[0:00] Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for blessing us with the opportunities to be here. Thank you for this group of men who took time out of their Saturday to come fellowship, to come hear Scripture, hear your Word, Lord.
[0:12] Pray that words today would be yours, not mine, not anyone in this group, but we would learn from Scripture and learn through your good Word that you've given to us. Thank you for this group of men. Thank you for this group of men whose hearts are here.
[0:25] I pray, God, that you would give us focused, steady hearts, just with that steady, faithful trust that we have in you to move through these storms of life, move through these circumstances that we're going to talk about.
[0:37] And you put us out into the world and give what we have to those around us and not keep it to ourselves. Pray, God, that you bless us today, bless us through this weekend and this week to come. Praise in Jesus' name. Amen.
[0:48] Amen. All right. We are going to be in James. For those who initially when I taught, I taught James 1 through 4 a few months ago.
[1:00] I'm going to spend about 10 minutes or so. Greg, I'm glad you prompted us to start a little early. I'm going to spend about 10 minutes going back through James 1 through 4. Just give some background and context because I think that'll help kind of clean up moving into James 5 through 12, which is kind of keys in James' first section if you look at it that way.
[1:22] This study originally came from, we were going to do a study in the house together, and the kids wanted, they wanted to teach, we talked about teaching through a book, and I don't remember. One of them wanted revelation.
[1:33] I think my daughter wanted Genesis and not happening, kids. So I picked James. That's where we are. A bit too heavy hitting for me.
[1:46] We can flip to James real quick, and I will briefly talk through 1 through 4 and just the background and history of it. Hopefully the mic catches the polka music next door, the leaf blower outside, and Jeff can enjoy what's coming of this.
[2:07] What I'm going to do is I'm going to read James 1 through 12. This also fulfills that command to read Scripture together in public.
[2:19] James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
[2:37] And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously without reproach, and it will be given to him.
[2:51] But he must ask in faith without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
[3:07] But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position, and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass, and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.
[3:24] So too the rich man, in the midst of his pursuits, will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
[3:38] That kind of rounds out that first section in James. What a great way to start a book. The first four verses taught on previously, just going to go through a little background on James, because I think James' character adds a lot of context to what he's talking about.
[3:54] And at times we're going to stop, so originally this was made for a little bit more intimate setting. We're going to stop and talk, and I want to hear from everybody. We can learn from each other as we go through this, because my trials are not your trials, and hopefully you can learn from my trials as well, and vice versa, I can learn from yours.
[4:09] James, half-brother of Jesus. Most scholars agree, written around potentially 44 AD, could be the first New Testament letter. His character is really what I want to focus on with some of the history of this.
[4:25] I spent a lot more time, if you want to go back in. I think it was recorded, you can go back in. We won't spend too much time on this. But his character is kind of key here. Keep in mind, this is a man who's teaching to us, talking to us. James is kind of looked at as a New Testament book, a New Testament Proverbs.
[4:39] So there's a lot of wisdom, a lot of commands, a lot of walking us through life on things, how we should approach different situations. So looking at the person who tells you that, that holds a lot of weight.
[4:53] Imagine if I'm living an immoral, terrible life, and I go to you and be like, hey man, you've got to clean up your act. How much weight does that hold? If I'm living for God, and I'm living right, you look at my family, look at my kids, look at how I conduct myself, hopefully that holds a little more weight when I say, hey man, that's maybe not a good idea to be doing the thing, or can I pray for you or help you in some way?
[5:20] Hopefully you would look at my life, you look at my family, you'd see that difference, which is the point of looking and studying and reading about James himself. Had a character of reliance on the Lord.
[5:34] He was said to have knees like a camel. The reason is because he was constantly in prayer, constantly a state of reliance on God, which is why it's kind of important to remember that as we talk about trials.
[5:47] His primary audience was the diaspora. The Christian Jews dispersed amongst the persecution. This is prior to the temple falling, so prior to the Jewish persecution.
[6:00] But Christians were being persecuted by the Jews at the time, so James is writing to an audience of dispersed Christians. Quick refresher on trials.
[6:11] I don't want to go all the way back into one through four, but trials in the context, what are they? What aren't they? I'll let somebody ask this question.
[6:21] Let's see where we're at on this. What is a trial? What is a test, biblically? Anyone? I know I'm standing up here. Is this better? A test?
[6:34] Okay. Let's play the inverse of it. What isn't a trial? That's good. That's good.
[6:45] Everyone hear that? What is not a trial? He said a consequence. If I'm ripping down, I think the analogy I used in my first, if I'm ripping down 64, doing 79 miles an hour, and somebody blasts by me, honking, tries to beat me off the road because I'm not doing 81, and I run them off the road, and they flip over and crash, and I go to jail, is that a trial?
[7:09] Is that maybe more of a consequence of my bad decisions? See the difference? We see a trial as training for what's next.
[7:20] A lot of us think of it as an up and down kind of thing. You're in the valley. Things are harder. You're being tested. It's training for what that next opportunity is going to be.
[7:34] That's the way I see it. Okay. Ben, I like that. And valleys and peaks and valleys. You're getting ahead, and I love that. That's just perfect because we're going to be in that. That's a good way of putting it, Ben, is he said the trial is kind of a testing or a training for maybe what comes next.
[7:50] And I think that's accurate. I would add the word character. It is a testing. It is a training of our character. God is building us up. In those moments, through those tests, to be the man we need to be to face the next one.
[8:04] Because what are we guaranteed in life? Are we guaranteed an easy life? We guaranteed money? We guaranteed cushy business? Nope. As a Christian, you're guaranteed maybe the opposite of that.
[8:15] You're guaranteed a testing. You're guaranteed a challenge. Now, hopefully, we find joy amongst that storm. We find peace amongst that storm. The more we rely on God. Thanks, Ben. Thank you for that.
[8:27] So trials, we're being tested. The point of the trial, the point of the testing in the moment is to, as James puts it, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance.
[8:39] And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. So as our faith grows through our testing, we are lacking in nothing in that moment.
[8:51] Knowing God is testing us, bringing us into that next event, that next thing. There's more that's coming. You pass the first test, good job. There's more.
[9:04] And I kind of ended the teaching on that. That is a tough thing to do. And before we move too much farther, I want to point out that is not a callous, emotionless, mindless enduring of trials.
[9:18] That is not just a bitter, fine, I'm going to do this. I'm going to get through this. I'm just going to be tough. Whatever. I'm going to shrug it off and move through this. That is not just a callous, angry, moving through something, keeping our heads down, burying that down deep, not dealing with it.
[9:33] That's not what that is. That's not what's going on here. We are addressing these things, and we are meant to endure them. We are meant to endure these tough things. But this isn't just dismissing it and putting aside.
[9:44] I know men in this, there's a lot of men in this church who have done some hard things. There's things that you can't just bury down deep and move past. That's why we have scripture.
