A Faith that Endures Well in Trial

If you would take your Bibles and open to the book of James it's so good to see you all again and I Was expecting to preach this message I wasn't expecting to preach the one on Sunday Thank you all for being so attentive and for praying for our pastor. We're glad to see him back and It's good to be once again in the role that I find myself every summer this is my third summer where I have switched places with brother Chris and This is sort of the groove that we get into and I'm excited Let's read this text.

We will read James Will be in chapters 1 verses 1 through 12 James a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion greetings Counted all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness Let's steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him But let him ask in faith with no doubting For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord He is a double-minded man unstable in all his ways let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and The rich in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away For the Sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass Its flowers fall and its beauty perishes so also with a rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits 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 Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer Father I want to begin the series In in humility father when we talk of James in this first chapter in the text that we've just Read or we know that without humility without a right attitude The right disposition we've got no hope and Lord as we turn our minds eye to you and to your word Would you please help us?

Give us your grace that we might See your word rightly and this in Jesus name we pray Amen So I want to give you orientation to what we'll be doing this summer We're going to be in a series that I've titled a faith that works well So I would encourage you to do a few things if you would get a notebook Dedicated specifically for this study and it doesn't have to be of great length But if you would incorporate perhaps a notebook and have access to James and Ecclesiastes this has been an intentional Decision by your pastoral staff.

We wanted to really emphasize practical Christian living and essentially the message of James is That the writer hopes and praise that Struggling believers would have a faith that works well And if we are going to have a faith that works well as we will see tonight. We must have a faith that endures well We will look at the first 12 messages the first 12 verses So let's take a look at Why this is important?

Why do we need to study? this great book That emphasizes practical Christian living Because we're emphasizing the Wisdom literature in the Old Testament We thought it was good to also look at wisdom literature in the New Testament just like Ecclesiastes is Written from a very practical standpoint Just like Proverbs we look in the New Testament James is regarded as New Testament wisdom Literature in fact many scholars have called it a handbook for Christian living and you and I both need that Don't we we need? practical help and We just felt and praying and prayerfully that the Lord would was moving us as our church because we're growing numerically that we would also grow Pragmatically in the nuts and bolts of everyday living and wisdom is necessary So we long for you to have a faith that works well If you're gonna have a faith that works well, you must have a faith that will endure well It was important for James from the outset to write to struggling believers Who is he writing to?

To the twelve tribes who are dispersed we will look in greater detail at some background But we felt like this book was perfect for how the Lord was leading us Brother Chris has actually preached through the book of James. He actually Started this journey back in 2014 and it was a year-long sermon series so we would like to encourage you to go back and listen to that sermon series as as a Compliment to what we'll be doing here. There's no way I could preach verse by verse in 10 weeks 10 messages when he went verse by verse, but the good news is that He did such a fantastic job in that series.

I was telling brother Chris Travis It felt like a time capsule going back and listening to messages from all the way back in May 8th of 2014 so if you would do this for me if you would make a note at the top of your notes and just Type in our address our web address if you don't have it already www.gracelivebrookhaven.com if you go there and click sermons You will see a search bar and if you just type wisdom or James That series will come up and that will save me some time Anytime we study a book we need to understand a little bit of background.

We need to know of the authorship What is the original context and I will address those things very quickly? But brother Chris spin a whole service a whole sermon on the background of James So that will be good for you in your study But I want to encourage you as you study this book and as you study Ecclesiastes bring What you have in your notebook to the Lord in prayer in your prayer closet and ask the Lord to give you a faith that works We're going to be looking at ten different aspects of a faith that works Whether it's a faith that works when you're going through trial or whether it's a faith that loves well or Whether it's a faith that Praise well and serves well All of the different facets that James addresses are absolutely essential If we're going to have a faith that works that is after all what real Christianity is Really doesn't matter what doctrine you profess it really doesn't matter how straight your theology is If you don't have a faith that works So with that let's begin and let's take a look at the text and I will read James Chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 and we will introduce The first Element of a faith that endure as well James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion greetings Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness If we are going to have a faith that works We're going to have a have to have a faith that endures well And I think it's important that we look at some necessary background So necessary background that's happening in our context Let's look at The book of James the book of James has something of a controversial history Several throughout history have challenged everything from its authorship to its status as canon Canon means it is an official part of scripture Douglas Moo uses that phrase of controversy and It even clarifies this and at times If it's not been totally rejected.

