The path of sin and the protection from it, James 1:13-18

James has been talking about trials which everyone faces in life. He calls them various trials.  That indicates that trials come in a variety of ways, in all sorts of difficulties.  James says that a trial is a test of your faith.  And we learned that God uses trials to refine our faith, to strengthen our faith, to prove our faith.  He uses trials to conform us through suffering to the image of Jesus Christ.  He uses trials to mature our faith and sanctify us.

But we have a response in trials. And there are two possible responses that we can make in trials.  One is, by the wisdom which God gives us, to endure the trial without failing in our faith, to be obedient to God even when it seems difficult or not even wise to do so, trusting in Him completely.  The other possible response is to give into the temptation to turn away from faith in God to act according to natural wisdom, or to act in a way that appeals to our carnal nature, to satisfy the lusts of our flesh.

And so we see that’s it’s possible for us to have a trial that turns into a temptation.  A temptation differs from a trial only in the sense that we are induced to sin. James wants to make sure that we don’t fall into temptation.  And to insure that he wants to make sure we understand the origin of temptation as opposed to trials. And so he says in vs 13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

So trials come through the hand of God, but God doesn’t tempt us to sin.  Because the nature of God cannot be tempted to sin.  He is holy and pure and there is no evil in Him, and He cannot abide with evil. God does not give us trials so that we might fall into sin, but that we might persevere in faith and overcome temptation. 

As 1Cor. 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

So God sends trials, but we need to understand that temptation does not come from God. But rather God has provided a way to endure temptation without succumbing to it. Now James has been teaching us how we are to endure through trials, now he wants to tell us how we might overcome temptation.  And to help us be able to overcome temptation, he will first describe for us the pathway to sin, and then he will show us the protection we have against temptation.

There are five steps on this path of temptation to sin.  The first is what we might call attraction. And we see that attraction indicated in vs 14, as the word enticed.  James says in vs14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

The source of temptation lies within the human heart. James calls it lust. Lust is a perversion of love, but it still comes from the heart.  Desire comes from the heart. Jesus said in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” And the prophet Jeremiah said about the heart, that is is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Or who can trust it?

So we see something that appeals to our heart, we are attracted to something that is wrong, to make a wrong choice.  Our eyes see it, and our heart desires it. We find it attractive.  Whatever it may be.  There are two iconic illustrations of temptation in the Old Testament.  One is Eve, who listened to the devil’s lie, and saw that the tree was  good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.  She was attracted to the fruit, she was enticed by her own lusts. Satan certainly played a part in it, but it was her own lusts that enticed her.

The other illustration that comes to mind is that of David, who should have been leading his men in battle, but was home in his palace instead.  And he looked out over the rooftop of his palace and saw Bathsheba, saw that she was beautiful, and he was attracted to her.  He was enticed by his own lusts.

There is something to be learned here.  And that is, you cannot sin without attraction. If you don’t find something enticing, attractive, then it’s going to be difficult to be induced to sin.  That’s why we need to have the mind of Christ, we need to have our desires changed.  And the simple way we do that is through the washing of the word.  We renew our minds, our hearts, through constantly being washed by the water of the word.  And in feeding upon the word of God, our thoughts are aligned with Christ, our hearts are aligned with Christ, so that we learn to love what He loves, and we hate what He hates.  We have to get our attractions reprogrammed. Because we are tempted by what we are attracted to. We need to be careful about what we see, what we look at.  

The second step in the temptation to sin is what we will call deception. We already alluded to it earlier in the case of Eve, when the devil deceived her.  James says in vs 16, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” The devil is a liar and the father of lies, Jesus told us.  He is called the tempter in scripture.  And his strategy is to lie and to deceive.  

The idea of being deceived that James is referencing here in vs 16 really has it’s origins in the idea of a lure, or bait.  A lure is designed to look good, to smell good, to even taste good.  It has all the appearances of something that is great. Eve thought it was a delight to the eyes, and that it would make you wise, and I’m sure she imagined it would taste pretty good as well. And so she swallowed the lure, hook, line and sinker, and ended up condemning the human race in her sin.

Satan may not always verbally lure you to sin.  But the Bible teaches that he has certainly engineered the world system to entice you, to attract you, and ultimately to hook you.  That’s why James told us in the previous passage that we needed wisdom when we are faced with trials, and that God would willingly give us wisdom so that we might know the way which we should go.  Because if we listen to our natural inclinations, if we listen to the wisdom of the world, then we will find ourselves headed on a path to destruction.

There is another step on the path to sin which I call preoccupation.  That idea is expressed in vs 14, James says when he is carried away and enticed by his own lusts. The idea of preoccupation is expressed by carried away.   It simply means you become obsessed by something.  I have to admit I have an obsessive nature.  If I become interested in something, I get on a roll where it’s all I think about.  If you look at the history of my you tube viewing, you will quickly find out about my obsessions.  And many times, I find that I eventually act on those obsessions and buy something or do something, that I probably would have been better off not doing.  Hopefully, my obsessions are not sinful, but I understand that they can be counter productive.

However, I think James indicates that lusts start in the heart, are fueled by attraction, and then obsessed over to the point where we think about it over and over again.  We visualize it.  We dream about it.  And then one day we actualize that which was first only thought of.  The attraction becomes affection.  We love what we have seen, what we have obsessed over.  But as James indicates, it’s not really love, it’s lust.  It’s become an affection that we think we can’t live without.

We need to guard our affections. John said in 1 John, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.”  As I said earlier we need to hate the things God hates and love the things God loves.  We need to loathe sin, recognizing it for what it is, an affront to God, an insult to Jesus Christ, and a lie of the devil that leads to destruction.

And acting upon our desires is the next step in the progression.  We might call that next step conception. James says in vs 15, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”  That sounds like a summary of David’s sin with Bathsheba.  

James says when lust has conceived.  That’s the point where it goes from merely thinking about it to being acted upon.  We act on our desire.  Maybe we say it was impulse.  Maybe we make the excuse that we did it without thinking.  But those are just excuses.  We were attracted to it, we thought about it, we became preoccupied with it, and then we became carried away in our lusts and acted upon it.