[9:54] And that is kind of where James moves into, I think, in verse 5. He tells us, hey, you are meant to be joyful in these circumstances because God is testing you. He's allowing you this trial. He's allowing you this test.
[10:06] He sees you as his son to move through this, and he's giving you the opportunity to exercise faith in him. And we kind of left it at that. I pulled a little more into that so you know it wasn't just like, hey, be happy in trials.
[10:18] I know your life's hard. I know maybe you lost your job. There's a death in the family. Maybe there's something horrible going on. Hey, good job. Smile. Move on. Have a nice day. That's not what's going on there.
[10:30] And moving into verse 5, that's why. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. And that's moving into today's teaching. That's where James moves into here.
[10:41] Anyone else have anything more on trials? I know I kind of threw that out really fast to back that up as fast as I could. But what are they? What aren't they tracking?
[10:53] It's not a consequence. Consequences of sin is something different. That lends a little bit different lesson. But it's not the consequence of sin. A trial is something you're meant to go through. So, Peter, please.
[11:06] I was saying to piggyback what you said with that was, you know, if you fail, trust me, he's going to give it to you again. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, that's fantastic. God is not a God that's going to say, well, you know what?
[11:20] You've got to get through this first. He's not going to give you something else and not have you go through this first. Great. I'm glad you said that. You don't need to raise your hand.
[11:30] But anyone feel like they keep running into the same problem and the same problem and the same problem and the same problem? Same problem. Like, man, what is going on here? This is what's going on here.
[11:43] That's absolutely it. Moving into today's lesson. And so this was originally written for a sermon note.
[11:55] So I'm going to kind of pause through this the best I can and get everyone's take on this, too. I'd like to like to hear what you all have to say as well. I love how James starts out this next group as if to just so you know, I didn't forget about you.
[12:09] Trials are hard. You don't have to smile all the time through it. But but is implied here. It's not in the original language. If you look at the original language and parse it out, but is implied. So it could be but or and.
[12:19] And if any of you are lacking wisdom. As if to say, if any, if anyone's lacking wisdom. Exactly.
[12:30] Kind of rhetorical. The point is here that there's more. James is not leaving us hanging. There is more. After the first four verses, James, knowing his readers, may have some trepidation over just counting it as all joy.
[12:48] And knowing his intent in audience may wonder how to go about this. Almost as if to say, just go be happy in your persecution. Remember what time frame this was written in his audience, the diaspora.
[13:00] They were fleeing persecution by the Jews. He's aware of all this. Remember James' own manner of death. I didn't mention that previously. Eusebius, ecclesiastical history, some other historical writers.
[13:11] Some people say he was stoned to death. Many historical writers bring up the point that he was actually thrown off the top of a roof or thrown off a balcony. He was called to go up there by some Jewish scribes at the time.
[13:25] Called to go up there and recant that Jesus is Lord. And he went up there and used the opportunity to preach that Jesus is Lord. Was thrown from the roof.
[13:35] He didn't die. By many accounts, was then stoned to death from that point forward. So remember the manner of his own death. Remember who he was and why that's so important.
[13:48] So nowadays, we just want answers. We just want the step-by-step process of the problem. It's not popular teaching to instruct others to be joyful in their trials. Even more so, to be expecting them.
[14:01] And then when things do happen, what does society tell us? You need to get out of your situation. You need to change your circumstances. You need to fix your problems.
[14:14] Here's the five steps on how to do it. Here's the follow this guide. Do this routine every morning when you get up and you'll be fine. Remember Jeff's teaching. Jeff, I don't know if he knows this, if he listens to us.
[14:25] Thank you, Jeff, by the way. It's been a great segue in Genesis 15, 6 into James. The idea of taking things in our own hands and helping God out through the situation.
[14:36] Getting out of the trial. Well, I don't have an heir. This opportunity showed up. I'll make my own heir. Remember that if you guys were here the last couple weeks. It's been great. It's been distracting because I've been sitting here thinking about it like, oh, geez, boy, that's a great segue into James.
[14:51] Sorry, Jeff. What's even more sad is that much of the Christian teachings out there are on this, on the five steps, the five step process.
[15:03] How to get through, how to be happy, how to live a solid Christian life. How to move through this circumstance. Why do you have the bad? If you are a strong Christian, you shouldn't have these problems in your life. I'd say the Bible says opposite.
[15:16] But how do we do that? And here is the so what of all the teaching, right? We need wisdom to do it. We need God's wisdom to do it. And moving into this, I'm going to give you the answer right up front so you can be chewing on this the whole time.
[15:32] We need wisdom to persevere through life's trials and sufferings. Regardless of our position in this world, we should ask God for the wisdom to endure with steady, faithful hearts, trusting in him, and knowing our reward in heaven is great.
[15:50] Keep that in the back of your mind as we parse through this. James told us how we should view these situations and that we should consider them as good.
[16:00] And then in the next few verses, he's going to give us the way through. So moving into verse 5, right? But if any lacks wisdom, right?
[16:13] Why would he say that? If any, of course we do. The primary Jewish audience would be alerted at the time. Wisdom, they'd be keyed into that. Because wisdom teaching for them, remember, what did they have at the time?
[16:26] What did his Jewish audience have as far as instructional material or writings or letters? What were they reading at the time? They weren't reading James, necessarily. Old Testament, Job, Proverbs, Psalms, some of Isaiah, a lot of the wisdom writings.
[16:47] They didn't have the... I've got to remember that, too, as I teach through this sometimes, as we read this in context, what they're referring to. They weren't reading the same things we were reading. They were reading off something, you know, teachings from a much different time frame.
[17:03] They'd be familiar with much of the instruction of the Old Testament, right? Job 28, 12 through 13. Why don't somebody look that up for me real quick? Yeah, Job 28, 12 and 13.
[17:22] Don't everybody jump at once. We used to have a race to Scripture. It's a bit harder in this, like, auditorium setting. It was a race to Scripture. We were usually sitting in a group so we could see and hear a little better.
[17:34] But the first one that gets to it gets to read it. And that's your... It's a reward. I see there's not many people racing here. And usually the ones with the phones, the cheaters, if they got beat by somebody without a phone, that was an extra gold star.
[17:49] He said 28, 12 and 13. Yes, sir. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
[18:01] Man does not know its worth and is not found in the land of the living. Thank you. Where can we find it? Where do we get it?
[18:12] Yep. It's not coming from me. It's not coming internally. If any lacks wisdom. Maybe some are blessed with a spirit of wisdom. Some are wiser than others.
[18:23] Some people have a natural gift for administration and business. And they're very wise in making decisions. I know people that I go to for counsel that always seem to have the right answer.
[18:36] They always seem to know what to do in a situation. I think there is a gift of wisdom. And some people are more wise than others. But man, I tell you what, throw that trial out there. Throw that out there. Watch that change sometimes.
