James Part 2
Notes
Transcript
James 1:2-4
is a favorite largely because of practicality. We immediately see that in verse
2 – trials.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Unavoidable. It is unlikely there will be any length
of time in your life where there won’t be some test you are facing. So, it’s not
if you will, but how you’ll deal with it when you do.
Dealt
with first because scattered church faced many of them.
James
isn’t …
·
Teaching
was to trick themselves into thinking everything is ok when clearly not.
·
Giving
self-help practices of positive self-talk
·
asking
them to “fake it till you make it.”
·
asking
them to practice self-delusion.
Instead,
·
He’s
reminding them of what they have already known about God and the reality of sin
and a fallen world.
·
He’s
teaching them not focus on what’s right in front.
·
He’s
revealing to them that God has a 30k foot view and He promised to never leave
them and never forsake them.
ILLUS: James is
like a seasoned combat instructor for the Navy Seals, training recruits.
Talking
about trials can by hard:
·
Can
leave some people discouraged if they hear how they are supposed to be handling
them and aren’t. That leads to shame.
·
Some
can be discouraged because they always seem to be in one after the other.
·
Others
are discouraged because they want to take a different perspective but can’t, so
they get frustrated.
·
Still
others get discouraged or even frustrated because they’re tired and feel they
should have been delivered by now.
Let
me say to all of these:
·
There
is grace for you.
·
Jesus
isn’t here to condemn you, but to love you through it.
·
My
hope is that you’ll leave here today encouraged and better equipped for the
challenges that lay ahead.
Let’s
look at the text: James 1:2-4, 12-15
(2) Consider it a great joy, my
brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials
Whenever you experience various trials:
“Whenever” = an indefinite amount of
time – “as often as”,
any time for any length of time.
James starts with a hard reality: There
is no specification of timing or duration. Means the trial could last an hour or a lifetime!
There are circumstances that may not get
better – that is life
in a fallen world.
What James wants to do is to help us
refocus from the trial to the God who is working through it for your good and
His glory.
So James says: 1st step: Consider
it great (pure) joy.
Let’s consider “consider”:
Important – how we define this word determines
a lot:
·
Think
about it – reason through it.
·
See
how we feel about it – how do I feel emotionally about it.
·
Adopt
a perspective or attitude towards it.
The way this same word is used elsewhere,
it’s not “think about,” or “what’s your feeling about it, but “recon to be” – to
adopt a particular attitude or perspective
Illus: “What he said hurt me,
but because I know him, I consider just a thoughtless remark.” Giving benefit
of doubt because of what is known.
It “feels” like an attack, but I’m not
going by what I feel, but what I know.
James says adopt the attitude that
trials are a reason for pure joy – regardless of how they feel (usually not
good!). Why should we do this?
Has everything to do with what, if any,
purpose trials serve.
Are they beneficial or only threats to be avoided. Is it the devil bringing trouble
or God bringing benefit?
Greek word for “trials” can go in two different
meanings depending on usage:
1.
Temptation
– enticement to sin
– designed to cause you
to stumble into sin. eg anger, lust, envy, hatred, unkindness, bitterness,
impatience, unfaithfulness
We know
this is from the evil one who desires to cause us to follow our sin nature. This
is (James 1:13–15 ).
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
Not of
God.
2.
Testing
– examination to reveal the true nature or character of something.
ILLUS: Think Navy Seals
This is
of God and clearly what James is thinking.
We’ll confirm this in the next verse,
but let’s see how the two would fit in with what James says in the verse:
Option 1 – Adopt the attitude of pure joy when
you encounter various things designed to make you stumble and sin.
Option 2 – Adopt the attitude of pure joy when
you encounter various things designed to reveal the character of your faith.
Option 1 makes no sense while option two
assumes that faith is already present.
That makes sense because trials are only
beneficial if God is already at work; if there is faith present because it’s a
work of God alone.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
James words support this view in (3): because you KNOW that testing of
your faith produces endurance.
