Ezekiel was a Levite and destined to be a priest in the temple of the Lord.  He had been training for his work but at the age of 25, he was taken into captivity into Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  A Levite would train for his work until the age of 30, then at that age, they would start their priestly duties.  It was five years into the captivity and at the age of thirty that God would begin to give Ezekiel visions and prophetic words for Israel. 

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I want us to take a look at the book of Ezekiel.  This book can be a confusing book and you may ask the question: how is this book and the events described in it relevant for us today?  I believe that is a very good question.  But I believe there must be something important for us to learn from Ezekiel or God would not have allowed it in the canonization process to be drafted in.  So, what is God wanting us to learn from the Israelites history and how can we apply it to us today.

So, for a moment, allow me to give you a little background for this book.  The book is written over a 20-year period while the Israelites were in Babylonian captivity.  There is a dark tone to the book and God will ask Ezekiel to do some strange things to illustrate how the Israelites have departed from Him and of the judgment to come and the destruction of Jerusalem.  (Share Israel’s history and how God sent the prophets to steer them back.  There was even a time when there were some reforms that came during Josiah’s reign, but the Israelites went right back to their unfaithfulness.  It was during Josiah’s reign when Ezekiel was born.)

Ezekiel was a Levite and destined to be a priest in the temple of the Lord.  He had been training for his work but at the age of 25, he was taken into captivity into Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  A Levite would train for his work until the age of 30, then at that age they would start their priestly duties.  It was five years into the captivity and at the age of thirty that God would begin to give Ezekiel visions and prophetic words for Israel.  You will find that although Ezekiel’s book is over a twenty-year period and 48 chapters long, you will find the span of this history in 2 Kings 24, 25, and in 2 Chronicles 36.

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Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God a ; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know b my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Several weeks ago, we started this series on the book of James.  The church is in its 2nd decade of existence, the Jews were scattered, so James writes a letter to the churches to give counsel and as a guide to help Jewish Christians navigate cultures with completely different norms and beliefs than those that existed in Jerusalem.  James shared about suffering!  We discovered how that suffering exists and is the natural course of life since the fall of man but that suffering doesn’t change the fact that God is good.  Suffering exists, but as God’s children, He can use the trials of life to develop us into complete and mature Christians.  That is why James starts his letter off with “consider it pure joy.”  Remember, James was writing this letter to help navigate the Christian Jews on practical ways of living as Christians in a world of different cultures and beliefs.  James shared about faith and how that faith is demonstrated in your deeds, conduct, and speech.  Zac shared from James on the subject of wisdom, and how that to navigate through this life we need to ask God for wisdom that only comes from him.  Bro. Wayne shared about foolishness and that foolishness is something that we need to avoid and how it’s foolish to be materialistic, to doubt, blame God with temptation, to be a friend of the world, to be involved in strife and division, and to be self-centered.  Then last week, Derrick shared about community taken from James

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James reminds us as Believers, and those of the Faith in Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we remain Faithful to the Faith, as we are Suffering in this Life, and the present time, with Godly Wisdom, and constant Obedience. So we do not Succumb to the Foolishness of this World, Orchestrated by Satan to Divide, and destroy our Community.

James 1, 1-6

There are many Scholars, theologians, who disagree, with the authorship of James. In my research and studies, I conclude and agree with many that the author was James. The half-brother of Jesus was the Author.

In his letter, he didn't address the church world as a whole, but he addressed the Twelve Tribes which are scattered abroad. Primarily speaking directly to the Jewish readership.

In the same manner of today Pastors, and Called Leaders, must address those of the Faith, and the Blood bought Believers of our time, and bring to light The Foolishness that has drifted into our Faith. James wrote to the Jewish Believers, nailing them on how their Faithfulness to the Lord, had gotten lost in Political affiliation, and the church drifted into Foolishness, and was not Living the Word, but had become hears only. James cautioned them about 5 damaging factors to their Faith, and their failure to understand, temptation, and Godly suffering. James 1, 1,2, consider it Joy (when you fall). God takes no pleasure in you failing or your demise. This rejoicing is about making you better. This is the build-up of your resistance for a greater and better future against Temptation, trials, and testing. (When) denotes time in Scripture. (When) means we're going to be tested, and tried in life, but it's not to kill us, it's to make us better, for what God has for us.

One of the things the devil always wants to attack, and Rob you of, is your Joy in Christ. Because when joy is gone the next thing set in is Blame.