That’s why Paul tells us in 2Cor. 10:5 “[We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”  If we renew our minds, and change our thinking, then we will never get to the point of conception. Paul says we must control our thoughts.  If we control our thoughts, we may be tempted, yet not sin.

Final step on the path to sin is subjection. We come in bondage to that sin. When sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.  That sin now has control over you.  You are no longer living for Christ, but living for the flesh. To be frank, you have become subjugated to the devil.  You become in bondage to your sin.

David neglected his duty as commander in chief of the Israel army.  He put himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he made the wrong decision.  Listen, the Lord has given us commandments that we might obey them, that He might preserve us from sin.  When we are obedient to what God has commanded us it keeps us  from the path of sin. His commandments aren’t meant to be a burden to us, but a preservation.  Just like we tell our children, whom we love, who we want to see grow up healthy and wise, we say, don’t play near the road, don’t put that in your mouth, don’t disrespect your elders.  We tell them not because we want to restrict them so they can’t have any fun, so they don’t have any liberty, but because we know that the path to sin is paved with good intentions.  It’s a slippery slope that once you step out on it you find it hard to stop.

Paul said in Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.”  Literally, the word instructing us is better rendered, disciplining us. God gives us his commandments to discipline us,  to keep us from sin and we need to obey them because we respect our Father in heaven and we love Him and for our own good.

Well, thankfully, James does not leave us with only his analysis of the pathway to sin, but he shows us the protection that we have from sin through Christ. And the first thing though we need to know and be familiar with  is the steps of temptation which we just reviewed.  As we study this passage, we need to be able to recognize the pattern of Satan’s strategy.  And as we recognize it, we are better able to resist it.  James says in chapter 4 vs 7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  And Paul says we are not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes.  So recognizing the steps to temptation is the first means by which we resist temptation.

Then secondly, James reminds us of the unchangeable goodness of God as a protection against the temptation to sin.  He really doesn’t introduce this next idea, he just presents it in contrast to the conflict that we have in our natures.  In contrast to that, James gives us the nature of God.

He says, in vs 17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  Now at first that may seem unrelated to what he has been talking about.  But the issue with temptation is that we tend to become dissatisfied with what God has given us.  That was the problem with Eve, that was the problem with David, and it’s usually in some way or another, the problem with us.  We think that there has to be something better for me.  We start to doubt the goodness of God.

When Satan tempted Eve, he not only maligned God’s word, but he maligned God’s character. He inferred that God wasn’t good because God had kept something good from her.  And that is still Satan’s strategy today.  But James reminds us that God is good all the time.  He has a good plan for us.  He has made good promises to us concerning our new life in Christ.  His motives are good.  His thoughts towards us are good.  And we must be on guard in temptation against the lie of the devil that God has withheld something good from us.

I’ve read that verse a many times and never really thought about the title of God that James uses there.  But my son was reading this text in anticipation of hearing today’s sermon, and he asked what does it mean, the Father of Lights?  I had to think about it for a minute or two.  I tried to say something about Jesus is the light of the world, hoping that would assuage his interest and sound like I knew what I was talking about. 

But after thinking about it for a while, I think it means that God is the source of light, the source of truth, and it’s a constant light, it’s a consistent light.  There is no darkness in Him at all.  There is no changing of His mind. There is no wavering of HIs love towards us. He cannot intend good towards us one minute and then later intend evil towards us.  He can only be good, and what comes from Him is good. And we need to be confident of that and assured of that, so that Satan cannot tempt us to think that God is holding back something from us that actually is good, but He just doesn’t want us to enjoy it.  Or that God doesn’t care about us, and that’s why we are going through such a trial. God’s ways are good, and He gives good gifts to His children.

There is a third thing you need to know to be protected against temptation, and that is you need to be aware of the significance of the new birth.  It’s not just that we need to push back against temptation, but we need what someone has called, the expulsive power of a new affection.  We need the transformation of the new birth that we might have new desires and new attitudes and a new spirit.  We need to be sanctified by the Spirit of Truth.  Sanctification is not just sweeping the house clean, but sanctification is sweeping the house clean and putting in the new furniture. It’s a new way of living, brought about by the new birth and the indwelling power of the Spirit of God.

James speaks of this new birth in vs18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”  We have seen how temptation works, that there is a kind of conception that takes place and brings forth sin and death.  But there is another conception that James speaks of which brings forth new life, and new affections.  And that new life brings forth fruit as a new creation of God. We are born again with new affections, with new desires, a new heart.  We take on the nature of our heavenly Father.  

As the children of God we actually have His Spirit living in us.  And as we walk in the Spirit, we are not tempted by the lusts of the flesh. As we yield to the Spirit, we will have power over sin. Sin no longer has control over us.  Paul said in Gal 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  

Paul goes on to show the contrast between the lusts of the flesh and walking by the Spirit. He says, Gal. 5:17-25 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,  envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

I don’t have the time this morning to unpack all that Paul has said there.  But it’s pretty obvious, that if we walk by the Spirit, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If we walk in the flesh, we will do the works of the flesh.  When we walk in the Spirit according to the word of truth it is the means by which we are protected from temptation.  We have a resource through Christ Jesus,  that will give us the power to overcome temptation.  And that resource is the presence of the Spirit of Christ within us.

And we come to know Him through the word of truth. James says He brought us forth, we were conceived and given birth,  by the word of truth. David said, “your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” We cannot separate the work of the Spirit from the word of the Spirit.  Hebrews 4:12 says that “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Haven’t we learned that temptation begins at the level of the heart? Then the only way to deal with temptation is to deal with it at it’s origin.  And nothing else can reach the heart like the word of God.

We cannot walk in the Spirit apart from the word of God. David said, “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” And we cannot be protected from temptation without the Spirit working in us through His word, strengthening us, equipping us, and preserving us from evil. Let us pray as Jesus instructed us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The protection from temptation we need is to be found in following where the Spirit leads us.

