To highlight our goals for this New Year’s Sunday School program, SK will be hosting a brunch on February 5th at 930am.  In addition to great food and coffee, the youth and adults will gather in our worship space to hear about some of the things that we will be studying as well as outlining teachers and plans for class expansion.  Specifically encouraging is the new Youth Class led by Ben Thomas.  All of our children’s classes will continue as usual throughout that morning.

If you would like to help with food, contact Vanessa, but do not tie attendance to bringing something.  If you are able to help out, that’s great.  But the most important thing is gathering in as many folks as possible to hear about the exciting things coming up in the New Year.

Big Idea:  Cheer up.  You are worse off than you know, but God is more gracious than you can imagine.

James 1: ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

• Who does the Bible say is the tempter?
• What warnings does the Bible give us about the tempter?
• If God is not the tempter, how should that give us help and hope?
• What was Jesus’ interaction with temptation (Matthew 4)?

¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

• What causes us to be tempted by certain things?
• How does this verse make us more responsible for our sin?
• Where was desire before temptation came along?

 1⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

•  What is the result of sin according to these verses?

• How was Jesus like Adam and how was Jesus different than Adam when facing sin (Romans 5)?
• What hope do we have when facing temptation (Matthew 4, I Corinthians 10)?

What is a sin?  I can go old school for a minute and tell you that sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.  And though that is an incredibly helpful explanation of sin, its old English leads us to scratching our heads a bit.  So before we begin to define these things, let’s talk about what sin is not.  And don’t worry.  At SK, though we do talk of sin, we exalt the grace of God, but the grace of God found in Jesus Christ the good news is only good if it counters our sin problem.  So we must understand sin to fully understand Jesus.

So having said that, “What is sin?  Well sin is not a hurt, a habit, or a hang up.”  Yes sometimes we fall into sin because we are hurt.  This is awful when that happens.  Sexual abuse can, not always, but can lead to sexual promiscuity.  Abusive parents can create abusive adults.  Negligent parents can create adults who are negligent.  But sin is not just something we do because we saw others do it.  But sin is not just something we emulate.  It is that but not just that.

Sin is not bad habit.  Oh, we have sinful habits that we repeat every day, but sin in and of itself is not a bad habit.  Sin is not like biting your nails, picking your nose, or leaving your underwear on the floor.  Don’t get me wrong, we can fall into sinful patterns just like we do habits, but sin is much more than a habit.

Sin is not a hang up that we can get rid of by keeping New Year’s resolutions.  It is not an annoying something that you do every now and then.  Sin is much more pervasive than that.

So what is sin?  Sin is cosmic treason and to treat it as anything less than that is like letting a child play with a gun or to keep poison in your refrigerator.  When we sin, what our hearts are really saying is, “God, I will sit on your throne.  I will be God.  I will decide what is right and wrong.  You cannot tell me what to do, how to live, and you especially cannot tell me what I shouldn’t do.  We may not have that conscious thought each time, but that’s thing, we don’t have to.

The laws and commands of God are not a to do or a to don’t list.  They are expressions of His character.  To lie is not a small thing.  It violates the character of the God of all truth.  To gossip or to say things about a person that you would never say about them to their face is no small thing either.  It violates the character of the God who has revealed Himself and made Himself known.  To lust is no small thing.  Lust violates the sacrificial nature of Jesus and goes against the faithfulness and fidelity of the nature of God.  Any sin that we commit, whether it be a sin of the heart, a sin of speech, a sin of action or a sin of inaction, violates the law of God and thus violates His character.

When we face that truth, which James is going to make very clear this morning, we have no other option but to face this week’s Big Idea.
Big Idea:  Cheer up.  You are worse off than you know, but God is more gracious than you can imagine.

James 1: 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

For the sake of context, let me remind all of us of the context of these 3 absolutely huge and impactful verses.  James has told us that we are take great joy in trials because in the working through of trials, God produces a steadfastness in our lives that equips us for whatever God is doing.  When we struggle in those trials, we can ask God for wisdom by faith, and God will give us that wisdom.  The examples that James uses is taking great joy if God is placed us in a humble financial position because God will ultimately live us up where we will be blessed, not necessarily financially but lifted up and blessed nonetheless.  And his other example was that if we trust in our riches instead of in God, then God will humble us.  Ultimately though, God produces a steadfastness in us through these trials that give us a great hope of enjoying eternity with Him in heaven.

So as we move onto a connected, but new thought in James, we find that what he wants us to do is to realize what part we play in bringing about trials, conflicts, and difficulties in our lives.  He wants us to understand how our hearts are motivated by and given in to sin.  He also wants us to understand the character of God in all of these things.  A proper understanding of both, our hearts and God’s character, will drive us to our one hope in Jesus Christ.  Whew, weighty stuff, so let’s give it a shot.

In verse 13, James tells us we are all going to be tempted to sin.  But he wants us to understand the nature of that temptation and how it works with our hearts and where it comes from.  When you are tempted to sin, you cannot blame God for that temptation.  Why not?  If we are a church that claims that God is sovereign in all that He does, why can’t we blame Him for our temptations?  When you are tempted to look at porn or to fantasize about an attractive women or a handsome man, you don’t get to blame God for your lust.  When you are tempted to wreck your body by overeating or even starving yourself, you don’t get to blame God for your self-image issues or blame Him for what you hide in when you are stressed.  When you are tempted to act like a Polly Perfect or a Ricky Righteous to the rest world, you don’t get to blame God for your worship of other people’s opinions.

Why not?  The answer is because God Himself cannot be tempted and therefore tempts no man.  Yes, God ordains all circumstances, there is nothing beyond His direction and design, but those things are not His tempting us.  Ecclesiastes 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

But God’s ordaining of a circumstance is not a temptation for you to sin.  James explains this when he says, 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  What the events that God ordains does is they reveal a desire in your heart.  To explain that, James uses the fishing language of a lure.  He says, Sin works this way:  some circumstance presents itself to you.  It is like a fishing lure.  A fish sees it and says, “Oh that would be good to eat.”  So what does the fish do?  It takes a bite because that thing is what it wants.  You can’t blame the eating of the worm on the hook.  The worm on the hook just shows the desire of the fish’s heart.

That is the way sin and temptations work in all of our hearts.  Some event, some word spoken, some circumstance rises, some visual comes to your eye, some smell comes to you, whatever, and once your heart interacts with those things, a desire in your heart that was already there is some nature, is revealed and aroused.   We are then tempted to sin and gratify that desire.  And quite often we give in to disobedience and sin.  God has not done this to us.  Our sinful desires were just brought to light by a particular circumstance.

For example, let’s say you struggle with gossip.  You love talking poorly about other people.  It makes you feel better about yourself and the choices you have made.  You also know, that when you are around certain people, you wind up gossiping with them.  “Oh, did you hear?  Oh, that’s so sad.”  You know the drill whether you are willing to admit or not.  So when you are around these certain people, they say certain things or ask you certain questions that just entice your heart to start talking about people.  You can’t blame them.  They just created an opportunity for your sin to take flight and take bloom.

Let’s say you struggle with lust.  Images and other people entice your heart towards sinful fantasy and mental adultery.   Whether it be a picture online, a video, or another person.  You cannot blame them for your sin of lust.  They are merely the worm on a lure.  They just brought your sinful desires to light and caused you to sin.  Jesus tells us this in Matt 15 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”  Gang, we cannot take the nature of sin in our hearts lightly.  And James lets us know that this sin is not merely a hurt, habit, or hangup.

Verse 15 tells us “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Temptation reveals the desires in our heart that are sinful, and when we act on those desires they are sinful desires that lead to death.  This was the promised judgment for sin that God explain to Adam and Eve.  When God told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He said, Genesis 2:27 On the day you eat, you shall surely die.  And Paul reiterates that message when he says in Romans 3.23 – The wages of sin is death.

So when you are tempted and that desire in your heart is inflamed, and when you act on that desire, it gives birth to sin.  And that sin brings forth the judgment of death.  Now in hearing that you might say, “Let me get this straight.”  When I’m tempted, it is not God tempting me.  All the temptation does is shows me what sin already residing in my heart.  If I act on that desire, it gives birth to sin, and that sin gives birth to death?

I would say, “Yep, and you would say,” and you might say, “How depressing.”  But James and I would offer this to our weak hearts.  James is explaining this so that as you have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, you would also have faith in Him to grow in obedience.  Not an obedience that saves you but an obedience that is evidence that you are saved.

Let me see if we can explore the nature of this a bit more from scripture so that we will understand temptation and nature correctly so then we can grow in a manner that God through James wants for us.  Buckle up for some diving into deep waters, but I trust you guys can grasp things well, and I pray God enables me to explain to all of us clearly.  So here are a couple of principles that will help us as we become more aware of temptation and seek to battle the desires in our heart so that we might obey to the glory of God.