[18:48] In the valleys. In the depths. Just our deepest despair. Watch our wisdom fade. Watch that. Watch our intelligence fade. How many times, and I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, but how many times when that hard thing happens and you were stable and perfect and happy and making great choices the day prior, then all of a sudden something happens.
[19:08] It doesn't have to be that big of a deal. But to you it is a big deal. Man, how quickly did that throw us off our pedestal? How fast did we fall and can't figure out what we're doing in the situation? We start being frantic. And the answer, we need to seek wisdom.
[19:22] We need to seek wisdom on getting through these trials. We need to seek God's wisdom on getting through these trials. Not our own. That gets us into trouble. Remember Jeff Servan.
[19:32] I'm sorry. I moved ahead a little bit. So then, simply put, what is wisdom moving forward? Job 28.8.
[19:44] If someone wants to flip there real fast or see if I can beat you there. I bet everyone already knows this. I don't hear pages turning.
[20:04] Or you guys already beat me there. That's what it is. This is what's in the pulpit. We just, oh. 28.28. Yep. And he said to man, behold, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to turn away from evil and his understanding.
[20:20] Remember Jeff's talking about this last time. Again, thank you Jeff for leading into all this. What is the fear of the Lord? Being in constant fear of a boulder falling your head.
[20:31] I can't remember the exact analogy he gave. It wasn't that fear of being struck by a lightning bolt every five minutes. It was a holy reverence for God.
[20:42] It was that holy, deep-rooted reverence for the Lord in awe of his creation, awe of his power. That is the fear of the Lord. That is what is being referenced here. That holy awe of his control, his omniscience, his plan.
[20:57] The fear of the Lord. And that's the other point. is the beginning of wisdom. Just the beginning. How deep does that go? The depths of his knowledge and the depths of his abilities.
[21:11] Just incredible. Just to think about. So, knowing we need wisdom to move through some of these challenges, we need wisdom to move through some of these trials, what does he tell us next?
[21:24] Let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. This is where we kind of start to see the how part in this. So, we moved into our trials.
[21:35] We have the tough thing going on. We have the hard thing in life. You could bring up anything. Your car breaks down. I don't know. You get fired from your job. The thing happens.
[21:46] And I will say on that for a second, and I mentioned it before, my trial is not your trial. Something may happen to me, and Ben may go, hey dude, that's kind of silly.
[21:57] Like, your jet ski breaking down is not a trial. Like, that's bad mechanics. You know, that's not a big deal. But whatever circumstances are in life, I don't know. The thing that happens to me, maybe that's a big deal to me.
[22:09] And we need to be sensitive about that. We need to understand that something that may be weighing heavily on my heart, something that may be driving me into despair, that may be not the same thing that drives Ben into despair. Maybe getting fired from my job is not a big deal for me.
[22:21] Maybe I'm in a situation in life where that was actually a blessing. Maybe I wasn't going to leave on my own accord, and God actually helped me out in that regard. But maybe that is a big deal. So, knowing where we're at in those trials, knowing how we pursue and how we look at that, we know we get sucked into those depths.
[22:41] We have to get out, and we get out not by our own accord, not by working through it, not by the five-step program. We must remember, one, it's joyful to be here. God put us here for a reason.
[22:52] I should be learning something from this. I should be growing from this, as Ben said, giving that test to move through. Now, how do I do it? How do I do that?
[23:04] I think it's an opportunity for discipleship, too. I think, I forget with my boys, the trials that they're facing now in their 20s and 30s, you kind of chalk it off and go, well, you'll get to it.
[23:16] Yeah. Because I did, right? But then we forget to kind of explain to them how we got through these things, right? We're trying to look at where people are with experiences. The wisdom does come a little bit as an age in trial in these things, and it doesn't mean age in wisdom, it just means the fact that you put through some of it and you know the truck of the Lord did that.
[23:36] But most of the time the world will see you got through it, but they really don't know how you got through it, right? So they don't see you studying and doing the test or doing the test and doing the work.
[23:47] They just see the results of the passing of the test. So they don't see you praying, relying on the Lord, being in the Word, getting around brothers in Christ, all these things.
[24:00] And so I think sometimes we forget to tell them the how versus what the kid would be doing. Especially when you talk about the kid, like the kid who's had anxiety over trying to pass a math test at the age of eight.
[24:13] It's the same anxiety you feel about, man, I've got to go in and talk to my boss about X. Same anxiety. That's perfect. That's exactly it. That's exactly the trial of the eight-year-old passing the math test.
[24:27] I've got, he's not eight anymore, but same concept. And going to talk to my boss about not getting fired or the mistake I made or however that may be. And just for, I don't know if it could hear it on the recording, Clyde said, sometimes we forget about where we're at in life and the trials we faced and how we got through those trials, how, which is where we're at right now, so I don't lose my place, how we get through these trials.
[24:52] And Clyde's saying, sometimes our kids, mentoring, or maybe other people in the church, friends, churchmen, neighbors, I mean, can we teach our neighbors, unbelieving neighbors? Why are we so calm when my house burned down?
[25:03] Why are we so calm when the thing happened? And we forget sometimes how we got there and showing people how we did it, was Clyde's point. Did I, hopefully I summarized that right?
[25:16] That's exactly it. And see if no one's been paying attention for 18 years because he loves being put on the spot. What do I tell you when I tell you, hey, why should you listen to me when I'm telling you not to do this?
[25:28] Because you've done it. Because I know it's a bad idea. Usually, what's the, it's a worldly statement, this is not biblical, I don't think, in any ways, but what's, has anyone heard the statement, you know, a wise man learns from his mistakes, a smart man learns from his mistakes of others?
[25:46] The same concept of discipleship kind of that Clyde brought up, we're given these, we're given the gift of a trial, we're given the gift of this test, we're given the gift of scripture to learn through it.
[25:58] I hope we're passing it on to our next generation, to the rest of the church, to our friends, to our family. And it takes a right heart to receive instruction, though, which I think comes into wisdom a little bit.
[26:10] It takes a right heart to, there's times when, a bit of a segue here, I don't mean to get off topic, if we get through all this, we'll get through all, if not, we'll pick it up next time, but it takes a right heart to receive instruction.
[26:22] I think the wisdom to get through trials also is that same wisdom that drives us to be humble. Grateful. Grateful, Ben said, thank you. For a trial of gratitude, it's a whole different experience than just why me, why is this happening to me?
[26:36] Kind of one of the points, too, that you made that I wanted to close the loop on was wisdom. Sometimes, at least for myself, I've been put in trials because of my quote-unquote wisdom, only to find out through the trial that we needed a change of mindset or a change of, you know, looking through a different lens, maybe my wisdom needs to change to better understand it's stronger.