Rich man, poor man James 1:9-12

James started off his letter speaking about the need for enduring faith in the midst of trials. Trials are an inescapable part of life.  And James says rather than seeking immediate relief from them, we need to endure them with persevering faith, knowing that God uses trials to refine our faith, so that our faith might be complete, lacking in nothing. Then he adds to that process the need for divine wisdom, so that we might understand God’s purposes and plan for our salvation, that we might have hope and confidence in God’s plan for our lives. 

Today then, as we take up this study in verse 9, we notice it  begins with a conjunction, which ties it to the preceding verse.  The conjunction “but” indicates a contrast to what has come directly before it.  And what came directly before was the statement about double mindedness, which is the description of the man who doesn’t have the wisdom of God, who doesn’t have unwavering faith.  We said last time, such a man is very likely unsaved.  He holds onto the world and tries to have Jesus at the same time, but really doesn’t believe the word of Jesus, or believe that God’s word is truly wisdom.  And so when trials come, he opts out of faith in God, and turns to human wisdom.  He most likely never had saving faith to begin with.

But in contrast to that person, James introduces another kind of trial that believers must endure, and he gives us the wisdom of God concerning this kind of trial, that we may be able to persevere through it.  And the trial that he introduces here is the lack of money, or the trial of being poor.

It’s very certain that the Christians who James is writing to are for the most part very poor in material goods.  It appears that James writes primarily to converted Jews that had been dispersed across Asia as a result of persecution, who were poor because they had to leave everything - their homes and jobs, and escaped with only what they could carry. But whether his immediate audience were Jews or Gentiles, they were predominately poor.  Being wealthy in those days was something that you had to inherit, or it came from a prominent political position.  But being a Christian was almost a certain guarantee that you were ostracized from society, whether Jewish or Gentile, and as a result you were poor.

The apostle Paul, speaking to the Corinthian church, said it was generally true that Chrisitians were poor in comparison to the world.  He said in 1Cor. 1:26-28 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,  and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are.”  I suppose that was the general rule for all the churches in Asia.  Many Christians were even slaves or indentured servants. 

I believe that in James day, there were primarily only two classes of people.  The rich and the poor.  There was not so much of what we think of today as a middle class.  And I believe that we are seeing the elimination of the middle class in our society as well.  But in any event, I think that even the poor in our society would be considered rich in comparison to many other places in the world, and especially in comparison to the way most people lived in James day.  We take for granted many things that they would have considered the utmost luxury.

Nevertheless, for the purposes of this message, I think we can agree with James who divides society into two social divisions, rich or poor.  And in the context of his message about enduring trials with joy, he brings up the trial of being poor.  Notice also that he addresses those people who are poor as brothers.  So he’s speaking to Christians who are poor.  You don’t have to be poor to be a Christian, but I would have to say it helps.  Whereas, being rich is a hindrance to being saved.

You will remember that Jesus said in Luke 18:25 "For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  If you have ever seen and smelled a camel, then you know that is an impossibility, isn’t it?  I know some commentators and clever pastors have tried to say that the eye of the needle is the name of a very narrow pass through a canyon somewhere in Israel, and a camel had to get on it’s knees to crawl through it.  I happen to think that is not what Jesus is referring to.  He is looking at the rich young ruler who had just turned away from salvation because of his great riches, and he is probably riding away on a camel, which was like the Cadillac of that day. And this young man, who is very rich, probably had a fleet of them in his entourage.

The disciples certainly understood Jesus to not just be speaking of a difficulty, but an impossibility.  They asked, “then who can be saved?”  And Jesus answered, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”  So being rich does not absolutely exclude you from the kingdom of God, but Jesus did say it is practically impossible.  But thankfully, that which seems impossible to men is not impossible with God. 

But by and large, James indicates that the church is primarily made up of poor people.  And they consider being poor a trial.  He contrasts this Christian brother who is suffering the trial of being poor  to that of the double minded man who loves the world in the previous verse.  James says “But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position.”

James isn’t deliberately speaking in riddles.  But he’s speaking in a manner of teaching that was common to the Hebrews, which is often seen in the Psalms and Proverbs.  It’s a method where he uses contrast and parallelism to teach a subject.  

He says the brother is in humble circumstances.  That’s a nice way of saying that they were poor.  There is nothing more humbling than being poor.  I can tell you from experience many stories from my past when I experienced humbling circumstances.  God took me from a position of wealth, or at least thinking I was wealthy, to a position of extreme poverty.  And during that time I had to do some pretty humbling things in order to keep food on the table.  I put my wife and kids through many humbling circumstances.  It was a time that left scars which we still deal with even today to some extent.

It was kind of like the experiences that I heard my dad speak of having come through the Great Depression.  People that came through that had a different perspective on money for decades afterwards.  They were often afraid of spending money because they never wanted to go through such times again.

So being poor was a trial that a lot of the Christians were going through.  But James says the man in humble circumstances, or a low economic position,  should glory in his high position.  That phrase “high position” is a reference to his standing with God.  We that are saved have a high position with God.  Peter says we are a royal priesthood.  Paul says in Romans 8:17 that we are the children of God.  “And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

So our suffering in poverty is producing for us a weight of glory beyond our comprehension.  Paul says in 2Cor. 4:17-18 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  We that are poor in this world have our eyes fixed, our hope fixed, on the next world, on that which is eternal. We have a high position with God, though for the time being, we suffer a low position on earth. And in that sure hope we can glory, we can rejoice.

So Peter says in 1Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  That’s what James is talking about when he says let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position.  We endure the humbling circumstances now, because we know that God will make all things new in the consummation of the kingdom.  We are like princes in exile, but one day the King is coming back in power and glory, and in that day He will set His sons and daughters on thrones to reign with Him in His kingdom.

James says in chapter 2 vs 5, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world [to be] rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”  Then let us glory in our high position and endure with patience the suffering of being poor, in humbling circumstances.

But the rich man, he is now contrasted with the brother of humble circumstances.  His end is not the same, nor is it better than the poor man.  His faith has been in his possessions.  His dependence is not on God, but on his own resources.  James says in vs 10 “and the rich man [is to glory] in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.”

