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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, July 8, 2012

• James 5:14 – “anointing him with oil”: This is a figure of speech. See Hebrews 1:9. “Anointing with oil” was not always a literal action.
• James 5:19 – Everyone is capable of straying from the faith, so we must always guard against it.
• James 5:20- Salvation is from spiritual death.
  • Romans 4:6-8 – Sins are covered when they are forgiven.
  • Galatians 6:1
• Highlights from the book of James
  • James 1
    • Count it joy when encountering trials (James 1:2).
    • Be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:20).
    • Keep unspotted from the world (James 1:27).
  • James 2
    • Do not be a respecter of persons (James 2:1).
    • Faith alone is dead (James 2:17,22,24).
  • James 3
    • This is not an injunction against teaching. It is an injunction against teaching when you have not studied and prepared and so end up teaching error (James 3:1).
    • Be aware that the toungue can be very dangerous (James 3:6).
    • Wisdom of God vs. earthly wisdom (James 3:13-18)
  • James 4
    • James 4:3-4 – We cannot be friends of the world and of God.
    • James 4:7-8 – We must resist the devil and draw near to God.
  • James 5
    • God’s judgment on those who misused their riches (James 5:1-6) – we are to give to every man his due.

By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, July 1, 2012

• James 5:1-6 – Warnings against misuse of riches and abuse of power gained through wealth.
• James 5:9 – Do not grudge one another. Put others before yourself.
• James 5:10 – We have many examples of prophets who endured, such as Elijah, Jeremiah, and Paul.
• James 5:12 – Do not swear. Let your word be your bond. This i not an injuction against making an oath (such as before a judge and jury). It is simply saying that we should keep our word without others feeling the need to require an oath from us.
• James 5:13-15 – “If he has committed sins” – see II Timothy 4:5; Romans 4:19; Hebrews 12:3; I Peter 2:24; John 6:2.
  • Being weak is not necessarily a sin.
  • Being weary is not necessarily a sin.
  • So here, sin is something other than being weak or weary.
  • So, if any suffer hardships, let him pray.
  • Is any weak, let him call for the elders.
  • The prayer of faith will save the weary.
  • If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, June 24, 2012

• James 4:6 – We must be humble and submit ourselves to God so that He will bless us with His grace. If we do not submit humbly, God will resist us and not bless us with His salvation.
• James 4:7 – We have more power than the devil. We can make him flee if we resist him. See also Hebrews 2:14-15; Ephesians 4:8.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, June 10, 2012

• James 3:16 – We must be very careful to avoid jealousy and selfish ambition in a local congregation. It is not easy to avoid these things!
• James 3:17 – A man who is not gentle and easy to entreat (especially about spiritual things) does not have wisdom.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, June 3, 2012

• James 2:23 – Because of Abraham’s faith, God forgave him of his sins and counted him as righteous.
• James 2:24 – A man is justified not by works that earn his salvation but by works that God requires in order to forgive him.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, May 27, 2012

• James 2:2-9 – Do not judge a man by his clothing or his wealth. We should love men because of the way they live their lives, regardless of how much they have.
• James 2:10-11 – If we fail in any part of the law, we show that we don’t have proper respect for the law and the one who gave it. One sin is not worse than another in God’s eyes.
• James 2:14-17 – Some claim this conflicts with Romans 4. There is harmony between these passages because both are talking about the same kind of faith, but different kinds of works. Man cannot earn his salvation through good works, but He must obey God’s commandments and carry out the good works God requires of him.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, May 13, 2012

• James is the writer, but God is the author of the book. We do not know for sure which James is the writer.
• James 1:1 – There are differing views on exactly who this book is written to. It could have een written to either Jews or Jews and Gentiles. This book contains general instruction for everyday life as a Christian.
• James 1:15 – When one is tempted and decides to sin, he has sinned even if circumstances prevent him from carrying out his intention.
• James 1:17 – God will consistently bless those who do His will just as He punishes those who sin against Him.

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By David Watson

Benchley, December 7, 2011

• The apostles were specially inspired to reveal God’s will to men.
• John 13:16; II corinthians 8:23; Acts 14:14; 13:4 – uses of the word “apostle”
• Mark 3:13-19 – the list of apostles
• They started with a “drop-what-you’re-doing” kind of faith.
• Luke 5:3-11 – Peter, James, and John left their livelihood behind to follow Jesus.
• Acts 9:1-20 – Paul turned around immediately and started serving Jesus.
• Luke 18:22-23 – the rich young ruler and his reluctance to change his ways for Jesus
• They persevered through failures.
• Matthew 16:6-12,21-23 – Jesus corrects the misunderstandings of the apostles.
• Mark 4:13; 9:32; Luke 22:31-32,60-62 – More failures of the apostles.
• I John 1:8-9

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By David Watson

Benchley, July 11, 2010

• James 5:14-16
  • Miraculous physical healing?
    • I Corinthians 12:9 – “gifts of healing”
    • Miracle + oil (Mark 6:13)
    • Miracle + prayer (Matthew 17:21; Acts 9:40)
    • Questions:
      • Why this explanation (miracles are not mentioned)?
      • Why are elders specified?
  • Non-miraculous physical healing?
    • Elders are specified simply because they would certainly be faithful men who would be on ‘praying terms’ with God.
    • Olive oil was often used as a basic medicine in those days.
  • Spiritual healing?
    • Perhaps:  whole passage is talking about one overtaken in sin.
    • sick [astheneo, 770]: same root word in I Corinthians 11:30
    • Elders help with spiritual sickness (Hebrews 13:17).
    • Christians praying for one another’s forgiveness harmonizes with I John 5:16 (does not excuse personal responsibility – Acts 8:22).
    • Perhaps the same theme runs through James 5:14-20.
    • Questions:
      • What positive reason do we have for taking this figuratively?
      • What about the oil?

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By David Watson

Benchley, July 4, 2010