The Blessing of Endurance
James 1:12
September 28, 2014

Tonight we study one of the truly powerful verses in the whole Bible.
It is a verse packed full of sound theology and practical application.

To understand this verse is
To not only have an understanding of what genuine salvation is,
But also to understand what genuine salvation expects.

I pray that God will grant us each a deep understanding of this verse.

Now, as you know we are studying the book of James
And James has begun his letter on the THEME OF SUFFERING.

He is writing to those who are:
• “dispersed abroad” (1)
• “encounter[ing] various trials” (2)
• “lack[ing] wisdom” (5)
• In “humble circumstances” (9)
• Suffering “humiliation” (10)

These people are being hammered.

And in the midst of this suffering James has told them to
• “Consider it all joy” (2)
• “ask in faith” (6)
• “glory” (9)

Obviously those responses are not the natural human response.
James is asking for much more from us than the natural human response.
James wants us to be like Jesus.

Now for the first 11 verses, James’ instruction has had a common theme.
It has all dealt with our PERCEPTION

All of his instruction has dealt with how you view your trials.

But tonight James takes another step forward
And moves beyond perception to perseverance.

James spend 11 verses on right thinking, now he moves to right action.
And of course the right action is perseverance.

We are talking about “a man who perseveres under trial;”
• He is not just a man who rejoices when a trial comes
• He is not just a man who asks for wisdom in a trial
• He is not just a man who glories in his trial
He is “a man who perseveres under trial;”
We are not just talking about what you should THINK,
We are talking about what you should DO.

Before get into the verse too much, I want to take a minute and clarify what we are talking about when we talk about trials and perseverance.

The word “trial” here translates PEIRASMOS (pay-ras-mos)

And it is a word that James uses several times in this first chapter.

James 1:2 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,”

James 1:13-14 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

When we talked about trials a couple of weeks ago in our study of verse 2 we didn’t really differentiate this much, but it’s important that we do before we go any further.

We often times read the word “trials” and instantly think of
The hard things we are going through in life.

And that is not necessarily wrong.
For hardships that we face are a form of trial.

But James doesn’t just have in mind difficult things that cause you pain.

James is talking about difficult things that challenge your faith.
He is talking about things that cause you to sin.

In fact this word is more commonly translated as
“temptations” or “tempt” or “tempted”

Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”

1 Corinthians 7:5 “Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

Those aren’t instances where the Devil made Jesus suffer a hardship,
Or causes you to suffer a difficulty,
Those were instances where the Devil tempts you to sin.

And that is what James is talking about.

That is why he will say later:
James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
James is talking about temptations.

Now certainly trials can be a temptation.
• Especially if that trial tempts you to turn away from God or deny the faith.

But James is talking about temptation to sin, not just things that are hard.
And it is important for you to understand that
Because that effects what type of perseverance James wants.

If all James is referring to is every day hardships,
Then perseverance is nothing more than just surviving it.

But that is not what James is talking about.
He’s talking about persevering through temptation.

So in James’ mind
• It’s you refusing to sin in the midst of your temptation.
• It’s you persevering in holiness even though you are tempted to fall.
• It’s you clinging to faith, even when circumstances don’t make sense.

It’s not just staying alive or continuing to move forward,
It is maintaining your integrity in the midst of temptation.

• It could be a temptation to commit immorality…
• It could be a temptation to grow bitter…
• It could be a temptation of greed…
• It could be a temptation to leave the faith…

But regardless of the various temptation,
He perseveres and stands strong.

That is the guy we are talking about:
“a man who perseveres under trial;”

Tonight I want to show you blessing it is to be that type of person.
• When you are tempted to sin…
• When you are tempted to fall away…
• When you are tempted to quit…
• But you choose instead to stay in the will of God…

I want to show you why that is the better choice by far!

In this verse there are three things I want you to see about this
“man who perseveres under trial;”

#1 IT PROVES REALNESS
James 1:12

He said that the man who perseveres is blessed
“for once he has been approved”
Now there is a unique thought.
This temptation, this trial, was in fact a test.

The temptation did not come from God, for He does not do that,
However He does examine the results.

And the man who perseveres through the trial
Is said to have “been approved”

IN OTHER WORDS, HE PASSED THE TEST.

And you need to understand this.

We live in a day where people suppose that
Claiming to have faith is enough.
If you say you believe, then no one is ever supposed to question that.

Does it surprise you to know that even God doesn’t take it at face value?
Does it surprise you to know that your faith must be proved?

When people approached Jesus and claimed to believe,
He didn’t just accept it.

John 8:30-32 “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They claimed to believe, but Jesus said,
“We’ll see…if you continue then we’ll know you are really disciples of Mine”

Their faith had to be proved.

Remember the church at Smyrna?
Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Notice what Peter said:
1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”

Or again:
1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

Do you hear what Peter is saying?
We run from trials and temptations like they are the worst thing imaginable, but THEY ARE NECESSARY!

You will not be allowed to claim faith in this life
And have it accepted at face value.
Remember Abraham?
Genesis 22:1-2 “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

I thought God didn’t tempt?
He doesn’t, God asked Abraham for obedience, He didn’t tempt him to sin.
Those are two drastically different things.
But Abraham’s faith had to be tested.

1 Corinthians 11:18-19 “For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”

There’s a difficult verse.
While we do not want divisions in the church,
We understand that they are necessary to reveal who is real and who is not.

The point being is that faith must be tested!

Because if the trial or temptation pulls you away,
It reveals the flaws in your faith.

Remember this guy?
Luke 8:13 “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.”
Had it not been for the temptation,
You would have never known he wasn’t real.

John said it like this:
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

It was the temptation that revealed the flaws in their faith.
Temptations come to prove your faith.

And the person “who perseveres under trial…has been approved,”

SO FOLLOW ME HERE.
• This person was tempted, and they chose holiness.
• They chose to resist temptation and thus proved their faith genuine.

Do you understand how important holiness is to your claim of salvation?
Do you understand that turning from sin is a staple to Christianity?

So many today think they can be a Christian
And yet succumb to every sin as though it is no big deal…
BUT IT IS A BIG DEAL!
YOUR FAITH IS PROVED WHEN YOU RESIST TEMPTATION.

And incidentally, if you are real, you can!
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
God makes sure you can resist.

So this man persevered and “he has been approved”

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
WHAT DID GOD SEE IN THIS MAN THAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR?

That’s easy, look at the end of this verse.

This man “will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

Notice he didn’t say, “which the Lord has promised to those who persevere.”

See James identifies what type of person
Who perseveres in the midst of temptation.

James reveals what type of person chooses holiness instead of sin.
James reveals what type of person sticks with Jesus through hardship.

What type of person does that?
“those who love Him.”

THAT IS WHAT IS BEING TESTED.

When you face temptations…
When you face trials…
Do you know what we are trying to find out?
DO YOU LOVE JESUS?

• Do you love Him more than your sin?
• Do you love Him more than your comfort?
• Do you love Him more than yourself?

Because loving Jesus is the fundamental fruit of the truly saved.

Matthew 10:37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

After Peter blew it and denied the Lord.
When Jesus reinstated him, He didn’t ask, “Are you gonna toughen up?”

What did He ask Peter?
“Do you love Me?”
When Peter denied the Lord and fell in temptation,
It screamed that he did not love Jesus.
That is what it says every time we fall into sin.

That is why James is looking for the one who will “persevere under trial”
It proves that you “love Him.”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

And that is very theological stuff!
• A Christian who still chooses sin is a fraud…
• A Christian who doesn’t stick with Jesus is a fraud…

Because a Christian loves Jesus and proves it by living holy
And staying with Jesus through thick and thin.

And that is what temptations prove.

So that is the first reality about the “man who perseveres under trial;”

It Proves Realness
#2 IT PROMISES REWARD
James 1:12

Certainly you recognize this aspect of what James is saying.
When you face a temptation and you persevere through it,
It proves you are real and that you do in fact love Christ.