First let’s recognize who this person is who is rich.  Notice that James called the poor man “brother” but omits this term when he introduces the rich man.  It’s possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, but only because God is able to make what is impossible for men, a possibility with God.  But I think in a general manner of speaking, James is likely presenting the rich man in a similar light as the double minded man of the previous passage.  It’s very likely that the rich man is not a true believer.  He has a double minded faith which considers the riches of this world too great to let go of for the sake of the kingdom.

Remember the rich, young ruler? He believed in God.  He was very religious, very moral.  But Jesus said one thing you still lack - sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow Me.”  And he didn’t do it, because he was so rich.  Now was that man saved or unsaved?  I suggest he left unsaved. And so we might also assume that the rich man James speaks of here is not saved. He might be religious, he might be moral, he might believe in God, but his faith falls short because he depends on his wealth.

Notice also that James says about this rich man that he will pass away.  The poor glory in their future in eternity, but the rich man glories in the present.  But James says something here which is difficult for us to understand, perhaps because it’s somewhat confusing in it’s translation.  He says the rich man should glory in his humiliation.  What I think James is referring to is that he needs to recognize his low spiritual condition.  He needs to realize that his wealth is temporary, and instead lay up treasure in heaven.  

James, you remember is Jesus’s half brother.  And he is obviously familiar with what Jesus taught in Matt. 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The rich man needs to see that though he is rich in the world’s goods, he is poor in heaven. 

Jesus said in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  What that speaks of is recognizing your spiritual bankruptcy.  When you realize you are spiritually bankrupt, then you are able to receive the gift of God, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ applied to your account. So if the rich man is to glory, then let him glory in his humiliation, in the fact of his spiritual bankruptcy. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you. And when  he has repented, he may receive mercy, that he may at the last day enter into glory.

I suppose another perspective on this is you can also think of riches as a trial.  I know we are conditioned to think of riches as a blessing.  We say things like “God blessed me with a  financial windfall,” or “God blessed me with a well paying job.”  Whatever the cause may be, we think financial well being is a sign of God’s blessing.  But maybe it’s not.  Maybe it’s a test.  It’s a trial.

So though it may be hard to believe, being rich can be a trial. So many Christians think having money is a blessing.  When in fact it can be a terrible temptation to live independently from God, to not love your neighbor, to be greedy, to be an unfaithful steward, and a host of other ways you can sin against God by putting your trust in this world’s goods. Jesus said, you cannot serve God and wealth. You cannot serve two masters.

1Tim. 6:7-10 tells us that if being rich is not directly a trial, it is at least a temptation.  “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.  But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

There’s that idea of being a double minded man again, and not persevering in faith, but abandoning faith in God and instead trying to hold onto the wisdom of the world.  And the wisdom of the world is that he who dies with the most toys wins.  That money is the means of happiness and contentment and status.  But the Bible tells us the opposite.  Because real contentment comes from spiritual riches, and an eternal perspective. Real status comes from our position in heaven. And the riches of the world cannot obtain those things. 

James then gives an analogy of the way that those who pursue riches will end up destitute. He says in vs11, “For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.”

James gives us a picture of the flowering grass, which springs up after a rain, but when the sun rises and the hot winds blow across the landscape, the grass quickly withers and the flower falls away.  It’s a picture of the rich man who in the midst of pursuing money will suddenly fade away.  

But notice that James doesn’t say that riches will fade away.  Sometimes that happens as a result of a crash in the stock market, or housing market, or any number of other possibilities. But he isn’t talking here about riches fading away.  He says the rich man will fade away.  Death comes without warning, without keeping schedule.  And death eventually comes to everyone, rich or poor.  And what you spent your life in pursuit of, is left to your descendants to fight over, while you go to meet your Maker. Jesus said, “what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

Jesus gave a parable about such a rich man.  In Luke 12:15-21 we read, “Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not [even] when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."  And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive.  "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' "Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years [to come;] take your ease, eat, drink [and] be merry."'  "But God said to him, 'You fool! This [very] night your soul is required of you; and [now] who will own what you have prepared?'  "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

So the poor man, though he is of humble circumstances, is rich towards God.  But the rich man, who is wealthy in the world’s goods, is poor towards God.  He is spiritually bankrupt. He needs to recognize that, to repent and have faith in God, that he may be rich in the kingdom of heaven.

And so James concludes this section about trials with the following pronouncement of blessing in vs 12, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which [the Lord] has promised to those who love Him.”

Trials are a test of our faith, given to prove our faith, that we might exercise our faith by enduring, persevering in our faith towards God.  Our faith is not a wrench by which we manipulate God into giving us health, wealth and prosperity, but it’s a wrench by which God transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ as we share in His suffering. Suffering is a means by which God transforms us from trusting in the world, and in the world’s wisdom, the world’s goods, to trusting totally and completely in Him. 

And once our faith has been approved, we receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love Him.  When James says, “our faith has been approved” he isn’t speaking of earning our salvation through works.  But he is saying that once God has ended the period of testing which He designed to refine our faith, then we will receive the crown of life.  The crown of life I think speaks of our glorification, when we shall be with the Lord at the consummation of the kingdom.  What James is urging us to do is to endure to the end of this life.  We don’t get the promise that somehow God is going to make everything work out here as we go through this trial, so that we can end this trial in a quick fashion and enjoy the rest of our life living in prosperity and good health.  But what he is saying is that we endure these trials to the end. Revelation 2:10 says, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

 God tests our faith as we persevere, looking forward to what He has promised, which is eternal life, the crown of life, that we receive in full once the trial of this life is over.  This whole life we live now is a trial. And our trials will be over when our physical life is over.  Then we will receive the promise of the crown of life, the abundant life, eternal life, that God has promised to those who love Him.  Who love Him more than we love this world, love Him more than wealth, more than fame, more than all the material possessions that this life appears to offer. 

If you love the Lord, then you will gladly give up this world in order to have Him. Jesus said in Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

I trust that each of you have enduring faith, that will persevere through the trials of this life, whether rich or poor, in sickness or in health, until death one day separates you from this life and you receive the crown of life. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Seeking Wisdom, James 1:5-8

James is full of these pithy passages which some have called imperatives of the faith. And it’s tempting to take these simple imperatives at face value but somewhat superficially and usually out of context, and expect to use them sort of like a formula, whereby if we do x plus y, we will get z.  And perhaps that is possible, on occasion.  But I don’t think that is James’ intention. 