[26:57] Yeah. Well put, Ben. Ben said, looking at that trial, looking at, it was our mindset that is causing me to be bogged down in this trial, maybe in the first place, and I'm not getting out of it because I'm bitter, I'm angry, I'm grumpy, and I would argue I'm not seeking after the Lord, maybe, if I am bitter and angry and grumpy through whatever this trial may be.
[27:21] I'm just content in my circumstances. Like Jeff said in one of his previous Genesis sermons, generally regards to sin, but we do what we want to do. Like we do the things we want to do.
[27:32] When we sin, we know we sin, we do what we want to do. And that mindset sometimes, I'm in that mindset because I choose to be there. I'm choosing not to seek after the Lord, not to seek his wisdom, not to learn, like Clyde said, from the brothers and friends who've gone before me, like, hey man, you know, that's a bad idea.
[27:50] You may want to, you may want to not walk off that cliff, but a grateful heart, man, what a, what a sage piece of advice right there. And that's a, I can put out the notes on the first sermon, but that's a good, another good point to bring up.
[28:06] That mental decision, that thought to be joyful, that is a choice. That is an action. I went through in the, the word use that James used in the first, in one through four, choosing to be joyful.
[28:20] That is a, that is a choice. That is a, an action of thought, if you will. And it is not easy to do. It is not, because if it was easy, we'd all be doing it. It is not easy to do. I'm choosing to be happy in the moment where I'm grumpy.
[28:33] I'm mad. All my cars are broke. My house is broke. My dog ran away. Country song stuff going on, right? Maybe not modern country, but country song going on.
[28:47] You know, the, my wife left me, my dog, my dog died. The truck broke. And in those moments, I mean, I'm making light of it, but those, there's some hard things that we all face. And we know this. We don't have to, we don't have to dive down into everything everyone's faced, but being joyful in those moments or choosing to think, wow, you know what?
[29:04] At least I have cars. You know what? At least I got a house. At least I had a good dog for a while. Isn't that the core of the trial? That moment you make that decision of how to handle whatever the test is.
[29:20] That's good. Hmm? I mean, that's where the rebel needs to go. You've got to use the wisdom of God. Because that's just, I like, I love skipping ahead.
[29:31] That's perfect. Thank you. Go to verse 12. Blessed is a man who, and this is the closing, I don't know if we'll make it there, but blessed is a man who perseveres under trial.
[29:42] For once he's been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. That's the crux of it. When you choose, you're like, you know what? I am going to pass this test.
[29:54] I am going to honor God in this situation. I'm going to get through this. I'm going to see that I don't understand. You have to sometimes understand that you don't understand.
[30:06] I don't understand what's going on, but when I choose, I choose to pass the test. I choose, you know what? I'm going to look at this differently. You know what? I have a good family. I am taken care of. What does Paul tell us? If you have a roof over your head, food in your belly, and clothes on your back, you're good.
[30:21] But it's hard. It's hard to choose to make that decision. It's a deliberate decision. That is not, I will not say that. I always make that decision correctly every time. Moving back into asking for wisdom, when we don't get to that point and we have to work through it, some work through this quicker than others, the how part, how do we get through this?
[30:42] How do we go through these situations? We ask God for wisdom. And what does James tell us? It will be given to him. It will be given to him.
[30:54] Not if and, if then, there's no qualifier there. We'll move it there. There is a quotation mark, but there's no qualifier here. There is no, well, if I just do this thing right, if I just, if I pray enough, if I pray six times a day, every two hours, then God will answer my request and the cancer will go away.
[31:17] It'll stop. It'll go away. Nope. Maybe. God has a power to do everything. We know that, but that is not what's going on here. It's for wisdom. And some people, I read some comment here, some people use this verse and kind of twist it out of, out of context a little bit.
[31:31] You know what I'm talking about? You see that if you ask God for stuff, you'll get whatever you want. God's not a medicine. This is not, thank you. This is not recipe theology. Yeah, this is not, and that's a dangerous thing to get down.
[31:44] And it makes me nervous. Some of the, there's some modern stuff around this and men, we must be cautious about this. Gracious and gentle when we're handling these things with our brothers and out in town and whatever, but we must be cautious about this.
[31:57] This is not, this is not a call for us to ask God for stuff. This is not the health and wealth gospel. If I ask God for something, he may not give it to me. Especially if it's not his will, it's not going to happen.
[32:09] Remember, we were brought these trials for our testing. So I would argue that asking, now that does not, there's not a prohibition. Hey, you know, Lord, I pray if it is your will, you would take away this cancer.
[32:23] You would take away, take this cup from me. I would pray that you would do that. Maybe, maybe you have, God has gotten you to the point in your trial and your testing that that is the, that is the choice.
[32:35] That is the peak. That is the premise and down you go. Maybe not. Maybe this is long. I don't want to take you off from your direction too much, but I just felt compelled to bring this up. Please.
[32:46] I haven't read the whole Bible yet, but still one of the stories that I think is like one, yes, yeah, I'm on, it's happening. Like, one of the stories that always gets me as far as a trial is just, you know, Abram being told that he sacrificed his son.
[33:01] Like, that's like, what? What a trial that meant. Yeah. I don't know how many of us would, you know, fall through with that to be honest. Yeah, ask me next week. Those are the kids in here.
[33:12] It depends on the day of the week, you know, maybe easier than others, but Ben is dead on as the things you're being asked to do, you know, don't be shocked that you are meant to endure this testing.
[33:24] You are meant to endure this trial, which kind of brings into a quote from Matthew Henry that I like from his commentaries. Matthew Henry is one of my favorites, so you're going to hear a lot of quotes from him. So, we're not, we're asking for wisdom to endure the trial.
[33:40] We're asking for wisdom to get through the thing. Not necessarily, we're not praying because James did not say, pray to God for the removal of the thing. Pray to God that it'll go away. It's not what's going on here.
[33:52] Ask for wisdom. Here's Matthew Henry's quote. We should not pray so much for the removal of an affliction as wisdom to make right use of it.
[34:05] He's got another good quote in here. And moving on from that, knowing we're supposed to do that, this is my, this is probably one of my favorite Matthew Henry quotes. Let the foolish become beggars at the throne of grace and they are in a fair way to be wise.
[34:22] Think about that. Begging at God's throne of grace for the wisdom to get through these things we need to do. That, how different of a mindset is that? Is man, I just need to, I got to work through this thing.
[34:33] I got to do this thing. I'm stealing from Jeff a little bit here. But I got to fix it. I got to figure it out. And that could be the long game. Much like Abraham, that was the long game. I was reading ahead.
[34:44] Jeff's going to hear about it. But I'm reading ahead in Genesis because, you know, I always want to get ahead of the story. I'm into where Joseph is now in Egypt and he was accused of inappropriate action with Potiphar's wife.
[34:57] Then he went to jail. That was years, years in the making. How long did he have faith? And was he patient and honored the Lord in that?