First, James is completely right when He says God is not the tempter.  God is not, but Satan is.  We saw this first in the Garden of Eden.  Genesis 3: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  Then we saw this again when Satan tempted Jesus in the Garden.  Matt 4.3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  And Peter when he wrote one of the very last letters in the Bible, he said 1 Peter 5.8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Now, we know from James that we don’t get to blame Satan for our sin, but we do have a tempter and an accuser who desires to see us fall into sin and walk away from faith.  Again, the church falls into extremes.  We think every sin we commit came about because Satan himself sat on our shoulder and told us what to do or we completely ignore the fact that Peter tells us that we have an enemy that wants to destroy us.  In between that, we need to do just what Peter commands us to do:  be sober-minded which mean realize how weak we really are and be watchful.  Diligently pray that God would protect you from Satan, temptation and your weak flesh.

Second, Jesus overcame temptation where Adam did not.  This is one of our greatest hopes.  Romans 5 explains this for us in this way.  Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.  15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Give me a moment to explain this because truly is our great hope.  God makes relationships with His people in covenants which is an agreement with conditions.  And in each covenant, there is a head or one who represents all that come after Him.  So for all of humanity, Adam was our covenantal head.  He was tempted to sin by Satan and his willing choice to disobey God’s command plunged humanity into the cursed nature of sin.  Because of that, the nature of sin is given to every one of us, and therefore, the judgment of death is given to every one of us.

What was needed was a new covenantal head who would be obedient and take on that curse of death.  That’s what Jesus did.  Born without sin as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, Jesus was our second chance.  So in Matthew 4, when Satan tempts Jesus, everything is on the line.  Your salvation, your forgivenss, your hope of overcoming sin, and your hope for overcoming temptation is on the line.  And Jesus obeys.  So Romans tells us, we all die in the sinful trespasses of Adam, but the grace of God and the free gift of salvation comes through Jesus’ obedience.

That leads us to our final thought, and  I promise to make this the last theological point and then we’ll move to application. We have hope to overcome temptation because of God’s mercy.  1 Corinthians 10: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Without Christ, no one has any innate ability to withstand temptation because the heart that has not been made alive in Christ doesn’t want to obey God for His glory.  But the heart that has been forgiven and transformed by Jesus’ obedience in life, death, and resurrection, can withstand temptation.

The gospel works like the temptation of sin but in a redemptive way.  When you hear the sweet promises of Christ overcoming temptation of sin on your behalf, then when you are tempted to sin, your new redeemed transform heart given to you by God resonates with hope.  And the Gospel when conceived gives birth to obedience and when obedience is fully grown it gives birth to life.  You will be tempted, but God resides within your heart so that there is now hope in the midst of temptation.   No matter the depth of temptation a certain sin has for your heart, God can enable you to obey.  How? And this is crucial point for us.  Well that leads us to our takeaway application.  In fact, there are 3.

First, God provides a way of escape for you when you are tempted to sin.  The way of escape is both spiritual and practical.  Spiritually, Jesus’ obedience in the face of temptation empowers you to obey in the face of temptation, but the other thing God provides for us is a new heart that practically recognizes that we need a way of escape.  Let me give you an example.  The other day my sweet girl Landry disobeyed to the point that we needed to take something away from her.   Lately, Landry has loved to play with chipmunk toys.  She and Emma will makeup plays about the chipmunks for hours.  So Landry, with great sadness, wasn’t allowed to play with her Chipmunks for a day.  During her rest time that day, she called me into her room and asked me to take the Chipmunks out.  She said, if they stay in here, I will be tempted to play with them.

That’s it, gang.  Landry got it.  She may not have known this verse, but she got it.  God now provides a way of escape in sin.  Playing with Chipmunks when she wasn’t supposed to would have been disobeying.  God provided in Landry’s heart a desire to obey and a knowledge of her own weakness. She needed a way of escape and took it.  That’s the spiritual and the practical brought together to produce obedience in the face of temptation.

Knowing that your heart is weak and not strong enough to fight temptation is God’s gift to those you as you have faith in Jesus.  Be honest about the pull of sin.  Overestimate the power of temptation and underestimate your ability to fight it.  Doing that helps you to cry out to God and He provides a way of escape.  Sometimes, you just have to remove yourself or protect yourself so that if faced with a certain temptation, you don’t give in and sin.  That is wise and that is glorifying to God.

Second, a way of escape give the heart time to heal but they do not change the heart.  God does that.  Let me explain, let me give you a list of things that people struggle with when they are alone:  pornography, overeating, self-mutilation, depression, judgmentalism.  These and a host of other sins creep up in temptation when we are alone.  You are up late at night, and you are tempted to indulge whatever sin it is that you are given to.  You know you need a way of escape so you ask someone to keep you accountable.  You say, “Hey if you know I’m going to be up late or if you know that on Tuesday mornings I’m often alone, will you call me and just help me so that I don’t give in to temptation?”

That is awesome; you are providing an accountability and a way of escape so that you won’t fall into sin.  Your heart is protected by seeking out a way of escape, and your heart has time to heal a bit so that you aren’t constantly giving into sin.  You begin to establish new patterns of life, thought, speech, and action.  Obedience grows and the power of temptation diminishes.   However, remember only God is the one who changes your heart’s desires.  That’s why David prayed in Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,    and renew a right spirit within me.  Don’t fool yourself into thinking, “Oh, I’ve got this thing licked,” because as soon as you do, you are going to be tempted to fall into sin so quickly, you won’t  know what happened.

And one final note on the way of escape to overcome temptation:  we have to protect our hearts from making our way of escape a new law or legalism.  Protection and your way of escape can easily be seen as legalism and be forced upon others if we are not careful.  Take alcohol for example.  Many people are tempted to take alcohol to excess.  Not only is drunkenness a huge problem, but alcoholism runs rampant.  Scripture is very clear in that alcohol in and of itself is not a sin.  Alcohol was part of the Lord’s Supper and on more than one occasion alcohol is actually recommended.  But scripture tells us in Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit

Okay, so just like our speech and our eating, God tells us that those things are okay in and of themselves, but to talk too much, eat too much, and drink too much is a sin.  Wisely, folks who are given to drunkenness and alcoholism place things in their life to provide for themselves a way of escape.  People who struggle with this sin don’t allow alcohol in their homes.  They often don’t go to events where alcohol is provided freely.  They avoid circumstances that tempt them to drink.  This is incredibly wise.

But, the way of escape becomes legalism when those same folks say began to impose those things on other Christians, “Well, all drinking is a sin and you are sinning if you are drinking.  A person may wisely say that they just can’t have any alcohol because it is too tempting, but to impose a conviction that is not found in scripture on others is legalism – it is a law that God has not established.  So we have to be careful even as we protect ourselves from sin.

You may hear all of this and go, “Goodness, Gordon, this is a mess.  Can it be easier?”  Well, trusting Jesus by faith for overcoming is in and of itself is an easy idea, but the power of sin, even that power of sin that remains in the heart of one who has faith in Jesus, is strong.  We must constantly be weighing our hearts against the truths of scripture, and we don’t walk into a brand new sin of legalism as walk away from some other sin that we are struggling with.

God help us.  And that is exactly what we need to remind ourselves as we return to our Big Idea:  Cheer up.  You are much worse off that you ever knew, but God is more gracious than you could ever imagine.
Romans 8:12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

As you have faith in Christ, you are now not obliged to sin or live according to the flesh.  You are now called and enabled to live by the Spirit of God.  And that indwelling Spirit in your life will enable to kill that which once killed you.  You can put to death the deeds of sin in your own life.  If you have faith in Christ, you are now a child of God no longer an enemy of God.  And God has gifted you with a renewed spirit, and that spirit is not one that is a slave to sin.  It is not a spirit given to fear.  God has given each of you a new spirit that recognizes and relishes the truth that you have been adopted into the family of God, and that heart cries out Abba Father, it cries out Daddy, I love you.

The very spirit of God bears witness with your spirit to tell you, “Hey you no longer have to be a slave to your sin.”  You are now a child of God and that makes you an heir with Christ.  As He suffered and is now glorified.  And we too will suffer, sometimes from our own sinful consequences and sometimes because of this sinful world’s.  But by the grace of God, will we endure and persevere, and ultimately be glorified with Jesus.   Insane promises.

So, gang, your sin problem is much worse you ever imagined.  However, God’s grace should blow your mind.  Do not give up in your fight against sin.  Jesus has obeyed for you and empowers your obedience now.  You will suffer and you will at times disobey, but do not fear.  You have a new spirit, one that reminds you that you are now God’s child, and reminds you a glorious home in heaven awaits.

Family Devotion:

Big Picture Question:  How are trials, temptations, and blessings connected?

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  Greetings.  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

·    What brings about blessing in the midst of trials?
·    Reread verses 1-8 and discuss the promises surrounding steadfastness and trials.
·    Read http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/crown-life/ and consider the questions under the section entitled “coram deo”.

Sermon Notes

Kids, youth, and anyone else, still living at home:  when you live at home with your Mom and Dad, it is easy to forget how many things they do for you.  Hopefully, and I mean hopefully, you wake up with the electricity on, food to eat, clean clothes to wear, and a host of other things.  Even the best of parents are sinful, get mad, are impatient, and sometimes they even raise their voice.  But hopefully, again I will say hopefully, even the worst of parents take care of their kids.

But this isn’t the case for everyone.  Now according both to the police and the Community of Hope organization, this church resides in a neighborhood where loving and caring parents cannot always be assumed.  There are many kids, just a ¼ mile from our door, for which I think we are accountable for btw, who don’t have the kind of dependability that I have been talking about.