I imagine that I am not alone in applying such a template to this passage before us today.  There have been a few situations in my life where I have had to take a test of some sort, and was perhaps unprepared.  And this verse would come to my mind as I was beginning the test.  “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and upbraideth not.”  So I would dutifully pray for wisdom as I took the test, and try my best to have faith that God would give me the wisdom needed. I needed the answers, and I was hoping He would give them to me.  And the verse seemed to indicate that He didn’t care that I hadn’t studied for the test- “He upbraideth not.”  However,  I can’t say that  I ever remember acing any of my tests, or that it was evident that God had given me wisdom to know the answers. 

But James lends itself to that kind of formula approach because James writes in such a way as to present a series of doctrinal, or behavioral statements that he gives as absolute imperatives for the Christian life, and we, failing to understand the context, and accepting them almost superficially, tend to apply them as a formula expecting dramatic results.

For example, there is the well known imperative he gives in chapter 5.  I have heard this one quoted to me dozens and dozens of times in regards to a desire to be healed of some illness. He says in chapter 5 vs 14;  “Is anyone among you sick? [Then] he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;  and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”  

There you go.  That’s a formula for being healed of any sickness. Guaranteed success if you follow that formula exactly.  I’ve heard messages from many faith healers on these verses who insist that if you follow the formula exactly, then you will be healed.  Well, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble on that one, but when we get to chapter five I will show you that’s not a formula for physical healing as much as it’s a formula for spiritual healing. The word rendered restore in English is translated from the Greek word sozo.  Sozo is translated as “save” 93 times in the KJV, and only 3 times it’s translated as healed. For some unknown reason they translate it as healed in this case.  But I don’t think that the translators necessarily made the right choice.  But I don’t want to go into that now, other than to use it as an illustration of how we like to apply these imperatives to suit our desires, rather than try to understand the context in which it is given.

So then we need to consider these verses in context.  And the context for this passage about wisdom comes from the verses directly before.  Starting in vs 2, James talks about trials of our faith, and God’s purpose in them.  We learned last week that trials come from God, and we are to endure in them, so that God may complete our faith in us.  God uses trials as a means of maturing us in our faith.  And note how James ends that passage, he says, “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  Lacking in nothing.  That’s a key to understanding vs 5.

Because in vs 5, James says, “If you lack wisdom, ask of God.” Notice the repetition of the word “lack.”  So we go through trials that God may mature our faith, that we would be complete and not lacking in anything.  Then immediately, he tells us something that we may be lacking.  That’s the connection that gives vs 5 and following the proper context.

If you remember we talked about Job last week as an example of suffering trials.  James himself in chapter 5 vs 11 gives us the example of Job as a man who endured under trials. I think God arranged it so that we would study Job on Wednesdays prior to this study of James, because so much of what we learned about Job’s trials and his understanding of all that helps us to better understand James. 

But if you remember, what was Job’s biggest concern during his trials? He had all these terrible things happen to him and to his family.  His friends came and tried to give him counsel.  But Job’s biggest complaint was “what is going on? I have lived a godly life.  I have trusted in God with my whole heart.  I have done acts of righteousness showing pity on others not so fortunate.  But where is God now?  Why has He allowed me to suffer like this?  I am being judged by my friends as a vile sinner who deserves all that has happened to me.  Where is my God?  What is He doing? Why won’t He answer me?”

So the thing that Job most desired as He endured the trials that he suffered was wisdom from God.  In chapter 28 of Job we hear the cry of Job for wisdom.  He cries out in vs12 "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” And he gives a long soliloquy about the search for wisdom which is more desirable than gold or silver.  Wisdom is the most precious thing.  

And then Job says that God has wisdom.  Wisdom comes from God.  And he ends by saying, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.”  So the great need of Job during his trials was to know the wisdom of God.  He wanted to know what God was doing.  He needed wisdom to endure.

And in that context, James says that if we are to be complete in our faith, nothing lacking, then we need the wisdom of God. We need to know the plan of God, and how we fit in that plan.  We need to know His plans are for us.  We need to know His will, that we may be obedient to it.

So James isn’t talking here about receiving divine cliff notes that will help us get good grades on tests so we don’t have to study.  He’s not speaking of having wisdom to make a bridge or a building and not have the proper education for it.  He’s definitely not talking about having supernatural knowledge whereby we know mysteries about other people’s lives and we can dispense our own pithy statements about what we think God told us so that we can prophesy to other people about events in their life.

No, it’s much more practical than that.  It’s knowing God’s will, knowing God’s plan, knowing what God’s purposes are for our lives, and for the world.  And how do we gain that knowledge? Well, James says, God gives it to us. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”  Twice in that verse, James says God gives wisdom to those who ask Him.  

I think the idea of asking God incorporates more of the idea of seeking God.  Jesus said in Matt. 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  The key is to realize that you need  what only God has, and to ask God, to seek God’s wisdom.  It’s recognizing that truth is from God.  The answers to life come from God.  Direction in how to live comes from God.  Life comes from God. Salvation is of the Lord.

So when we turn to God, to seek His wisdom, He will give us His wisdom.  Wisdom is really a synonym for the gospel.  Jesus said concerning Himself and His gospel, in Matt. 12:42 "[The] Queen of [the] South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Solomon of course, was the human author of Proverbs.  And the whole book of Proverbs is about the wisdom of God in contrast to the fool who does not have that wisdom. The one who listens to wisdom, who acquires wisdom, will be blessed, but the one who disdains wisdom will be destroyed. 

So the truth of the gospel is the wisdom of God.  And we find wisdom when we turn to God’s word.  When we read God’s word we ask Him for wisdom to understand what He is saying.  James is going to address the idea of wisdom again when we get to chapter 3.  But let’s take an advance peek at a couple of verses which I think will help us as we consider this passage.  