[35:07] Years and years he went through that, rotting away in jail and then finally got called out and in the moment he was asked to read. He knew who didn't interpret the dreams correctly.
[35:19] People were getting killed. There was a lot going on at the time. Like, if he was wrong, there's a good chance he's hit the executioner's block. He didn't let his faith waver. He was steady over years.
[35:30] And oftentimes, I can't make it a week through whatever stressful, tough time. My wife is frustrated and stressed out, so therefore, what does that mean, man? You're stressed out and frustrated, right?
[35:43] That's hard. When the house is tense, you're tense. You go to work, works tense. If works tense, you're tense. And it just goes in. Do we respond correctly in that moment? Oftentimes, I don't.
[35:58] Moving on a little bit. So, on asking for wisdom, what door does that open for us, though?
[36:10] During times of trouble and hardship, we consider how this tough situation can be used for God's glory. That's another segue off of this. That will also go into, that's kind of, you touched on it a little bit, that's kind of, that precipice of changing our thinking about poor me.
[36:24] How bad is this on me? How hard is this? How wrong is this? What if we change the thinking in that moment, not, wow, how bad is this for me? How is God using this trial in my life and how can I use this situation to either strengthen my walk with the Lord, dive into scripture, maybe lead my family, turn this as a learning opportunity for myself to shepherd my kids, my wife better, shifting it off ourselves and using it for God's good purpose.
[36:58] Because I got off track, getting back on here. So when we trust God and view our situation differently and consider how we honor God amidst the storm, it provides a whole new perspective on it.
[37:11] It takes me out of the equation. It shifts it entirely. I'm certainly going to ask God, you know, for his will that, Lord, I pray you would remove this.
[37:22] I pray you'll remove this for me. Make this go away. Make this thing stop. Make the health thing stop tomorrow. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. But the point is that, not that I get what I want out of it.
[37:34] The point is that I am seeking after a holy God and I am humbling myself before him. And that's what we must remember. Not waiting patiently for him to take the thing from us. Take the thing, take the thing, take the thing.
[37:45] We're not waiting for that. It's the action of going to God. And then moving into that, the end of that verse here as we kind of round out this section, this kind of alludes into God's character.
[38:00] Flip back to where I was so I can read it. My Bible doesn't have tabs. One day I need to put them in there.
[38:17] Heard that. And it says here, but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who what?
[38:33] Gives generously, gives generously and without reproach. I know Greg, he gives generously and without reproach. There's no qualifier there.
[38:44] That's what that's saying. There's no, he's giving not, in no consideration our failings. He gives to us generously. Romans 11, 33 and 34 and Isaiah 40, 13.
[38:57] If you're taking notes or scratching this down, I won't, I won't pause there too much. I've kind of already segwayed a little bit more than I should, but speaks of God's character, speaks of the depths of his wisdom. We talked, talked to us a little bit.
[39:10] Fear, fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can't even, it's even a hard subject. I'm not a, I don't have a big brain. You know, we got, we got some big brains here, some smart folks, engineers, just thinking about a problem set and seeing the surface layer of a problem set sometimes.
[39:25] You think, oh, I understand the problem set. The, the thing is round, therefore it will roll. That's the problem set. Well, the thing is round as a ball, therefore it can roll in an infinite many directions.
[39:35] The problem gets deeper, right? As you go into it, you just pause and think on God's wisdom for a second. I can't even think about the amount of knowledge and wisdom that God has to even understand the wisdom that God has.
[39:49] Like, I can't even understand the entire subject of it, which some of these verses talk about the depths of his knowledge and the depths of his wisdom. We have to remember that, who we're going to when we're asking for these things.
[40:00] This is the, this is our creator. He made this with a word. Back into asking for wisdom for a moment.
[40:11] So we're commanded to ask God of this. We should be asking, knowing he gives to all without reservation. James does not add a qualifier here, but let him ask of God who gives generously, gives to all generously without reproach.
[40:25] There's no quid pro quo or this for that. So if any lacks wisdom, they should be asking the Lord for it. There may be some who are wiser than others. We spoke on this already a little bit.
[40:36] And maybe faith comes easier in some areas for them. I may be more faithful in some areas than some. Some may have an easier time with being faithful in the little things, being faithful and trusting God to provide for finances.
[40:48] You know, maybe someone else is more trusting in God, like, Lord, my health is in your, you know, is in your hands. I am not going to lose my mind over my health. You know, especially in a world where we obsess over health. Some people are easy.
[40:59] Some people, it's easier than others. We don't all have the same struggles, but he knows his audience. James knows his audience. He's writing, knowing many struggle with having faith in that.
[41:09] And I already read that quote, but I'll say it again. Let the foolish become beggars at the throne of grace and they're in a fair way to be wise. So, not a qualifier, but moving into the next few verses, what does he say here?
[41:26] And this is, this is important and this is really kind of some of the meat of this asking for wisdom. I'll read through this section here. But he must ask in faith without any doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
[41:45] I love how he switches a little bit here and changes direction. Ask God for wisdom and it will be given to you. But, ask on faithful, sure, steady footing.
[41:58] Are you coming to him with unstable footing? Are you coming to him with your mind divided in the world? Are you trying to follow the seven step program? We're following the five step program, but hey, God, can you help me work through this trial but I'm just, I'm just going to do this thing and then I'm going to pray a certain way and then I'm going to do, and I'm not making light of that.
[42:17] I'm not, there are good Christian books out there. It's not the point. I'm not, I'm not insulting anything of that nature, but are we, is our minds divided between the world's way and God's way? That's what James is getting at here.
[42:28] If our minds are divided, I would consider maybe go back in prayer and humble yourselves and take a good look at how you're viewing this problem. Take a good look at what's going on.
[42:39] And I'm, That's a double mind. Absolutely. And I'm going to get into that in a minute, but Jeff, Jeff spoke, like I said, Jeff like laid the foundation for us. This is great. Thanks, Jeff. Being a double minded man, you know, he ought not to expect anything from the Lord as it moves into.
[42:55] But moving in, and he talked about the surf of the sea and which is such a great, I had read through this a bunch, thinking about it, pondering on it. I love James.
[43:05] So James uses more references to nature than I think any other, any other writer and New Testament writer in the Bible, which I, which I love. I really enjoy because it draws good parallels to me. I thought the waves and the surf of the sea was a great use, was such a great way for me to understand.
[43:23] Don't we often have these peaks and these valleys in our lives? Like, I'm at the high of my day, I'm at the peak, my wife's happy, the kids are happy, my bank account's full, my car's working, my jet ski's running, man, life is good.
[43:36] Hey God, I trust in you. You're, God, this, yeah, life is good. I'm going to go to church this Sunday, life is good. I'm content with what's going on right now. This is good, yeah, I'm a good Christian.