And if you are real and do in fact love Christ,
Then you “will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised”

This is not a special reward for the most faithful Christian.
This is the standard reward for the genuine Christian.

Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

There Paul called it the “crown of righteousness”,
And it is not just for Paul, but for “all who have loved His appearing.”

As we already read regarding Smyrna:
Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

When you persevere through temptation, it proves you have a genuine love for Christ, and ALL those who genuinely love Christ will be rewarded.
SO WHAT IS THIS REWARD?

Many times when we read the word “crown” we think of royalty or a ruler,
But that is NOT what Paul is referring to here.

The word here is STEPHANOS and it refers to a victor’s crown.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

James isn’t saying that everyone who loves Christ gets to rule and reign
(although it is true that we will reign with Christ)

James is saying is that everyone who perseveres through temptation,
Will most definitely be rewarded for their victory.

• When an athlete puts in countless hours of training and sacrifice to compete,
they are rewarded for their victory by being able to stand on the Olympic
podium, or to hoist the Lombardi trophy.

• When a general puts his life on the line to lead his army into battle and then
stands victorious over the battle field and is given a medal of
accomplishment.

They are rewarded for their sacrificial service and commitment.

So too is a Christian.
We will be rewarded for our perseverance.

• The difference is that athletes and soldiers only receive a “perishable
wreath”. Their medal will not last, their accomplishment will be forgotten.

• Furthermore, regardless of their sacrifice, they are never guaranteed victory.
Many athletes sacrifice and train for years and never win the crown.

But the Christian is guaranteed the victory,
And will receive a crown that will not fade!

Peter said to faithful elders:
1Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
You “will receive” it and it is “unfading”

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
And this is what James wants you to realize.
• If you love Christ…
• If you prove that love by persevering through temptation…
• YOU WILL BE REWARDED!

Christ will not let your commitment go unnoticed.

Romans 8:16-18 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

In short, you receive “the crown of life which the Lord has promised”

Not only a crown, but life itself!

So, there you have seen two realities for the
“man who perseveres under trial;”

It Proves Realness It Promises Reward
#3 IT PRODUCES REJOICING
James 1:12

Now we get to the first part of that verse:

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;”

The Greek word for “Blessed” actually means “happy”

James says that the “man who perseveres under trial”
Is in fact a happy man.

WHY?
• Because his faith has been proved
• His love has been verified
• And his reward has been promised

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

And this is so foundational to Christian living.

And all of you who love the Lord know this.

WHAT IS IT THAT TRULY MAKES YOU HAPPY?

Let’s say this week that temptation comes your way –
And let’s say it’s the temptation that has a history of defeating you.

It’s THAT temptation.

And because your flesh wants it, you succumb to the temptation
To give your flesh what it desires.

• The flesh said – “This will make me happy”
• The flesh said – “This is what I want”
• The flesh said – “I will enjoy this”

So you give in.

All I want to know is, “DID IT MAKE YOU HAPPY?”
Does succumbing to temptation actually bring happiness?

Did it bring happiness for Peter?
Matthew 26:74-75 “Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ” Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Did it bring happiness for Judas?
Matthew 27:3-5 “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.”

Did it bring happiness for the Rich Young Ruler?
Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

And you can see clearly, that
It doesn’t matter if you are lost or saved,
Succumbing to temptation never brings happiness.

It may be fun for a season,
But giving in to temptation never brings happiness.

Proverbs 20:17 “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”

And that is true throughout Scripture.
You can’t find a saved person or a lost person who ever gave in to sin,
Who was then made happy because of it.

Yielding to temptation does not bring happiness.

And that is such the lie of the world.
• We are told to “Just Do It”
• Bud Light advertises “Whatever, USA” where you can do what you want.

We are continually encouraged to throw of inhibitions
And just enjoy whatever it is that your flesh wants to do,
And this is paraded as true happiness.

We see commercials of people who appear to be happy
And we buy the lie that gratifying the flesh brings happiness.

BUT IT NEVER DOES!

Instead Scripture says, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;”

Happy is the man who resists temptation.

Now is that true?
Acts 5:40-42 “They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

Of course it is.

I can’t explain it, but when I yield to temptation,
It never makes me happy,
And yet somehow resisting it always does.

AND THAT IS JAMES’ POINT!
• To all those who are facing trials and temptations of various kinds
• To all those who are being tempted to quit
• To all those who are being tempted by the world

James says – NO! THERE’S NO HAPPINESS THERE!

• But if you will resist that temptation,
• And prove your love for Christ,
• You will guarantee yourself a reward
• It will give you the assurance that you are real
• THAT will make you happy!

1 Peter 1:6-9 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

There is rejoicing found when your faith is tested and proved true!

So here is the encouragement to all of you
Who face various trials and temptations.

1) Count them Joy – because you God is using them to perfect you
2) Ask God what to do – He will tell you
3) Glory in your humble circumstances because you have a high position

4) Above all persevere through the temptation – it will make you happy!

Don’t buy the lie that giving in to temptation is fun.
When you give in to sin it says, “I don’t love Jesus”
And that is not a feeling that will cause you to rejoice.

Instead,
• Persevere!
• Endure the temptation!
• Let God help you escape!
• And on the other side your faith is validated!
• Your reward is promised!
• And I promise you will be happy!

Celebrating The Feast
1 Corinthians 5:8
September 28, 2014

Over the last few weeks we have been studying
The purpose for why we gather together.

There are very definite reasons why we come here on Sundays together.
There are very distinct purposes we are seeking to fulfill.

• EXALTATION – We come to praise God.
• EXHORTATION – We come to encourage each other.
• EXPOSITION – We come to hear God speak.

This is why we gather.

Well this morning I want to touch on one more thing
That is sort of heavy on my heart in this regard.

I’m not giving another reason why we gather,
But rather an important reality for us to remember when we gather.

This morning I want you to think about the SINCERITY
With which we do all these things we’ve been talking about.

It is possible to meet as a church and go through all the right motions.
• We can come and all sing…
• We can come and encourage…
• I can come and preach…
• You can come and hear what God has to say…

But obviously it is more than just checking those things off the list.
All of these things must be done in a sincere heart.

If they are not, we are really nothing more
Than the Pharisees who so often drew the disdain of Jesus.

Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

Or
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

Obviously none of us would want to have Jesus say that
About our gathering this morning.
It wasn’t that the Pharisees were engaged in wrong behaviors,
It was that they completely missed the point.
“They just didn’t get it!”

And I guess you could say, that I just want to make sure
That even though we all know what is expected when we come,
That we do all these things in a sincere heart.

In order to deal with this issue I chose one verse.
1 Corinthians 5:8 “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

What you and I must understand here is that
The Corinthians had a sincerity problem.

They were doing all the right things when they gathered,
They just had a sincerity problem.

1 Corinthians 14:26 “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”

• Lack of singing…
• Lack of exhortation…
• Lack of preaching…
Those were not the problems of the Corinthian church.
They had plenty of people willing to step into those roles.

The problem was that in their active participation
They were still missing the point.

And Paul wanted to encourage them to make sure that they worshiped in “sincerity and truth.”

When you study this 5th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians
You can easily trace back their lack of sincerity
TO A FUNDAMENTAL FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND WHO THEY WERE.

And let me tell you who they were
(something they didn’t understand)

1 Corinthians 5:7 “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”

Now that verse tells the Corinthians explicitly who they are.
“you are in fact unleavened.”

WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN?
Before God we “are in fact unleavened.”

Leaven in Scripture was most commonly used as a symbol of sin.
And the point being now is that we “are in fact unleavened.”

If you want to talk about who we are, the answer is “we are pure”.
• Do we still sin? Yes
• Do we still blow it? Yes

But before God we are considered absolutely clean and pure.

WHY?
“For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”

Notice Paul says that Christ is “our Passover”

What does that mean?
Hopefully you are familiar with the final plague that God sent on Egypt in order to force Pharaoh to release His people.

• It was the death of the firstborn.
• Every Israelite was to take the blood from the Passover lamb and paint it on
the doorpost of their house.
• And when the death angel came to that house, if the blood was there, he would
“pass over” that house and not kill the first born.