He gives a contrast between earthly wisdom and divine wisdom starting in chapter 3 vs 15 “This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. … So there is a wisdom that is not from God, but is earthly and actually demonic.  It’s wisdom which has as it’s origin the doctrine of demons. Then look at vs 17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”  So there is another wisdom which is from God.  In fact, it is the only true wisdom.  And it only can come from God.

I think it’s also important to make a distinction between wisdom and knowledge. James speaks in chapter three of wisdom as being wise and understanding.  Solomon speaks of wisdom as knowledge and understanding.  Understanding I think is the idea of application of knowledge.  Like I understand how to drive a car.  I don’t just know certain facts about it.  But I understand how those facts are to be utilized.   One theologian said that wisdom is the right use of knowledge. So wisdom is tied to deeds. James said in chapter 3:13  “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.” Behavior and deeds are the proof of wisdom.

Now to the point that wisdom is really speaking of the gospel, we know that salvation is by grace. It’s a gift of God.  And in the same way, God gives wisdom.  Wisdom is a gift of God. James says, He gives without reproach, or without finding fault, or as the KJV says, He upbraideth not.  In other words, God wants you to have His wisdom. God isn’t going to give you a lecture where He says, “This is the last time I’m going to give you wisdom. Last time you didn’t act on it right - you didn’t handle it correctly.  So you better make sure you get it right this time, cause this is the last time.”  That may be the way we speak to our kids, but that’s not the way God treats us.  When we turn to God, when we seek Him, and seek His wisdom, His truth, He will answer us.

Then James adds in vs 6, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,  [being] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Now let’s not forget the context as we try to understand this verse.  James isn’t saying here that if you ask God for a new car, and you ask in faith and don’t let any doubt creep into your mind that God may not give you that car, then you will receive what you ask for.  He’s not saying that the secret to getting your prayers answered the way you want them to be answered is to conjure up a lot of faith, don’t let any doubt that you may not get it enter your mind, and then God will give you what you want.

No, this is not a blanket formula for getting your prayers answered.  James is talking specifically about getting wisdom from God. The wisdom from God.  The answers to life. The way to live.  The will of God, the plan of God.  In short, the gospel of salvation.  When you ask for this wisdom, then you need to come to God without any doubt.  You have to believe in Him with your whole heart.  You need to believe in who God is, that He is, that He has a plan and a purpose for you, and He will accomplish it. You need to believe His word, His promises.

So James says that when he asks, he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  When I read that about being tossed about by the wind and waves in regards to your faith, I am reminded of Ephesians 4:14 which says,  “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” We are not to be like children in our faith.  Remember the whole point of trials was to mature you in your faith.  So a mature faith in God is believing the truth about God.  Faith is not believing in a false knowledge of God.  Faith is founded on sound doctrine, not on false doctrine.  Faith is not a blind believism that is not concerned with truth.

Jude uses that imagery of waves begin tossed here and there to speak of those who were in the church, and yet who really were not saved.  He says in Jude vs 12 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;  wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”  That’s a picture of the unsaved who have no fruit in their life, who have not the fear of God in their life, and consequently they do not have the wisdom of God.  They are destined for eternal black darkness.

Those that seek wisdom without faith in God are like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. But rather  we should ask for wisdom with faith in who God is and what He has said He will do.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please [Him,] for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

James is saying that it’s possible for people to come to religion, sort of with their fingers crossed behind their back. They want answers to life, they know they need help, and they’re not really sure about God, but they are willing to claim faith in God, if it might help them out of the crisis that they are in.  They are willing to say the prayer, say the right things, go to church, try to follow the teachings of the Bible.  They are willing to do all those things for a while to see if God will help them out of their crisis.  But after a while, when the crisis is still there, their wife has now filed for divorce, the business had to declare bankruptcy, whatever the crisis may be is still there, they lose interest in God and go back to human wisdom. 

James says they never were given wisdom to begin with.  They had an unstable faith.  They had two minds. They were double minded. They thought they could get wisdom from God on the one hand, but still hold onto the wisdom of the world just in case it didn’t work out.   Bottom line, they probably were never saved to begin with.  They went through the motions, hoping that if there is a God He might help them. He never received anything from the Lord.

That man who doubts, James says, he asks God for wisdom but doubts that what God gives is actually wisdom.  They really have never given up their earthly wisdom.  The things of God seem like foolishness to them.  Paul speaks of how the gospel seems like foolishness to them in 1Co 1:18, 21, 23  “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ... 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not [come to] know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ... 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” 

That reveals the difference between asking for wisdom from God and not really having faith in God but actually doubting God. I can’t help but wonder about even some people here in our church, if they have really believed in God by faith without doubting,  or they have just gone through the motions of religion, but inwardly they doubt the wisdom of God and still hold onto to the wisdom of the world.  I think it’s very possible to come to church, to profess you have faith, but actually to still live in the world, think like the world, and you have never received the wisdom from above. 

The double minded man shouldn’t deceive himself into thinking that God will bless him, when he lives like he wants, makes his own decisions, and lives apart from the wisdom of God.  If he has not come to God with a child like faith, believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, then God will not grant him the wisdom which is from above. The problem is not that God doesn’t give wisdom in answer to his prayers, but that the man’s doubt prevents God from giving. 

James will address that double minded man again in chapter 4:8-10 which says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

James speaks there of the need for the double minded man to repent before the Lord.  And He will forgive you.  Your lack of complete faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ as Lord is a sin that must be confessed and repented of. And that prayer of repentance is a prayer that God always hears, and always answers.  The prayer of repentance is always answered, and God will always forgive on the basis of that prayer of faith. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Then when you have humbled yourself before God, He will raise you up.  He will give you the wisdom from above.  He will give you life, even everlasting life.  

The testing of faith, James 1:1-4

Today we begin our study of the book of James.  We’ve studied James before as a church, but we’ve reached the point where we have gone through the entire New Testament, and so we are now on our second round. But I think that’s a good place to be.  As we learned in Jude last week, we need to be reminded.  We need to remember.  And so I look forward to gleaning more from this harvest than we did on the first.