But when you live in a home where those kinds of thing are provided for you (heat, food, a roof), your parents do this because they work hard to provide these things.  They provide them for you because they love you.  Even if you have a hard day at school or even if you are upset about something, most of you can probably count on going home and resting because your Mom and Dad love you and take care of you.

A parent’s love for their child should mirror God’s love for His children.  God provides for us because He loves us.  He sent Jesus to live and die and rise again so that we could be forgiven.  And just like when you have bad day and you can count on your parents, you can have a bad day and count on God and love, care, and protection.  In fact, you can count on God’s love in an even greater manner than your parents.

Well, the Book of James tells us that when you count on God in hard times and that you will ultimately be blessed.  That doesn’t mean that all your problems will go away.  But it does mean that God promises to use all of your difficulties for your own good and for His own glory.  When you count on God to take care of you over a long period of time, the Bible calls that steadfastness.  And when you count on God your entire life, you will one day go to Heaven and God will give you a Crown of Life.

We have all of these blessings because Jesus loved us, died for us, and forgives us.  As you grow in believing in Him, you will be able to go through hard times and still have lots of joy because you know Jesus is helping you.  As you get older, the only way in which you are going to understand how good times and bad times fit together, is to trust God loves and cares for you.

For all of us adults in the crowd, this is a good lesson as well.  Knowing you heard all of that, remind yourself, that God alone is the one who can speak to how trials, temptations, and even blessings are connected.  God speaks to the hows and the whys, but never ever are those understandings apart from faith which requires a dependency and a trust other than what you have in own head and heart.  So this week as we approach James, let’s see what God says about the meaning attached to tough times, curious times, trials, and even blessings.  With that in mind, let’s attempt to answer this

Big Picture Question:  How are trials, temptations, and blessings connected?

Again, for the sake of context, let’s read the first 12 verses of the book of James.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  Greetings.  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

We’ve been in James for a whopping three weeks so far, and James hasn’t disappointed.  So far James has told us to take joy in trials because God uses them to produce greater faith and steadfastness in our hearts.  James has told us that if we need wisdom, ask for it by faith and God will give it.  We’ve been told that if we are poor and lowly, then thank God and boast in that state of life because God is going to lift us up.  And James also said if we are trusting in riches, then God is going to humble us.  So all of a sudden, we begin to get a larger sense for God’s connectivity between trials, temptations, and blessings.

That alone is enough to shake us to the core.  But it also enough to lead us into a revived spirit of worship that causes us the thank God in all thinks and grow in new levels sacrifice and service.  It is enough to help us realize that God is at work in events that this thinks are evidence of His abandonment.  These verses are enough to change our view of what is going on and move our hearts to a great hope of revival. With all of those things in mind, let’s jump into verse 12 of James and see where all of these lines of thoughts take us next.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

This is James’ bookend thought on trials that began a few verses ago.  In verse 2, he told us to take great joy in trials because by enduring them faithfully, we grow in steadfastness and God uses them to equip us for whatever it is that He wants for us.  Now, in verse 12, James tells us that to remain steadfast in trials is to be blessed.  Don’t worry, I know you are just dying for me to keep talking about hard times.  So if you just can’t enough of this hard times talk, James, will have much more to say about them later on in the book.  But for the moment, James wants to bring this section of teaching on trials to a nice conclusion.
He again explains in a way that is quite counter-intuitive for most of us that we are in a state of blessing from God as we remain steadfast during trials.  Why?  Because James says, you steadfastness in trials, ultimately will lead you to receiving the crown of life.  Now, we need to spend some time talking about this crown of life, but really before that, we need to make sure that we understand assuredly what is meant here by steadfastness in trials, especially if it leads to such a wonderful blessing.

Well, steadfastness can be the momentary conviction and trust of God in a specific circumstance, but it is larger than that.  Steadfastness is like wisdom.  It is born out over a long period of time.  Enduring one trial well is steadfast to an extent.  But remaining hopeful and joyful in the midst of trials enduring, that is the larger sense of steadfastness.  What I want each of you to know in the midst of that is if you feel you are presently failing in a circumstance it doesn’t mean you aren’t or haven’t been or won’t be steadfast.  We are fallible, sinful human beings and we do fail in certain trials.  But steadfastness is God’s work in your heart over a long period of time

So right now, if you are enduring a specific trial.  Perhaps your disappointment has caused you to be a terrible gossip (all masked under spiritual concern of course).  Perhaps your lust has caused you to begin to desire another and lose pursuit of your spouse.  Perhaps the frustration of raising children has caused you to lose your temper more times than you can count.  Perhaps you are secretly friendly to folks you disagree with but privately you are bitter and divisive.  The question becomes, Have you not been steadfastly faithful?

Well, here is the wonderful thing.  Steadfast begins as you cry out to God for help.  And you know what happens when you do?  When you go from trust of self to crying out to God, you know what happens?  Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

This is hard for the human heart to grasp.  Trials are difficult enough to understand much less how we can be steadfast in them.  And as I mentioned last week, we sinfully go to the extremes, even when it comes to steadfastness.  Let me explain the extremes associated with steadfastness and this really is important because steadfastness is connected to the receiving of the crown of life.

One extreme in thinking about steadfastness is the Christian who refuses to admit that trials and circumstances are difficult, painful, and hurtful.  You see, admitting how hard something is and admitting one’s weakness is not sinful, weak or faithless.  Admitting the difficulty of trials is being faithful.  Yes, complaining is a sin, but being honest about one’s emotions is not.  Big difference.  You know why?  If you can’t admit weakness before God, then you don’t need a Savior.  And if even if you do admit your weaknesses before God but you are unwilling to do it before others then you are a hypocrite. Saying, “Oh yeah this is hard but God is doing some wonderful things” with a Pollyanna smile or He-man grimace is not steadfastness.  Often it is denial, self-righteousness, masked anger or a lack of understanding the Gospel.  Control is not peace or steadfastness.  It is control.

As a good friend of mine counseled me the other day, “It is sinful for me pretend to be joyful when I am sad.”  You see honesty before God is worship.  Please hear this.  Ecclesiastes 7:  14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other.  Being honest with a broken heart, living that out in integrity and offering it to God IS worship and is steadfastness.  Trying to deny that trials are trying for the sake of some pseudo-spiritually is to deny the promises of James and the necessity of the work of Jesus Christ.  Count the trial joy.  It doesn’t say count death or taxes or pain joy.  It is says count the trial that God is ordaining for you joy.

I know a guy who has been through the worst of circumstances this year, but will never admit the toll it is taking on his heart.  Everyone else sees it but he doesn’t.  He says he never gets mad, and you know what, he never yells or raise his voice, but you know what?  It looks like control.  He looks and presents himself as perhaps the angriest person I know.  And those around him see the anger and the pain, but he won’t admit it.

Admitting the difficulty of a circumstance and admitting how desperately dependent you are on in God in its midst is not wrong and it is not sinful.  Admitting difficulty and admitting your dependency on God is the pathway to steadfastness.  It is worship.  Let’s be a church that evidences and encourages just and honest expressions of trials and encouraging each other to find joy in the fact that God is working in our lives.  We can be a people who are joyful in trials but let’s just not be a people who are appear to be full of denial.  If you present your self as one who always downplays the difficulty of what’s going on and plasters on a fake Jesus smile, not only are you not being honest before God, then you are also presenting yourself as a person who is not safe for others to share their difficulties with.

Now, the other extreme is to see every trial and circumstance as the end of the world.  This is a world of sin and pain.  It is a world of difficulty, betrayal, and hurt.  That is why in John 16:33 we hear from Jesus, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  The extreme that falls apart at every circumstance either thinks that God has promised roses and sunshine or their faith is weak not thinking that God can instill them the steadfastness to persevere.  Faith and steadfastness says, “God is at work, not to put white paint on moldy walls but God is at work making all things to my benefit and to His glory.”

Gang, this hope of steadfastness that James speaks of is really a faith in God’s work, the mercy of Jesus, and the application of that work by the Holy Spirit over a long period of time.  Yes, there are moments where you endure trials amazingly well.  And there are trials that overwhelm and paralyze us.  You will take up your cross and follow Jesus.

But we serve a triumphal Savior who assured every promise of God in your life by His triumphant resurrection over the dead.  Steadfastness is admitting how desperately needy we are before God, realizing the challenges of trials, and then living out an honest, faithful trust that God is working.  Don’t deny how tough things are.  Admit that you are human and weak.  Lift up the hope you have.  Don’t try to be superhuman or super spiritual.  Grow in a thankfulness for Christ and a thankfulness for what He is doing in your life through trials.

Now, as we continue to understand this steadfastness in the midst of trials, remember it is speaking both to your enduring the present circumstance that you are going through and you enduring until the end.  This is speaking to that wonderful theological point called “perseverance of the saints’ which is similar to another term called “eternal security” but a little deeper.  Please bear with me as I explain these terms because in their understanding you will find great hope and greater understanding to this passage in James.