Paul says “Christ [is] our Passover”
It is not a sheep, it is not the blood of a sheep.

It is Christ who causes the wrath to pass us over.
On the cross Jesus Christ appeased the wrath of God.

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Christ is our appeasement before God.
And Christ “has been sacrificed”

That is the payment for sin.

Now, why did Christ do that?
He did that to purchase our pardon, but ALSO TO PURIFY US.

This is the often overlooked aspect of the death of Jesus.
When most people think of Jesus death,
They think only of redemption.

But in order to redeem us He had to make us Holy
(For holiness is all that God accepts)

HE DIED FOR OUR PURITY
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

When Jesus died, He didn’t just die to save you, but to purify you.

Now that is what Paul is saying here.
Because Jesus has died, and made pure in God’s eyes.
Why don’t you live pure?

“Clean out the old leaven…just as you are in fact unleavened.”

In other words.
• Become what you are.
• Be who Christ made you to be.

Christ died to make a pure bride, to make a clean church.
So let’s honor His sacrifice and see that purity through.

That was what God expected of the Corinthians,
That is what He expects of us.

AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH THE CORINTHIANS.
They were gathering together surely enough, but they were missing the whole point of what Christ intended them to be.

If you are familiar with 1 Corinthians 5
You know it is a chapter ABOUT A SINNING BROTHER.

1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.”

Now that is bad enough, but that wasn’t even the real problem.
The real problem was how the church at Corinth was responding to it.

1 Corinthians 5:2 “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

Paul emphatically called the Corinthians “arrogant”
Because they had tolerated sin that should have never been tolerated.

WHY IS THIS ARROGANT?
Because they were pardoning someone God was condemning.

And let me tell you that is arrogance.
Who are you to pardon someone God condemns?
Who are you to say something is permissible when God says it isn’t?

And so Paul told them what they had to do.
1 Corinthians 5:3-5 “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Admittedly those are harsh verses.

I think we can even go so far as to say that modern day Christianity probably thinks those verses are “UnChristian”

TOLERANCE IS THE VIRTUE OF THE DAY

And the motive behind it is something like this.
“If we’ll just tolerate other people’s sin, then they will feel more loved, and it will strengthen the bond of fellowship in our church.”

That’s a popular notion.
Be the church that accepts everybody and everything, because we don’t want to be labeled a judgmental or unfriendly church.

Those are common views aren’t they?

That was no doubt the view in Corinth.
AND PAUL SAYS THAT IS ABSOLUTELY MISSING THE WHOLE POINT
OF WHO THE CHURCH IS SUPPOSED TO BE!

By tolerating that man and his sin you are gathering and going through the motions sure enough, but you obviously don’t get it at all.

In fact look at what Paul says next:
1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”

And certainly you understand Paul’s analogy there.
Sin is like leaven and the chief characteristic of leaven is that it spreads.

So does sin.
If you think you can let a sinner live in sin in your church
And it won’t affect others, you are naïve and greatly mistaken.

Someone could walk in this sanctuary with the flu and you’d all avoid them like the plague, but someone can walk in living in blatant immorality and most people will simply overlook it.

But trust me the sin is just as contagious and far more deadly
Than the flu ever thought about being.

It will spread
• Others will see that it is accepted
• Your children will learn of it
• And over time it will completely change the face of your whole church

And the reality is that by tolerating sin the Corinthians
Were actually undoing what Christ did on the cross.

He died to make men more holy, and the Corinthians
Were allowing them to go the other direction.

Paul says – CUT IT OUT!
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”

It is important to note that Paul was not talking about avoiding sinners.
Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors

Paul is talking about avoiding the “so-called brother”
• This person who calls himself a Christian
• Paul said not to even eat with that person

“Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

Now the goal is simply to remove sin from the congregation.
Unfortunately some people hold so tightly to their sin
That the only way to remove the sin is to remove the brother.

It’s like cancer.
You want the cancer gone and unfortunately sometimes parts of the body have to go fully eradicate the cancer.
Paul said that this man has to go.
He is to be “handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh”

• He is to be removed from the protective bubble over the church
• He is to be cast into the wilderness
• He is to be handed over to reproach and judgment
• Until he learns to hate his sin

We are waiting for this brother to have a “pig-pen” moment.

Remember the prodigal?
Luke 15:14-19 “Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘

That boy finally hit rock bottom

That is why we remove the sinning brother.
• To definitely protect the church
• To hopefully save the “so-called brother”

So Paul said:
(7) “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”

SO DO YOU SEE THE CORINTHIANS PROBLEM?

• They were meeting in church sure enough…
• They were singing sure enough…
• They were teaching and preaching and encouraging sure enough…

BUT SOMETHING WAS STILL WAY WRONG!

That had failed to understand the whole point of being the church.
• The church is simply those who have been redeemed.
• The church is simply those who have been set free from sin.
• The church is simply those who have been made holy.
• The church is simply those whom Christ has washed and made clean.

But the Corinthians had failed to see this very important reality.

They thought as long as they did all the things a church was supposed to do, that it didn’t matter if sin was present or not.

But this endangered the church and disregarded the reason Christ died.
• What good are your songs…
• What good is your encouragement…
• What good is your preaching…
…if you miss the whole point of being
Who the church is supposed to be while you do it?

And from there we come to the verse I wanted to focus on this morning.
It is the heart of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 5:8 “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Now let’s look at that verse
And I want to give you two points this morning.

#1 CELEBRATE THE FEAST
1 Corinthians 5:8a

That’s simple enough isn’t it?
“Therefore let us celebrate the feast”

• What exactly does that mean?
• Is Paul saying that we should all be participating in the Passover?

No, that is not what Paul is saying.

Paul just said in verse 7 that “Christ [is] our Passover”

We don’t travel once a year to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
And remember Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.

We celebrate our Passover every single day of our lives.
WE CELEBRATE THE PASSOVER EVERY TIME WE GATHE HERE.

Now I don’t believe Paul is saying that you have to take the Lord’s Supper every time you come (although I certainly have no problem with that)

What I do believe Paul is saying is that
When you gather you should celebrate your Passover.

• We gather to sing the praises of Christ!
• We gather to remember His cross
• We gather to spur one another on to be who He called us to be
• We gather to be equipped for His service

But we are to gather to “celebrate the feast”

Jesus Himself took the Passover and completely changed it:
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

He was speaking to some traditional Jews who had been taking the Passover their whole life and always focusing on the bondage of Egypt and their deliverance.

But Jesus said, whenever you do this,
Don’t think about Egypt any more, think about Me!

From now on, eating this bread and drinking this cup isn’t about the Passover angel and the Exodus…from now on eating this bread and drinking this cup is about Me.
When you come for this, celebrate Me!

And that is what we now do in everything.
• We celebrate His birth
• We celebrate His holiness
• We celebrate His teaching
• We celebrate His death
• We celebrate His resurrection
• We celebrate His ascension
• We celebrate His intercession
• We celebrate His promised return

• He is our Deliverer
• He is our Redeemer
• He is our Substitute
• He is our Savior

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

And because of that He deserves celebration.

Our gathering here, our very lives,
Is a celebration of “Christ our Passover”
Who has caused God’s wrath to pass us over.

Romans 5:6-11 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

• Don’t fail to “celebrate the feast”
• Don’t fail to celebrate “Christ our Passover”

Really that is what we’ve been talking about over the last few weeks.
Praise and Encouragement and Listening to the words of God
Are extensions of us celebrating Christ.

So we get that.
It’s this second point that I want to leave you with.

Celebrate the Feast
#2 CONSECRATE THE FEAST
1 Corinthians 5:8b

“not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Now based on this chapter we know exactly what Paul is talking about.

We know exactly what that “old leaven” is.
That “old leaven” is the sin of that immoral brother.

It is all the sinful deeds of our life before we were saved.
It is all the immoral behaviors of our unredeemed nature.