[43:47] This is alright. Uh oh. What happens? How much does it take to knock us off that top of that wave? Anyone ever surfed before or bodyboard or body surfing, or at least you understand, right, you understand surfing.
[43:59] How unstable is that guy on that board? He's going, it doesn't take but a second. Once that speed stops, he's gone, right, gone off the top of that wave. How much does it take to knock us off our high position?
[44:12] Oftentimes, I'm a little ashamed to admit it. Sometimes not very much. And maybe, maybe the higher our position, the easier it is to come off of that.
[44:23] The easier it is to get knocked off of that because our security is in what? I'm reading ahead a little bit. Our security is in our position. Maybe our finances. Maybe it's in our, our self, our knowledge, our worldly knowledge because we think we know better which is, and James leads into that here in a minute.
[44:42] I'm getting ahead of myself a bit but sometimes it's easier to fall the higher we are. So things going well.
[45:02] Thinking of that sure footing and having that faith, I kept, as I read through this and studied and read through this and studied, it drew a parallel with me. This is a little Bible test.
[45:13] Actually, it's a test of my own thinking. What parallel does this draw? Can anyone think of, is there a story in the Bible that anyone can think of talking about sure footing, waves of the sea, being steady and faithful?
[45:30] Okay. Thank you. I'm not so far off. That's exactly where my mind went. That's exactly where my mind went. I was thinking through this and I'm like, wow, what a good, what a good thought and reference James is using.
[45:41] The unstable, unsteady waves of the sea, being high in our faith in the Lord, being steady, life is going good and then bam, in the moment we're in a valley and I got to thinking, I'm like, man.
[45:54] So I got sidetracked and I spent a bunch of time in Matthew. Then I was taking notes. Matthew 14, 28 and 31, if you're taking notes, you want to, that's when Peter asks, like, Lord, if it is you, call me to come out to you.
[46:09] What does he do? He comes out. If you don't know the answer, you guys need to get back in your Bible and read that if any confused faces. But Peter steps out of the boat.
[46:19] What does he do? He is in a stable platform. He is, he has faith in the Lord. He is trusting. He's in the boat. He's good. The Lord calls him out. Peter steps out of the boat.
[46:31] What happens? Peter walks on water. If the Bible is to be believed, and I believe it is, Peter walked on the water toward the Lord. What happened?
[46:42] What's next? Lost focus. The wind, the waves, the storms of life showed up, the country song, right, the car, the dog.
[46:58] I mean, I can't think of it all. Like, there's all, I've got a, the Lord has blessed me with an interesting life. Like, the things that happen in my house, maybe it's just me, I don't know, but I'm hoping one day I get to use them and I'll share these stories another time.
[47:12] But some of the strange things that happen around ours, Ben's aware of some of it. But some of those things, they just throw us immediately off. And the waves, the wind came, and what happened? He began to sink.
[47:24] He began to go down. He began, he took his eyes off the Lord. The lower he goes. I'm not going to go too far. I won't get back up. But, and you understand what happened there. And then what happened? How did Jesus respond?
[47:39] It says, immediately the word is used there. Immediately he reached out and took hold of him. And what did he tell him? You of little faith, why did you doubt? Even in the storm, we must be steady and trust in the Lord.
[47:54] And that's the parallel here to James talking about the wind and the waves. And basically, we talk about our mindset in that position. So, the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
[48:09] No stable footing. No sure focus. No steady heart. That man not ought to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.
[48:22] Being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. He mentions that. This, Jeff talked about this. That's verse 4, 8. is what Jeff was talking about in James. Many commentators interchange that and cause that.
[48:35] They believe that he's referring to an unbeliever. I don't know if it exactly says that. I don't know. I don't know if I'm educated enough to say that. I think either way, it easily applies a double-minded man.
[48:47] It's simply, I can't tell you if you're saved or not, but your thinking is divided between the world, world's ways, like we already talked about, and God's ways. You're double-minded. As an early Christian, as an immature Christian, I believed God, but I was very unstable.
[49:03] My way, I was still half-focused on the program, the steps, my way, I can do it, I'm in control, I'm in charge, I know what to do. Yeah, I know God's in charge, and I should probably be praying, studying scripture, and doing this, but this makes so much more sense, and it's really easy.
[49:18] I just check it off the list, and I get to do it. I'm in charge, so this is better. That's the footing you're in between. You're in between these two things. You're unstable. Anyone ever try to stand on like two surfboards or two floaties, or you ever see videos of people getting hurt or something?
[49:35] They got one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock? What invariably happens every single time? The boat starts to go away, and they try to hold on, and they try to figure it out, and they end up in the drink.
[49:46] Right? Let's call the Lord's ways the dock, the steady, sure footing with pillars driven into the ground. Let's call man's ways the sinking floaty that has a hole in it that's going to go away very quickly.
[50:06] So that is that double-minded man. When Jeff was talking about that, that's here, and in chapter four refers to that. Either way, it means you're divided in how you're thinking about this.
[50:18] So when you go to the Lord, and the point James is making is when you go to the Lord, and you go to the Lord in prayer, like, God, I need wisdom. In your heart, we all know this, and I'm completely guilty of this.
[50:30] Have you ever gone to prayer, and like, I'm praying because I know I need to pray today, and it's on the list, and I need to do it. I'm going to do it because I just, mealtime prayer?
[50:42] We fall into that trap sometimes, and it's insincere, like, it's not, it's not real. We're just doing it to check the block, right? James is saying, when you go to the Lord in prayer, especially in these tough times, go to the Lord with steady, faithful, focused hearts that trust in Him, and that is an action of the mind, knowing that, you know what, I can't get through this.
[51:05] I can't do this thing. I can't fix this. I can't heal my body. I can't heal the thing that's going on with me. I can't heal my friend or my family member. God, I know your ways are not my ways, and your ways are good.
[51:18] Give me the wisdom on how to navigate this situation, right? So, like we talked about, it could be indicative of an unbeliever, but there's been seasons in my life, and that's why I really want to draw home on, is there's been seasons in my life where, man, if you caught me at the wrong time of day, you might have, well, you probably never would have known I believe in the Lord.
[51:50] You probably wouldn't have known. You ever been caught on that bad day, grumpy, mad, upset, right? They wouldn't have known. And I bet, I've even had times, and hopefully there are fewer and farther between as we mature and trust in the Lord, but if you caught me at the wrong time, you wouldn't know that I was a Christian.
[52:05] You might even be shocked to find out I was at a later date. I've had those days. However, as we slowly move away from that floating thing and move our weight onto the stable, steady platform that is the Lord, hopefully those days are fewer and farther between.