Eternal security, also known as once saved always saved, is the belief that once you have faith in Jesus Christ, you can never lose it.  If you have been forgiven and the condemnation of death in hell as been removed from you, God will never remove it from you.  This is 100% true.  There are a host of verses that support this but for the sake of time, I’ll just settle on this one.  And this is an area when I put the notes on the website for family devotion, you’ll more verses.  Jude 24, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

I Peter 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God is the one who causes us to be born again.  We should bless God and give Him glory.  Why?  Jesus’ resurrection is the hope that God will cause us to born again.  We will go from death to life.  Dead in sin to alive in Christ.  Dead in hell to alive in heaven.

That gives us an inheritance, something we wait for, which is imperishable; it cannot die.  And your salvation, that inheritance, that ultimate being with God, is kept for you in heaven, not by your power but by God’s.  That’s the hope here.  God is the one who protects your salvation.  Therefore you cannot lose it.  That is why Jesus says in John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Now that in a nutshell is eternal security.  Now taking that thought a bit further is the doctrine of perseverance of the saints which is really what this passage in James is speaking of.  We find that in many places, but for the sake of time, let’s look at Romans 8

Romans 8: 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gave us His son Jesus for our salvation.  That is security enough but verse 37 tells us the hope of that salvation – it is an enduring salvation.  God’s children, His elect, cannot and will not be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus because God’s love has made us more than conquerors.  Nothing in all of creation, get that, nothing in all of creation, including you yourself can separate from the expression of God’s love.

Think about the language being used here.  We have no idea a conqueror is.  But Israel did.  They understood Herod and Pilates and all the other conquerors who came in and took over their land.  Paul is saying, We are more powerful than all of them because of what God has done for us in  Christ Jesus.  If you have faith in Jesus, it is a persevering faith that will remain until the end.  Through Christ, you and I, we, are more than conquerors.  No one and no thing can separate you from the love of God that you have in Christ Jesus.  You will persevere until the end, sometimes greatly and sometimes weakly, but always trusting in Jesus Christ.  Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

So, having said all of that, when James says that the man who remains steadfast will receive the crown of life, he is speaking of people who have faith in Jesus.  If you truly have faith in Jesus, a transformative faith that knows forgiveness and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you will endure and persevere as a Christian.  That doesn’t mean you’ll be perfect.   That doesn’t mean you won’t have struggles, but you will continue to have a transformative faith in Jesus and because of that indwelling persevering faith that God has given you, when you die you will receive the crown of life.

What is that?  Oh, there are libraries on that topic.  So with time that is left, let me provide you with some background.  John also mentions the crown of life in Revelation 2.10 when he says, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  So we know the crown has to do with enduring faithfulness which is consistent with what James says here.  The crown of life was a well known idiom in James’ day.  It was of joy, gladness, and glory more than royalty.  It is the crowning gift that culminates in heaven where the undoing of the curse of sin is realized.  You see the judgment for sin was the curse of death promised all the way back in Genesis 3 – on the day you eat, you shall surely die.  So the gift of salvation realized in heaven is the crown of life.  But we will ultimately walk into the realization of that crown of life after enduring faithfully the difficult trials of this world.

Phil Ryken quoting John Calvin says, “All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of his saints, ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious, and full of countless griefs.  This is because the Christian life is patterned after the life of Christ.  As it was for Christ, so it is for the Christian:  through suffering into glory.  First humiliation then exaltation – the cross before the crown.”

So with all of those things, let’s make just a few applications about how God connects our trials, temptations, and blessings.  First, the steadfastness in trials that God calls us to is not a denial of the difficulty of this world, our sin, or the pain that we are experiencing.  Psalm 51 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Honest worship is being who we are before who God is.  We are weak and sinful ever dependent upon God.   He desires in us a broken and contrite heart that cries out in dependence.  That is steadfastness.

Second, the steadfastness in trials that God calls us to is not a helplessness that crushes us.  2 Corinthians 4: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.  Yes, we will be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and we will carry in our body the death of Jesus. But we live an abundant life that Christ has given to us.

All of these things that God does in our hearts ultimately will enable us to persevere, endure, and be steadfastness so that ultimately, when we die, we will sit with Christ in the heavenlies and we will receive the crown of life that will be the fulfillment of Christ reversing the punishment and curse of death that is due to sin.  Gang, let’s be a people that are patient when other suffer.  Let’s offer each other and the community around us a safe place to be broken and hurting.  Let’s be honest about this painful world.  Let’s not be overwhelmed and crushed.  Let’s offer the real, tangible hope of Christ that doesn’t deny the hardships that he promised but actually lifts Him up in an honest way that is believable.

That’s the hard part isn’t it?  How in the world is our hope real, credible, and believable?  Well, if it is, it will transform you.  And ultimately, the only way your trials will transform you is if you seek the glory of God before you seek the ease of circumstances

Family Devotion

Big Idea:  How do we participate in the upside down nature of God’s Kingdom?

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  Greetings.  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

• Reread verses 1-8 and discuss the promises surrounding steadfastness and trials.
• How does God promise to help His children in the midst of trials (vs 5)?

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation

• How are both lowly and rich conditions related to James’ discussion of trials?
• Read Matthew 19:16-30 and Proverbs 30:7-9.  How do this verses help you understand the teachings of verse 9-10.

Because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

• Verse 11 speaks of a rich man pursuing riches for riches sake.  Why is this contrary to God’s will?
• How should these verses inform your giving, your generosity, and your general approach to wealth?
• How does Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:19-24 help us understand these verses?

 Sermon Notes

Christianity in the hands of sinful men and women always goes to extremes.  It is not that Christianity is lived somewhere in the middle or lived in one of my least favorite phrases “in balance” because it is not.  The extremes of Christianity require very little faith and trying to find a balance often means “hey I’m just going to drop my commitments and God’s commandments for a while”.  Balance is not really something scripture speaks about.  Christianity is lived by faith, yet extremes are often where we go anyway.  Let me give you a few examples of what I’m talking about.

Romans 1 tells us that the righteous will live by faith alone in Jesus and James 2 will tell us in a few weeks that though we are saved by faith, if that faith isn’t accompanied by works, then that faith is dead and nonexistent.  Those two truths often produce extremes.  There are a host of folks who will say “Since I am saved by faith, I am going to sin it up and live it up, no law of God matters.”  That type of teaching is called antinomianism which means no law.  This teaching forgets that the new heart giving to you by Jesus changes and transforms your desires.  So you will not be saved by what you do but you will want to obey.  The other extreme says, “Well God forgives me, but if I want to experience any love and affection from God, I’m going have to earn by how hard I work.”  Some even have gone so far as to punish themselves or flagellate themselves because they feel like there is still punishment for their sins.  This is of course legalism or as a good friend of mine here calls that, “the lostpel”. Neither of those extremes are true.  We are saved by faith and faith alone.  But that faith is transformational and we will obey because God has given us a new heart that is able to obey Him.

Let me give you another example.  In Matthew 19 Jesus says, ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  But 3 John 2 says, and I’ll use the KJV for effect  ²Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.  Because of these teachings, two extremes are produced.  There have been entire movements in Christianity where earning money, making money, even owning possessions were deemed as a lesser form of faith.  And you don’t have to travel back in time to find these monastic movements.  I know of one in Durham, even read the guys’ book.  They will say that ownership and capitalism are counter to the Kingdom.  Now on the other hand, there are a host of teachers today that would say, “Nope, God wants you to be rich, take back the riches of Egyptians” as they would say.  If you have enough faith, God will pour out all the treasure of heaven in earthy blessings.

How then do we live?  Well, our first step should be always to live these hard truths by faith asking ourselves, “What does dependence in all things look like?”  Our dependence on God for our health and our money and other truths should mimic our dependence upon God for salvation.  These things are His work.  I do know this:  the nature of God’s Kingdom, of which all Christians belong whether it be salvation or finances or whatever else, is upside down and contrary to the world.  Up is down and down is up.  What the world exalts, God casts down.  That doesn’t mean that in Kingdom of God that 2 plus 3 equals 6, but it does mean that the living out of faith and living in the Kingdom of God is going to be informed by the scriptures and lived out by faith.  A person with no faith in Christ does not depend on either of those things:  faith in God or the word of God.  Faith in Jesus means live is just going to be drastically different than not having faith in Jesus.

So with that in mind, let’s approach, let’s again approach the book of James and ask this:  Big Picture Question:  How do we participate in the upside down nature of God’s Kingdom?  For the sake of our memory and for understanding today’s passage in its proper context, I’m going to read the passage that we look at last week as well as the scripture for this week.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  Greetings.  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.  11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

If you weren’t with us last week or even if you were, let me remind all of us where the first 8 verses of James took us.  James begins with perhaps one of the most preposterous commands in all of the scriptures. James commands us, he doesn’t suggest to us, but actually commands us that whenever we face trials, any kind of trial, whether it be health, relationship, financial, whatever, that for the believer in Jesus Christ, when we face that trial we should consider it pure joy.  This doesn’t mean that we can’t ask God to give us relief from our trials, we can.  What we know God intends for His children is that no matter the trial they have great joy.

Why you might ask?  Well, God wants us to have joy in our trials because the testing of our faith produces steadfastness and steadfastness prepares us for whatever it is that God calls us to do.  Essentially, our trials are God’s equipping ground.  If you want to be used by God, then you will go through trials in preparation.  And the reason that we often just cry out for God to take away our trials instead of asking for joy and steadfastness in their midst is because we often worship ease and comfort more than we worship God.