And Paul is very clear that when we come together to celebrate Christ
That we should not do it “with old leaven”

He goes on to say, “nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness”

• “malice” would be the attitude
• “wickedness” would be the actions that result from that attitude

Don’t come to church and go through all the right motions,
But do it with sin in your heart and sin in your life.

And as a church, don’t come with the attitude that
Tolerating such attitude and action is ok.

Christ came to make us holy
Christ came to save us from sin
When you come to celebrate Him, then celebrate without sin.

If you’re gathering and celebrating because He made you unleavened, don’t you find it somewhat hypocritical to celebrate while tolerating leaven in your life or church?

Make this gathering celebration something special!
Make this congregation something real!
Celebrate “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

I love this word here

“sincerity” translates EILIKRINEIA (I-lay-kreen-I-a)
It means “unalloyed or pure”

AN IMPORTANT DISCTINCTION
It doesn’t mean diluted, it means unmixed

If you were to use that word in a reference to wine,
It speak of wine that has not been mixed with another substance,
Not necessarily wine that is diluted with water.

APPLYING THAT TO A CHRISTIAN,
We are not talking about a diluted Christian, you know the Christian that should be more than he is.

We are talking about a Christian who is contaminated with sin.

We are not talking about a diluted Christian,
We are talking about a defiled one.

If you’ve read the letter to the Corinthians you could easily say that all of the Corinthians were diluted and not what they should be.
But one of them was flat out defiled and had to be removed.

And that is the point here.
• We’re not saying if you aren’t perfect then you don’t belong.
• We’re not saying if you aren’t perfect then don’t come.

What we are saying is that if you aren’t sincere
Then you are not celebrating the feast the way it should be celebrated.

• We are talking about the importance of holiness.
• We are talking about the importance of sanctification.
• We are talking about the importance of truly honoring Christ’s atoning work.

And that is what I want to leave you with this morning,
As we approach the table of the Lord.
We know why we gather
We know our purpose

I just want us to make sure that when we perform the actions
That we do it with a sincere heart.

That we do it with an unmixed heart
That we are not contaminated in our worship
And the best way I know to do that is to come to the table of the Lord.
• Look into the sacrifice of Christ
• Look at what He suffered to make you holy
• Look at what He endured to purchase your pardon

AND THEN CELEBRATE THE FEAST
• He deserves the truest praise
• He deserves that we encourage one another to be holy as He intended
• He deserves that we will hear His word and be equipped to serve Him

And we do those things with a sincere heart
• Not a heart that harbors sin
• Not a heart that tolerates sin
• Not a heart that goes through the motions

We are here to “celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

This morning we take the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

So let’s have a time of preparation
And then we’ll partake of the Lord’s Supper.

 

The Invaluable Lessons of Poverty
James 1:9-11
September 21, 2014

As you know we are currently studying through the book of James.

We love James because he has such a direct form of communication
About what a true Christian ought to look like.

• Whereas the world complains about various trials, the genuine Christian rejoices in them.

• Whereas the world asks “why” in regard to their hardships, the genuine Christian asks “what”.

And tonight we see yet another very distinct description
Of what a genuine Christian should look like.

And this description has to do with how we handle poverty.

Hopefully you remember the people that James is writing to.

James 1:1 “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.”

James is writing to those who have been “dispersed abroad”

Perhaps the writer of Hebrews
Sheds some of the best light on this group of people.

Hebrews 10:32-34 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.”

I cannot definitively say that both of these letters were to the same people,
However I want you to realize that things like “seizure of property”
Were real things.

There were believers (particularly Jewish believers)
Who paid a steep price for confessing Christ.

People lost jobs
People lost rights
And some even had their property seized.

Certainly when James refers to a group of people
Who have been “dispersed abroad”
We’d be naïve to think they left home with all of their possessions.
No doubt some had their possessions taken and were forced to leave,
Others most likely had to leave their possessions behind as they fled.

But the reality is that of all the persecutions and hardships these believers faced, poverty was no doubt at the top of the list.

One minute they were financially secure,
The next minute financial security was removed from them.

And of all the issues they were facing,
This must have been one of the most difficult.

I don’t have to tell you how you’d be tempted to respond to such a thing.
• The natural human response would be bitterness
• The natural human response would be anger
• The natural human response would be frustration

In fact we often feel those emotions when we just can’t have more,
Let alone when what we have is taken away.

No doubt these believers were in a tough spot.

And yet James saw that as a tremendous opportunity to remind these believers what a true follower of Jesus looks like.

And might I remind you that Jesus was poor?
Matthew 8:19-20 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

• In Matthew 17 Jesus had to borrow money from a fish to pay the tax in His own
temple.

Jesus lived a life of poverty.
And yet, never do we find Him complaining about His circumstances.

He did a lot of teaching to the disciples about being
Men of God, Good Shepherds, and Good Leaders,
But He never told them that a healthy budget was something they needed.

The reality is that money was not a snare to Jesus.
He lived in poverty with a grace and contentment
That is absolutely foreign to our culture.

And yet that is the example that James is drawing from here.
So you’re poor…
So you lost everything…

James’ answer is “glory” in that!

Are you kidding me?
• You want me to boast about being poor?
• You want me to boast about losing everything?
• You want me to rejoice in my financial difficulty?

And James would answer with an unflinching “YES”

Well in a culture such as ours
That thinks happiness is so dependent on wealth,
I suppose this is a very relevant couple of verses.

So tonight let’s look at THE INVALUABLE LESSONS OF POVERTY

There are two points I want you to see.
To lessons poverty teaches us.

#1 HIGH POSITION IS BETTER THAN HAUGHTY POSSESSIONS
James 1:9

Here again is that peculiar statement.

“But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;”

Now let’s pay careful attention to what James said.

First of all “But…”

We understand what the use of that word indicates.
It means that to some degree verse 9 is given in response to verse 8.

James just finished talking about wisdom.
He was referring to how, when you face trials, you should ask God for wisdom.

In short, you should ask God what to do.
You should definitely ask in faith, being willing to obey,
But you should ask God what to do.

And then James says, “But…”

That is to say, when you face trials, ask God what to do,
But if your trial is poverty, there is no need to ask God,
I can already tell you what to do.

If you’re facing trials, ask God what to do,
But if that trial is poverty, I can already tell you what He’ll say.

“glory”
It’s a word also translated “boast”

But please notice there is more to this than just that.
James is NOT saying that all poor people should boast about being poor.

That is not the point.

Read the verse again.
“But the BROTHER of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position”

We aren’t talking about any and every poor person.
We are talking about the poor Christian.

We are talking about the person who has been
• Redeemed by Christ,
• Forgiven of all his sin,
• Restored into a relationship with the Father,
• Filled with the Holy Spirit,
• Who will one day receive an inheritance and reign with Christ.

This is a “brother”

TURN TO: Ephesians 1:3-14

• Our past in Christ (3-6)
• Our present in Christ (7-10)
• Our future in Christ (11-14)

That is the reality for all Christians.

Every Christian, rich or poor,
Has that exact same “position” in Christ.

Would you agree that this is a “high position”?
Would you agree that this position you hold is something worth boasting about?
Would you agree that this position is something worth glorying in?

Well so would James.
• So you don’t have a lot of the world’s money…
• So you don’t own a condo in the Rocky Mountains…
• So you don’t have the nicest car…
• So you don’t have the newest iphone…

WHO CARES!
• You are a child of the one true King!
• You have been forgiven of all your sin!
• You have been reconciled to God in a secure relationship!
• And you have an inheritance that will not fade away, reserved for you!
In light of your heavenly position, complaining about your earthly circumstances does come across as a little ungrateful!

Even when your circumstances are less than favorable,
You don’t have to ask God “what” to do.
James will tell you.

You look past your present circumstances and you “glory”
You boast about your high position in Christ!

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

A Christian that grows bitter about their “humble circumstances”
Is a “brother” who has forgotten about “his high position”.

At the very least, it wreaks of INGRATITUDE.

