James The Greater The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 4 of 14

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries, my name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you for being with us today. If this is your first time, please hit that subscribe button, hit the follow button, check out the links in the description and find us, and follow us on social media.

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We are in the middle of a sermon series right now, so bring people in. We are learning about the 12 apostles. This is number four. We have got a lot more, we have 14 total, so 10 more. It is about a 3-month span. Do not worry if you missed the first three, you can check them out in a playlist on our YouTube channel or on our website.

Today we are talking about James. James is a great disciple. Now there were quite a few different James in the Bible. This is the first James that we are going to talk about. He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of John.

James and John were brothers, two of Jesus’ disciples. James is mentioned about 20 times throughout the Bible, 21 times in 19 verses. Now of course the word James is mentioned many more times because there are several other James. But this James, this specific James 21 times in 19 different verses.

We know he was a fisherman, he lived in Bethsaida Capernaum and Jerusalem or thereabouts. He was a Galilean. How do we know he was a fisherman and where he lived? Let’s go to Matthew 4:21. Remember these are heavy Bible messages, we have got all kinds of scriptures so I hope you are looking them up. If not everything will be referenced in the description that you can go through and look them up later.

Matthew 4:21, ‘Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing their nets. Jesus called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.’

Wait a minute, Zebedee is saying who is going to help me fish? Actually, Zebedee was probably saying go, go, He is calling you. This is the Messiah, get out of here, I have got the fish. They say no Father, we will help. No, get out of here. He probably threw them overboard. They went on and followed Jesus.

James was a member of the inner circle of Christ. What is the inner circle? This was like the group of disciples that asked Jesus all kinds of questions like hey explain the parable to us or what does it mean and Jesus would tell them even though He may not have told all the other disciples. He would also take these disciples with Him.

Like when Jesus would go to pray, He would leave the disciples or let them do their thing and then He would take a few with Him and go somewhere else. It was usually these three, who were they? Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John were of that inner circle. They always went with Jesus. We see that a number of times throughout scripture.

Let’s check out another verse in Matthew 17 verse 1. Matthew 17:1, ‘After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James.’ Well, wait a minute, what? Peter, James, and John the brother of James, so we have that, ‘And led them up to a high mountain by themselves.’

He took those three with him wherever He went. Individually He did not take the whole 12, He took the inner circle. James was one of the few who was able to discuss the meanings of the parables and ask Jesus for direct questions. He asked Him direct questions and he received direct answers rather than a parable and an answer. He got the answer from Jesus.

Mark 13 verse 3 says, ‘As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us then, when will these things happen and what will be the signs when they are all fulfilled?’ Then continue on, Jesus tells them. Here we have Andrew, Peter, James, John. Well, that is because Peter and Andrew were brothers, so even though Andrew may not have been part of that inner circle, let’s say he was still there maybe on many of those inner circle moments because he was brothers.

So Jesus had these two sets of brothers that He took with Him as part of this inner circle and Andrew is not always mentioned, so we do not really list him. It is usually Peter, James, and John but still with Andrew being Peter’s brother there is a good chance that Andrew got some of those answers as well.

James the son of Zebedee is also known as James the elder or James the greater. This is the James we know more about. In addition, James and John were bold enough to ask Jesus for a seat and if we go to Mark chapter 10 verses 35 to 41, Mark 10:35-41 says, ‘Then James and John the sons of Zebedee came to him. Teacher they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. What do you want me to do for you, he asked. They replied, let one of us sit at your right hand and the others sit at your left in your glory.’

What is that? Let’s pause. What is that? So they said, when Jesus gets into heaven and He has got His spot at the right hand of the father, God is up here and Jesus is sitting here on this level in terms of kingship, they said, hey let one of us sit at your right and one at your left when you get in your glory.

‘You do not know what you are asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared. When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.’

