Hearers or Doers

We are continuing our series through the epistle of James. During the last couple of weeks, we looked at verses 1-11. Today we’ll look at the next several verses, but here is last week’s text for context:

 

“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; 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.” 

 

As I just said, we’ve already spent time examining the first verses of this epistle, so we won’t now review them other than to pause a moment for this reminder:

 

The Holy Spirit inspired James to write down for not only his readers suffering various trials which were causing some to consider walking away from Christ, but the Spirit of God moved on James to write this message also for his readers in the 21^st century – for you and for me. And because this epistle is intended also for us today, we must pay close attention to its commandments. There is a fundamental difference between ‘professing’ Christian faith and ‘possessing’ Christian faith. That difference is evidenced by our OBEDIENCE to God’s word.

 

So, to today’s text, starting with verse 13: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (13-16)

 

It is certainly true that the devil tempts us to sin. Case in point – the Garden of Eden where he enticed Eve to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. And we mustn’t overlook Matthew 4 and Luke 4 which speak of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

 

But Scripture also makes it clear, the Serpent doesn’t need to expend much effort to get us to do wrong. Jesus made it pretty evident in His comments to His disciples: “The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man.” (Matthew 15:18-20)

 

James picks up on this point again, later in his epistle: (James 4:1-2) “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so, you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so, you fight and quarrel.” 

 

So, to be clear – the origin of personal sin is within our heart. God does not tempt us to sin. He is Holiness itself. He cannot be tempted to sin and neither does He seduce anyone to sin. But, as we have just seen, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” James uses pregnancy as a picture of the process: “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

 

Now look at that next verse. It is as if James places a punctuation mark after what he’s just written: “Do not be deceived my beloved brethren.” Do not be deceived about the process of sin’s birth and how it matures into our death. The adage attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson surely rings true to everyone who’s lived as long as we in this sanctuary have lived: “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

 

Please. Do not be deceived about these infallible spiritual truths. There is a reason God tells us from Genesis through Revelation how to deal with temptations to sin. He tells us to run – not walk – run to the nearest exit. Joseph and Potipher’s wife is only one of hundreds of examples. “Flee from youthful lusts,” Paul commanded Timothy, “and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

 

Writing to the Christians at Rome, Paul commanded, (Romans 6:12) “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:12-13

 

You might be familiar with the story of the Two Wolves. I’ve told it before, but it’s worth repeating: An elderly Cherokee sat by a fire with his grandson. He said to him, “A battle between two wolves is raging inside of me. One wolf is evil, full of anger, lies, envy, jealousy, greed, arrogance, guilt, and resentment. The other wolf is good. It has joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandfather was silent for a moment and then continued: “The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The Grandfather replied simply, “The one you feed.”

Christian, which wolf are we feeding? Which did we feed yesterday? Which will we feed tomorrow?

 

Do we want to avoid temptation to sin? Here is a newsflash: We CANNOT avoid temptations to sin. The enticements surround us wherever to go. But we CAN overcome temptations to sin, although, as we all know, ‘overcoming’ is not easy. It’s often difficult – however, the overcoming DOES get easier with persistent practice. Listen, God is telling the truth when He promises to ALWAYS provide us the means to escape temptations to sin – if we WANT to escape. (See 1 Corinthians 10:13)

 

Do we want to be successful in overcoming temptation to sin? Follow Scripture’s guidance: “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

 

Present your bodies to God every morning when you get out of bed. Pray something along these lines: “Keep me, Lord, in the center of Your will. Let me not wander from Your commandments.”  And at bedtime, “Search me, Lord. See if there is any wicked way in me, let me know if there is anything in my life for which I need repentance.”

 

Present your bodies. Be renewed in your mind. “How can a young man [or an old person] keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word . . . Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:9, 11

 

Now let’s try to make some application of these principles: Christian, if you have a problem with sexual lust then the wisest thing to do is avoid places, media, and online encounters that will get you into trouble with God. I’ve been a Christian for 54 years this December, and because I know I have a problem with lust, I haven’t been to a pool or a beach in more than half a century.