However, perhaps due to the fact that we have studied James before, I don’t want to spend a lot of time introducing the epistle, nor on it’s human author, who is James.  James doesn’t spend a lot of time introducing himself, for that matter.  He doesn’t mention much about himself.  But we know from our previous study of Jude that James and Jude were brothers.  We should also know by now that James and Jude were half brothers of Jesus. They had the same birth mother, but Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, whereas James and Jude were born of Joseph.

It would have made sense from a human standpoint for James to have mentioned that he was related to Jesus.  That would be a pretty strong argument for his letter being taken seriously by the first century church.  But, just as in the case of Jude, James doesn’t emphasize his physical relationship with Jesus, but instead emphasizes his spiritual relationship. And that is very striking, and it speaks volumes in doctrinal terms about his view of Christology.

James says that he is a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s a tremendous statement, given the fact that they grew up together in the same household. He knew Jesus as his older brother since his birth.  He saw Him in every kind of circumstance.  However, it’s noteworthy that John chapter 7 tells us that Jesus’s brothers did not believe in Him, initially. It was only after the resurrection that they came to believe in Jesus as Christ the Lord.

But notice James puts Jesus Christ and God on the same plane, and he a servant to both. He says in vs 1, “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s a tremendous statement of the deity of Jesus Christ, from someone who had every reason not to believe.

The author then is James, the brother of Jude and the half brother of Jesus Christ.  He is not an apostle in the strict sense of the word, as he was not one of the 12. Scholars tell us that James wrote this book about 44 AD.  That would make it the first book written in the New Testament.  James was martyred about AD 62.  The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that he was thrown off the rooftop of the temple, and then stoned and beaten until dead.  Other historic traditions say that James was called Old Camel Knees, because he spent so much time on his knees praying that he developed very obvious callouses on his knees.

James addresses this letter not to one specific church, but to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad.  That would have encompassed the entire church, and it could be argued that it included Gentile believers as well. But in any case, the Jews had been dispersed from Jerusalem into many different regions and cities across the Roman Empire, and they had been dispersed because of persecution against the church.  It’s believed that after the stoning of Stephen that persecution became more prominent and the church in Jerusalem were scattered.

So as James writes to these scattered, persecuted Christians living in predominately Gentile, pagan cities, in a culture hostile to Christianity, his first concern is about dealing with the persecution, bearing with the trials and tribulations that they were experiencing.  That was perhaps the most pressing issue for the church scattered abroad.  Their faith was under attack, as they are being persecuted for their faith.  Their faith is being tried, as they are forced to reconcile what they believed to be true, with the reality of what they are experiencing in living the Christian life. 

But James’s concern is that they become spiritually mature.  His concern is that they live sanctified lives as they grow in the faith. His concern is that their belief brings about behavior that is fitting of a child of God.  And so rather than the Christian life being a sort of all expenses paid pleasure cruise where everything just works out great, he wants to show that God uses the crucible of trials to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ.

To deal with this seeming contradiction in the life of faith, James says in vs 2, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.”  That statement is itself is an oxymoron, if you think about it.  We just finished studying Job in our Wednesday night services.  And we know that Job encountered tremendous trials as a devout believer in God.  He was the most righteous man that was living in his day.  And yet he was beset with one calamity after another.  

It would have seemed totally heartless and calloused if his friends would have said to him, “hey Job, you should consider these trials as all joy.”  We sometimes hear well meaning Christians give that kind of response when they hear of some tragic thing going on in your life.  As if since we are Christians, we should not feel pain or grief and instead be happy over our circumstances, however terrible they may appear.

I don’t think that is what James is advocating here though.  For one, I don’t think happiness and joy are the same thing.  I think happiness is usually a fleeting emotion, whereas joy is a sense of settled contentment.  But maybe we should not be looking at joy as an immediate response to trial.  I think a good way to understand this principle is to consider what Hebrews says about the suffering of Jesus on the cross.  We all realize that the cross is a terrible method of killing someone.  It’s cruel and unusual punishment that is almost unfathomable.  And we know that as Jesus suffered and died on the cross He was not singing “O Happy Day.” I don’t mean to be sacrilegious about His death.  But we know that it was no laughing matter.  At one point, the suffering was so intense, that he cried out, “My God! Why have You forsaken Me?”  There should be no doubt that Jesus suffered during His trial on the cross. Jesus did not exhibit a happy, carefree attitude about the ordeal He was to undergo.  In fact, in anticipation of it, He sweated drops of blood. 

And yet consider what Hebrews says in chapter 12 vs 2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Here is the supreme example of how we are to endure trials.  It says, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.  The joy was not immediate.  As He was suffering in the present, the joy was in the future.  He was willing to suffer in the immediate, looking forward to joy in the eternal.

I think the KJV rendering of the word translated “consider” might be helpful.  In the KJV it is “count”.  Count it all joy.  As in you are counting as actual something that has not yet been realized. But you count it now.  The Spirit is not telling us that we are to go through tragedy or hardship or trails with a smile glued on our face and yelling out “praise the Lord!” as if the situation does not hurt us or make us sad.  But to endure the pain, looking forward to the joy set before us as we come through the situation. Whether we come through the trial and realize joy in this life, or we transpire in the trial are translated to the next life,  death does not prevent that future joy, but only hastens it.

I think this verse in Hebrews helps so much in our understanding of this text in James. Notice the parallel in words, In Hebrews -perfecter, faith, joy, endured.  In James - joy, vs 2, faith, vs 3, endurance, vs 3, perfect, vs 4. That’s a good example of interpreting scripture with scripture.  We can better understand the principle of enduring trials that James is talking about, by examining the illustration of Christ’s suffering as described in Hebrews.

So count it as all joy when you encounter various trials.  That phrase various trials opens up the possibilities to include just about anything.  All kinds of trials.  Every kind of trial. Think of what Job endured, death of loved ones, loss of wealth, loss of health, loss of friendships, criticism. So all kinds of trials are included in this statement.