Now what does this mean? Well, Jesus asked them, can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Jesus is saying can you do that? They may not have known what that meant, but Jesus is saying are you sure can you be crucified? Can you go through this? Can you die? Can you do all this? They say we can. He says fine, very well, you can do that.

So we have James and his brother John that are about to go and drink out of that cup and be baptized with that baptism. Now does that mean that they will both be crucified like Jesus? Well, we will find out how they died. Continuing on, you will have to stay tuned to the rest of this message. We are not there yet and next week we will talk about John and you can learn a little bit more about him.

But they asked this bold request, they were part of that inner circle so they were confident to ask these things of Jesus and they did. They asked Him, hey can we sit at your right and your left? Talk about a big ask, big ask and Jesus said it is not for me to decide, it is for God.

But the others were upset about this, like how could you guys do that? Now we know that there are spots for the 12 up there. We see in The Book of Revelation the gates of heaven, they are all mirrored for the twelve, one of each of the tribes of Israel and also the twelve apostles.

Again this is James the greater, James the elder, not much is known about him. Every time he is mentioned in the Bible, he is with his brother John. They are pretty much an inseparable pair. They are always together, James and John. They probably went out and traveled together. They did things together, kind of like Peter and maybe Andrew did. Then we have Philip and Bartholomew, they probably went out together. He is always mentioned with him.

Let’s go there Mark chapter 1 verses 19 and 20, ‘When they had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat.’ So James and John were together. It is also in Matthew 4:21 and Luke 5:10-11. All of these will be referenced in the description below.

In addition, there is that great website that I told you about in a previous message. That link will be down in the description below, Complete-Bible-Genealogy.com. You can see all the places where any name is mentioned.

James was a man of extraordinary courage. Okay well, you just said not much was known about him, how do we know he was courageous? We know this because he was willing to ask if he could sit at Jesus’ right or left. That would take some courage. He was also a man without jealousy. James was not full of jealousy, he was very humble.

He was known as a Son of Thunder. Let’s go to Mark 3:17 for that, ‘James son of Zebedee and his brother John, to them he gave the names Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder. Let’s go to Luke 9:54. ‘When his disciples James and John saw this, they asked, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ These guys were hot-tempered, they were the sons of thunder. They said, hey we will call down fire from heaven right now and destroy them. But Jesus turned and rebuked them and they went on to another village. He said, no, you will not be calling down fire from heaven and destroying them.

James was content with living in the shadow of his brother John. You say wait a minute how do you say that if he is James the greater? Well, John did a lot more and it was documented, a lot more. James lived in John’s shadow. James lived in the shadow of Jesus. James lived in the shadow of Peter. He was content, he was content to do that and he was fine with gaining as much knowledge as he can and learning and asking Jesus those questions. Explain this to us, let us understand this, what does this mean and he was fine with that.

James was also the first of the twelve to die a martyr. He became a martyr. He was the first one to die. He started it all off. Remember Jesus asked them, can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am about to be baptized with, and they said we can. Well, James did.

King Herod Agrippa aligned himself with the Romans and began persecuting Christians, viciously slaughtering and killing them. All kinds of stuff. He had James executed and we have some documentation in The Book of Acts, so it is in the Bible where he was, that he was in fact executed.

Turn with me to Acts chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, ‘It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belong to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John put to death with the sword.’ There we go. We know right there, James the brother of John was put to death with the sword. He had him executed.

Now how did King Herod Agrippa find these Christians? Well, people turned them in, because obviously they were not just going to say, hey here I am, kill me. No, someone turned them in, like Judas turned in Jesus. Someone turned in James.

So the story has it that James’s accuser, the man who accused James was so moved by James’s courage and willingness to face execution, when he accused James obviously Herod’s men arrested James and some others and they went in and the sentence was execution or whatever and James probably stood there and said I am ready, whatever you want to do I am ready, and he was courageous and willing.

