Restoring The Call to Victory

Introduction

Hello! My name is Nathan Tunison. Let me first start off by saying that it is a honor to be here with you today to share the joy and hope within God’s Word. Pastor Tim reached out to me a few weeks ago to help fill-in while him and Karen took a vacation, and I humbly accepted his invite.

A little bit about me: I am married to my wonderful wife, Brittany, and we have two boys, Zachary who is 3-years-old, and Oliver, who just turned one.

I am going to Grace Christian University, on their online classes, to get my bachelors degree in ministry and leadership with a minor in theology.

I have known Pastor Tim for almost 20-years now, sorry if that dates you a little Tim, I’m still young, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be standing here today teaching at his church. This is so cool, and really a honor.

Problem

But that’s enough about me,

If you would, please turn your Bibles to the book of James. We will be reading out of Chapter 1.

It has been an interesting week to say the least. I am not going to be talking much about the election, or it’s results - because this is not the time or the place to be talking about such things; however, I would like to address something that has happened this week in result of the election.

I don’t know about you, but there was a part of me that took some time to reflect on this week’s events. I had to ask myself more than once, “what is going on?”

Am I alone in this?

And within these times and reflections, I was put in a dark place - full of fear, doubt, worry, and anxiety. I kept thinking about my kids and what things will be like when they are my age.

What is going on?

And then I had a deep conviction, that I can only imagine was stirred up by the Holy Spirit. A sorrow that made me wonder why I responded this way. What do I have to fear? Why do I have such little faith?

This experience I had is what the Bible calls a trial. It is a test - and it has a purpose in our lives.

In fact, I feel that trials get a bit of a bad rap in our modern culture - a lot of which I blame comes from certain churches that put a lie out to the public that when you become a Christian, everything becomes sunshine and rainbows, and we will never experience hardships.

Being a Christian my whole life, and going through the Bible a handful of times, I find this teaching hard to believe. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

However, I want to take the time to go over just how wonderful our trials can be. Especially, in a time like we live in now, where there is so much going on that can really test the way we think. How can we use the times we are tried - when we are being tested - to pursue a closer relationship with Jesus!

This is where James comes in.

Lets start at verse 1

James 1:1–8 NIV

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Prayer

I absolutely love the way the book of James begins. It is unique to any other book in my eyes. There is zero room for long introductions. It is pretty much, Hi, I’m James, consider it joy when bad things happen to you.

I have a running theory on the bitterness of James here.

See, while there isn’t 100% proof of this, scholars believe that James was written by the very brother of Jesus Himself.

Being the youngest of five brothers myself, I could only imagine the struggle of having “God made flesh” as your older brother.

Just think of the pressure put on James throughout his lifetime. James why can’t you be a little more like Jesus! In fact, he was probably doing the “walk in the footsteps of Jesus thing” before it was even a thing!

So my theory is that the pressure of being Jesus’ brother made him a little sharp around the edges which explains the harshness of the introduction here.

In all seriousness, lets look again at what James says about how Christian’s ought to face trials. v.2

James 1:2–4 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

How many people here would be honest enough to tell me that they consider it pure joy to go through a trial? A hard time? A test?

Car breaks down on the way to work, Awesome! Praise God! It is almost like James is excited for these moments!

Why is that?

Because To avoid trials is to miss an opportunity to experience the vastness of God’s majesty in your life.

Our culture doesn’t tell us the same thing!

Our culture tells us to try to cultivate the easy life. I’m not saying that we have to be hard on ourselves all the time, but people today, my generation especially, tend to focus on the wrong things.

For example,

I was online the other day, facebook to be exact, and I came across a post from this girl I use to go to school with. It was a picture of herself and on the bottom it said “self-love is the best kind of love.”

Immediately, my heart broke, because in an instant, I thought two things: first, there is no possible way this girl has felt and experienced the love of the Father. To think that we can love ourselves more than the one who intricately made us is unthinkable.

Second, what is it that we as christians have to do to address this? This self-love mindset that could even be influencing the church?

Again, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have high self-esteems regarding ourselves. But I do think we are swayed by our culture - especially in thought process on trails.

Because if there is one thing for sure, God works through us in the storms. God is with us through the hard times. And when we get through the trials, we acquire something so rich, so valuable from God.

In fact, the situation we are living in today - a country that seems to be so divided through politics, where there is increased fear concerning the virus, or even rioting against our officers - because of this situation, we can learn a lot from what James is trying to say.

We can find hope. We can find reassurance. We can find exactly what we need to persevere through difficulties. Not only that, we can be reminded of something so beautiful.

So, I want to go over three things James is really trying to reach through the pages to get our attention!

First, and we already went over it a little bit is that :

1) We need to embrace trials

We need to shift our mindset like James does. He considers it pure joy to go through a personal trial because he knows that the Father is working on him and perfecting Him.

It is what theologians call the process of Sanctification.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary refers sanctification as:

The process of gradual purification from sin and progressive spiritual growth that should mark the life of the believer.

To simplify, it is the process of becoming holy.

Romans 12:2 says:

Romans 12:2 NIV

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Many scholars note that we will never be completely sanctified until the glorification of ourselves by the second coming of Jesus Christ.

So, in the meantime, we need to use every opportunity to pursue holiness, many of which shows up as trials. The more we endure, or like James said persevere, the more we grow.

(Serious Face) Which means, we need to fight back, to persevere!

This is important though because the biggest question a non-believer may ask, or maybe you even ask this yourself, is “why would God allow this to happen?” Why do we have go through this at all? Why does life have to be so hard sometimes?