The American church’s inability and lack of willingness to embrace trials as part of God’s will is, at least in my humble opinion, part of the reason why the American church is weak, cold, and at times appears to be on life support.  And embracing of God’s grand design to use trials to make us more like Jesus would transform us and the church.  And if we just don’t know how to do that, verses 7-8 tell us that if we ask God for wisdom, He will give it to us so that we will know how to live in the midst of trials.  Just like in everything else, we are commanded to ask for that wisdom by faith and God promises to give it to us.

Now having said, as if those commands were not radical enough having reminded us all that we should live with joy in trials and asking God for wisdom, James decides to throw us for another loop.  In verse 9, he says.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation,

Where in the world does this come from?  How in the world could this be connected to teaching on trials and wisdom?  Let’s see.  What we have here is a command for two different folks to boast in something.  The lowly brother is commanded to boast in his exaltation and the rich person is commanded to boast in his humiliation.  So before we understand why they should boast, we need to understand why the lowly brother is exalted the rich brother is humiliated.

Well, that question is directly related to James discussion of trials.  The lowly brother or the brother who is poor and without many worldy riches and the rich person are both in extreme trials and difficult circumstances.  And because of those circumstances, James is telling them both to enjoy what God is doing in their lives.

God often uses the loss of wordly riches and the financial struggle of individuals and yes even churches to bring people to Himself.  Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord and what will happen?  God promises to life you up.  So when we don’t humble ourselves, God has a tendency to do that for us.  Now that doesn’t mean that financial struggles or any circumstance that would qualify one to be called lowly is evidence of being disciplined.  Perhaps but not necessarily.  But it does mean that the intention of any lowly circumstance is for one to take great joy and even boast in it because they know that God is going to lift them up.  Error is seeking lowliness and destituteness with foolish and irresponsible decisions.

No but the lowly brother who claims faith in Christ should thank God that God is actively at work on their behalf and if we do that, you and I and this church, will be lifted up.  That doesn’t mean that lowliness equals the gateway to winning the lotto.  But it does mean that God promises to buffet and support and encourage those who are presently struggling in lowly situations.

So right now, the conditions in your life and the conditions within this church that are causing us to feel lowly, whether those conditions are financial or physical or good folks  moving away, whatever, boast in it, be thankful for it, take joy it, because God is going to exalt you, lift you up, equip, and support you.  The difference in the lowly brother’s life, the difference in your life is how you view these conditions.

As Simon Kistemaker says, “Before the poor brother can boast of an honorable position, he must first learn to appreciate the significance of his status.  That is, he should look not at material possessions, but at spiritual treasures.  He must have an entirely different outlook on life.  He views life not from the aspect of materialism but rather in relation to spiritual values.”

Faith and perspective make every difference.  Now for the rich, James commands them also to boast because God is going to humble them.  That sounds no fun.  Listen being rich in this world is wonderful.  You can do whatever you want.  You can do great things. You can gold plated toilets on your personal jet.  You rims can spin and you can have a grotto in our backyard.

But being rich ain’t easy.  In fact, in the story of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus tells us in Matthew 19 that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Thankfully though, Jesus also tells us that with God, all things are possible.  I can’t tell you how many people have told me, “Yeah, I know the Bible says that being rich is a difficult life, but I sure would like to give it a try.

But James is telling even the richest of people and the riches of churches, “Your riches are a trial and ultimately, in one way or another, God is going to humble you.”  That doesn’t necessarily mean that every rich person is going to lose all their riches, but it does mean that God is going to cast down anyone who has a trust in their riches.  Watch any VH1 reality show and see the absolute misery that the Mob wives, the Basketball wives, the wives of New Jersey, the behind the music specials whatever, God will cast down those who trust in anything but themselves.

Now you might hear that and think, “Well, I’m not rich.  I don’t drive a Bentley, have 800 thread count sheets or have a maid and a nanny.”  But Gang, c’mon, you don’t have to have those things to be rich.  Let me give you some insight into our riches because rich is only rich by way of comparison.

The average household income in America is 49,445.  Now, America is not all that big compared to the rest of the world, so if you make $49,445 as a household, you are richer than 99.02% of rest of the world.  Let’s say you make $100,000 a year as a household.  You are richer than 99.33% of the rest of the world.  Let’s go in the other direction.  Let’s say your household income is what America calls “below the poverty level”.  We arrogant Americans describe the poverty level as a household of 4 making less than $22,314.  If you make $22,314, then you are richer than 98.33% of the rest of the world.

By any definition, we are rich folks, so even if we struggle to make ends meet, the world would kill for our financial problems.  I don’t mean to be insensitive to any one’s financial struggles, but when the vast majority of us look at this verse, we should see ourselves as the rich who boast in the fact that we are going to be humbled by God in some way.  And God calls our hearts to call these trials good and joyful because the trials we face are intended to equip us to love Jesus greater and serve Him more faithfully.

So what should our attitude be?  Well, there is plenty of sermon left to go, so for the moment, I’ll just offer Proverbs 30 to us as a beginning application.  Proverbs 30:8 give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, ⁹ lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”  The extremes are always a dangerous place and the author of Proverbs knew it.  He said, “Hey God, I don’t want to be rich because I will quickly deny you if I don’t have to depend on you.”  “And please don’t make me poor because I have such a hard time trusting you for your provision that I will ultimately steal if I have to.”  As Francis Schaeffer once asked, “How should we then we live, Gang?”

We have to ask that because this teaching in James is so upside down that apart from God’s help, it just doesn’t even seem true.  The rich among us are going to quickly say, “I’m not rich,” and the poor among us are not going to admit how rich we are either.  More than likely, all of us want just a bit more.  Folks, quick litmus test.  If your generosity doesn’t hurt or pinch a bit, then you are probably living  like you want a little bit more.  We need more help, and James gives is to us by explaining the fleeting nature of trusting in wealth as opposed to trusting God in the second half of verse 10 through verse 11.

because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.  11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Flowers pass away.  The sun rises and scorches the grass, especially in my yard during the summer.  The beauty of a flower is just for a season and will eventually perish as a flower withers to the ground and dies.  As poetic as that is, what does that have to do with anything?

Well, pursuing wealth, ease, and subsequent security through riches is a dead end game.  Seeking security in riches means that ultimately you are going to fade away just like the scorched grass and the withering flower in the summer heat.  Notice, the promise here is not that the riches are going to fade away.   The rich man is going to fade away.  You might keep every dollar you have ever earned but if your trust is in your income, then you will fade away like a dead flower.

So how then does the Christian live in this upside down kingdom of our God’s?  What do we do?  Do we take the two extremes offered in our introduction?  Do we seek poverty and askew any property ownership, wealth, and income?  Or do we assume that God is talking about the wealth of the ungodly and seek God’s making us rich financially.  Again, the extremes are the error and balance is not the goal either.  Faith is the goal.  So, let’s seek further wisdom from the scriptures about what that faith looks like to help us understand James.

First and foremost, we are to be guided by Jesus’ empowering example from Philippians 2.  ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus left the treasures and glories of Heaven, not holding onto them, but willingly and joyfully emptied Himself to serve you.  And God humbled Him and He became obedient to everything God commanded and obedient in receiving the punishment that your sin merited.  Paul tells us that the mind of Jesus that motivated Him to such selflessness is now our mind as we are in Christ Jesus.  So when it comes to your possessions that you have worked so hard for and when it comes to the money that you have worked so hard for and when it comes to the tiny little kingdom that you are building, Paul tells us that as you are in Christ Jesus.  What that means that you are now able to look after other people’s interest just as well as you are able to look after your own.

That folks is a radical approach to wealth and riches, much more radical than seeking poverty or seeking wealth.  There should be no unmet needs among this congregation because we look at each other and say, “Their interest is my interest.”  This should have a radical effect on our love for and service to the Garner community and the neighborhoods in which we live.

Gang, let me give you both encouraging and discouraging examples of this teaching from right here at SK.  I’ve seen you guys provide meals for folks who were sick.  The mercy fund has paid rent and light bills.  You’ve provided Christmas presents for each other.  My family and other families have greatly enjoyed a hospitality and a sacrificial spirit among you guys and so have the ladies of Hayes place and the officers with the GPD.

But one area in which we have not lived this out is our love for the community in which the church resides.  Less than a quarter of a mile from this doorstep is an apartment complex that has incredible need:  Poverty, absentee parents, children who need tutoring, parents who need mentoring.  I know of one mission that tries to love them and they so desperately need help and the police echo that need.  If we ever leave this space and that community does not have a thankful spirit for the mercy that we have extended there, then we have fallen short of our calling and our responsibility.  Pray with me every time you drive by that complex:  Dear God, make their interests my interests and enable me and SK Church to empty ourselves in love to them just as Christ emptied Himself for me.

Second, the treasures that we are to seek are treasures in heaven.  Matthew 6: ¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  The key to this passage is in the laying up.  We all have to work as our working is a reflection of the image of God.  For every able bodied person in this room, 2 Thessalonians 3:10 tells you, “Hey, if you aren’t working you shouldn’t be eating.”  Why?  Because if you are able to work and you don’t, then you are mooching off the ones who are working.  Quick takeaway:  able bodied men and women, go get a job.