It certainly has been neglected Even through the Reformation Martin Luther had an issue with it with it personally, although he did not deny its Anonymicity he essentially neglected it some but it is included in his work and he does quote from it The real issue because brother Chris deals with that in his sermon series the real issue for us is that How serious do we take scripture? Is there any part of scripture that you find yourself? skipping over You know if if we are not rejecting scripture perhaps we're neglecting scripture. Are you reading it?

Are you giving preference to certain aspects of scripture that you find more comfortable I Think it's important and even challenging for us To get into the nuts and bolts and ask the real hard questions, which we will see tonight Lord Can I count it as joy when I endure trial? That's actually a commandment. It is not just a suggestion and If you can't endure trial well You don't have a faith that works as well as it should So the question is can we regard James as gospel? Can we regard this book as gospel truth and the answer to this is 2nd Timothy 3 16?

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof For correction and for training and righteousness Now what would we do if someone would say but how do you know that the books that are actually in the Bible are really Supposed to be there From time to time somebody will come and present that argument raise your hand if you've had that argument Okay, well I want to give you a resource that you could Use there is actually a use a useful book.

It is recommended by brother John O Sims He spoke of this recently in His podcast it is by FF Bruce You could simply search FF Bruce Canon of Scripture, but he traces the history of this this Canon and how books became regarded as Scripture and As brother John O is addressing this he said it was extremely important. He said every Single book that was included at the third Council of Carthage 328 ad Had to have four criteria and I will not give you all of those criteria I would encourage you we can give you that podcast But the real question is not are we going to address Scripture intellectually?

But are we gonna meet Scripture face to face and allow the Lord to convict us because if we're honest You and I do not enjoy trial If we're honest, we don't count it as all joy the real issue isn't if are we going to play intellectual games Do you know that the book of James was? Listed as problematic for Martin Luther because he felt there wasn't enough doctrine It didn't have the robust doctrinal background that Romans has However, if you take a look at the practical nuts and bolts Essentially, I will show you Christians doctrine by how they live Now I'm not negating doctrine we absolutely need to study Romans But what James addresses what Ecclesiastes and Proverbs address is Our doctrine lived out That your doctrine will be manifested by how you live I've known lots of Christians who are well studied on the great doctrines of Scripture that do not count it as all joy when they face trials of many kinds and I agree with brother Chris and he would agree with me Let our church be known not for how well we can espouse doctrine and theology But give us a church body that suffers well Give us a church body that may not have all of the dots Dotted and all the eyes dotted and all the T's crossed Specifically give us a church body that shows their doctrine is right by how they live out the Bible And so I think the answer is quite clear we can show that James is Canon because if you Can follow these words?

You can have a faith that works No matter how studied you may be or how studied you might need to improve to be James is so practical that it has been called the manual of Christian living and I think we should open that manual up and We should put it to practice James has been called James the just and Let me make reference to a little bit of necessary background If I may so who wrote the book there are only four possible James's and I will say it that way only because Scholars use those phrases all of the James of the Bible because my mother was an English teacher I kind of get a little nervous when I say things like that But there are only four James's of the Bible that it could possibly be James the son of Alfea Alpheus Matthew chapter 10 James the father of Judas Luke 6 James the brother of John and the son of Zebedee He was actually martyred very early in Acts chapter 12 So he's not a candidate and then there's James the half-brother of Jesus in Mark 6 3 And I'll let you go back and listen to brother Chris I would even recommend maybe some books if you really want to study this but the long and short of it is James the half-brother of Jesus is the author of this book and In order to really appreciate the first line of this book.