 

If a Christian has a history of alcoholism, then the wisest thing to do is never bring alcohol into their home. If they have a narcotics addiction, I give the same counsel. And if they’ve been prescribed narcotics for pain, they ought to tell their doctor about their addiction who then might be able to prescribe an alternative pain reliever. If not, the physician will prescribe only the fewest amount of pills that they’d expect to be necessary to relieve the pain. And I could cite other temptations to sin and how to avoid them, but you get the idea.

 

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

 

Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers. Otherwise, we deceive our own selves.

 

Author and evangelist Joe Stowell tells a story in Decision Magazine of a friend who was living in an adulterous affair and was planning to divorce his wife. Stowell and several others confronted him, seeking to restore him to the Lord and to his marriage. And they said to him, “If you continue in this affair, please don’t tell anyone that you are a follower of Jesus because that would bring shame to His Name.” But the man responded, “Oh, but I am a follower of Jesus.” Stowell adds, “That was a delusional response.” (Decision Magazine, May 2025).

 

Yes, of course, the adulterer is self-deluded to think he can live in sin and escape God’s eternal judgment. And so are we to think we can willfully and with impunity live in ongoing rebellion against God’s commandments and escape His judgment.

 

The person who has truly received God’s Word will humbly turn from sin and put obedience to the Word into practice. That explains why James immediately goes on in verses 23–25 to compare the Word to a mirror.

 

Mirrors in the ancient world were generally made of polished bronze or copper which, unlike modern mirrors, produced dim and distorted reflections. A person couldn’t simply glance at their mirror to see what they looked like. They needed to look intently and carefully at their image. That’s why James speaks of looking ‘intently’ at the mirror of God’s word which reveals our flaws and our dirty faces.

 

If we see our flaws, but walk away without doing anything to fix them, we’ve proven that our Christian faith is really a puff of air. We’ve CHOSEN to forget what we looks like to God. Our failure is not due to ignorance, but to willful rebellion – which inevitably results in self-delusion.

 

Like the adulterer Joe Stowell wrote about, knowledge of the Bible without corresponding obedience to God’s word will likely produce a false sense of spiritual security. The Lord Jesus warned of that danger often enough that we should not make the same fatal mistake ourselves: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

 

James then contrasts the one who looks intently but does nothing with the one who looks intently and DOES what is necessary. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

 

Contrary to what so many people convince themselves to be true, God’s laws are NOT meant to be punitively restrictive. He gave us His laws to bring us FREEDOM – freedom to BE whom God created us and designed us to be; Freedom from bondage to sin’s reign and control of our life and its inevitable heartbreak and tears and loss; Freedom to obey God because we have learned to delight to do so.

 

No wonder the psalmist wrote, as we studied a few weeks ago: “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:7-8)

 

THAT is real freedom, and not the false ‘liberty’ that Satan promises if we reject God’s word. We only need to remember what he told Eve – and I paraphrase: “God has given you the law about the tree in the middle of the Garden to restrict your freedom. Obviously, He doesn’t have your best interests at heart.”

 

We know how Eve’s and Adam’s distrust of God turned out. But listen now to the one the Bible calls the ‘Last Adam’ (1 Corinthians 15:45) - John 8:31–32 - “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

I was recently asked if I follow Jesus because I want eternal life. I paused only a moment before responding because I’d been thinking about that question for a while. And so, I told him, for me, salvation is not only about eternal life – although I very much long to live forever with my God. But my salvation is also about living a life free from the self-destructive pathway I’d been on through my early adult years. For me, salvation is ALSO about being set free from the prison Satan had me in. 

