looking forward to that day, the principles of making your life a strong
city are still relevant for the present time. God shows us in this
verse what it takes to make your life a strong city.
Ecclesiastes 7:16
“Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?”
Certainly,
every
generation has their problems, but when you look at what this world
calls “The greatest generation,” you see a generation which seemed to be
much happier than this present generation that tends to have everything
at their fingertips. My grandparents were part of that generation. When
looking at what they had, you see a couple who lived very simple lives
but were happy and stayed married for seventy-two years. I believe one
of the reasons their generation was comparatively happy is because they
did not overcomplicate life.
Job 16:5
“But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.”
Part of Job’s hardship was hoping that someone would understand
what he was going through. He certainly had no clue as to what was going
on and why, and those who came to “comfort” him certainly didn’t
either. What he did say during his time of grief says a lot about what
those who are hurting would like to be said to them.
Acts 15:10
“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
In the Christian life there are three yokes from which to choose.
You have a yoke of iron which is a result of sin. Sin may seem enjoyable
for a season, but what you don't notice when you choose sin is the yoke
of iron that comes with it. God shows the result of choosing the yoke
of iron when He says in Deuteronomy 28:48, “Therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger,
and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall
put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” This yoke of iron is an unnecessary yoke that you don't have to carry if you will live for the LORD.
John 21:4
“But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.”
Have you ever been caught by surprise? I was walking through the Charlotte airport on my way to catch a flight, when I heard my name being called. At first I thought I was just hearing things, but then I heard my name called the second time. I began to look around, and there in the airport was someone who heard me preach a revival meeting. I stopped and talked to this gentleman for a few minutes and then moved on to my gate to take my flight home. As I thought about that incident on the airplane, I was so thankful that I wasn't doing something that would have brought reproach to my Saviour’s name.
2 Chronicles 10:16
“And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.”
King David was no doubt the glory of Israel. You cannot think of Israel without thinking of David. Other than Jesus Christ, David is probably the most prominent figure in Isreal’s history. His reign established Israel as a world superpower. You would think that the people of Israel would always be grateful for what he did for them and honor his work.
1 Chronicles 20:8
“These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.”
After the victory over Goliath, David could have easily thought
that he could ride off that victory for the remainder of his life. If he
had done that, he would have never become the great warrior we know him
as today. That was one victory that he needed to win for that day, but
as the Scriptures show us there were other giants that he had to
conquer. In fact, his whole life he continued conquering giants. David
realized that there was more than one giant he would have to defeat, and
that continual awareness is what kept him driving and experiencing
victory to the day of his death. There are several principles that we
can learn from David’s victory over the giants.
Revelation 10:1
“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed
with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it
were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:”
In this verse, John describes another vision. He describes a “mighty angel come down from heaven.”
He had seen other angels, but this angel was different than the others.
I believe that this angel he is describing is Jesus Christ. You see in
this vision that He is clothed with several things, and each description
given reminds us of several things that Jesus is to the Christian.
1 Samuel 13:11
“And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I
saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not
within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves
together at Michmash;”
A person doesn't always have to commit the crime to be guilty, but
contributing to the crime in some manner makes them an accessory to the
crime. Likewise, it is not always the person who commits the sin who is
the only guilty one, but oftentimes there was someone who contributed to
their sin. The person who contributes to one’s sin may not be a bad
person, but some action or inaction caused them to be an accessory to
the sin.