If you want to honor God through your trials
but are having a hard time – your struggling with it - be encouraged. God is at
work!
Illus: Shared quote I
found with someone recently:
“Some of you are depressed
by your struggle with sin… Consider this: The fact that you have a struggle is
evidence that the Holy Spirit is motivating you to resist. The world has no
struggle, they just indulge. But you have a fight, because The Spirit of God is
still working on you!”
So
in (3)James says
the testing of your faith is producing something positive in you.
We’ll get to that.
First, “testing.”
This word helps us see if we chose the
right option for “trials”. Means “proved genuineness”.
Fits with option 2 of “trials.”
Not meant to see if you have faith, but strengthen
and purify the faith you have.Testing points out impurities and weaknesses/deficiencies that need
addressing.
ILLUS: This is the idea of
a silversmith testing silver by heating it up and scooping off the impurities
that rise to the surface and doing it over and over again until eventually he
can see his own reflection on the surface of the silver. In the same way, testing
removes the impurities until Christ can see the reflection in us.
ILLUS: This week, Karen
and I went through a trial at the doctor’s office.
As we sat in the office,
we reflected on what deficiencies had been revealed in how we were thinking;
what our attitudes were; what our focus had been. We realized we were in a
process and we had a decision to make: choose joy in that moment or more frustration.
This is the way Peter used the same
word:
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
The apostles were
beaten for preaching Christ in Jerusalem. They had a choice to make: bitterness
or joy
40 After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.
If God isn’t
doing something with our trials, then “choosing joy” is delusional.
If He is,
though, it changes everything about the trial!
It means you don’t
have to feel good about it or like – it will be weird if you like it, but you
can choose joy as you consider what God might be doing because you know He’s in
the fire with you (think Shadrack & Co.)
If your in a
house fire, you’re only feel hopeful if you know there is a fire-fighter
in the house with something to wrap you in to get you out.
That’s the crux of James’ argument: it’s
not about how you feel about the situation, but what you KNOW about the situation.
“You
know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
Each time the fire is turned up on you,
more impurities rise and are scraped off – you begin to look and think more like Jesus, and your
experience of His presence makes able to go further.
ILLUS: Athletes undergo
increasingly difficult training (trials) every day so they can get stronger and
endure more in preparation for what’s ahead.
If they give up, they lose. Same with
the Seals. James says stay the course: Let it have its full effect because it
will pay off.
Endurance isn’t the goal. It’s the
process.
The goal or the reward is stated in the
rest of (4) and in
(12):
Full maturity and wholeness, lacking
nothing.
Unpack this: maturity and wholeness
actually mean the same thing: “perfection”
However, used twice, we get the sense of
sanctification and glorification. Glorification fits with (James 1:12).
12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
What this looks like: Back
to Karen and my experience in the dr. office:
Because we’ve been through
many trials before, and because this passage was fresh on my mind, we knew we
needed to pause and assess what God was doing. Our first thought had to do with
how we could help other people based on this bad experience. That was surface,
though. What deficiencies to our faith were being pointed out?
Once determined, what was
going to happen next?
1.
Repentance for stumbling due to emotions, confusion,
uncertainty. Essentially doubting God’s goodness and care for us.
2.
What is our attitude going to be going further.
3.
Executing the plan.
This process over-and-over of facing
trials of various kinds and learning to trust God in the process, giving him
more and more glory as we become fully mature, all culminates in a crown of
glory when we stand in His presence.
That day of glory should stand firm in
our minds as motivation as we go through the trials now.
Look at how Paul did that:
25
7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
7 …because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This happens as we change our focus from
being victims to children:
7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness. 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
ILLUS: “No ‘por que?’. ‘Para
que?’” Translated: Not “why?”. Instead, “For what?” It’s a way of asking God
what He wants you to learn in the process.
Trials
will never be easy – they’re not promised to be, but they can ALL be endured:
13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
