James 1:1-11 (Trust in Him)

Hook

Who is James

James the brother of Jesus

Nonbeliever for the first half “Late bloomer”

Turns into James “THE JUST “ Good ol camel knees

What would you have to see your sibling do in order to worship them? To call yourself a servant of them?

Faith v Works

like a drunk man trying to get on a horse and he falls off one side then the other - Chris Hilken Context:

Paul is preaching salvation through faith, to people who were self righteous ( MY works will save me)

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Then we have NEW believers (Gentiles) who think that their sins now have no consequence that they can live a life completely contradictory to the word of God because their one time confession already gave them eternal life insurance.

Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

1 Peter 2:16 “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

So we do the same today, we either are trying to claw our way up to God in HOPES that God might be pleased with us, and others because we said a prayer one time, never changed our life, we love the things God hates, and hate the things that God loves.

Book

James 1:1–11 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 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.”

Look

Trials?

v. 2

Count it ALL joy when you meet trials of various kinds JOY IN A TRIAL?? Has James lost his mind?

To any culture including our own, we try to insulate ourselves from trials, and discomforts in many different forms

From waiting a bit longer for our starbucks order, to wifi going down during our show, to power outages, to broken relationships

Tragically even to many who identify themselves with Christ this seems irrational

What it doesn’t mean.

It does not mean to go out pursuing pain for the sense of Godliness, or to have ABSOLUTELY PERFECT JOY every second of the the trial.

He is also not saying that you have to you must ENJOY the trial.

He knows the same thing the writer of Hebrews knew

Hebrews 12:11 “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

There is a difference between trial and a temptation (Talk more about it next week)

We do not rejoice when a position you worked hard for is taken by someone else

We do not rejoice when we fall into a sexual sin

We do not rejoice when we hear of a deadly diagnosis

RATHER, James is talking about the conscious embrace that we make as Christians, that brings joy into the darkness.

We make a DELIBERATE and careful decision to experience joy in times of trouble

When trouble arises we have a decision to either seek the wisdom of God or to follow the counsel of the world, and our flesh.

WISDOM??? v.5

Those are the two options we have. We either run to human flesh, or the Lord

In our most times of trouble we run to the things that bring us comfort? So when trials arise who or what do you run to?

EXAMPLES OF THE DISCIPLES DOING THIS PROPERLY

Paul

2 Corinthians 7:4 “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.”

Luke talking about the disciples

Acts 5:40–41 “and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

Paul and Silas

Acts 16:25 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,”

Their worship actually led to them being freed and the conversion of others

So even in the midst of our sufferings, God can use it for our good and those around us. “My life is but a weaving ,

between my Lord and me;

I cannot chose the colours.

He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow

and I in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper

and I the under side.

Not till the loom is silent

and the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God unroll the canvas

and explain the reasons why,

The dark threads are as needful in

the Weavers skillful hand,

As the thread of gold and silver,

in the pattern He has planned.”

-Unknown

We will never FULLY understand the blendings of joys and woes in our lives because we only see the underside of the tapestry.

It is easy to be the counselor telling someone to “Hang in there” count it all joy, rather than being the one in angst and in confusion I get it and so does James

We have cried out “God why me” “God this isnt fair” But have we ever gotten on our knees and asked God for wisdom?

Wisdom is not just gaining knowledge.

“Man has accumulated enough knowledge to travel faster than sound, but displays his need of wisdom by going faster and faster in the wrong direction.”

What this means: Our grandparents and great grandparents did not have the same amount of knowledge available to them as we do, yet they did not suffer from the same amount of confusion that we do. We seem to have been blinded by our own egos and ingratitude that the most obvious miracles become “Normal”

If it were not that ingratitude had blinded our eyes, every birth would fill us with amazement.

John Calvin (French Reformer)

We have blinded ourselves with so much earthly knowledge that we no longer seek Godly Wisdom.

The dust of earth has blinded eyes that were meant for heaven. A Traitor Suspected And Convicted, Volume 32, Sermon #1878 - Romans 8:7

Charles Spurgeon

What scripture tells us about finding wisdom

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

Albert Eintstein as smart as he was, with no fear of God lacked wisdom. While at a conference with outstanding churchmen and scientists, Albert Einstein read a paper in which He said, “In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal god.”

Atheism is not the solution but the cause of racism, classism, and many other plagues of society. Gods word tells us, Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.”

The lowly and the rich? V.9-11

Took

May this not just be something that we listen to at church but begin to LIVE BY

How would our trials differ if in the midst of hardtimes we hid and leaned into the ROCK OF AGES, THE LORD Are you suffering? Do you know someone who is going through a hard time, reach out. Whether suffering or witnessing the suffering. Reach out for the hand of God that is extended to you. His Hand is Mighty to save you. What would we look like as a youth? How could we impact the rest of the church or even our towns if we lived like this through our trials and you were able to witness to someone going through a hard time. QUESTIONS What does the contrast between faith and works mean? Do you feel like you have been dependent on either faith or your works? If you have been dependent, what is the solution to that dependence? So how do we find joy in the midst of our trials? How can we pray for each other??