It is to say, you can no longer be happy with the cross of Christ,
The death of the Son of God, His intercessory death on your behalf,
Or your promised inheritance for all eternity…

Those things are no longer enough
Because you don’t have all the toys you want to buy.

Could it be that your focus is way off?
Sure it is.

Well, that is one of the invaluable lessons of poverty.
Poverty teaches us to focus on our truest riches.

If you are rich in this life, you will be prone to let them identify who you are.
But if you are poor, you are far more likely to boast about your heavenly riches.

Being poor in this life teaches you to be more grateful
For the “high position” Christ put you in.

So, if trials are present you can ask God what to do,
Unless that trial is poverty,
In which case you simply need to overlook them
And boast in what Christ has done for you.

Poverty teaches us that.

High Position is better than Haughty Possessions
#2 BEING LOW IS BETTER THAN BEING LOST
James 1:10-11

Here is the second lesson poverty teaches.
Again, pay careful attention to what James is saying.

We are not necessarily referring to a brother here anymore.

James doesn’t say, “the brother of lavish circumstances…”
James simply calls this guy “the rich man”

I’m not saying he is lost,
But let’s face it Scripture rarely paints the rich in positive terms.

James certainly doesn’t.
James 2:6-7 “But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?”

James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”

Now based on that, I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that
When James calls him “the rich man”, he doesn’t have a believer in mind.

James is talking about a “rich man” and one who most likely
Has rejected the Lord and put his hope in the security of his riches.

The Bible talks plenty about them:

Psalms 49:11 “Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names.”

Psalms 73:4-9 “For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”
Jesus even talked about this type of fellow:
Luke 12:16-19 “And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘

Those all refer to the same guy.
The guy who has done very well for himself in life,
And he even expects that he did it in spite of God.

And now that he has amassed great wealth and security,
He can sit back and laugh at the world.
He is untouchable, he is secure, he is without worry or problem.

OF COURSE THERE IS ONE MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THIS GUY.

Jesus finished the parable:
Luke 12:20-21 “But God said to him, ‘ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

That man was wealthy
That man was comfortable
That man had financial security
BUT THAT MAN WAS LOST

That is the problem.
Riches can buy a lot of things, but they can’t buy salvation.

Psalms 49:7-9 “No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him — For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever — That he should live on eternally, That he should not undergo decay.”

How much does a citizenship in heaven cost anyway?
You can’t buy it!

That’s why Jesus said:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

There is no amount that you can pay to go to heaven when you die.

And that is the problem with this rich man who is lost.

Because his life has been so full of comforts,
Unlike the poor man,
He has never been forced to evaluate his true spiritual condition.
James told the poor man that…
His poverty was good because it caused him to focus on his spiritual position,
But the rich man has been so comfortable that he has never cared.

That is why when James sees an occurrence
Where a rich man gets humbled,
James says that is a good thing!

“and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation”
• If there is a day when the rich man is brought low
• If there is a day when the rich man sees his money fail
• If there is a day when his money can’t save him

THE RICH MAN SHOULD THANK GOD FOR THAT DAY!

Because it might just open his eyes
To how shaky his security really is.

Look, financial security is NOT security
(That’s a lie)

“because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.”

Financial security is NOT security
Psalms 49:16-20 “Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him. Though while he lives he congratulates himself — And though men praise you when you do well for yourself — He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”

AND THINK ABOUT IT.
Go ahead and think of a number.
A monetary number, that if that was in your 401k or your savings account you’d feel financially secure.

• Would 1 million do it?
• How about 2 million?

Well then for security sake, let’s say you have 4 million in your account. You would then be financially secure.

• Now, can that 4 million keep you from getting cancer?
• Can that 4 million keep your children safe on the road?
• Can that 4 million keep ISIL terrorists from hating you?
• Is that 4 million inflation proof?
Financial security is NOT security.
The term “Financial Security” should be added to the list of oxymorons.

The only real security in the world
Is the security afforded to us by God through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

But financial security is not security.

The problem is that most of our world doesn’t know that.
Most of our world thinks financial security is the best kind to have.

And most are so enamored with obtaining it
That they never even think about obtaining the real one.

And so James says, “Hey rich man! Did your money fail? Did you get humiliated? Did you lose everything? Did you face a situation where your money wouldn’t help you?”

Praise God for that situation!
For maybe it opened your eyes to your real needs in life.

And that is true for you and me as well.

I don’t suppose anyone in here would consider themselves to be rich,
But let’s face it, in the global economy of the world,
That’s exactly what we are.

We all have more financial security than most of the world has ever known.

And when we face situations where that wealth fails
We are prone to whine and complain and grow bitter.

But we shouldn’t, we should praise God for those moments
When our money was tight, or when our money wouldn’t help us.

Those moments teach us that being low is better than being lost!

1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”

And so I think you get James’ point.

• If you have trials count them joy
• In the middle of your trials ask God what to do
• But if your trial is poverty, no need to ask, I’ll tell you – “glory!”

Glory because High Position is better than Haughty Possessions
Glory because Being Low is better than being Lost

That is how a genuine Christian responds to financial hardship.

The Purpose of Assembling Together – Part 3
Ephesians 4:11-13
September 21, 2014

As you know, over the last couple of weeks we have been taking a break from our study of Genesis to answer what I believe to be a very important question.

WHY DO WE ASSEMBLE TOGETHER AS A CHURCH?

We are not asking the purpose of the church, that is a completely different question.
We want to know the purpose of our gathering together.

In a day when church attendance is definitely not the norm,
We do good to ask ourselves why we continue to do this.

Furthermore we do good to examine the Scriptures to see if we can
Figure out what sort of things we are to be doing when we do gather.

Otherwise our assembling is absolutely of no value.

And this morning we are going to conclude this small study with our final purpose in gathering together.

We’ve already seen two.
1) EXALTATION – We meet to Praise God

And really there couldn’t be a higher calling for assembling than this.
We serve a God who is worthy of praise,
And who better to give it to Him than those He has redeemed?

Psalms 100 “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.”

When we enter His courts, it is with praise.
And this is not just an emotional response tucked away in our heart,
The praise God deserves is an outward, vocal response from our mouth.

Hebrews 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”

We meet for the purpose of EXALTATION

If you then participate in the assembling of God’s people,
But fail to praise God with your mouth,
You have missed the very purpose for why we gather.

2) EXHORTATION – We meet to Encourage One Another

Hebrews 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

We fully understand that we are in fact our brother’s keeper.
We are all in this thing together.

And the fact that most of us are less likely to be obedient on our own,
Requires that we help each other out.

We are to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds”
With our words, our example, and even our discipline

The important thing to realize however is this:
YOU CANNOT DO THAT EFFECTIVELY
IF YOU FAIL TO ASSEMBLE WITH OTHER BELIEVERS.

Don’t get into the habit of not gathering with other believers.
They need your encouragement and you need theirs.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

So, not only do we meet to praise God,
But we meet to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This means that if you gather today, but fail to encourage your brother to true Godliness, then you also failed to fulfill your purpose in coming.

So, after two weeks we should all understand better why we meet,
And after we leave this place, God should have been abundantly praised,
And each life in here should have been encouraged to be more like Christ.

Well this morning let me show you the final reason.

And that is EXPOSITION – We come to hear the very Words of God

And for this we are going to examine Ephesians 4:11-13

I always like to give you a little surrounding context to a passage if I can, so let me give you just some brief direction to what is happening here.

Ephesians is a letter often referred to as “Our Spiritual Bank Account”
Paul writes this letter to let them know what is theirs in Christ.

Ephesians 1:18-19 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

And Paul spent 3 chapters outlining all the blessed realities of being “in Christ Jesus”
But as is common in all of Paul’s letters, he spends a section on doctrine,
And then he spends a section on expectation or application.

And Ephesians 4 is the beginning of the application section.
Paul is now telling the believers what God expects of them
In light of all the blessings he has bestowed upon them.

And chapter 4 deals with this expectation.
God expects His church to be unified
Through a proper understanding of the truth.