But wait a minute - I left out an important word in that first part of the sentence.  James says “my brethren.”  That’s a reference to fellow Christians.  We are brothers and sisters in the Lord.  James is addressing fellow Christians.  That’s another false premise of a lot of health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine folks out there who want to claim that as a Christian you should never have any problems.  God will eliminate all your problems.  That was more or less the claim of Job’s friends, wasn’t it? They said Job had problems because he was not much of a man of God.  If he had enough faith, or the right kind of faith, then he wouldn’t have problems like he was having.  Yet that is not what we learned in Job, is it?  Job was righteous, and yet he suffered. He was a faithful servant of God, and yet he suffered tremendous trials.  He had problems counting his trials as all joy.  But in the end he experienced joy because he endured the trials without turning his back on God.

 

This principle that James proposes also has the support of the apostle Paul and Peter.  Paul says in Romans 5:3, “And not only this, but we also rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  

And Peter says in 1 Peter 1:6, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the proof of your faith, [being] more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

Both of those apostles tell us that trials produces perseverance, and perseverance proven character, or what Peter calls the proof of your faith. It’s the same idea that James conveys in vs 3, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”  It’s important to know the truth.  Job wanted to know the truth about God in the midst of his trials.  And it’s important for us to have the right knowledge as we go through trials.  As I have said before many times, our faith is founded on the truth of God’s word, on His promises.  

And so we need to know the purpose of God in the trials of our life.  They are not by chance.  There are no accidents with God. Ultimately everything that happens to us comes by the purpose of God.  So James says that we need to know that God sends these trials to us to test our faith, which produces endurance, or another word, maybe better, is perseverance.  

But what does he mean to test our faith? Is God trying to get us to fail?  I used to think that about some of the teachers I had in high school.  They would give us a test over stuff I didn’t think we had ever covered.  And so I thought they were trying to make us fail the test.  But that’s not what James has in mind here when he says “test.”  What that means is “prove”.

Let’s look again at 1 Peter 1:6 which we saw a few minutes ago, and hopefully get some more insight into what James is talking about.  Peter says, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the proof of your faith, [being] more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  

In precious metal refining, you take a lot of gold which may be 14k or 18k, which means that it is 517 parts gold per 1000, or 750 parts gold per 1000.  The other parts are non precious metals like brass or copper or something else. So when you send it to the refinery, the gold is melted down in a fire which burns away the dross, and separates that which is base metals from the precious metal.  So what comes out of the refiner’s fire is pure gold without any impurities.  That’s what Peter meant by the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire.

The hymn we sing, How Firm a Foundation, has the line in it which speaks of this.  “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”

And that is what James is speaking of when he says the testing of our faith.  We go through a fiery trial which God uses to prove our faith, or better, to improve our faith.  It takes out the impurities.  The test reveals the evidence of our faith, and purifies our faith.  

And James says that evidence is endurance, or perseverance.  The Greek word for endurance or perseverance is hypomone. It means to bear up under.  Christians very often have the mindset that when trials come, that they want to get out of it as soon as possible.  All their prayer requests are for the Lord to get rid of this trial immediately.  But the fact is that the Lord’s purposes are not always to take us quickly out of the trial but to use it to produce something in us.  So we are to endure the trial.  

That quality of perseverance was illustrated by Job.  However, James isn’t suggesting an attitude of resignation. He’s not advocating an attitude of whatever will be will be. Of fatalism. But he is suggesting perseverance. Resignation is passive, perseverance is active.  Resignation results in defeat, perseverance results in triumph.  Perseverance says as Job said, “though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.”  It’s not turning away from God in trial, but turning to God, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Endurance is a character trait that God wants to build in us.  And He uses trials to do it.  James says in chapter 5:11, “ We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and [is] merciful.”

And James says we endure not just for endurance’s sake, but because it brings spiritual maturity.  Look at vs 4, “And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” We need to clarify our terms to truly understand what James is talking about here.  The word perfect can almost always be better interpreted as complete.  He’s not talking about somehow reaching spiritual perfection, but spiritual completion.  What does that mean?  Simply speaking, spiritual maturity. 

James says let endurance or perseverance have it’s complete result. “Don’t take the cake out of the oven before the toothpick comes out clean.”  That’s what Susie always tells me when she has to leave the house and I’m home studying, and she has a cake in the oven.  My job when the timer goes off is to stick a toothpick in it and see if it comes out clean.  Simple job.  But if I take the cake out just because the timer goes off and it hasn’t been in long enough then the cake is ruined. 

That’s a bad analogy of what James says is needed in perseverance.  You need to stay in the fire until God’s work is complete in you.  Spiritual maturity takes time, and it takes enduring in tribulation until God has completed His purpose in you.  Three times Paul pleaded with God to take away a thorn in his flesh, which he said was a messenger of Satan to torment him. Whatever the trial was, it wasn’t fun.  But God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect, ( or complete) in weakness. (2Cor. 12:8)  There it is again, the idea that enduring trials completes your faith.

James says, let patience have it’s complete result or work. Don’t immediately run around in circles crying to God to get this monkey off your back.  Realize that God is working in the trial to complete your faith.

The word translated “perfect,” in the Greek is “teleion.” It’s a word that was used in secular sources of animals that are full grown.  Here it is used to refer to Christians that are full grown.  Endurance makes a full-grown Christian.  So the Lord is giving you endurance, to put you through a greater test, to make you a stronger Christian, a more mature Christian. 

James says in chapter 3 vs 2, “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”  He uses the concept of perfect there to indicate the concept of wholeness.  That is, not lagging behind in any point of their spiritual growth.

That phrase “not lacking in anything is synonymous with the term complete, which expresses the idea that all parts are functioning as they should.  If we endure the trials and the training which God uses to make us complete, then we lack nothing in our faith, so that we might be able to persevere in faith until the end.

Jesus promised that in this world we would have tribulations.  That is going to be part of the Christian experience here on earth.  But if we endure, if we persevere in our faith as we go through the tribulations without doubting God, then we will have a refined faith that will come forth like gold, and that results in bringing glory to Christ, and our glorification.

Paul speaks of that process in Romans 8:16-18 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Let’s conclude this study about God’s purpose in trials this morning with the statement  given by Peter in 1 Peter 1:6 which we referenced earlier.  I think it is a good summary of this doctrine.  “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the proof of your faith, [being] more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,  to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, [be] glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.