Against Pride and Deception
Notes
Transcript
RECAP: James 1:1-8
RECAP: James 1:1-8
The goal of the Christian life is maturity in Christ. We are being sanctified - a slow, steady and sure task!
Maturity in Christ is a process - it is open ended and is done when it is done. Different to an event - pre-planned, expected conclusion!
In the midst of a trial we need wisdom from God. We can sk God for wisdom because he has a track record of generosity
James indicates that those who aren’t certain about God (one foot in the world, one foot in the kingdom) are unstable in all of life and their prayers are ineffective.
Poor / Rich
Poor / Rich
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.
James now introduces us to a new example of where trials come. For the poor and the rich - neither can escape trial!
Context
‘Lowly’ = poor - despised by the world. These people are unsuccessful. They have failed. They are weak.
Rich - revered by the world. Powerful/influential because of their success and ensuing wealth
We still see this in culture today:
Social Media: Influencers seek folowers, fame and fortune!
Media… GQ are unlikely to want me to do a cover story! They want something to inspire ‘poor people’!
The instruction of James? That both the poor and the rich should boast about their exaltation and humility respectively.
WHAT?! This is like finding joy in trials. How can being poor be a good thing?! How can being rich be something to be humble about?!
Being in Christ brings a new perspective…
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Poor = made spiritually rich by trusting in Jesus. A great etenral inheritence is promised! Those who are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) have something to boast about!
Rich = humbled by the knowledge that the great eternal inheritence they have been promised is something they have freely been given by God! Not earned. Not bought! In fact, as those who the culture would revere, they are humbled because they serve the one whom the world rejects (John 15:18).
As I said - a new perspective… each has in mind the reality of their standing in this life and the next because of their relationship with Jesus.
The fleeting nature of riches
A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
James uses this well known passage to illustrate why riches aren’t something to be boasted in… They don’t last forever. It is easy toi look at the wealthy and see a firm foundation for life. But this is misleading, Anything EXCEPT Jesus is temporary and can be gone in an instant.
Important to note it isn’t necessarily wealthy which is bad, it is what happens to the human heart as a result of that wealth.
In 1 Kings 3:12-13 Solomon is given great wealth to go with his wisdom, but is he wise enough to use that wealth well?
God is concerned with how wealth is acquired (Jer 17:11), how it is used (Luke 12:19-20) and what place it holds in the heart of the one who possess it (1 John 2:15). James himself will shortly enocurage those who ‘have’ to help those who have not.
But the problem with wealth is what it does to the human heart, which isn’t great in the first place… More on that in a minute.
How does the Bible warn us about wealth? (Jesus x2 and Lukewarm Laodiceans)
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
The Crown of Life
The Crown of Life
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.
This feels almost like an interruption, a break in the flow of what James is telling us. He reminds his readers that those who endure (and most importantly!) love God will receive the promised reward. The crown in scripture is a reference to victory.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
James is pointing us forward, but what he tells us next is a warning… The heart which is tested and proven to have loved God can easily be led astray.
So what might seem like an abrupt move away from trial into temptation is actually well connected. One can lead to the other. In the midst of trial we can be tempted to give up or give in. James wants his hearers to be on guard, have a good understanding of their human hearts and be those who do indeed endure trial, don’t give into temptation and receive the crown of life...
The Human Heart
The Human Heart
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.
At the heart of the problem is the human heart. It gets things desperately wrong!
CULTURE: You are inherently good. You are to be celebrated and honoured. ‘You be you’ and don’t listen to anyone or anything which encourgaes conformity.
KINGDOM: We are born sinful and need to be born again! The human heart is sick, it is twisted and it needs to come under the lordship of Jesus. In the kingdom we celebrate transformation by the work of the Holy Spirit. We encourage repentance!
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
So the sinful heart thinks it is being tempted by God. But this is not possible. God is only good and perfectly holy/pure. He cannot be enticed by evil. Be certain, God will use trial to test us, but the desire to give in is on us! Not on him.
Good and Perfect Gifts
Good and Perfect Gifts
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.
Conclusion / Application
Conclusion / Application