         

The “Law of liberty” does not mean freedom from God’s commands. It means we are free to obey His commands – and we do so because we actually delight to do them. As the psalmist exclaimed: I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

 

Truth be told, the person whose eyes God has opened cannot read the entire 119th psalm and not come away with a deep sense of the superabundant value and worth of His word. And that would be a good prayer, wouldn’t it? “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, that I might behold wonderful things out of Your law.”

 

Already in this short chapter the Holy Spirit speaks to us about several important elements of faith that are true in the life of a Christian, not the least of which is perseverance in various trials, including temptations to sin. He also speaks about persevering in DOING God’s commandments and not merely hearing them.

 

We make rules for children to protect them from harm and to mature them into responsible adults. Similarly, God gives us rules to protect us and mature us into a people who are free to BE whom God designed us to be; Free from bondage to sin’s reign and control of our life; Free to obey God because we have learned to delight in obedience.

 

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free,” Scripture tells us: “Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

 

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him,
And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

 

And all God’s people say, “Amen.”

 

We’ll continue our study through the epistle of James next time.

Professors or Possessors

 

Our text today comes from verses 9-11 in this first chapter of the epistle of James, but first, we review the first several verses for context:

 

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve 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.  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 and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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.”

 

Now to today’s text, starting with verse 9: “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; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.”

 

I will never forget my experience while I was deployed with the Navy Nurse Corps during the Gulf War in 1990. Approximately 50 other Marine and Navy personnel set up a hospital somewhere in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert. I lived in a 16-man tent about 100 yards from the medical unit.

 

Each morning as I stepped out of the tent, I looked across the flat horizon to all points of the compass. Initially I was stunned by the desert’s greenery. When I expected varying hues of tan desert sand, there was instead a thin carpet of green flowering grass. But every day, day after day, when the afternoon sun hung overhead – the greenery all disappeared, scorched by the desert sun. And I could not help but remember verses such as the one we’re looking at: “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.”

 

Let’s pause here a few moments to make an important point for personal application. There is a Latin term often spoken of during Lent: Memento Mori – meaning, “Remember, you must die.”

 

The unavoidable truth of life’s brevity should assault everyone who takes time to think about it – especially those of us on this side of 70. How often have you looked back over the years and wondered how our lives could have passed so quickly? We only need to look at photos taken in our younger days to realize how quickly our years have flown. Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof, sang it for all of us:

 

Sunrise, sunset/Sunrise, sunset/Swiftly fly the years/One season following another/Laden with happiness and tears.

 

That’s why, whenever I speak at a memorial service, I often use a text from the book of Ecclesiastes: It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

 

Listen, please: It’s the wise person who considers St Peter’s words about this point of life’s swiftness: ‘What sort of people ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness? (2 Peter 3:11)

 

As we saw last week, the first part of this epistle talks about universal trials: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James then wastes no time telling his readers how to respond to and deal with those various trials and sufferings: “Ask God for wisdom.”

 

It is nothing less than a guarantee for failure if we attempt to cope with life’s ordeals in our own strength and wisdom. We may succeed for a while. Many people do. But eventually – unless the person has so hardened his heart that he is unable to see what is right in front of him – eventually the truth catches up with them, and the reality of death causes them to lose sleep at night.

 

Which brings us now to today’s text which is linked by context to coping with life’s brevity and sorrows: “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; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. (James 1:9-10)

 

James will return to this theme toward the end of his letter in chapter four: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:13-14)

 

So, in this short passage of verses 9–10, we might ask why James tells the poor Christian to rejoice in his exaltation and the rich one to rejoice in his humiliation. I think Charles Spurgeon answered the question well: Both poverty AND wealth are trials to test one’s faith AND to bring that faith to maturity.

 

And please notice that James’ counsel to the poor Christian contains no notion of the Name-it-and-claim-it heresy that promises the Christian wealth if he has enough faith. Instead, James tells the poor Christian to rejoice in his ‘high position.’ In other words, as Paul told the Ephesians, the poor – and the wealthy – to rejoice because, “even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God[ made us alive together with Christ. . .  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-7).