So working is good.  Laying up treasures on earth however aren’t worth squat.  Jesus tells a parable around this teaching about a man who had so much money that he tore down his barns to build bigger ones.  And the night he executed that plan, he died.  So is the Bible anti-savings account?  Does Dave Ramsey and his “have 6 months of overhead in the bank” wrong?”

Again, we take the whole scriptures into account.  Our efforts of loving the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our efforts of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves should surpass our efforts of making money and storing up money.  So, if you are blessed with a good income or even a huge income, your efforts in loving God and loving others should surpass your efforts to make money.  Whichever one you seek the most will be your treasure.  If you have a savings account, great.  Your generosity should out pace your savings.  For every one of us, this teaching should shake us to the core.  I get it, we all have to work hard to pay our bills.  We have rent, utilities, cable, cell phones, on and on.  Some of us spend every month on our cell phones the same amount of money it takes to build a mobile health clinic for a village in Uganda.

Listen, I’m with you.  God has used my house greatly for ministry, but I have buyers regret.  I want to simplify my life so that my efforts of storing treasures in heaven exceeds my efforts to pay my bills.  For us to begin to apply this teaching, I think would revolutionize this church and this community.  SK would pay her bills, meet the needs of this congregation, love Garner, the apartment complex next to us, the communities in which we live, plant a church, and launch foreign missionaries.  There is enough wealth in this congregation for that but for us to realize that is probably going to take a radical shift in our life and priorities financially.  I’m praying for that for me and for you, so look out.

And finally, there are no greater riches that the riches of God’s grace in Jesus.  Ephesians 2: But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The biggest transition that has to happen in our hearts as we approach our finances, our wealth, the storing up of treasures, and loving and serving other is realizing that there are no greater riches than the riches of God’s grace towards us in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2 encourages us in this way.  True riches look like this.  Apart from the work of Christ and the outpouring of grace, every human being is dead in their trespasses and sin.  This death is both the condition of our heart and the sentence passed down by God for our sins.  But by God’s grace, His love and favor given to those who don’t deserve it, He makes us alive with Jesus Christ.  He makes our heart alive to Him and removes the right and just judgment of death under which we live as we have faith in Him.  We go from being dead in sin unable to obey God awaiting judgment in hell to being alive in Christ, able to obey God and our ultimate hope and home is being seated with Jesus Christ in heaven.

That is God’s pouring out of the immeasurable riches of His grace to us through Jesus Christ.  If you have faith in Christ, you have immeasurable riches, so don’t be fooled into seeking the riches of this world for the sake of riches in this world.  Seek humility, be empowered by Jesus’ example, seek treasures in heaven above treasures on earth and live out of the riches of God’s grace in Jesus.  This will transform us folks.  Just like last week’s teachings on trials.  If we can find joy in trials instead of constantly wishing them away, we might very well experience a revival here that books would be written about.  And if we would seek the interests of others more than our own interests and seek heavenly treasures more than earthly one, if we would boast in our poverty, if we would move away from a “I earned my money” mentality and move towards a “I’m God’s steward and my money is His” great things would happen.

Some of us, probably all of us are being called to and live out a radical change in their lives.  We will care for and bless other individuals in need.  SK would be transformed.  That community next to us would be transformed.  Your neighborhood would be transformed.  The world would be transformed.

All in all, in each of your decisions concerning your riches and treasures, you would see that the riches of God’s grace poured out to us in Jesus, you would see that as far more valuable than any dollar bill, piece of land, home, or anything else this world calls valuable.

Family Devotional for James 1:1-8

Big Picture Question:  During difficult times, what might God really be doing in our lives?  

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

·    What do we learn about James’ faith if he can call Jesus (his half-brother) “Lord”?
·    The “twelve tribes in the dispersion” was a term the early church used for Christians scattered all over the world.  Do you find encouragement knowing this book was written with you in mind just as much as the Christians in other parts of the world and in different times?

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

·    Why should we count trials joy?
·    If God is ordaining trials in our lives for these reasons, why do we do wish them away so quickly?
·    Is there a trial in your life right now that you should ask God to give you joy in rather than asking Him to take it away?

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

·    Think of a situation right now in your life where you need lots of wisdom.  Have you asked God to give you wisdom concerning it?  Do you believe He will give it to you?
·    Pray to God to help you not be double-minded.

Sermon Notes for James 1:1-8

I cannot believe we are here ready to take on a study of the Book of James.  And I’ll be honest:  this is a daunting task.  James packs a punch for such a small book of the Bible.  Now I know that several of you here in your life have memorized the entire book of James word for word.  And hard as that is and as commendable as that may be, attempting to take these words in your heart may be even harder.  James is flat out an amazing book of the Bible.  And James is not without controversy.

Here are a few things to help us understand the daunting and controversial nature of the book.  First of all, it is written by James, the half-brother of Jesus.  So, we should think, “Oh, this guy knows Jesus so well,” and I’m sure he did.  But an odd thing happens along the way.  James talks about the Lord a lot in his book, but he rarely gets around to actually mentioning Jesus’ name.  In fact, he speaks Jesus by name a whopping two times.  That seems odd, doesn’t it?

Years and years after James was written, some 1500 or so years later in fact, Martin Luther wondered if the book should even be in the Bible.  You see, Luther fought so hard, facing death in fact, to defend that we are forgiven and made right before God by faith in Jesus alone.  Luther knew that there was nothing we could do to recommend ourselves or make ourselves right before God.  We are forgiven by our faith in Jesus and even that faith is a gift.

So when James said things like “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:14 Luther wondered if James was preaching another Gospel than the one Jesus did.  Luther got so mad, he called James “the Epistle of Straw” and in his frustration, as legend has it, he either threw a copy of it into a river or threw a copy of it in a stove.  Either way, Luther struggled with the book of James and because he was honest with his heart as he read it, he eventually saw the Godly wisdom lying in the book.  On a side note, as students of scripture, which is what we need to be, students of scriptures, let’s be honest and wrestle with scripture and tell God our frustrations.  He ultimately said in referring to James, ‘Faith, is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith’.

I could preach an entire sermon just on the width and depth of this small book, but I would like to venture into a few verses this morning just so we can get a sense of where we are going for the next few months.  So with that, let’s take on this simple, yet daunting thought as we approach the book of James.  Let’s try to answer this Big Picture Question:  During difficult time, what might God really be doing in our lives?  How is that for a Big Picture Question?  Let’s jump in.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Now the temptation with any book of the Bible is to just skate over the introductions and salutations, but there is a lot of going on in verse 1 of the book of James.  So let me make two quick observations about James’ introduction.  James grew up with Jesus.  Jesus was his older half-brother.  And remember Jesus didn’t make an outward declaration of His ministry until His early 30’s.  And James struggled to see Jesus go from brother to Savior.  In fact, when Jesus did assert His divinity and began His public ministry by gathering 12 disciples, James and the rest of the family thought He was insane.  Mark 3: 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Yet, despite James’ early fears and concerns, he resolutely now states that Jesus is His Lord.  So the first thing we should take away from this salutation is that James has a firm, dedicated, and resolute faith in Jesus as Savior.  James didn’t come to faith in Him easily, but now, He has no doubt.  He could say:  My half-brother Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  For all of us:  reckon well who Jesus is.  Pursue Him relentlessly in the scriptures and claim Him well.

Second from our salutation:  James addresses the 12 Tribes in Dispersion.  The Dispersion was the name given in the OT when the Jewish people were scattered out of their homeland Israel.  For example, during the Babylonian Captivity, God had the Babylonians come in, take the Jewish people from their home, and they were enslaved in Babylon as a judgment for their sin.  James does something interesting.  He takes that Dispersion title but applies it to Christians.  The message of Christ was spreading across the world, in addressing the book to the 12 Tribes in the Dispersion, he saying, The People of God, the Church who claims Jesus as their Savior, they are the Dispersion.  And being dispersed, you long for home, but now that longing for home is a heavenly home, not an earthly one.  Our takeaway from this salutation is to realize that this book is for us – the church in captivity.  We are to hear it as God’s gracious provision for us informing us how to live as we wait for Jesus’ return.  Our home is heaven and not and so our desires should be pointed more towards heaven than here.  Gang, the Book of James is incredibly relevant for us.  So having said that, let’s jump into what James has for us.  Let’s see just how we are to live.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The commands of verse 2-4 are so revolutionary, so counter-intuitive, and so loosely held by Christians today, that in hearing what James tell us, we are almost tempted to discard it or assume he means something other than what he is saying.  James tells us this.  Whenever you face a trial, a trial of any sort, our initial and ongoing response should be to count it joy.  So, if you are struggling with health issues or someone you love is struggling with health issues, count it all joy.  Some translations read it as, “Count it pure joy.”  If you are struggling with a relationship.  You are at great odds with someone you love or you are in a confliction with work or your children are disobeying or rebelling or pulling away from you, count it all joy.  If you think your parents are crazy sometimes and you are constantly fighting them, count it all joy.  If you are having a hard time paying your bills or you just don’t see any end to the massive credit card debt that you are in, count it all joy.

