The THEME of the Epistle of James is A LIVING FAITH or "A FAITH THAT LIVES" ... a faith that is evidenced by righteous living and godly behavior.

The AUTHOR of the Rook of James was one of the brothers of Christ. James. During our Lord's earthly ministry and life. His brothers did not believe on Him (John 7:5). But later James was converted. (I Cor. 15:7) ... The risen Savior appeared specially and individually to this unbelieving brother. James became the head of the church at Jerusalem. Acts 15 shows him a leader there ... in the early church he was a man of immense authority. Traditionally called. "James the Just" he had a great reputation for holiness. His knees were said to have been calloused through incessant kneeling in prayer. According to tradition he was martyred, and so great was the esteem in which he was held that his death caused a revolt of the people.

The DATE of the epistle was very early and was probably the first of the New Testament writings ... written about. A.D. 50

This is the letter that Martin Luther so disliked, even to the extent of calling it "a right strawy epistle." He thought that James in his emphasis upon works contradicted Paul's teaching of justification by faith.

As John Wesley said, "The problem of problems is to get Christianity put into practice." As we study this Book of James, let us be willing to have these words search our hearts and show us how in our own lives, we may more faithfully PRACTICE AND PUT INTO ACTION OUR FAITH!

First Peter is the second letter in the General Epistles. There are seven letters that were written for all Christians.

The author of this letter is Peter. Peter wrote two letters, so we call this FIRST Peter.

Peter, as you may remember from our study in the Book of John, was one of Jesus' first disciples. He was a fisherman and left his occupation to follow Jesus. Remember the time he tried to walk on water? Remember when he said he would never deny Jesus, and yet denied him three times! He preached a wonderful sermon on the Day of Pentecost — the day the Holy Spirit was given ... We find this sermon in Acts 2:37-41.

He healed the lame man — He also took the Gospel to the first Gentile, Cornelius, after God gave him that vision of the clean and unclean animals coming down in a sheet with the words, "What God has cleansed, call not thou unclean." Peter also suffered for the sake of Christ — He was put in prison but was miraculously delivered by an angel — We read this in Acts 12:5-19.

We also read in Faxes Book of Martyrs that he was crucified upside down. This is the account of Peter's death: "When Herod Agrippa caused St. James the great to be put to death, and found that it pleased the Jews. he resolved. in order to please the people that Peter should be the next sacrifice. He was apprehended and thrown into prison; but an angel of the Lord released him. which so angered Herod that he ordered the soldiers who guarded the prison to be put to death. Peter, after various miracles, went to Rome, where he defeated the magic of Simon Magus, a great favorite of the Emperor Herod; he likewise co~verted to Christianity one of the servants of that king which so angered the king that he ordered both Peter and Paul to be apprehended. During the time of their imprisonment, they converted two of the captains of the guard and forty-seven other persons to Christianity. After nine months in prison, Peter was brought from there f o r execution, when after being severely scourged(beaten) he was crucified with his head downwards; which position, was at his own request."

Now, Peter loved Jesus Christ. He learned the importance of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by his own failure to stand for Christ in his own power.

This first letter of Peter was written to show the Christian that even though trials, and troubles and sufferings might come, God would always give sufficient grace to bear it. It was written near the end of Peter's life about A.D. 66 or 67.

We do not know how much time there was between the writing of the two letters of Peter — But in Chapter 3 verse 1 he says, "This second letter . . . I now write to you . . ." tells us that the first one had been sent just a short time before. The THEME of this letter is "Faithfulness in a Day of Apostasy." It is written to help the Christian to recognize apostasy in the church and to be faithful to God.



Peter is warning unbelievers of the error and apostasy which was to sweep over all Christendom. he is writing this letter to the same group of Christians who were suffering for their faith as in 1 Peter.

Everyone wants to see Revival. If we could find the Key to unlock the door to unlock the door to revival in the church; revival in our individual lives; we would surely desire to use it. In this first epistle of John we will see how being real Christians brings revival.

Hidden within the pages of this small epistle, there lies a mighty secret— the mystery of God working in His children.

This letter is not written to the world. It is not written for the purpose of converting sinners but it is written to God's own dear children— His special children that are closest to his heart. To His own He reveals His secrets. And here we find the threads of gold woven in a pattern for us to use in discovering HOW we might walk in His Light and how we might be a beacon to those about us. We learn how we might be filled with the Spirit and overflowing with His Spirit. How we might be real Christians.

The author of this epistles is the Apostle John. He also wrote the Gospel of John, Revelation and the other two letters bearing his name. These letters were the latest given by the Spirit of God for our edification.

The Gospel of John was written "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and then, believing, ye might have life through His Name (John 20: 31)."

This letter was written that you may KNOW THAT YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (John 5:13). The word KNOW is found some 39 times.

The THEME is ETERNAL LIFE... a life that begins no~ and continues through eternity. A life that is REAL.

The PURPOSE is to show how a life of VICTORY may be lived by believers— and woven into this picture... if we look closely... we shall find the KEY TO BEING REAL and thus the KEY to Revival in your own individual life.

HOSPITALITY is one of the most important Christian graces. All the way through the Scriptures we are told to exercise this gift... to entertain strangers, to be hospitable. This is the main subject of II and III John. HOSPITALITY ... which means, to use the opening up of our home to others as a means of demonstrating the love of Christ. To do our best to make people feel welcome in our home ... to make them comfortable ... to feed them .. to make them feel happy that they came to visit us.

NOW. II JOHN tells us the kind of people that WE ARE NOT to extend this hospitality to. That there are certa~ n people we MUST NOT make feel Welcome! Whereas, III JOHN wil -' show us who we are to be friends to ...

In this letter we shall see that there were teachers going about spreading news that Jesus was NOT God come in the flesh of man. It is these people that John warns the Christians about. He says that the Christian must not even talk to these kind of people ... and certainly must not bring them into their homes .. or encourage them in ANY WAY. Even today. my friend, it should be a warning to us .. NOT TO WASTE TIME on people that are opposing the true Gospel! Why should the Christian cook a bowl of rice or kill a chicken and beat his palm nuts for someone who is an enemy of Christ? He must not do anything that will help these false teachers!

This little letter of John is not a long letter, but it tells some important things ... We have here another letter on HOSPITALITY ... This time we are encouraged to show hospitality to the Christian brethren.

Evidently, traveling brethren had reported to John how gracious this man Gaius had been to them ... These brethren were strangers to him, but in the Name of Jesus, he had received them into his home ... in spite of the opposition of one of the Church members who did not want him to do this ... But John heard about it, and he writes Gaius this letter to thank him for his kindness.

The Epistle of Jude was written by Jude, who was one of the brothers of the Lord Jesus. (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3).

The THEME: Contending for the Faith

The DATE: A.D. 68

Jude's message is one of the most severe in the New Testament. Apostasy (a falling away from the faith) had entered into the early church. Here Jude urges the Christians to "CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE FOR ALL DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS."

These men that are bringing this false teaching are referred to as like Cain, like Balaam, like Korah ... filled with greed, pride, envy and rebellion. Jude quotes a prophecy attributed to Enoch, which declares the coming of the Lord in judgment upon these men.

In view of such perilous influences, Jude urges upon true believers steadfast effort in Christian growth, continual prayer, confidence in the love of God, and abiding hope in the appearing of Christ.

The epistle closes with a doxology which reminds the readers of the unfailing