Faith That Perseveres

Why James

Why should go through the book of James?

Well this book is an uncomfortable book that allows us the opportunity to hit some uncomfortable topics. These topics are practical in nature but have deep theological truths.

We will study this book to help understand the relationship between our faith and works, along with how our faith should impact this city and world we live in.

Let us begin with some history about the book of James. First, James wrote it. Crazy fact, I know. James is the half brother of Jesus. The book of Acts tells us that James is the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He writes this book to the Jewish Christians who were associated with the church in Jerusalem. He is writing this book because the Christian’s had been scattered since the killing of Steven in Acts 8. That is why he starts with verse 1.

Like I said a minute ago, we are studying this book for two reasons, reason number 1: To help us better understand the relationship between our faith and works. There are many people who believe they can just come to church and sit down and do nothing else. They call that faith. God doesn’t call that faith.

James will later share a lot about how this relationship is to be synonomous. However, their is a problem with believing that works can earn you salvation. It cannot.

James says it well is chapter 2 that if you have faith but do not do works your faith is dead. Well that's all we need say lets go home. I am just kidding.

There is a lot to get through before that. But that statement sums it quite nicely. If we have faith we should living that faith. Which brings us to the second reason why we are studying James.

We are going to explore the ways that our faith should impact this city and the world we live in. James touches on a large amount of topics so sometimes this book can be hard to keep track of where he is going. But he is sharing all the ways Christians should be living out their faith. See Faith will move Christian’s to help not be ideal.

Now that we covered why we are studying the book of James let us get into the lesson for today. Where we will be answering the question why trials and tribulations?

Why Trials and Tribulations

There is one reason for us to understand why we have to deal with trials and tribulations. God will deepen our faith through trials and tribulations.

Within that one reason we have 3 aspects we must understand. The first is that God is in control. Let us take a look at James 1:2-12.

God is in control (1:2-12)

James 1:2–12 “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.

This passage can be quite difficult to understand. See in the first part James is telling us to count it all joy to go through trials and tribulations. This can easily be taking wrong. Men have a hard time with this passage, we tend to take and just go through live trying to turn everything positive and count everything as joy when things get hard.

That not quite what James is saying here. For example Jesus did not say count it all joy when Mary and Martha came to Him about Lazarus In John 11, even though Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. No, He wept with them.

So that begs the question, how do we experience pure joy when we go through trials?

Well I know that when I think of trials, my first thought is not, “oh yes, can we do this again?” Trails are not joyful in and of themselves, but they are joyful when we realize that they are under God’s authority which means they are going to be used to accomplish His purpose.

There are at least 4 four lessons to learn from trials. We learn to grow in Jesus’s likeness, to trust in His Wisdom, to rely on His resources, and to live for His reward.

First, we learn to grow in His likeness.

Verse 3 and 4 tell us that testing your faith builds “endurance” so that we can be “mature and complete, lacking nothing”. See our goal is to be as much a like Christ as we can be. This process is called sanctification.

One day every single person will have to stand in front of God and give an account for what you did while on earth. God’s goal is to prepare you for that day.

However, we don’t think like that. We focus on the present and wonder if I will get the grades I wanted, does this girl or guy like me, did I do well enough in my game, did I create something. So when trials hit while we think like this they devastate us.

But if our goal is know God and be more like Him then we can take joy into trials as they come.

Trials will never go away. We need a perspective shift. We need to shift our minds from our day to day lives, and focus on being more like Christ. This will further our relationship with Christ and not allow trials to ruin our lives. A commentor said it well with, “In trials we experience growth in godliness like we could never experience any other way.” We will grow in trials when we put God first.

Let us look at verse 5-8 for another lesson.

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.

Second, we learn to trust in His wisdom.

Wisdom includes three areas for us to improve in: knowledge, perspective, and experience. God has all three already. We lack in one or more of the areas due to our limitations. See we walk through trials and we realize we do not know all that is going on (knowledge); we do not see our situation from all angles (perspective); we often lack experience in what to do (experience). But God does not. Which is why we must ask in faith for God to help us in wisdom.

Let us take a look at verses 9-11 for our third lesson.

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.

Third, we learn to rely on His recourses.

James brings in the rich and poor theme here to share with the people he was leading, who were more than likely poor, that they were rich in spirit. Their lack of physical materials made them more reliant on God, which makes you rich in spirit.

He is also warning the rich, saying your reliance on materials will get you in trouble. Not that the materials are bad, but if you are relying on them to fill the void where God should be, its a reminder that those things burn and will burn at the end. So it begs the question who or what do you rely on?

While you ponder that, let us continue in verse 12.

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.”

Forth, we learn to live for His reward.

James ends this section by saying the faithful man during trials is “blessed.” This is a reference back to the Sermon on the Mount. James leans heavy on the teachings from the Sermon on the Mount.

James mentions the “crown of life”. There are two ways to misunderstand this. One is that this is a crown is to be victoriously earned by running a race through trials. The second is that the crown of life is a physical crown with great splendor.

Instead, the crown is actually a symbol of receiving the glorious reward of eternal life. So count it joy because trials remind us that we are living for a reward to come; enteral life.

This brings us to the second aspect that God uses to deepen our faith.

We have Responsibility in Our Temptation (1:13-15)

James 1:13–15 “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.”

In the Army we say BLUF. That stands for bottom line up front. So here is the BLUF. We are sinful, God is not. Adam failed and sinned against God. God does not tempt us. We have a responsibility in our temptation.

We all fall into our own fleshly desires. We have a responsibility to resist sin. You will not always succeed. We are human we all sin all the time. The difference between someone who is saved and not saved is that when you sin you feel guilt from the Holy Spirit.

Now we must understand sin and if we understand how it will come at us we stand a better chance.

The process involves deception, desire, disobedience, and death. Deception saying sin is okay. The heart of sin if unbelief - not believing God. Like the devil lying to Adam and Eve.

Desire is when you see something your flesh likes. Like a fish, they do not knowingly bite an empty hook. Instead they bite the hook that looks the most appetizing.

Disobedience we act on our desire.

Death is the result of disobedience.

Whatever sin you are flirting with, whatever deception you are buying into, run away from them. They will kill you. This process happens in us all the time.

This bring us to the third aspect of how God deepens our faith.

God’s Faithfulness (1:16-18)

James 1:16–18 “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.”

I read this and start to question what do we do during trials and tribulations?

The devil will try and lie to you that you cannot have joy in trials. That is just simply not true. A commentator put it this way, “In your trials or temptations, don’t believe the lies.” That means to rely of Jesus. He is faithful. He is good. His goodness is unchanging. His goodness is underserved. His goodness is unending. He has saved us from our sin and He will pull us through our trials and tribulations.

Remember that God deepens our faith through trials and tribulations.

Let us pray…