It's important that we understand that so what does The significance of the fact that this is Jesus's half-brother James the half-brother of Jesus became a believer later in his life after Christ died He actually did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah scripture tells us this But he comes to faith Later he actually was a key leader in the Church of Jerusalem acts 15 in Acts 21 and Galatians 2 Paul referred to him as one of the pillars of the church James Was a true believer John 7 5 first Corinthians 9 5 and Galatians 1 9 and church history accounts That he was the leader of the church in Jerusalem But what does James say at the very beginning of this book?

Can we go back and read this message and this is significant James a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't say James the half-brother of the Messiah He doesn't say James half-brother of the miracle worker He says James a slave This word doulas was the lowest form of slave this this is not Equivalent to indentured servitude. This is a person who is owned by the slave master James being the Lord's half-brother was Truly converted and we know that and we would know that if all we had was the first line of Scripture No one is truly born again who is not a slave of Christ So this is necessary background.

It's necessary background for you Before you can endure trial faithfully and before you can Have a faith that works You must be a doulas slave You must be born again this book hinges entirely on the first verse He's a doulas slave writing to doulas slaves You will never endure trial if you believe that you are entitled to a comfortable life Isn't that what trips us up If there is grumbling and complaining in our spirit when we're asking God why me when we're even just complaining to God You know in my prayers I was convicted when brother John okay and that I found myself and I told him this I Found that I was complaining to God in my prayers.

I Would have told you I was casting my burden upon the Lord when all actuality I was spending quite a significant amount of time simply complaining and Enlisting the reasons why I didn't like X Y and Z. I didn't have a slave mindset slaves have no ownership and they don't see themselves as being entitled and You will never have a faith that works unless you see the necessary background James is a doulas slave writing to doulas slaves and we as readers can only have a faith that works If we have the slave do lost mindset, I'm so thankful the Lord saved me March 3rd 2003 When I went from being devoutly religious to being a doulas slave Can I ask you are you devout this morning this evening?

Are you devout or you a doulas? convert a doulas slave It's the only way you're going to encounter diverse trials So James the righteous James the just Those are names church history give to the half-brother of the Lord. What's the name he gives to himself? slave No matter how people regard you people may see you as the righteous or the just But you can never leave This place where you consider yourself to be a slave So James The author what about James the book?

James specifically addresses his readers as the 12 tribes scattered throughout The diaspora of the dispersion this means he's writing to Jewish converts He's writing to people who come from a Jewish context. They understand Jewish culture and They are encountering diverse trials Persecution has just taken place and the early local church was dispersed throughout the world and this actually served to advance the gospel as People moved to various places like Antioch and throughout the known world.

They started churches They planted churches and Christianity exploded But this was not a pleasant experience Why does James write The first verse is to have joy in diverse trials because these Christians were struggling to have joy These Christians were struggling to have joy away from their hometown away from their families You and I can struggle to have joy undoubtedly but we can relate to this First generation church that scattered G Campbell Morgan notes they were facing persecution from without hence the reason for their Diaspora or dispersion, but they were also facing persecution from within if you look at the content of the book there is no shortage of Direction on how we should treat one another how we should love one another how we should not show favoritism In fact, there's such an emphasis on social justice within this book Christian social justice You know if you're wealthy Don't don't be prideful in your wealth Be willing to love all who come into your midst James is referred as The New Testament Amos because of its strong emphasis in Christian justice loving each other's well In essence the theme of this book in addition to persecution from without and within It's simply real Christian maturity Is that your prayer?

I pray this is your prayer. I pray this is our prayer that we would be Real mature Christians and that we have a faith that works So let's look shortly here into verses 2 through 12 I Would like to Read these verses as we address them for the sake of time And I want us to look at the who what when where why and how of James I Want us to look at the who? What when where why and how? this necessary truth So let me first read verse 2 James chapter 1 count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds Who must go through trials of various kinds? Well in this original context real saved Do lost slave Christians going through trial?