And this morning I’m just going to cut the heart out of this chapter
And show it to you, so we’ll look at verses 11-13.

Now there are two main points here, and then we’ll expand them a little more.
#1 GOD’S PROVISION
Ephesians 4:11

This verse is actually one that Paul begin to explain back in verse 7.

Ephesians 4:7-10 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)”

If you read the first 6 verses of the chapter you find that
Paul is calling for the unity of the church.

• In fact in verse 3 we are to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

• And the means by which God helps us do that is by the fact that “He gave gifts to men.”

Paul quotes Psalms 68:18 as a fulfillment of Christ’s ascension
And subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Through whom Christ gifted His church with spiritual gifts.

And in case you are not familiar with spiritual gifts,
Let me give you a quick explanation.

A spiritual gift is a unique way in which the Holy Spirit
Chooses to manifest Himself in the life of a believer.

• He uniquely equips a believer with a spiritual ability for the purpose of
building up the body of Christ.

• Every believer gets one, they don’t all get the same one, and the
purpose is always to build the body.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

So as believers we each get a spiritual gift
And it is meant to be used to build up the body.

There are different ones which we won’t go into detail about right now.
Just know that in order to make the church all He intended her to be,
Christ equipped the church with spiritual gifts.

And that is essentially what Paul said in Ephesians 4:7-10

Now, when we get to our text Paul lists several of those gifts specifically.
(This is not all of the gifts, but here Paul lists a specific type)

Each gift Paul lists here has to do with the handling of the word of God.

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,”
Paul actually lists 5 different gifts there,

1) Apostles Apostles REVEAL God’s word.

This was a unique office in the New Testament,
Qualifications: Appointed by Christ
Witness of His resurrected life.
Ability: Speak with Authority
Reveal the Word of God

John 20:21-23 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Since they had no New Testament to stand upon.
They were given the authority to reveal God’s truth.

God gifted apostles to first reveal the word of God.

2) Prophets Prophets PROCLAIM God’s word.

In the O.T. you see real quickly that to these guys black is black, and white is white.
They are not fence riders, they do not dabble in uncertainties.

Their only mission in life is to clearly and accurately
Proclaim exactly what God has said.

2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
3) Evangelists Evangelists CARRY God’s word.

These are the men who take the “Good News” to those who have not yet heard.

These are the missionaries, these are the ones who spread the gospel.

Romans 15:20 “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation;”

4) Pastors Pastors APPLY God’s word.

This is called being an “overseer” or “shepherding” God’s flock.
They take the truth and lead people to live according to it.

1 Peter 5:1-3 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
They help others submit to God’s word.

5) Teachers Teachers EXPLAIN God’s word.

2 Tim. 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

These are the ones who make the difficult truths seem simple.
They take the mysteries of God, and explain them.

Now, as I said, these are not all of the gifts,
But all that Paul lists here are all distinct to the purpose of
Disseminating the word of God to the church.

And you should probably notice that of all the gifts God gave,
5 of them were reserved for the purpose
Of making sure the church understood what God had to say.

In short God intends for His word to be revealed, proclaimed, shared, applied, and explained to His people.

God has much to say and He made sure that His people would understand it by spiritually gifting men to handle it.

And thus we know that one of the reasons we gather
Is to have God’s word proclaimed and explained and applied to our lives.
• We don’t come to hear sermons from the preacher’s imagination
• We don’t come to hear stories or historical facts or amusing tales
• We don’t come to be enamored with the smoothness of the preacher

We gather to hear what God has to say.
Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

The public worship gathering has never been a time
For one man to get up and share his thoughts with the people.

It has always been a time when men, gifted by God,
Use their spiritual gift to make sure that
God’s people know what God has to say.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

We are to “preach the word”
God’s word – the Bible

We are not even to fancy into the grandiose land of
“God told me to tell you”.

That may or may not have been from God,
But the Scripture is certainly God’s word,
And this is what is to be proclaimed and explained and applied
In the gathering of the saints.

1 Timothy 4:11-16 “Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

Paul says that the Scripture alone has the power to ensure the salvation So Timothy is to take great pains in making sure the flock understands it.

He is to read it, study it, proclaim it, explain it, take pains with it,
And make sure that everyone understands it.

THIS IS WHY THE CHURCH GATHERS.
They gather to hear the very words of God,
And God has gifted men to be able to help in that purpose.

Now it is important to understand that
The preacher is not the only person responsible for fulfilling this role.
God also equipped teachers for this purpose.

2 Timothy 2:1-2 “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Titus 2:3-5 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

We also love Sunday School and other gatherings,

But the purpose is still the same.
Take the gathering and make sure that
You are explaining the word of God to the people.

That is why God gifted men with the ability to do it.
When the church gathers together it is intended that
God’s word will be proclaimed, explained, and applied.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Timothy was to proclaim the word so that God’s church would be “equipped for every good work.”

And that serves as a good transition to the second point.

We know that the church gathers to have God’s word proclaimed.
WHY?

God’s Provision
#2 GOD’S PLAN
Ephesians 4:12-13

These two verses explain why God intends to have His word
Proclaimed and explained and applied to His people.

1) TO PREPARE THE SAINTS
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of service”

Now I hope to point out something to you in this verse
That you may not have previously realized.
Somewhere along the course of the American church,
People starting assuming that the only duty of the Christian
Was to go to church.

All of that other stuff was really the job of the paid staff.

“We’re busy, but we pay the preacher to do that.”
(Now granted not everyone views it like this, but a fair number do)

But that just isn’t the case.
This may shock you, but “the work of service”
Is not the job of the preacher or pastor.

Every day ministry is not the job of the preacher or pastor.
• Personal evangelism
• Benevolence ministries
• Visitations
• Etc.

Those are not the job of the pastor.
Those are the jobs of the saints.

WELL WHAT IS THE PASTOR’S JOB?
“the equipping of the saints for the work of service”

Now I’m certainly not going to completely absolve myself of all Christian duty,
I want to be a part as well.
But you must understand that where the burden of preaching falls on me, the burden of ministry falls on you.

Adrian Rogers, “It’s not my job to fill the pews, it’s my job to fill the pulpit.”

The ministry of the church is far too big for one person,
It is the job of every Christian.

The job of the pastor is to make sure that you are equipped for that job.
• That you’ll know proper doctrine…
• That you’ll accurately understand the gospel…
• That you’ll know why Jesus is the sole way of salvation…
• That you’ll understand God’s purposes and intentions…
• That you’ll know what God expects of you…
• That you’ll know that God can use you to do it…

This is why I told you at the outset of this study that one of the main purposes of the worship service is not evangelism.

If all the preacher ever does is evangelize from the pulpit,
Then he is doing a disservice to the saints
Who need to be equipped for the work of service.
• You are to “go into all nations”
• You are to be “salt and light”
• You are to “visit the widows and orphans in their distress”
• You are to be the hands and feet of Christ.

I am to equip you to do that by teaching you the word of God.

So obviously you see another very important reason
Why we gather together as the church.
We assemble so that you can have the word explained.

Does that mean you can’t read it on your own?
No, you certainly can (and should)

But the necessity of gathering is found in the fact that
God specifically gifted some to proclaim it,
And while we certainly learn God’s word on our own,
We do understand the value of those spiritually gifted to explain it.

SO WE GATHER TO HEAR IT

So God’s plan in gifting men to proclaim His word is TO PREPARE THE SAINTS
2) TO PERFECT THE BODY
“to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

God’s intention is that the church be perfect.
The means by which God does this is the corporate study of His word.

So what does a “Perfect Body” look like?

DOCTRINAL UNITY
“until we all attain to the unity of the faith.”

• If 50 people study a passage on their own, there is a decent chance they’ll all get close to what it means.

• But if 50 people study it together they come out unified in what the Scripture is teaching.

And that is what Paul is referring to here.
Come together to corporately study God’s word
So that you can be unified and perfected.