[52:23] Hopefully they're not the ones, that is not the predominant position. So moving out of that section, James kind of takes a flip here, and he, this was a little, I'm not like a great learning man, so I had to kind of roll over this a little bit, but he flips this switch and it says, but after telling us, be faithful, be stable, trust in the Lord, while you're asking for wisdom, he gives generously to all, helps you through your trials, but the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation because like the flowering grass he will pass away for the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed, so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
[53:14] To me, it felt like this, we just took a hard kind of a, James was talking about wisdom, faith, trials, and now he's talking about people's financial status and their, whether they got money, their situations in life, it took me a little second to go through, some of you probably can see the, what he's doing right here, he's kind of rounding out his section, in essence, I won't spend, I won't dive too deep, but he's rounding out his section talking about your position in life is irrelevant, it is completely irrelevant, your trial may be different, it may be a trial, and I'll get into that a little more in a moment, but your position actually may be a trial, rich or poor, in its own regard, so either way, however you are in life, you still need to come to the Lord to ask for the same wisdom, you still need the same thing, which is why James says here, but the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position, so that of humble circumstances, the poor servant may be in a better spot than the one who's making good money, that may be much easier for him to rely on the Lord than it is for the one who can pay his way out of the situation, if I can buy my way out, that may be harder, that may be a harder thing to do to trust in God, is it not harder to trust in God when I can fix the problem,
[54:36] I don't know, I know it is for me, because oftentimes I still think of the way, oh, how can I get out of this, my first thought is not always, Lord, what do I need to do in this situation, take a step back and pause, because, I mean, let's face it, in America, and this is not to disparage against positions, or everyone's at different phases in life and where we're at, and God blesses those with what he wants to bless them with, is we live in America, we got it good, we got it okay, we got good medical care, we got, you know, I know there's people that have some hard positions in life, and we should be helping our brothers and sisters in that regard, but we have it generally okay in America, we're in a good position, I tell you what, there's places in the world, it is not, it is not like it is here, and it blow people's minds from the squalor that's lived in, majority of the world lives in, there's a statistic, I don't remember it exactly, it is something like 70 or 80 percent, I think it's the bottom 70 percent of society in America is wealthier than,
[55:44] I don't remember the numerical comparison, but wealthier than 90 percent of the world, so we have more wealth, even our poor live better than much of the world out and around us, so something to consider, going back to having a grateful heart, and being steady in that thought, is maybe they have an easier time than those who have more, or have a better position in this world, but point is, both high and low end up the same, in his reference to nature again, the grass and the flowers of the field, when the hot sun and scorching wind come out, everything dies off, our position, our possessions, our lives, everything on this earth is temporary, we must not get distracted by earthly possessions and status, because when the storms come, we require the same faith through those trials, it's the same thing, does anyone ever,
[56:45] I mean, this is not a tell-all, I'm not asking that, but can anyone think of a situation, I mean, I can think right off my head, times where I was like, oh, I'll just, I'll buy my way out of it, or I'll work my way out of it, and it's a good, harken back to Jeff's 15, 6 sermon in Genesis, I'll work my way out of this, I know what to do in this situation, because I'm going to go to the guy, I'm going to tell him to do the thing, I'm going to ask for the thing, I'm going to fix the thing, and then I'm going to go over here and this guy will do what I need him to do, I mean, I've already got it planned out, I'm already working through it, I already can, dare I say, weasel my way out of it, you don't think of that, think of those times, again, I'm not trying to put people on the spot, but I don't need to share, I'm not going to share mine, it's embarrassing, all mine are embarrassing, I get to, well, the son's not here anymore, I tell him, listen to me, because I've made all those dumb mistakes, like our brother said over here, we've made those mistakes, hopefully we're sharing with the people behind us, but sometimes, you can't buy your way out of it,
[57:47] I would argue, the time will come, when your resources, your position, your wealth, they won't matter anymore, we all require the same faith to get through hard times, our trials may be different times, but in the end, it is the same God who provides, a man that has $10 million, and he's risking $9 million, well, that's the same risk that I'm taking with my $100,000, and I'm risking $90,000, so to me, it's the same, I need that $90,000 to live on, and that's my, why I'm, I don't know, I'm putting it in Bitcoin or something, why I'm risking it, I don't know, but the risks are the same comparatively at times, financially, however, when one has more, it is much easier to turn away from the Lord, it is much easier to rely on our own strength, our own self, and that's kind of the point here, which is why he says, the rich should glory in being brought low or in humiliation, as James puts it, it could also be translated humble state or low position, it does not necessarily, it is not entirely finances, financially driven here, although James talks about it, throughout the letter of James,
[59:01] I think it's something he's very passionate about, and the Lord has, has caused him to write, because he talks about the poor and helping the poor, this is something he, through the whole string of James, all chapters, he goes back into and he uses this several times, so definitely something that's on his heart, is helping his fellow brothers, you shouldn't have, and the Lord willing, if we get this far into James, he talks about, you know, if you tell someone, hey, you know, I know Ben's in a hard way, Ben's not in a hard way, I know Ben's in a hard way, and I know he has a need, and there's something I can do for him, and I go, Ben, I'll pray for you man, and I'm in a good way, doing just fine, I have storehouses full of grain, you know, and old speak, and I, Ben, good luck man, I wish you the best, you know, I hope things turn out for you, have a good day.
[59:52] How was that? We accomplished nothing in that moment, what about Ben, I know you're in a hard way, can I take care of his needs, can I serve him, can I love him, can I bring him a meal, what are those things I can do, can act, and James touches on this quite a bit, when he talks about finances and wealth.
[60:11] So, when the rich are put to that low position, it's not always finance, sometimes it could be your position in life, you command a high position, you command a lot of respect, your job is maybe easy, you have the ability to do something, but either way, you are being given an opportunity to trust in the Lord, and not rely on your earthly position, to get you out of the trial.
[60:37] And, John Calvin talked about this, and brought up this point, which I liked, and we'll kind of round this out here, so we're running out of time, wealth in itself, may be a trial. That wealth, and all in and of itself, could be a trial in and of itself, because it causes me not to rely, now I'm not, don't hear me say, sell your stuff, and because the trial, and your money is sinful, and that's not what I'm saying here.
[61:02] But, that wealth in and of itself, could be a trial, and I lean to, to Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 5, 19 through 20. Someone turn there for me real quick, I've been doing too much talking. This changes the dynamic, you know, when you're, here as opposed to our, comfortable, room back there.
[61:22] Ecclesiastes 5, 19 and 20.
[61:40] Let's see if I can, jump there real fast. Furthermore, as every man, to whom God, has given riches and wealth, he has also empowered him, to eat from them, and to receive his reward, and rejoice, and his labor, this is the gift of God.
[61:58] For he will not often consider, the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied, the gladness of his life. everyone hear that? Ecclesiastes 5, 19 and 20, if you want to go back to it.
[62:12] It is a gift, to enjoy our wealth. It is a gift, to enjoy the things we've been given. How many, I'm going to say, because the media is full of this. How many, super wealthy, sports stars, and movie stars, do you see as just, absolute, mess?
