R. Kent Hughes - James (ESV Edition): Faith That Works

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PREACHING THE WORD

Edited by R. Kent Hughes

Genesis | R. Kent Hughes

Exodus | Philip Graham Ryken

Leviticus | Kenneth A. Mathews

Numbers | Iain M. Duguid

Deuteronomy | Ajith Fernando

Joshua | David Jackman

1 Samuel | John Woodhouse

2 Samuel | John Woodhouse

Job | Christopher Ash

Psalms, vol. 1 | James Johnston

Proverbs | Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

Ecclesiastes | Philip Graham Ryken

Song of Solomon | Douglas Sean ODonnell

Isaiah | Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

Jeremiah and Lamentations | Philip Graham Ryken

Daniel | Rodney D. Stortz

Matthew | Douglas Sean ODonnell

Mark | R. Kent Hughes

Luke | R. Kent Hughes

John | R. Kent Hughes

Acts | R. Kent Hughes

Romans | R. Kent Hughes

2 Corinthians | R. Kent Hughes

Galatians | Todd Wilson

Ephesians | R. Kent Hughes

Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon | R. Kent Hughes

12 Thessalonians | James H. Grant Jr.

12 Timothy and Titus | R. Kent Hughes and Bryan Chapell

Hebrews | R. Kent Hughes

James | R. Kent Hughes

12 Peter and Jude | David R. Helm

13 John | David L. Allen

Revelation | James M. Hamilton Jr.

The Sermon on the Mount | R. Kent Hughes

((( PREACHING the WORD )))

JAMES

Faith That Works

R. KENT HUGHES

James

Copyright 1991 by R. Kent Hughes

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Jon McGrath, Simplicated Studio

Cover image: Adam Greene, illustrator

First printing 1991

ESV edition 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked JB are from The Jerusalem Bible. Copyright 1966, 1967, 1968, by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and Doubleday & Co., Inc.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked NEB are from The New English Bible, The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked RSV are from The Revised Standard Version. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

Scripture references marked TLB are from The Living Bible 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-3846-9
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3849-0
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3848-3
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3847-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hughes, R. Kent.

James : faith that works / R. Kent Hughes

ISBN 13: 978-0-89107-627-8

ISBN 10: 0-89107-627-1

p. cm.(Preaching the word)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. Bible. N.T. JamesCommentaries. I. Title. II. Series:
Hughes, R. Kent. Preaching the word.

BS2785.3.H84 1991

227'.9107dc20 913298

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

For my brother
Robert Steven Hughes,
a practical book
for a practical man

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,
so also faith apart from worksis dead.

JAMES 2:26

I must express appreciation to my secretary, Mrs. Sharon Fritz, for her professional expertise and care in typing the manuscript of these studies; also to Mr. Herbert Carlburg for his cheerful, weekly proofreading, and to Mr. Ted Griffin, Managing Editor of Crossway Books, for his painstaking editing.

There are times when I am preaching that I have especially sensed the pleasure of God. I usually become aware of it through the unnatural silence. The ever-present coughing ceases and the pews stop creaking, bringing an almost physical quiet to the sanctuarythrough which my words sail like arrows. I experience a heightened eloquence, so that the cadence and volume of my voice intensify the truth I am preaching.

There is nothing quite like itthe Holy Spirit filling ones sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among ones hearers. This experience is, of course, not unique, for thousands of preachers have similar experiences, even greater ones.

What has happened when this takes place? How do we account for this sense of his smile? The answer for me has come from the ancient rhetorical categories of logos, ethos, and pathos.

The first reason for his smile is the logosin terms of preaching, Gods Word. This means that as we stand before Gods people to proclaim his Word, we have done our homework. We have exegeted the passage, mined the significance of its words in their context, and applied sound hermeneutical principles in interpreting the text so that we understand what its words meant to its hearers. And it means that we have labored long until we can express in a sentence what the theme of the text isso that our outline springs from the text. Then our preparation will be such that as we preach, we will not be preaching our own thoughts about Gods Word, but Gods actual Word, his logos. This is fundamental to pleasing him in preaching.

The second element in knowing Gods smile in preaching is