But this book is written for us. We're reading over their shoulders This book is for us So this is a commandment for you dear believer God is commanding you to rejoice when you have diverse trials Let's look at the what the original Greek word for testing Differentiates this is not a temptation This is an experience deemed necessary by God for the purpose of strengthening and purifying Specifically the verb form is to put someone to the test for the purpose of revealing them We sang a song tonight when when trials come and it's about being refined as gold And I referenced this Sunday if we could ask the jewelry to speak If we could ask the jewelry specifically adorning a bride on her wedding day if that Experience of being refined was fun the jewelry would say oh no, but it was so worth it and this is the what the what is a trial for the purpose of purifying our quality and our beauty and our usefulness Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort? for youthfulness and usefulness in the kingdom That's what a do lost slave has to do they have to willingly commit their trial to kingdom purposes and They have to do it with joy Now the only way this is possible is if we have the due-loss mindset So the who and the what but the win win our trials going to come about I Would say just as often as things become comfortable My wife often says if you're not in a trial it's because you're headed into one We're always either just leaving one or about to turn the corner I Had this experience on the football team the football team was by definition a trial for me I was five foot Seven in college in high school as well.

Just like I was in college just like I am now and Truthfully, I'm only five foot seven on my license Probably five foot six in reality if we're being honest But my football coach would talk about someone being injured putting their their ankle in ice cold water and I still remember how the coach would laugh because you know one of the starters who's actually being injured is on the Bench with his foot in a tub a five gallon bucket of ice cold water and just as things get to be comfortable What happens?

The coach comes by and stirs up the water and then all of a sudden that the pain is there again and Whereas the coach might have been doing that to sort of pick at you almost in that kind of a loving loving Teasing kind of way that's never the heart of God We will never have joy unless we know the heart of God So that leads us to the wear of the trial We can say trials take place in the valley because that's what it feels like The valley of the shadow of death is dealt with throughout scripture, but trials happen when we are in a valley Why why the trials come It says this in verse 3 For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness God is trying to produce something glorious in your life.

He is trying to produce endurance He's trying to produce steadfastness How How are we to go through this with joy? Joy is not an emotion, but it is an act of the will coupled with an inward work How often must we go through trials as often as God deems necessary But scripture tells us that there are many What does scripture say count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds?

Another way to view that language in the original text many colored trials diverse trials So we see that for us to have a faith that works well we must have a faith that endures well We must see the necessary background of the due-loss perspective We must see the necessary truth. We must see a necessary purpose There are six essentials for obeying and enduring trials well First you will never endure trials. Well if you don't trust the loving heart of God This is the key How else will you make it through with joy unless you believe that God is on the other side of this experience? with joy He is trying to do something for you dear Christian.

He's not trying to do something to you He's not trying to take something precious from you He's trying to do something for you. I Tell you a verse that's really ministered to me lamentations 333 I would like you to write that down and go read this lamentations 333 He does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of man You know God's not afflicting you from the heart He's not even a bully Trying to make your life just a little bit more unpleasant the moment you get comfortable And you'll never make it through if you don't trust his loving heart You will never obey this command if you don't ask in faith verse 5 and specifically You need to ask in faith without doubting verse 6 fourth You have to ask with humility verse 9 and 10 5 You must ask with a heavenly mindedness.

Let me read this for the Sun rises with its scorching heat and Withers and the grass and the grass its flowers fall and its beauty perishes So also with a rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits You must have your minds on heavenly things if you're going to obey this and be heavenly minded and then sixth You will never obey this command if you don't love Jesus He's got to produce this in you verse 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test He will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him Well in conclusion I want to Simply leave you with a prayer My prayer is that you would begin this journey of being honest with the Lord Lord Why have I not had more joy in trials?

Could it be that you are not a dual lost slave could be that you've not been born again It could be that you are saved you know the Lord But you have not had the humility One thing the brother Chris mentioned in his sermon is that if we do not submit to the Lord in our trials we we can stay bitter and we can have resentment fill our hearts and We can actually begin to have a stunted spiritual growth over a long period of time.

I Know this from experience I do not believe that I am where I should be just in full in full Confession I was thankful for a revival for the Lord to show me how I could have been more submissive to him in my heart and in my spirit during trials and I pray that the Lord would awaken you and that we could count it all joy my brothers When we meet trials of various kinds Let's go to the Lord in prayer.