Untitled Sermon (27)
Notes
Transcript
introduction
introduction
Good morning Rivertree! It is a joy to be with this morning. It’s been a few months since I;ve had the opportunity to preach so I am filled with gratitude to get to share this morning.
Starting a new book of the Bible is always a great expiernce. I don’t think James will take 2 and a half years but you never know.
If you have your Bibles go ahead and open to James 1 verse 1 and we are going to read through 18 this morning.
Read James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
Just to start off today I want to look at who james is. why what he writes is significant and who is he writing to
James is the half brother of Jesus and in the gospels we find out pretty quickly James was skeptical of Jesus being God.
and we can’t blame him. Imagine if one of your sibilings claimed to be God. We would probably be skeptical also.
according to John 7:5
For not even his brothers believed in him.
James didn’t even belive in Jeuss.
and might be a good reminder if you feel hurt, left out or even disregardied by your family Jesus truly knows what that is like
Something readical happens in James life. Look at what he says. James, The servant of God and the Lord Jesus christ.
He has gone from Skeptic to servant
One of his favorite terms in this letter is the term brother. But when he writes of one who was in fact a brother within
his own family, he calls him the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1).
It is grammatically possible that James was saying he served “Jesus Christ who is God and Lord,” which would be one of the great affirmations of the deity of Jesus Christ in the New Testament
And here is the significance of this. That Jesus has the power to change even the most unbelieving hearts
and that is what he has done with James
This is huge for some of you in this room this morning. You come very skeptical when it comes to Jesus, God , The Bible and this whole church thing. And to be honest I get that. There was a time I was really skeptical but then Jesus did to me what he did to James. He changed my heart. I want you to know if you are in this room and you don’t believe in Jesus, you haven’t followed Jesus he can change you. There is nothing I can say or anything anyone can say to transform you but JESUS can and wants to do this. Will you let him today? Will you respond to his transformational power?
But this is not just encouraging for those of you are skeptics. It’s also encouraging for those of us in this room who have a friend, family member, neighbor or even co-worker who is the skeptic. I think so many times we just want to change them. We want to transform them. We think if we could just say the right words, or get them the right book to read then everything would change. But I would remind you of what Jesus told his disciples in Mark when they asked “who can be saved?” He responded with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible.”
There is nothing you can personal do to change someone’s heart. God can do it and James gives us encouragement that if he can change his brothers heart who at one point
wants Jesus to be institutionalized he can change the hearts of those in our circles of influence also.
This transformation took place
After his resurrection, when Jesus appeared to James, who at the time was alone (1 Cor. 15:7).
and now this James is a leader of the church in Jerusalem, he is penning one of the first letters of the NT and God is using him to advance and shape early Christian thought.
He wrote to To cthe twelve tribes in dthe Dispersion:
He is writing to Jewish Christians who have fleed Jerusalm thorugh the world because of the persection that had taken place.
so much of what James writes reads like the psalms and proverbs. It’s very pratical and some themes you will see in James are and really helps us think about what it means to be a Christian
Suffering can be expected- Just look at the cross
the Hristian life is about progress not perfection
true faith is a faith that works.
and all those themes play out in the rest of the passage this morning.
let’s look at that together
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
There is a question at some point each one of us will ask. Why?
it’s a question ever single person who has lived has asked at somepoint.
Why does bad stuff happen?
Why is there pain in life?
Why is there suffering.
it’s a question people have asked for centuries
but it’s most likely a question you’ve asked before when a trail takes place
we asked it when a trail comes to someone in our family
we ask it when we hear about a co-worker, or friend, classmate or even neighbor walking through a difficult season in life
we probaly ask it when we go to social media or the news and see all the pain people seem to expierence ever day
We ask why them, why now, why does stuff like this happen? and sometimes it leaves a sickening feeling
and then it get’s even more personal. becuase when it’s someone elses suffering or pain we can have compassion, provide comfort and even have empathy but when it’s ares
no matter how big or small the trail is we ask why me? why this? Why God?
and this morning what I want us to see in the text is we will face trails and temptations in this life, when we do we will either run to God or from him
write away in verse 2-4 James starts to unpack the kind of trails we might face
He says something rather suprising and maybe a little unsettling as he starts
He says “count it all joy”
and it would be natural for the first people who read this and even natural for us to say wait stop. That makes no sense
The reason that seems so unsettling is because we might have a misunderstanding of Joy
Joy is not the pixar charcther in inside out 2. Joy is not a flippant happy go luck feeling.
joy is not the product of our circumstance but rather the most fundemental expression of Faith
that’s why Hebrews 12:1-2 is so encouraging
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
that’s where we go. When trails come we go to the cross. and we see Jesus could count the cross as Joy because he knew what it was going to do in the lives of people who were created in his image
All the weight of eternal justice for sin came down on him. All the punishment we deserve for everything we ever did came down on him. As it was coming down on him on the cross, in the greatest act of love in the history of the world, he stayed. He stood fast. He didn’t budge. As a result, God can forgive us and receive us.
and since he recives us we have the oppurtunity to be in love with Jesus who stood fast for you.