God doesn’t want a church that is theologically scattered.
• There is “one faith” (vs. 5)
• It is “the faith”
It is not up for debate.
Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

We are not looking for a doctrine we can agree on,
We are looking for the very truth of God,
And then we’ll all unify around it.

That is why we must come study together.

A perfect body is a body with doctrinal unity,
Only achieved through corporate study.

INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE
“and of the knowledge of the Son of God”

Again, this is why we study the Scriptures,
Because in the Scriptures Christ is revealed.

• If you want to know Christ
• If you want to see Christ
• If you want to hear Christ
• If you want to meet Christ
• You’ll meet Him in the Scriptures!

And so we don’t just personally go out on our own personal voyages
To find out who Jesus is to me.

We come and study together that we can together
Gain an intimate knowledge of who the Scriptures say Christ is.

We meet to study to obtain doctrinal unity and intimate knowledge

I’ll give you another aspect of a perfect body
SPIRITUAL MATURITY
“to a mature man”

In other words, no longer a child.

What does that mean?
Ephesians 4:14-15 “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,”

A mature body is a body that is no longer easily deceived.
They are not gullible like a child.

They know better than to take the candy being offered by the preacher on ch 27

How did they get so mature?
How did they get so discerning?
Well, they gathered together weekly for the study of God’s word.

And as God’s word was systematically explained by those gifted to do so, they found themselves growing in wisdom and knowledge.

And now they know better than to fall for the smoke and mirrors.

A perfect body has doctrinal unity, intimate knowledge, spiritual maturity
CHRIST LIKENESS
“to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

In short, the perfect body looks more and more like Jesus every day.

How does that happen?
The more you look at Jesus, the more you become like Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

That mirror is the word of God, and the more we look into it,
The more we are transformed into the image of Christ.

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

God’s word transforms us to be like Christ.
That is why we come together to study it.

And so I hope this is all making sense.

• We gather to praise God
• We gather to encourage one another
• We gather to have the Scripture proclaimed and applied and explained

And as this occurs we grow in unity, we grow in our knowledge of Christ,
We grow in spiritual maturity, and we grow to be more like Jesus.

THAT IS WHY WE MEET!

You should never settle for a congregational gathering
That is void of praise, or void of encouragement,
Or void of preaching that explains the word of God.

That is why we gather.

Now, again, let me take this one step further.
• We gather for EXALTATION – so praise God when you come
• We gather for EXHORTATION – so encourage each other when you come
• We gather for EXPOSITION – so when God’s word is explained to you, DO WHAT IT SAYS!

James 1:22-25 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

This makes sense doesn’t?

• If you are coming for the purpose of praising God then by all means praise Him!
• If you are coming for the purpose of encouraging your brother, then by all means do it!

And if you are coming to hear the word of God explained
That you may be better equipped for the work of service and may grow into a perfect body, then by all means obey what you hear!

If you aren’t going to do what God says in His word,
Then why did you come to hear it?

• If you don’t want to praise Him, why did you come?
• If you don’t want to encourage your brother, why did you come?
• If you don’t want to hear God’s word and obey it, why did you come?

I don’t know why you did come this morning,
But I know why you should have come.

EXALTATION
EXHORTATION
EXPOSITION

From here on out, let’s make sure that
We are real enough to make sure we always cover the basics.

• When we praise, let’s raise the roof!
• When we encourage, let’s stimulate our brother to be like Christ!
• When we sit, let’s proclaim God’s word and do what He says!

That is why the church gathers.

Asking For Wisdom
James 1:5-8
September 14, 2014

As you know we have begun a new study here on Sunday nights,
It is this wonderful book of James.

James, of course, was the half-brother of Jesus.
And because of this James had a unique perspective.

James was his brother, he saw how Jesus lived.
James had a front row seat his whole life watching how Jesus handled situations.

• He saw how Jesus responded to adversity
• He saw how Jesus responded to the lowly
• He saw how Jesus responded to widows and orphans
• He saw what things were important to Him

And so for James, Christianity is about much more than proper doctrine.
For James Christianity is about proper behavior.

James isn’t just looking for Christians who believe right,
He’s looking for Christians who live right.

James is a matter of fact kind of guy.

And he opens his letter with the issue of facing trials.
And this is a topic that he will stay on all the way through verse 18 of chapter 1.

He is writing to believers who have been persecuted and scattered
And so it is only fitting that he opens the letter dealing with trials.

Last week we talked about having “A Perspective Like Jesus”

Perspective is very important when dealing with trials.
Your outlook goes a long way towards how you progress through a trial.

And James said “when you face various trials”
• You need respond with joy
• And you need to respond with discernment, knowing that God is using this trial to teach you endurance.

You must have endurance to be like Jesus,
And nothing teaches you endurance like a trial.

So when a trial comes DON’T whine and complain and grow bitter
– that is the world’s response.

When you face a trial – rejoice and let God accomplish through that trial whatever it is He is out to accomplish.
And so with those first 4 verses
James really answered our most common question in regard to trials.
“WHY?”

Well James answered that.
It is happening to make you “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This is a necessary discipline meant to squeeze you
So that in the end you look more like Jesus.

Now “Why?” isn’t the only question we ask.

There is another question we should ask, and that question is
“WHAT?”
As in: “What would you have me do?”

When you face a trial, you naturally ask “Why?”
We answered that.
So tonight let’s look at what you should be asking, which is “What?”

There are two points we will look at tonight.
#1 THE SPIRITUAL COUNSEL
James 1:5

Now before we break this down a little more,
Just first please recognize this verse in its entirety
And spend a second marveling in the beauty of that promise.

In this verse we once again have reiterated for us
The goodness of God and His faithfulness to answer our prayers.

On our worst day we still have the ability to ask God,
And we have the promise that God is a giver who always gives.

But here we aren’t just talking about answered prayer.
We are talking about a specific request.

And based on the context of our study,
It is a request we make from the middle of our trials.

James throws it all out on the table and says, “But if any of you lacks wisdom,”

Now this verse definitely links to the previous.
For James just said that God was working to give us endurance so that we would be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

God wants us to lack nothing, but we aren’t there yet.
And one of the things people lack, especially in regard to their trial is “wisdom”
Now, we really have to pause here for a second do a little shop cleaning.

This verse is prone to some real misunderstanding,
Namely because I think people don’t really understand what James is talking about when he mentions asking for wisdom.

See, many people think James is still answering the “Why?” question.

As if to say:
When you go through a trial, if you don’t know why this is happening, just ask God and he will generously and without reproach give you the answer.

If you think that is what James is talking about,
I can assure you that you are going to walk away from your trial
More frustrated than you’ve ever been in your life.

Why?
Because God very rarely ever tells us “why” something is happening.

It is enough that we know that it is for our good to make us perfect,
Beyond that we don’t need to know.

Throughout the Bible trials have come
And God’s people did not know “why” they were coming.

Job suffered like no other man has suffered.

And we know why Job suffered.
He suffered because he was “upright and blameless, fearing God and turning away from evil” and because “there was no one like him on the face of the earth.”

And because of his righteousness God actually pointed him out to Satan
As the fall guy in their little standoff.

Satan thought he could turn a child of God against God if enough pressure was applied, and God assured Satan that he couldn’t.

And so Job suffered immensely.

And here is the kicker, Job never knew why.
His friends said it was because he secretly harbored iniquity,
But Job knew better than that.

Yet he still didn’t know why he suffered,
And what is more, God wouldn’t tell him.

Job 10:1-7 “I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. “I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. ‘Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? ‘Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees? ‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as man’s years, That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? ‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.”

Job 13:23-28 “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. “Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy? “Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or will You pursue the dry chaff? “For You write bitter things against me And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. “You put my feet in the stocks And watch all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet, While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.”

Job 23:1-9 “Then Job replied, “Even today my complaint is rebellion; His hand is heavy despite my groaning. “Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! “I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments. “I would learn the words which He would answer, And perceive what He would say to me. “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me. “There the upright would reason with Him; And I would be delivered forever from my Judge. “Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.”