Right now, reckon well what trial you are enduring, and then be joyful that you are going through whatever it is that you are going through.  Now, why would God tell us this?  Why is God, through James, commanding us, not suggesting, but commanding us to count our trials as joy?  Is it that God is a sadist and He likes toying with us like a little boy who burns an ant with in the sun with a magnifying glass?  Is this like some twisted, perverse characteristic of God that He just likes to punish His creation?  Did He create us just to toy with us?

Well, fortunately, the answer to those questions is “No” and James explains to us why we should count all of our trials as all joy or pure joy.  The reason is that by enduring all types of trials, this testing of our faith, God gifts us with steadfastness.  What in the world is steadfastness?  Well, steadfastness is a firm, immovability that endures through any type of circumstance.  Now we need to get this because steadfastness is a major theme in the book of James coming up over and over again.  Why do we need to be steadfast?  What good is it for Christians to immovable in any circumstance?  Why is this characteristic so important that God ordains we go through difficult and painful times just to get it?

Paul speaks of steadfastness and explains that for us in 1 Corinthians 15.  He says in verse 58 that steadfastness enables the Christian to abound in their work and worship of God and steadfastness enables the Christian to not labor in vain.  Maybe you want a better explanation than that but James, and God, don’t give you one.  Trials produce steadfastness that enables you to serve God more faithfully.

Spurgeon calls this the most practical of teaching from the scriptures.  He describes it this way.  He says some teachers are like a builder who cuts down trees and then prepares all the wood in such a way as to build a house.  The builder does all this work, laying all the wood and materials out, but never builds the house.  How impractical is that?  Spurgeon says this kind of teaching is not like that.  Instead this kind of teaching cuts the wood, prepares everything for building, and then builds the house.  This kind of teaching is the most practical teaching in all of  world.  It is a direct, how do I live as a follower of Christ

Verse 4 tells us that once we learn to endure trials with joy, then steadfastness is produced and then we become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  This is not a holiness perfect but the word for perfect used for being thoroughly complete.  If you want to be used by God, if you want to give Him glory, if you want to not be tossed about by the waves, if you want to be used to advance God’s kingdom and see the name of Jesus lifted high, then enduring trials, and enduring them with joy is how you are going to get there.

What that means is that as the followers of Jesus, His church, we have to want faith in God more than we want an ease to our circumstances.  If we want don’t want that, if want ease of circumstances more than being used by God to give glory to God, then we see a competing desire in our hearts.  If we want ease of circumstances more than we want faith in God, if we want anything more than we want faith in God, then that wanting by definition is an idol, an opposing object of worship in our heart.  And God will root out all of our idols.  God will cast down any and everything that exalts itself against the glory of God.  God will not share His glory with anyone or anything.  If you want ease and the removal of all trials more than you want to give glory to God, then God is going to root that desire out of your heart.  Guess how God often does that…by giving your more trials making you more dependent on Him.

Our desire to avoid trials and suffering often just leads us into more trials and suffering because our desire to avoid trials is contrary to the will of God.  There is a host of bad teaching right now that says faith in God means the removal of all trials and great faith in God means the pouring out of great earthly blessings.  That teaching stinks of hell according to the book of James.

Now, this really seems crazy, doesn’t it?  I mean this is how James begins his book…telling us to be joyful that we are going through trials.  Let me share a quick story here and I don’t share this personal story as one who has arrived.  I share it as one who struggles along with you.

In the last, I don’t know, 13 years of my 15 years of being married to Amy, I bet she has felt good maybe a half dozen days.  She struggles with an out of balance thyroid, an auto-immune deficiency, and polycystic ovarian syndrome to just name a few conditions.  Because of these things, day to day life can be a struggle and any plan we ever make is subject to change depending upon how much energy she has.  And we have seen every doctor under the sun and have pleaded to God to remove these conditions and to heal them, but at present, it is the will of God for Amy and me to endure these things together.

Now, how in the world might these conditions produced steadfastness and greater faith in us?  Well for me, I can tell you several things, in fact, I’ve thought a lot about this.  But for the sake of time, I’ll share just one simple application of steadfastness and faith that God has produced in my heart or is presently producing in my heart through these trials.  Because I am gifted with a lot of energy, and because I love the work of being a pastor, and I love you folks and I love working hard, I could easily be a man who spent every waking moment working on and thinking about the church.  I could be gone every day and night for the sake of the church.  And there are some weeks where I feel like the number of hours I work is equal to the number of hours I am awake.

But one of the gifts that God has given us is Amy’s prolonged health conditions.  It has taught me to keep close to home.  It has taught me to run commitments by Amy before making them.  It has taught me that building the church is not worth doing if it comes at the expense of Amy’s health or time with my kids.  I have buddies who have planted churches and pastored churches and their marriages and their relationships with their kids have eroded or even come to an end.  That is not God’s intention for His people or for this pastor.  The trials that God has ordained for my family have the purpose of teaching us to give God greater glory and to each us dependency on Him.  To produce a steadfastness and readiness for the Gospel.

I encourage all of you right now to consider this command of James.  I truly think the weakness of the American church is that we worship ease and we assume the blessing of God means that we have no difficulties or trials.  And we can definitely ask God to remove difficult circumstances and to change our lives when we are struggling.  But we rarely view our trials as the means by which we are going to give greater glory to God.  We just want them to go away and go away quickly.

Right now, what is it in your life that you just want to go away?  Are there trials that you are not concerned with giving God glory in but are much more concerned with having them pass?  They might pass.  God might graciously make your trial disappear.  He might also graciously make your trial or difficulty or pain or physical condition or whatever, He might graciously make those things stay around for the rest of your life.

And James, “Consider it pure joy because the testing of your faith will produce a steadfastness in you that will make your more complete and ready for the tasks that God calls you to.  One of the reasons the American church is so weak is that we do not get this.  We assume we can’t be used by God because our trials are so great.  We are so consumed with trying to pursue a life of ease and one free of trials that we miss out on what God is calling us to.  Your trial is God’s blessing poured out on your life.  Your trial is intended by God to cause you to have greater faith and that faith well enable you to ready and complete for whatever mission you are called to.

You do not have to have conquered every trial to be used by God.  We should ask God to equip you with greater faith and make you perfect and complete in that trial yes, but you don’t have to have conquered your trial to be used by God.  Right now, some of you are essentially on the sidelines not actively serving God or attempting to advance His kingdom because you just want your difficulties to go away.  Instead, we should see our difficulties as the thing that God has placed in our live to prepare us for greater ministry.  We are to declare a dependency on God to the world, not a life free from being dependent.

Now at this point in time, we probably are incredibly confused.  Maybe some of us have oriented our entire life to attempt to be free from trial and if James is correct which I’m offering He is, then some of almost don’t know how to live anymore.  What does it mean to live joyfully amid trials instead of constantly wishing the way?  Verse 5 explains that for us.

You see, our enduring trials with great joy is going to look a little different for everybody because we all experience different types of trials.  How do we know how to do this?  Verse 5 tells us.  Ask God for wisdom.

You see, in our weakness, we are tempted when facing difficult times, to just pray them away.  “Dear God, just take this away from me.”  And you can pray that prayer.  But how many of us in light of a difficult trial ask, “God give me wisdom in this circumstance.  Please show me how to live?”  I’m afraid many, many of us never get to that point because we are just asking God to take away what is difficult.  And because that is our tendency, the church is weak.

I believe this church, this community, and Christians worldwide, would experience a revival that would wind up in the history books if we began to pray for joy in our circumstances instead of being so resolutely focused on making how hard times go way.  Ask yourselves this:  If trials produce greater faith and steadfastness, if trials prepare us and make us complete for the work of God, why don’t we pray for God to give us great joy and wisdom in the midst of those trial?  Again, I think it is because we worship ease and comfort more than God sometimes.  Can we pray now that prayer?  Ask God, “What do you want me to do with this circumstance, right now?   It is fair to wonder how are we going to resolve this in our hearts and minds and move forward?

Now if you caught any of my 1 Samuel sermons over the past year and a half, you may have noticed a little trick up my sleeve.  Any time in the OT, any time something really difficult would happen either by some ones actions that didn’t’ make sense or God did or something or said something that was difficult to understand, did you ever notice what I did?  I would say, “Well, let’s look at the NT and see what Jesus did or what Jesus has to say about that.

Uh oh.  We are in the NT.  James is writing this after Jesus has lived, died, and risen again.  There is nowhere to go.  This is what God wants for your life in light of what Jesus has done.  That doesn’t mean that the work of Jesus no longer has any say in these things, because in a minute, we will definitively see that He does.  What it does mean is that we need to look at these verses and think and say, “There is no wiggle room.  This is exactly what God wants for me.”

Now, we couldn’t say that about the OT either.  There is no wiggle room there either.  What happened in the OT was just as much what God wanted for us as what is commanded in the NT.  But the OT was a dim picture that awaited the full illumination of the work of Jesus.  The NT is the full illumination.

So let’s see how Jesus enables us to apply this illuminated command to consider trials great and pure joy.  Ask yourself this question:  What hope do you want from Jesus?  Do you want His help, His support, His aid or do you just want to take all your problems away?  I’m afraid our problems aren’t going way.  Jesus said so Himself

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Our trials are not going away.  Oh, we might have relief from a specific circumstance, but while we live on this earth, we are going to face trials and tribulations.  And we will live transformed lives if we realize that Jesus has not come to take all of those away.  Instead, He has come to help over this world of sin and pain.  Hebrews 2 tells us that Jesus lived, suffered, died and rose again to overcome death and Satan.

