Welcome to Connect with Skiff Heitzig. We're glad you've tuned in for today's program. Connect with Skiff-Heitzig wants to connect you to God's never-changing truth through verse-by-verse teaching of His Word. And that's why we make messages like this one today available to you and so many others on air and online.
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Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. In calling Jesus, the Lord Jesus, and in my English Bible it's capitalized. He is recognizing the lordship. of his half-brother as the Lord of all. I'll tell you why I think this is significant.
Because today There is a trend. To um have celebrity pastors. and superstar pastors. And you know, this guy's something special and something awesome. And we even love all the titles.
Call me Doctor. Reverend Bishop. How about slave? All the New Testament authors began their letters with this word. Paul a bondservant, Peter a bondservant, Jude a bondservant.
Incidentally, Jude was the other half-brother of Jesus who wrote a New Testament book. Paul, a bondservant, and James as well. Another James Jim Irwin, who was an astronaut, eighth person to walk on the moon, said this. As I was returning to the earth, I realized that I was a servant. and not a celebrity.
So I am here. As God's servant on planet Earth, to share what I have experienced that others might know the glory of God. One of our astronauts, Jim Irwin. Said, I'm not a celebrity, I'm a servant to show you the glory of God. That's how James felt about his life.
He knew his rightful place. He's the master, I'm the servant. Also, in using this term, he knew his notable peers. James was Jewish. Grew up in a Jewish home.
Knew his Old Testament, and he must have known that some of the greatest heroes of the Old Testament were referred to as servants of God. Moses was called a servant of the Lord, Joshua. Caleb. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job. And Isaiah were all known as servants, slaves.
of God.
So the first question in adulting 101 is this. Are you willing to serve him? Are you willing to serve him? Are you willing to be his tool, his instrument? Paul will Write in Romans chapter 12.
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God. holy and acceptable, which is your reasonable service. It makes sense. It's the right thing to do. It's your spiritual act of worship.
Let God have your body and work through your body. Let your body be his instrument to touch people on the earth. That's adulting. Is when you are willing to be a servant. For him.
You might have tremendous talents. Tremendous gifts. Awesome. How are you using them for his glory? There was a visitor to a mission hospital overseas.
And it was the first time that this person went to a mission hospital, and this person noticed a nurse in the mission hospital tending to a person with leprosy. And as this person got closer and saw the nurse dabbing the oozing wounds of the leper, she sort of recoiled and said, I'd never do that for a million dollars. The nurse said, Neither would I. But I do it for Jesus for nothing. I do it for Jesus for nothing.
You know you're an adult when you are willing to use your life to serve him.
So we have the author, James, the autobiography. A bondservant of God. And of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at the audience. Who is this book written to?
We're told to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.
Now the word 12 tribes, or the words 12 tribes, is a common title for what people group. The Jews The twelve tribes of Israel. All the tribes that we read about in the Old Testament. The twelve tribes. Of Israel.
So it's a Jewish audience, but notice. which are scattered abroad. That's a very important term, and some of you are aware of this term: the diaspora. or the diaspora. The diaspora is still a word, though it's a Greek word, it's a word we have in our English language.
that speaks of Jews living outside of Israel. Jews living outside the Holy Land of Israel. The dispersion or the diaspora began Way back in the Old Testament, in 722 BC, when the Assyrians took captive the 10 northern tribes of Israel, that began the dispersion of the Jews around the world. They expelled them from their land, they took them to Assyria. 150 years later, 586 BC, the Babylonians took the two remaining tribes to Babylon, took over.
Assyria, so that all twelve tribes ended up under Babylonian rule. That's where the dispersion began.
So, what happened is you now have Jews not only in Israel, but you have them in every major Metropolitan area in the known Mediterranean world from Alexandria, Egypt to Rome. All abroad. And they did something in those places. Because they're not in their homeland. They don't have a temple to worship at.
They built a new institution called the synagogue. The synagogue, where Jews could meet in a local community. That's where the synagogue developed during the diaspora.
Now, why am I telling you this? Because it is the dispersion of the Jews. And the establishment of the synagogue that became the greatest. Impetus for the spread of the gospel in the New Testament. Because when Paul went to all the different towns in the Mediterranean world, what's the first place he visited?
Synagogue. And that was important because the gospel was to the Jew first and also to the Greek, to the Gentile. If he would have begun in the marketplace of the Gentiles, the Jews never would receive the message. Because they would have said this is a Gentile religion.
So it was the synagogue that became the place where the gospel was preached throughout the world. By Paul. But there was another scattering. And it is this scattering that I believe James is referring to when he says to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. And this scattering that I'm referring to, Is the scattering of Jewish Christians?
From Jerusalem. You know, the early church started in Jerusalem. And most all of them were Jewish. But there was tremendous persecution. That happened to them because of their belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
So, for the first several chapters of the book of Acts, we see the church growing, growing, growing. 120, then 3,120, then another 5,000 men, then multitudes of men and women.