Joy comes from the Lord and faith in him.
but true joy comes from fiath that trust completly in God. Ross reminded us a few weeks ago it’s not the measure of our faith but the object of our faith thta mattters
the measure just has to be a mustarseed becasue God is that increadible and glorius
James isn’t commanding us to have renlentless joy during serve trails. And he isn’t saying that we must ENJOY our trails
He is saying trails are joy.
is that even possible. Is it possible that I could look at the hardest thing I am facing in my life and count it as joy?
that’s beyond me. But this seems to be the testomonay of scriputre
I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
some of your translations might says Pauls Joy knows no bounds.
that’s what James is getting at.
and when James says trails of many kinds he is casting the net wide. He knew Christians would suffer in all sorts of ways in this fallen world
and suffering is never what we want. in some ways we would do anything to avoid it. But James is reframing the way we look at suffering
wheter it’s sickness, lonliness, death, disappointment, betrayl, or anything else we can be sure God cares about those things.
it’s almost like we have our own diaspora expierences where a trail comes along and it displaces us which can cause us to feel when we feel alienated, disenfranchised, unpopular, even when difficulty and tragedy come our way, which have no apparent connection with our Christianity. Such joy may seem irrational, but in Christ it is perfectly rational.
The fact is trials come along and they show you your own limitations. They show you your own flaws. They teach you humility and self-knowledge. Also, trials come along, and they make you empathetic to other people. If you don’t suffer, it’s hard to understand how other people … what they’re going through.
in other words when we go through trails and sufferings we become useful in life
they show us some things you thought you couldn’t live without, you can live without becasue when you lean on God there is a freedom.
a freedom to trust and let God be God.
That’s how we find Joy
and we find joy becasue we know that this refines or test our faith. and this testing is producing something really good and really sweet in us
it’s making us complete lacking nothing.
Keller- What it means is you can lose external wealth and external health and, by holding onto God, that suffering can give you a kind of inner wealth and inner wholeness that is the real deal that lasts forever.
trails have the oppurtunity to completely shape who we are and when we walk through them like this
James is saying the testing of your faith will produces staying power.
Let me illustrate it to you using one of the classic films of the last century. Rocky 4. If you are not familiar with the story rocky is a boxer from Philadelphia and he is going to fight the great Russian boxer Ivan Drago. He is the underdog. He has no chance.
But as the fight goes on, he toughens and becomes wiser and stronger. And almost in every movie it seems like he is just taking punch after punch after punch. But what his opponent doesn’t' know is he is ready to take
Let me illustrate it to you using one of the classic films of the last century. Rocky 4. If you are not familiar with the story rocky is a boxer from Philadelphia and he is going to fight the great Russian boxer Ivan Drago. He is the underdog. He has no chance.
But as the fight goes on, he toughens and becomes wiser and stronger. And almost in every movie it seems like he is just taking punch after punch after punch. But what his opponent doesn’t' know is he is ready to take
those punches because he has faced this before. I mean we had rocky, 1,2 and 3 right? But in reality there is no way a fighter can develop toughness without testing.
The same is true for us. We can't develop steadfastness without testing.
The endurance and fortitude of the Apostle Paul or William Carey or Corrie ten Boom did not come overnight and did not come apart from trials
And ours won't come without trails either
As we endure “trials of many kinds”—economic stress, disappointments, criticisms, domestic pressures, persecution for our faith, illnesses—the multiple facets of our being are touched with grace
And as we are touched by Gods grace we understand trails are not a sign of God's displeasure but are opportunities to persevere in the Lord
CS Lewis put it this way “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Lewis is correct. It is often through our most difficult circumstances that God speaks to the world about how good He truly is
and that reframes everything right? I think a fair question to ask is to look at whatever trail you may be facing and asking the question. Father how are you working through this?
James knows that there are moments we will lack the resources to walk through the trail by ourselves.
So he says in the middle of it Go to God and ask for wisdom.
verse 5 reads if you lack wisdom ask the constently giving God. that’s really good news. When we have no idea how to move forward we Go to God and he promises to give us the wisdom we need for that trail without rebuking or rejecting us.
and our trails will try to break us. we probably can relate to the next verse. James tells us to have confidence that God will give us what we need no matter what we face.
Because if we lack that confidence we become double minded. We feel like we are being tossed around like a wave in the sea by the wind. In other words we feel complelty out of control
and in one sense that is true. When trails come our way if we try to control them. Or we look to the world to save us from them we are double minded.
but even in our unbeilf Jesus meets us. and invites us to look to hijm. and as we look to Jesus he helps our unbelif. He meets us in the midst of our doubt and reminds us he is with us. This reminder allows us to be steady during trails.