[62:28] Thank you for the word. I was looking for a word, that was appropriate for recording, and in this setting, they're just a mess. Absolute mess. Wealth does not bring happiness.
[62:39] Position does not bring happiness. Over and over again, I won't go into all my stories, but I know people, family members, who are very smart businessmen, very well, do a great job, and I would dare to say, they have a hard time, seeing the happiness, and being able to enjoy their position, enjoy their family, lead and take care of their family, and I don't, I can't speak on exactly, how God uses that, but it man, it's a distraction.
[63:06] There's a comfortable place to be, and you know, going back to what Paul said, having that roof over your head, the food in your belly, shoes on your feet, is a pretty good place to be, when we can see that, when we choose, to go to the Lord, and with grateful hearts, choose to go to the Lord in faith, it is a gift, to have that wealth, and actually enjoy it, and not be distracted by it, and pulled away from the Lord, so in and of itself, John Calvin goes into a deeper, a little bit deeper thing on this, but I won't dive into it too much, but just being cautious about that, and knowing, just being aware of this situation, am I trusting in my own stuff, am I trusting in my wealth, am I trusting in my thoughts, or am I going to the Lord, with what I have, skip that, we've got a minute to spare, and I'll finish, I'll kind of finish this out here, skip into the end, our earthly possessions, will fade away, what did we do, with the position, that God put us in, did we glorify him, with our wealth, did we glorify him, with our poverty, and maybe that sounds funny,
[64:20] I think it's absolutely a thing, did I glorify him, in whatever position, that God put me in, that trial, that storm of life, am I glorifying him, or am I not, that's the key here, going through the trial, my wife is a wise woman, we've had some tough times, in the past, and just dealing with some work, and stress, and just life, and you know, attacks that kind of came out of nowhere, I tell you what, you want to look back on things, look back on stuff in life, you think like, where on earth did that come from, you know, being accused of stuff, randomly for no reason, you go through these things, like where on earth did that come from, at the time, I wasn't wise enough to realize it, I wasn't paying attention enough, to realize that I was working my own way, through the problem, to try to get out of this problem, that I didn't even, I didn't even get myself in, you know, what's going on, this is my fault, my wife wisely enough, looked at that and said, it doesn't matter, the trial's here, it's here, you're in it, it's happening, you know, it's happening pal, you're going, now what, what matters, is how you go through that trial, because people are watching, they know you're a Christian, they know you got a cross on your neck, they know you got a Jesus tattoo, they know, they know you carry your Bible around, they know you speak of the Lord, they know, whatever, they're watching, they're watching, what matters is, how do you go through that trial, how do you go through that tough time, do you go through it in a way, that they say, wow, man, man,
[65:47] I don't know how you're doing this, man, this is tough, buddy, like, how do you get through this, well pal, have a seat, let me tell you all about it, that's, that's how, and that's, that's the victory in this, that's the victory in going through these trials, letting God work on our hearts, our minds, learning from these things, moving through that next one, hopefully getting more and more reliant on the Lord, hopefully our faith grows in the Lord, where these trials come up, and we, we see him playing his day, here it comes, it's happening, Lord, I trust in you in this, I pray that, if it's your will, you take this away, I don't know what's going on, or why this is happening, give me the words to say, to my co-worker, give me the thing to say, to my wife, give me, give me the knowledge and wisdom, to get through this financial situation, give me the energy I need, to work through the weekend, and do this thing that I got to do, Lord, I'm trusting that you'll put it in your hands, and then watch, and look for those things to be grateful in, look for those things, like, you know what, God has taken care of me in this regard, wow,
[66:48] I'm actually, I'm actually doing okay, and as James kind of rounds this out here, a whole sermon could be preached on verse 12, and many have, but you get one minute on it, blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him, what James is telling us here, when we respond appropriately to a trial, when we respond to the trial, in the way that we should, respond in faith, asking God for his wisdom and knowledge to get through, what are we doing, if you guys remember, I know we kind of skipped over the first verses, but what are we doing here, the testing of our faith, verse 3, knowing the testing of our faith produces endurance, let endurance have its perfect results, so you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, we are responding appropriately, proving, maybe not the best word, we are showing our faith in God, we are showing our salvation is secure,
[67:56] I believe that my salvation is secure, and I trust in the Lord, wow, what a knowledge that puts back on us, you know, I respond to this, not a quid pro quo, but my heart trusted in the Lord, and I rested in the Lord, okay, that's a good thing, my salvation is secure in heaven, the crown of life is waiting for me, after this, I know that my gift and my reward, is not on this earth, we know as a Christian, we're not promised that, but our gift and our reward, is promised in heaven, which is how James kind of rounds out, this section here, before he moves into the next one, so as we kind of, as we close here, and I'll pray, just bear in mind, as these things come up, look at that, look at these trials, look at these situations, with a grateful heart, for the second, for one second, pause, and sometimes I have to do this, I have to pause and think, am I working through this situation, am I, am I fighting through this situation, am I paying through this situation, what am I doing right now, and if I can answer yes to any of those, that should cause us to take pause, look back, maybe I should stop and pause, and be still, which for me,
[69:05] I'm a little squirrely, that's a hard thing to do, just to be still, and rest in the Lord, trust in his goodness, pause, listen for him to speak, and work in your life, and show that those things will come up, and look for chances to be grateful, remember, people are watching, how we go through these things, how we conduct our life, they see us, they know, not because we want something out of it, but because we want to bring glory, to God, that is the point of this, those trials are to bring glory to God, so we should be joyful in them, any final thoughts, turn into more of a sermon, than it was supposed to be, a back and forth, I think, this just pairs really well, to James 1st 12, yeah, but it's also in Ecclesiastes, but it's 714, and it says, 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, just that great, that gratitude, perfect, perfect,
[70:05] I love it, that's exactly it, if anyone heard that, what was that verse again, 714 for Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 714, God has made one, as well as the other, the good days, and the bad days, now can we rejoice, in the bad days, that's the key there, let's pray man, dear Lord, thank you for this time together, thank you for this time, we could fellowship, thank you for scripture, thank you for James, thank you for, this word we get to, we get to parse through, and learn, and dive into, thank you for speaking to us through it, how much is there, and how rich it is, we pray God, that you give us the hearts, to rejoice, in the good, and the bad, help us to rejoice, in the good, for your blessings, and goodness, help us to rejoice, in the trials, knowing that we're being tested, knowing that we get to prove, our faith, we get to rely on you, and we have this opportunity, to serve you, even in the hard times Lord, pray help us to see that, you cause that, that action in our mind, as we choose to honor you, in those tough times, pray as we go out this week God, that we honor you, in our families, in our homes, in our lives, and in our fellowship, with one another, we pray these things, in Jesus name, amen.