The guy who accused him was probably there because it would be like a court trial. That person had to testify that he knew that James was one of these Christians and the accuser was so moved he could not believe it that James was willing to do that and that he had such faith and such confidence in that, that he said I want it. I will be a Christian. So he converted on the spot and Roman officers all know he is a Christian, but he also said I want to be executed with that man. So he accuses him for execution, then he is so moved by how James handles it that he says, I want to die with James.

He converted to Christianity and the Roman officers beheaded both of the men at the same time, simultaneously both heads came off and both men went to heaven. How is your courage? How is your courage? Are you the type that is the temperamental, that says call down fire from heaven and strike that guy, that Jesus has to continually rebuke saying, no.

Someone cuts you off in traffic, are you cursing them out and Jesus has to rebuke you? Someone is in turmoil with you at work, you do not get along with your coworker, your boss, and you are constantly complaining about them and Jesus has to rebuke you? Or are you there saying, no I am good, whatever is going on I trust in God, I can handle it. I can drink the cup, I can be baptized with that baptism that you were baptized with and I am good.

I am going to stay here and I am going to endure. I am going to persist. I am going to persevere and those around you are going to see that and they are going to say, I want what he has, I want what she has, I want what you have. Then you are going to say, guess what, I can introduce you to Jesus and that is what makes me able to stand in here and take the hits and persevere all the way through.

Do you have that kind of courage like James? Does it have the power to move those around you like James? Are they going to say, I want what you have because that person is driving me nuts, I cannot stand working for them or I cannot stand working with them or when I am driving in traffic or how are you always so level-headed or why do not you ever get upset about things or why are you not ever complaining about stuff or whatever?

How is your courage? Are you courageous enough to go through this life as God wants you to go through this life? Not complaining, no negativity, being happy, being thankful and grateful in all circumstances, happily working at whatever job you have to do as if working for the Lord, remembering that it was God that put you in that place, in that job? Even if you hate it, you are there for a reason, be thankful that God put you there.

How is your courage? Do you have the ability to stand in there and fight? Remember this is a spiritual battle. You gotta take it to the next level. We have talked about this, take it to that level, stay in there. This is just the world, we can handle anything in this world. It does not matter. This is earthly, it is the heavenly that we are worried about. We are not worried about it, but that is where we are in this realm.

Do not get caught up in this realm. Do not get stuck on the negativity in this realm. Do not get stuck on the people and the problems and the worry and the strife in this realm. We are up here, every time you go down here and you get worried about this realm you are pulling yourself out of the heavenly realm and you are stuck in an earthly realm. Move back up, stand in there like James, be courageous. Be so courageous that you are not out there proclaiming your courage, you are just doing it and people are noticing and saying, I want that.

You can share with them. How do you do it? It is simple, you say hey I have Jesus, that is the difference. You want Him? You got Him. Simply pray, ask Him. Dear Jesus, come into my life. Thank you for dying for me for my sins. Come into my life. I want to live for you. Give me that courage, give me what they have and they will have it. Just tell Him, that is it, real simple.

You are called to get out there and proclaim the good news, to share Jesus with as many people as possible. You are called. Wherever you are, no matter what you are doing, think as if you are doing it for God. Act like you are doing it for God, be positive, stop complaining, stop venting, stop arguing or grumbling about it all, and be happy, be courageous, be a great example exactly like James, and move those around you.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank you so much for a man like James that we can look at and use as an example. He was the first to die for you, the first of the apostles to die for you. Obviously, many more people have died for you and many of the other Christians and apostles were killed for you.

Lord, we do not want to die for you right now, we want to live for you and I pray that that is true in each and every person watching and listening. That they truly want to live for you. That they will get out there and make that thought and that desire an action. That they will turn it into something. That they will get out there and live for you being bold and courageous.

That they will share the gospel and that they will simply be a great example that other people can see and witness and say I want what they have. That then those people would ask them and that they would share. That they would share you with anyone and everyone that asks. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How is your courage? Are you cowardly or do you have the power to move those around you like James? Come back next week. We are going to talk about John, James’s brother. God bless.