Then in verse 9-11 James reminds the very poor Jewish Christians that even great wealth can't prevent trails from coming. Because everything is fading away. There is no amount of wealth or lack of wealth that will stop trails. They are coming and as Christians we must learn to remain steadfast under these trails. So that when people see us walk through trails they will ultimately see Christ. Our suffering will point to his suffering and lead more people to him.
But James knows something. When we face trails we will be tempted to turn from God and not to him. Therefore in verse 13-15 he helps the reader understand these temptations are not from God. We must never say, or even imagine that God is tempting us to sin.
He never has, and never will!
There is a contrast. God is perfectly sinless. Yet when we are born we are sinful.
and though if we are saved our identiy has been changed from sinner to saint there is still a wrestling with sin that happens
James helps us understand in the middle of our trails God is not tempting us. And the way James helps us understand this is reminding us of how sin works.
First there is deception- Think back to Genesis 3. This process takes place. First at the heart of sin is unbelief. Not believing God.
Then we see desire. Verse 14- the langue here is this idea of baiting a hook.
No fish knowing bites and empty hook. The idea is to hide the hook
I’m not much of a fisherman but i’ve always wanted to be. One season I tried to be is when we moved into a house in owens cross raods. This nieghbor hood had a pond at the front of it and I was ready to go fishing. So I bought a pole, got the best bait I could and was ready to catch a big fish. My daughter Anna was 2 at the time. we walked down the lake and as we turned around the first half I noticed the ground benth my was soft and sure enough I began to sink as i’m going down I’m concered and my 2 year old is laughing. I am trying to convince her to stay back and then i’m not sure what to do next.
I don’t have my phone. My 2 year old could not find our house and i’m stuck. I eventually force my way out which you know because i’m here today. Covered compelty in mud and no fish on my hook
And you know it's interesting. If I hadn't sunk in the ground that day I was ready to catch a fish. A really big fish. I had the gear, I had the hook, and I had the bait.
See just like bait appeals to a fishes desire to eat, temptation appeals to our desires DP says "it attracts us but hid the fact that it will kill us.
This is what drives men to pornogrophy, women into another person arms, employees to be dishonestly, studetns to cheat on text, and people to so many other sins
sin my start with deception but often that deception will lead to desire and when we are enticed by this desire that's in us it gives birth to sin
disobidecne- We act on our desire.
and the last thing James says is this leads to death
this is the result of disobidence. The imagery of death is terrifying and we need to see the horror in it.
and I would say this morning if you are flirting with sin or you are buying decisption or if there is desrie that you are fullfilling run from them.
They have the ability to kill you, to destroy your family and remember James makes it clear this is in us. some say be true to yourself, but James helps us understand if
If you are true to ‘yourself’, you will end up a complete mess
run from temptation there is only one place to go.
Back to the saftey of Christ
James could not be more explicit—the source of temptation is not God, or even the Devil, but man’s own sinful heart
Yet Jesus is the source of victory over sin and temptation! and James reminds that in verse 16-18
Since our God is good, very good we are to be reminded he wants Good for us. We realize He is for us in the midst of trails and temptation not against us.
His goodness does not change, we don't deserve his goodness and in the end his goodness is unending. And we are reminded once again through James that we as Christians can take heart. Because God has saved us from our sin.
There was nothing in us that deserved to be saved but because of the goodness of our God. In contrast to the death birthed by sin, life is produced by God. And this life is produced by his word and his will. This is the new birth.
And because God has saved us from our sin we can be confident
He will see us through our sorrow.
Paul knew this and wrote in Romans 8
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time nare not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
We must hold on to the truth of Gods word and believe that as romans 8:28 says God works all things for Good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
But Romans 8:28, which is … God comes and says, “If you trust me in the suffering, if you hold onto me in the suffering, I can work things out so that the suffering becomes like a furnace that turns you to pure gold.” So for example, in 2 Corinthians 4, Paul says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
By the way, do you see that, “… our light and momentary troubles …”? Do you know what Paul is looking at, what he’s going through? Thirty-nine lashes, beaten, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, running for his life. “… our slight, momentary afflictions …” See, it’s all perspective. What he says is, “As I’m outwardly wasting away, I’m being renewed day by day. Everything that’s happening is achieving for me an eternal weight of glory.”
What it means is you can lose external wealth and external health and, by holding onto God, that suffering can give you a kind of inner wealth and inner wholeness that is the real deal that lasts forever. That’s the perspective you’re supposed to have. You’re supposed to realize that’s what can happen.
Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013)
and when we come to have this confidence that God has saved us from our sin and will see us through our sorrow. We know what verse 17 and 18 mean. Ever Good and perfect Gift is from the father.
there are going to be moments we forget where the good gifts come in life. so James ends this section by remindeding us anything good we have in life is from God.
and the first good gift he has giving us is salvation.
Need help ending