To be transparent, I don’t have all the right answers. But what I do know is that we live in a fallen world - a world outside the original design and intent of God.

I also know, Satan would love to convince us otherwise. That we are alone during our hardships. I don’t know about you, but when I am going through hard, dark times, it can often feel that God is absent.

However, look at what the writer of Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 4:15–16 NIV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

He’s not telling us that Jesus, God made flesh, isn’t with us in the time of need! He’s telling us that He can helps us! That’s He’s been through this before!

Therefore, there is a lot we can learn from Jesus and the way that He lived to persevere through life’s difficulties. Which brings me to my next point:

2) We need to be disciplined in acquiring wisdom

Yesterday, my family and I took a trip up to a family members farm. My oldest boy, Zachary, who I can only describe him as 100% boy, loves everything farm related, and they only live a hour north of us so it was perfect.

Here’s where my wisdom lacks. Talk about being disciplined:

The hour drive there for a 1-year-old and 3-year-old was easy - piece of cake- but the hour drive back, when everyone is hungry and cranky, this.....this......was a whole different story

But, that wasn’t the point of the story. So, we get there at the farm, and they saved a few simple chores for Zachary to do. One in particular caught my eye. He got to go in the chicken coop and get all the eggs.

Sounds easy, right? Well, for a three-year-old, my son lacks the gentle hands one needs to do this right. He just grabbed and egg and threw it like a baseball into the basket. Luckily, none of them cracked.

So, what I had to do as a his father, during something that was hard for him, is grab him by the hand, and show him what to do.

I had to lovingly discipline him - not in a negative way, but in an informative way - and teach him how to get the task done.

Praise be to God that we have a teacher to get us through these things. To gain the wisdom we need! Look at what it says in James!

James 1:5 NIV

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

We need to ask God for the right tools! Ask for wisdom and it will be given to you! This reminds me of Solomon - who asked and received great wisdom!

An amazing verse to memorize is Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. I’ve always read the first line of that verse. But look at the next part:

but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Note what he says, only fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Jame says the same thing. v6

James 1:6 NIV

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

He illustrates that this person is like a boat being tossed by the sea - my wife and I are re-watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies this week- all I can think now about is this pirate ship being tossed by the ocean.

Have no doubt! Ask and you shall receive!

Over the last couple years, it has been my ambition to grow in the spiritual disciplines illustrated inn the Bible.

To gain wisdom from God!

There’s this verse in Matthew 11. It’s very popular and many of you may know it. It says:

English Standard Version Chapter 11

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus, God made flesh, is inviting us to learn from Him! To grow! To gain the wisdom He had! For his yoke is easy. His burden is light!

So, I decided to really learn from Him, and it has changed my life. Honestly, I don’t look at things the same. I don’t worry about things like I use to. I have gained perspective.

And the way I started was I began to mirror Christ:

1) Jesus took time to retreat and be with God, so I find quiet places to be with God

2) Jesus prayed, so I learned better ways to pray.

3) Jesus lived a life of simplicity - being transparent, I like my gadgets, I am getting better.

lastly, Jesus honored the sabbath, so I am honoring the sabbath.

The point I’m trying to make is that James calls us to ask for wisdom! The word of God is full of it.

We ought to cry out to God and ask for it. Ask for Him to illuminate it! To hit us with it! When we read through scripture, may it stand out boldly!

The idea being is that when we learn these things, we can apply it! We can get through troubles by knowing it. We can cling to God so tight when we need to get through it!

If not, we will just be a ship tossed around by the waves. Full of doubt. Full of fear. Full of uncertainty.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! Because His yoke is easy and his burden is light, and His way is the way of the righteous.

Lastly,

3) We need to restore and live in the victory of Christ!

I want to read that verse in Hebrews 4 again.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In times of hardship, in trials, when we look at the big picture, and everything comes into focus.

Over the last few months, I have been bushing up on some drawing. I am not very good, but I am getting there. But for those of you who might not know much about drawing, you begin by making a rough sketch. Say you are making a face.

You might start with a circle, or even a series of circles, and then add a square, or some other basic shapes.

After that, you begin to add on to this sketch and fill some things in until you have what looks like a face.

Lastly, you get add in the details. You shade to add more emphasis. Use your eraser to make things pop out.

And finally, you have a drawing that looks like a detailed face.

Overcoming our trials, building perseverance, is like the fine details of a bigger picture.

Church, we have a High-Priest.

A High-Priest who overcame.

A High-Priest who has authority over all.

A High-Priest who offers us a righteous status to God the Father.

The bigger pictures is that we need to persevere to hold-on to the hope Christ established for us! The Hope that victory is already here!

It is the Gospel!

That although, we were still sinners, Christ died for you! and for me! For us...

And when you take a step back, and look at the big picture, you see that the trials of this would seem very small.

The election seems very small. The coronavirus seems obsolete. And maybe we find out that we cling onto our comfort a little too tight in light of the sacrifice of Jesus and the eternal promise to come.

Conclusion

May our hope come only from the works of Jesus Christ and in His victory!

And there will be seasons where we don’t have that mindset. And that’s why I think James has it right by opening this letter the way he does.

He knows how difficult life can be. He lived through much worse. He understood the process of embracing trials for something more, to gain wisdom that only God can deliver, but most importantly, He keep focused on the Victory of Jesus.

I think Paul illustrates this well. I want to close with some scripture in Romans 5 that I think really wraps us this mindset of living in the Victory of Jesus.

Romans 5:1–5 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The big picture of life is enduring till the end - living in the victory and hope of Christ because God’s abundant love has been freely given to us!

Let’s Pray.