Hebrews 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

And Hebrews 4 gives us the big answer to our big picture question:  What is God doing during our trials and suffering?  14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus Christ suffered alongside of us so that we have a Savior who understands our weaknesses.  Jesus Christ suffered alongside of us so that our High Priest, the one who stands before God on our behalf, sympathizes with our weaknesses.  Because of the work of Jesus Christ, we can take joy in our trials and circumstances.  Our trials increase our faith.  Our trials cause us to be steadfast.  Our trials cause us to be made ready and complete for whatever God calls us to do in His name.

And we are not alone in our trials.  Jesus, our Savior, sympathizes with weaknesses.  He was tempted just like we are tempted, in every way.  But our hope is that Jesus endured these trials and circumstances with great joy and even more importantly, He endured them without sinning.

And because of all these things, because of Jesus’ enduring trials sinlessly on our part, when we endure trials we get to do what verse 16 of Hebrews 4 promises.  We get to with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Because of Jesus, when you and I struggle in our trials and circumstances, when we struggle to find joy and all we can hope for the hard times to just go away, we can go to verse 16.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We can walk before the Throne of God, and because we are forgiven and transformed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, that throne of God is a throne of grace.  We walk before God in need both for our sins and for our trials, and those sins and needs are met with what we do not deserve:  the love and affection of God.  So in your time of need, right now, whether that time of need be physical sickness, relationship problems, financial problems, whatever.  In your time of need, walk before the Throne of God and feel His love and grace poured out – forgiving you, transforming you and enabling you to do whatever it is that God has called you to do.

If we do that now, we might very well see God work a revival in our hearts and lives like we have never seen before in our lifetime.

Sadly, this is true.  Around Christmas, people want to feed the hungry, clothe the chilly, and gift the needy.  I’m so thankful these actions occur, but what would cause us to do them all year long?  I would humbly offer that the solution is understanding to a greater depth Jesus’ incarnation.  Bear with me as I use my seminary degree for a moment.

Jesus’ incarnation is God becoming human, enduring pain and suffering, enduring persecution and death while innocent, and then rising triumphantly to new life.

Practically, that means that God entered into our suffering to alleviate it.  If we could get that, then we would make greater efforts to mirror our Savior each day of the year (not just in December).

The services at Sovereign King during the holiday season are intended to engender that kind of appreciation of the life and death of Christ.  We will begin a series entitled, “Anticipating” that will focus on the people in the Bible who anticipated Jesus’ arrival.  What we hope these services will accomplish is to give a greater sense of Jesus’ incarnation and teach us to mirror Him in anticipation of His return once again.

I invite you to join SK this season not just for one service (for which we would be thankful) but for the entire series.  Attend as much as you can; not for our benefit but for your own.  Give you, your children, your family, or whoever it is that you do life with a clear consistent celebration of Jesus’ birth.  But of course, if you can only attend once, we would love to have you.

Below is a list of our services for the season including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.  We look forward to seeing you, and if you would like to know more about SK, Jesus, or living a life of anticipation, feel free to contact Gordon at jgordonduncan@yahoo.com

Sunday, November 27^th @ 10:30am – Luke 1:5-25:  Elizabeth Anticipates

Sunday, December 4^th @ 10:30am – Luke 1:26-38:  Mary Anticipates

Sunday, December 11^th @ 10:30am – Matthew 2:1-12:  The Wise Men Anticipate

Sunday, December 18^th @ 10:30am – Matthew 2:13-23:  Herod Anticipates

Saturday, December 24^th Christmas Eve @ 5:30pm – Luke 1:46-55:  Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

Sunday, December 25^th Christmas Day – Luke 2:1-20:  The Shepherds Anticipate

]]> http://jgordonduncan.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/1958/feed/ 0 jgordonduncan wreath anticipating http://jgordonduncan.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/anticipating-sovereign-king-churchs-christmas-celebration/ http://jgordonduncan.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/anticipating-sovereign-king-churchs-christmas-celebration/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:14:27 +0000 jgordonduncan http://jgordonduncan.wordpress.com/?p=1935 ]]> Sovereign King Church is excited to announce our plans for the 2011 Advent Season.  Each year, SK focuses on the celebration of Jesus’ birth with a series that focuses not on the hoopla of Christmas but on the promises of scripture that surround the arrival of our hope, Jesus Christ.

We are excited to offer this year’s series “Anticipating” that will focus on how different people in Jesus’ age anticipated his arrival.  Some anticipated hope, some anticipated competition, and some anticipated the Savior.  Through it, we hope to engender an understanding of the minds and hearts of Jesus’ day while simultaneously engendering a personal anticipation of Jesus’ return.

Our schedule of services (including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) are below.  We hope to see you at any and all of them.

Come as you.  That’s how Jesus did it.

Sunday, November 27^th @ 10:30am – Luke 1:5-25:  Elizabeth Anticipates

Sunday, December 4^th @ 10:30am – Luke 1:26-38:  Mary Anticipates

Sunday, December 11^th @ 10:30am – Matthew 2:1-12:  The Wise Men Anticipate

Sunday, December 18^th @ 10:30am – Matthew 2:13-23:  Herod Anticipates

Saturday, December 24^th Christmas Eve @ 5:30pm – Luke 1:46-55:  Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

Sunday, December 25^th Christmas Day @10:00am – Luke 2:1-20:  The Shepherds Anticipate

You can always find more information about Sovereign King at www.skchurch.com and directions to our space can be found here.

The focus of the evening was to discuss what it might look like for God’s will to be done in the church as it is in Heaven.  Originally intending to give hope to folks post-church, the event was actually populated with folks from multiple local churches.  The tone turned hopeful as each talked about church partnership as a demonstration of the peace of Heaven and as a demonstration of God’s will.  One person’s thoughts summarized the evening well:  “If the people in Garner meet people from a church as they serve in the community, maybe it won’t be so hard for people to visit and worship again.”  Classic.  Hopeful.

This week we will again hit Aversboro Coffee on Saturday at 6pm.  You’ll be greeted by good music and good conversation as we discuss what it might look like for God’s will to be done in our homes as it is in Heaven.  For more info check out the schedule here.

I love you.  I grew up in Smithfield, wandered to ECU, set up in Raleigh for a while, vagabonded through seminary, and found myself here.  And I’m thankful.

I love the people.  I love my home.  I love how I know nearly every nook and cranny.  I love working in Garner.

Not once in the last six years have I sat and daydreamed about ministry in a big city or ministry in some other part of town.  No righteousness on my part.  It’s just I’m stubborn that way.  I’m here.  I love this place.  I want to see this work.

“What is this?” you might ask.

• I want to see God glorified in some large new way.

• I want the name of Jesus to be used commonly (but obviously not as a curse word).

• I want to see folks who have lost hope find it again or maybe even find it for the first time.

• I want to see Sovereign King Church grow in sustainability and influence.

• I also want to see the scab of self-righteousness pulled from this town.

• I want to see the church (not just mind but all Gospel proclaiming churches) be a place of refuge for those in need and not merely a bunker from the rest of the world.

A step towards that for me is the beginning of the “In Garner as it is in Heaven” effort with SK Church and Aversboro Coffee.  I hope the town of Garner shows up at both places to explore how things could be different and to hear from scripture how things ought to be.

Join me on Saturdays and Sundays even if it is only to share your angst.  But perhaps, and just maybe, we’ll see God do mighty things here in Garner.

Thanks.

Raw facts and raw data change very little unless those facts and data are presented in an atmosphere where all levels of maturity are respected and all levels of maturity are moved towards practical application.

Towards that end, SK Church is launching several new teaching opportunities beginning on Sunday, 9/11.

We will of course continue offering the finest Sunday School teaching in the safest environment for our younger children.  The SK Kids program celebrates its 1 year anniversary this month.  Each Sunday at 9:30am, we offer a nursery and three additional classes for ages 3-5, grades 1-3, and grades 4-5.  You can find out more about this program here or you can direct any questions you might have to our SK Kids coordinator, Melanie Askew at Melanie.askew@mindablaze.com.

We will also be launching a new Jr High/Sr High program led by Ben Thomas.  Ben is a recent seminary grad and missionary who is passionate about teaching and equipping.  He and our youth leader, Josh Howard, will be teaching a class asking this question:  “What does Jesus have to do with my life?”  The simple answer is, “As an artist owns his canvas, so God owns all creation.”  This class will pursue the practicality of Jesus in every day life.

Excitedly, we will also be launching a new adult class as well led by two of our church elders, John Etheridge and Mike Askew.  This will be a pursuit of the letters that Paul wrote in the Bible.  Feel free to attend this class with any amount of background of the Bible.  Some will arrive having never looked at the Bible while others will have more experience.  Either way, everyone will be welcomed and plenty of interaction is expected.  Even come sit silently if you want; you’ll enjoy the class.

All Sunday School classes launch at 9:30am and you can find directions to our space here.  Excitedly, we are also launching our “In Garner as it is in Heaven” teaching series during our 10:30am service.  Check out the link for more details.

In all of us this, we want to equip Garner and the surrounding areas with real, Biblical truth to tackle real day to day challenges.