So, you have this massive group of. Jewish Believers in Jerusalem. Until Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8. After the stoning of Stephen, And Saul of Tarsus, folding his arms and receiving the clothes of those who stoned him, It says in Acts chapter 8, verse 1: At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
Except the Apostles.
Now do you do you remember that Jesus in In Acts 1, said, You will be my witnesses. In Jerusalem? Judea Samaria To the ends of the earth. Remember when he said that? You know what they did about that?
What's that the universal sign for? Zero. They did nothing about that. They stayed in Jerusalem. They didn't go to Judea.
They didn't go to Samaria. Why would they? I mean, this is where the, I'm under the spout where the glory comes out. This is exciting. There's thousands of people here believing in Jesus.
This is an awesome place to be. But Jesus said, You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
So, what does he do? He allows persecution to scatter them. He allows the persecution to get them into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Because they're not budget.
So They were scattered. Same chapter, verse 4 says, Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. I just want you to To get this, that God permitted the scattering of his children. to reach the unreached world. That was part of his plan to reach the unreached world.
By the way, the word diaspora in Greek often is used for scattering seed. A farmer would scatter seed in the field to get it planted so he would have more fruit.
So let's apply that. Maybe you've been laid off recently, and you go, why, God, would you allow this to happen? Maybe he wants you somewhere else. He wants to scatter you somewhere else. Maybe you are getting transferred by your company to another city.
You don't want to go to that city. All your friends are here. Your family's here. Why, Lord, would you let that happen? Maybe he is scattering you.
to plant you there. to cause more fruit to come.
So that's the audience to the twelve tribes which are scattered, dispersed. Diaspora Abroad. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, what would your life look like if God's fingerprints were all over it? In God Print, The Life of Abraham, Pastor Skip takes you through seven powerful messages on the faith journey of one man who learned to trust God through crisis, fear, and uncertainty.
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Now let's get back to today's teaching with Pastor Skip.
So we have the author, the autobiography, and the audience. Let's look at the last little section: the address. You'll notice that James begins with a simple one-word. Salutation. Simple address.
Very short salutation. He says, greetings.
Now, Paul's were much longer. Peters were much longer. Not James. He likes the economy of words. Greetings.
And then he jumps right into his letter.
Now, I believe that that translation is a little bit stilted. I don't think you get the full impact of the original language. The word that he uses, translated here as greetings, is the word Kairos or Kairain, which means. Rejoice. Be glad.
To the twelve tribes scattered abroad, be glad, rejoice. And I think that's important because if you have read the book of James and you're thinking, yeah, this guy was a little bit kind of buttoned up and kind of a curmudgeon kind of a guy, you know, faith without works is dead, you know, one of those kind of guys, maybe a little legalistic. You don't know James. James was so full of joy and so full of life, he begins by saying, be glad, rejoice. And the very next verse, He says, Rejoice in times of trial.
Count it all joy, brethren. Verse 2, When you fall into various trials So we'll talk about that next time, but he begins with this beautiful. Greeting.
Now, you're going to notice something about James. If you have read it, you know this already. He's very practical. It is often called the Proverbs of the New Testament. Because it's very practical in application.
That's not to say Paul's letters are not practical, they are, but. If you know about Paul's letters, he... He frontloads all of his letters with all sorts of imposing doctrine. And after that, then he gets to the practical part.
So, the book of Romans, for example, 11 chapters of doctrine. Chapter 12 begins the application, the practical part. Therefore, brethren. Present your bodies, etc. He does that also in Ephesians, three chapters of doctrine at the beginning, and then the practical section, not James.
James jumps right in after the greeting with practical admonition and instruction and continues that all the way. to the very end.
Now, what is this book of James about? What is its theme?
Well These Jewish believers that he is writing to Are having some problems. James addresses these problems. They're going through trials, very difficult persecution trials. Yeah. They're being tempted, facing temptations.
Some of them are catering to the rich.
Some of them are competing for offices in the church, causing divisions in the church, and many of them. have problems with their mouth. They have tongue trouble. A chapter is devoted to that. In other words, The same problems we face today.
Are the same problems that James wrote about then? What is the cause of all these problems? Spiritual immaturity. Spiritual immaturity. So, the basic theme of this little book of James is spiritual maturity.
Don't stay immature. Grow up, like my older brother James would say. Grow up. That's the basic theme. He uses a word throughout this book several times.
It's the word perfect. which means mature. Complete. Don't think of James telling you to be sinlessly perfect. Good luck with that one.
Even though I've met a few people who claimed they were sinlessly perfect until I got to have a conversation with them and discovered they're lying to me. But he uses the word perfect, and I just want to show that to you, just a few places. Places, look at verse 4. Let patience have its perfect work that you may be. Perfect.
and complete. Lacking nothing. That means mature. Go down to chapter two. Verse 22.