Job begged and pleaded that God would just tell him why he was suffering, and there is no record that Job ever knew.

And this is true for so many who suffered throughout Scripture.

And so I assure you that when James says “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God”

James is NOT saying, “If you don’t know why this is happening, just ask God and He’ll tell you.”

So what is James saying?
James is saying God will give you wisdom.

So it is important that you understand what wisdom is and what it is not.

One of my favorite books is called “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer.

Here is the gist.
J.I. Packer is talking about wisdom and he talks about the train station at York, and how you can have a great deal of amusement by watching the trains coming in and going out and switching tracks and so forth.

But if you could get into the control booth above the number 8 terminal, and see the lighted grid and why all the trains come in and stop and move and go, then the chaos would all make sense.

And he estimated that this is what most people think wisdom is.
They think wisdom is to ascend into the Holy of Holies and see God’s lighted grid and see why He is doing what He is doing. And once you see why God is doing it, then you will be wise.

BUT THAT IS NOT WISDOM.
Consider the writer of Ecclesiastes.
You know his favorite word – “Meaningless” or “Vanity”

Here was an old preacher writing to a young man
Telling him to take off his rose colored glasses.

• Good doesn’t always triumph in this life
• The rich and the poor alike die
• The wise and the foolish still die
• The righteous and the wicked still die

If you look at this life and try to make sense out of it, it looks like insanity.
A wicked man lives a long life and makes a great fortune,
While a righteous man toils in poverty and dies young.

It doesn’t make sense.

And the old preacher is telling the young man that such is life.
But before the old preacher leaves he gives the young man
Some very valuable advice in light of the insanity of this world.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

The old preacher’s advice was: “Wisdom is obeying the commands of God even when you don’t understand why.”

And that is a great description of wisdom.

WISDOM IS NOT WHAT YOU KNOW,
BUT RATHER WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW.

Let me give you an example.
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”

Both of those men knew the same thing.
They both heard “these words of Mine”,
But the wise acted on it while the foolish ignored it.

Wisdom is not what you know, but what you do with what you know.

That is why (as so many assume) wisdom does not automatically come with old age. Experience comes with old age, and that is valuable, but not necessarily wisdom.

Wisdom is for those who act obediently on the truth.
That is why we understand that
“the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.”

It doesn’t matter if you know what to do,
If you don’t fear God enough to do it.
Wisdom isn’t what you know, but what you do with what you know.

Listen to what God told Israel:
Deuteronomy 4:5-7 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?”

You aren’t considered wise for having the truth,
You are considered wise when you act on it.

So when James says “if any of you lacks wisdom”
• He ISN’T saying, if you don’t know why just ask God.
• James IS saying, “if you don’t know what to do” ask God.

If you don’t know how to respond…
If you don’t know what steps to take…
If you don’t know what to do…

“But if any of you asks wisdom”
And if that is you (and it commonly is)

“let him ask of God”

In short, pray for it.
Look, at the very least your trials should strengthen your prayer life,
If they don’t, you’ve got a long way to go in your trials.

“let him ask of God”

See there is only one place to get wisdom.
• You can’t get wisdom from a university
• You can’t get wisdom from a trade school
• You can’t get wisdom from being old
• You only get wisdom from God.

TURN TO: JOB 28

What a great picture.
Wisdom is precious and if you want it, ask God for it.

Proverbs 2:1-7 “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,”

If you don’t know what to do, ask God!
(Implied in Proverbs 2 is that you also study the word for His answer)

And here is the good news:
“who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

God is the only place to get wisdom, and He’s not stingy.

And when you ask, He won’t answer with a “reproach”
• He won’t say, “What took you so long?”
• He won’t say, “I can’t believe you didn’t know what to do…”
• He won’t say, “It’s about time…”
• He won’t say, “You sure made a mess of things didn’t you!”

He won’t “reproach” you.
Instead, He will hear your request and generously respond.

James says, “it [wisdom] will be given to him.”

If in the middle of your trial, you ask God what to do,
God will tell you.

He may not tell you why the trial is happening,
But He will tell you what to do.

He may not tell you why the storm is coming,
But He will tell you how to anchor your house in the middle of it.

Spiritual Counsel
#2 THE SINGLE CONDITION
James 1:6-8

Now, the promise we read in verse 5 is a tremendous promise,
But it is a conditional one.

Hence the “But” in verse 6.

There is one condition to that awesome promise.
“But he must ask in faith without any doubting”

What does James mean by that?

Sure in one sense, if you ask God what to do,
Believe that He will tell you what to do.

But I also think James is implying so much more here than just that.
Wisdom is not what you know, but what you do with what you know.

And God is more than happy to tell you what to do,
But under one condition, IF YOU WILL DO IT.

The “doubting” James is referring to,
• Is not doubting whether God will tell you,
• It is doubting that God’s plan will work.

God is not primarily in the business of
Heaping instruction on those who won’t listen to it.

Remember Matthew 13 and Jesus’ parable of the soils?
The disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus wouldn’t just tell the people straight, instead of cloaking the truth in a farming illustration.

Matthew 13:10-13 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

They weren’t doing anything with the truth they had,
Why would He give them more?

And that is what James is referring to.
If you are going to ask God for direction (i.e. wisdom) then you had better ask with a heart of faith that is willing to trust His counsel.

Let me give you an illustration (a negative one)

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 42 & 43

Now that is exactly what James is talking about.
Those people came asking “what”
But they had no intention of trusting God enough to do it.

They didn’t ask for wisdom in faith, they were doubters.

And James has a few choice words for people who doubt.
“for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

A quick reading will certainly convince you that
James doesn’t think much about people who ask for wisdom,
But who have no intention of actually doing what God says.
Let’s quickly break that type of person down.

1) THEY ARE EASILY INFLUENCED
“like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”

In short, a person who would ask God,
But won’t do it is NOT A PERSON LOOKING FOR TRUTH.

This is a person looking for the easiest path.
They are just looking for what they want to hear.
(God’s plan is very rarely the easy path)

They are like the sea.
The sea never resists the wind, it always submits to wherever the wind wants to push it.

And because of this, they are easily influenced by any and everyone.

Paul wrote:
Ephesians 4:14 “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;”

But that’s precisely what happens to the man without wisdom,
Who won’t go where God guides.

Adrian Rogers,
“Men are like rivers, they grow crooked by following the path of least resistance.”

They are easily influenced
2) THEY ARE IGNORED BY GOD
(7) “For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,”

Why would you expect that God would give you counsel when you won’t listen to what He has to say?

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

And so those who ask him for wisdom,
But who have no intention of taking His counsel, CAN FORGET IT.

God responds to faith.

They are easily influenced They are ignored by God
3) THEY ARE INCONSISTENT AT BEST
“being a double-minded man”

In short they are hypocritical and even self-deceived.

They are like the people in Elijah’s day:
1 Kings 18:21 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”

They are not people of conviction, they are wishy washy.
They don’t know what they believe,
AND THAT IS WHY GOD WON’T ANSWER THEM.

God is not just some sort of consulting firm where you go and get His input and then make whatever decision you want.
He is the Lord of the Universe and He expects to be obeyed.

4) THEY ARE INSECURE IN EVERY DECISION
“unstable in all his ways.”

They are like that foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Everything James says here about a man who asks God for wisdom,
But who doesn’t trust Him enough to take it
Speaks of a man who is lost and flighty and headed for a fall.

And this is the advice that James now has for those persecuted Christians
Who are stuck in the middle of their trials.

When those trials come, and they will.

Be determined ahead of time to count them joy
Because you know why they are coming.

God is using them to expand your endurance,
Which is necessary if you are ever to be a perfect and completed work.

Now, if you want to know what you should do, if you want wisdom in the middle of it, then ask God for it, He’ll give it to you.

Only when you ask, be prepared to do what He says.

When He speaks, He expects people to listen.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
That is wisdom.

The foolish man trusts in his own understanding
And only considers God’s paths if they seem to make sense.

And that man can’t expect to ever receive guidance from the Lord.