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Sometimes as we drive down the road of life, we come to dangerous intersections.We refer to them as “forks in the road.”Perhaps you feel like you are at a dangerous intersection right now in your life. The Bible speaks about a divine resource we can utilize when we come to those intersections. It is called wisdom. There are many times when we will approach one of those intersections and we’ll realize we have a shortage of wisdom.

This is the very situation James addresses in 1:5-8. James had just finished speaking about the various trials we encounter in life. These are the difficulties and suffering that come our way. BIG IDEA: Life creates a demand for wisdom which God supplies when the conditions are met.

What is wisdom?

Wisdom and knowledge are both recurring themes in the Bible and are related to each other, they are not synonymous. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” Knowledge, on the other hand, is “information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.” Knowledge is what is gathered over time through study and experience.

But it can be said that wisdom acts properly upon that knowledge - wisdom is the application of knowledge. True wisdom, according to Scripture, begins with God. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In Proverbs 1:7, we learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs tells us that fools hate wisdom. The fool is the person whose choices contradict God’s truth.

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Last week, we started this series on the book of James.  The church is its 2nd decade of existence, the Jews were scattered, so James writes a letter to the churches to give counsel and as a guide to help Jewish Christians navigate cultures with completely different norms and their beliefs than those that existed in Jerusalem.  We shared about suffering, how that suffering exists and is the natural course of life since the fall of mankind but that suffering doesn’t change the fact that God is good.  Suffering exists but as God’s children, He can use the trials of life to develop us into complete and mature Christians.  That is why James starts his letter off with “consider it pure joy.”  Remember, James was writing this letter to help navigate the Christian Jews on practical things of living as Christians in a world of different cultures and beliefs.

This morning, I want us to look at a subject that James writes about concerning faith.  Do you remember the devastating fires of Yellowstone National Park that burned out of control for months in 1988? Hundreds of thousands of acres were blackened and people across the US and around the world mourned the ruining of that beautiful national landmark.

Scientists discovered that the fires of 1988 were the best thing that ever happened at Yellowstone. They discovered that one species of pine tree reproduces itself only when a fire's heat opens the pine cones, sending spores floating to the ground. Those adult trees, though killed by the fire, have brought forth a flourishing new crop. And this new food source allows the growth of larger herds of elk, bison, and moose. What seemed like a terrible loss three decades ago has brought new life to Yellowstone today!

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Let me ask you this morning, what would you have done?  The church is in its 2nd decade of existence, the believing Jews have been dispersed because of persecution, and the central church seems to be in danger of losing its influence.  So, what does James (the brother of Jesus) do?  He writes a letter to the Jewish churches as a guide to help Jewish Christians navigate cultures with completely different norms and their beliefs than those that existed in Jerusalem.  His writings apply in today’s world where social norms and beliefs often differ from those of Christianity.

During the 1st decade of the church, the church was mostly dominated by Jews who knew the Old Testament scripture and were still able to participate in the complex Jewish social structure.  During the 2nd decade, many non-Jews (Gentiles) became believers beginning when Peter was on the rooftop and received a vision and Cornelius was told by an angel to go get Peter, and then later with Saul’s conversion and Saul (Paul) being sent to the Gentiles during his missionary travels.  James probably stayed in Jerusalem instead of doing much traveling.  So, James writes a letter to the Jews living outside Jerusalem (James 1:1) to establish the Jews in applicable truth and conduct and to encourage them in their journey of faith.

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Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”

KJV “18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Today is known as Independence Day in the United States.  It is the day that we celebrate America’s freedom from the tyranny of England under King George the III.  The signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was not intended to declare war with England.  Mark Parsec says the intended purpose of the Declaration of Independence for the colonists was to declare “to the world their belief in a personal, infinite God - their Creator - who endowed them with certain ‘inalienable’ or absolute rights . . . To the men of that time, it was self-evident - that if the inalienable rights they were urging were not seen in the context of the authority of God, then they were without content - illusions, and nothing but dreams. To have absolute rights our forefathers had to acknowledge the Absolute Authority of God.”

You see, there is no true freedom without God and His authority to determine the morality upon which the laws of our land are founded. In God we find the basis for national freedom; however, we also find in God the basis for our spiritual freedom. God’s provision for our spiritual freedom is found in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. This morning, on this Independence Day Sunday we are going to view the freedom we have in Christ.

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