Do you see that faith was working together with his works? And by works Faith was made. Perfect. Complete. Mature.
Chapter 3, verse 2. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole. Body So he is moving his audience toward Maturity, growing up. Warren Wersby said spiritual maturity is one of the greatest needs in churches today.
Too many churches are playpens for babies instead of workshops for adults.
So James will put our faith to the test in this book.
So that we might grow spiritually.
Now, I want to close with this: a few things you should know about spiritual growth. Let me give them to you. Number one. It's normal. to grow in your faith.
is normal. You know, we sometimes look at a person and go, man, that's amazing. He's growing. Why is that amazing? That's like looking at a baby saying, Isn't it amazing?
He's not a baby anymore, he's actually growing.
Well, that's what you expect when there's birth. You expect life. You expect growth. And it's not just for a few, it's for all. Christianity is more than obstetrics, it's more than the new birth.
It's pediatrics. It's a visit to the emergency room sometimes. A counseling session. It could even be surgery. It is all the way to geriatrics.
In 1 John chapter 1, John... addresses his Letter to three groups. Children. young men and fathers. And he meant that spiritually.
That's normal. To have children who grow into young men who grow into fathers. There's maturity that takes place. First thing about spiritual growth, it's normal. Second, it's supernatural.
It requires Spiritual cooperation with God. The New Testament The term for that is sanctification. Just as God Saved you, God grows you up. It is a supernatural work. Yeah.
Now, I'll tell you why I think that is so important because spiritual growth has nothing to do with physical age.
Well, of course I'm mature. Look how old I am.
Well, you can grow old, but not grow up. Charles Spurgeon said, In the church of God, there are children who are 70 years old. Yes, little children displaying all the infirmities of declining years. One would not like to say of a man of eighty that he had scarcely cut his wisdom teeth, and yet there are such. On the other hand, there are fathers in the Church of God, wise, stable, instructed, who are comparatively young men.
The Lord can cause his people to grow rapidly and far outstrip their years.
So it's normal. It's supernatural. Third thing about spiritual growth. It's gradual.
Now I hope I hope you take heart in that. It's not like, okay, well, I'll come forward and you pray for me, and now I'm going to be matured. It doesn't happen that way. Christian maturity is not a light switch. It's a process.
It takes time. It takes a lifetime. And when you make it to the end of your life and you die, you still won't be perfect. Until you get there. And then you will be.
So it's normal, it's supernatural, it's gradual. Fourth, and we'll close with this: it's possible. It's possible. What I mean by that is you can grow. Listen.
as much as you want to grow. You can grow spiritually as much as you want to grow. The question is: do you want to grow? Do you really want it? Are you willing to do what it takes to get there?
When Peter wrote his letter, he said, God has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. through the knowledge of him who called us therefore Add to your faith virtue and a virtue knowledge and a knowledge Self-control. Add to your faith. Grow. He also wrote, As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.
And he closed out. His second letter by saying, Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So it's normal, it's supernatural, it's gradual, it's possible. If you want to, you can grow.
Now I'm going to give you a spoiler alert here. of where we're going in the book of James. There's two factors in maturity. Two vitamins that you take that boost your maturity level. Want to know what they are?
Okay. Trials and Temptations. Yeah, you know, sometimes you take medicine, you go, ooh, I hate that medicine.
Well, yeah, trials and temptations. Yeah, not so much. But Those are two factors of maturity: trials and temptations. Trials are sent by God. to mature us Temptations are sent by the devil to destroy us.
But God uses them to mature us. You get that? One comes from God, one comes from the devil, but God uses that to mature us because all things work together for good to those who love God. That's why it's really fruitless to say, you know, I'm having all sorts of problems. Is this from the devil or from God?
Who cares? Deal with it. Grow from it. Learn from it. Don't worry about the source.
Worry about the result. Over in the Alps, I think in Switzerland, there's a monument. to a guide who who died ascending a peak to rescue a stranded tourist. And On the tombstone is a simple inscription that says, he. Died.
Climbing. That's how I want to die. Growing. climbing. Not like, yeah, I'm good enough.
I just come to church every now and then. Um No, no, no, I want to die climbing, don't you? Don't you want to grow, grow, grow, mature? One of the first steps, if you haven't done this already, is to get a Bible. A real Bible.
One that you know where things are, and you can follow along and not just listen to stuff, but really dig in yourself and read it.
So, this is spiritual adulting. And just like my older brother Jim would say to me, Skip, grow up, our older brother James. would say y'all It's time to grow up. In all things. In Christ Jesus.
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzik. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's resource, GodPrint, The Life of Abraham. This powerful seven-message study from Skip-Heitzig shows how God's presence shaped one man's life and how he can shape yours. It's our thanks for your generous gift of fifty dollars or more to support this ministry. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And while you're there, sign up for Skip's weekly devotional email to grow deeper in your walk with Christ. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heidzig. Make a connection that the food.
Of the crossing castle burden. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