 

Rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life, that you have been rescued from Satan’s domain and transferred to God’s kingdom. Such is a fait accompli. It is not something that will happen in the future. Because of our faith – rich or poor, sick or healthy, alone or surrounded by loved ones – because of our faith we can all rejoice in our high position with Christ.

 

It is on that point I want to pause a few moments. When you’re alone in your apartments, think back to where you were before you came to Christ. Unless you came as a young child and remained faithful to Him from your earliest ages, you grew up like many of us who came to faith in our later years. You came from a life laden with sin. And speaking for myself, I can

easily extrapolate where I would likely be today if I’d stayed on the rebellious and self-centered trajectory I was on.

 

For me, salvation is not only about eternal life. It’s about a life free from self-destruction and heartache. For me, salvation is ALSO about being set free from the prison Satan had kept me in.

 

James tells the poor Christian – as he is about to tell the rich one – poverty is only temporary. Wait a while – as he says at the end of this epistle: (James 5:7-8, 11b) “Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

 

The poor Christian might be tempted by the devil to think they are of no value or use to God. And as an aside, the same temptation can fall to those who are elderly, or physically disabled. In all such cases, those thoughts would be 100% wrong.

 

Poverty or wealth – or health or physical or mental limitations – none of these determine our standing before God. Listen to the Lord Jesus speak to the impoverished Christians at Smyrna (Revelation 2:8b-9a): “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty - but you are rich.”

 

And listen to what James writes about the poor a little later in this epistle: “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? (James 2:5)

 

Of course, those who are wealthy can face the opposite temptation. They can be tempted to think of themselves as either spiritually or socially superior to others. But they must not think so. The rich and the poor are both level at the foot of Calvary’s Cross. And each is equally responsible to God for seeking to imitate Christ.

 

Listen to Jesus rebuke the members of the Laodicean church: (Revelation 3:15-17) ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

 

As the entire length and breadth of Scripture tells us, poverty and riches are only temporary. TEMPORARY. Fifty years of wealth or poverty is temporary in the light of eternity. A lifetime of wealth or poverty is temporary in the light of eternity. And so the rich should rejoice when God humbles them to the point of repentance, to the end that they ‘get over themselves’ and produce the fruit of true repentance. (See Matthew 3:8)

 

Wealth, health, status, and whatever else we deem important in life – all of it is temporary. One hundred years from today, everyone – rich or poor, living in a mansion or under a bridge – all of us will be decaying to dust – unless the Lord returns before then, at which time all who are in their graves will hear His voice. Listen to God’s word: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28-29

 

Christian – we all had better be working on bringing forth fruit that demonstrates humility and a realistic understanding that all the gifts God gives us are given only on loan, to be used for the benefit of others and ultimately for His kingdom. The Lord Jesus made it clear when He told His disciples: “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4). Listen also to Peter: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10) 

 

SO, what are we doing with God’s gifts of time, talent, and treasure? Please hear this: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”  (CT Studd)

 

To that point, I’ve included in your handout a list of organizations I believe are worthy of support. I’ve verified on Charity Navigator.org that each of these charities is dedicated to helping the poor, or the homeless, or the hungry, the prisoner, the unborn, and so forth. Whether a few dollars each month, or a lot of dollars each month, to any of these – or to different charities you know about – we are all responsible to help others.

 

One day we will all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ. Jesus spoke of that time in Matthew 25:34-40, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

 

I won’t at this time quote the rest of that text, but if you remember, the Lord then spoke to those who lived only for themselves. It did not end well for them.

 

And this is a good place to return to those verses nine and ten as they also relate to what James talks about persevering through trials. Some of you know the name of the Romanian Lutheran pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. When Romania fell under Communist control, Wurmbrand fearlessly proclaimed that Communism and Christianity were incompatible. Of course, that didn’t sit well with the Romanian communist government, and he was subsequently imprisoned and routinely tortured for the next 14 years for his ongoing refusal to deny true Christian faith.

 

By the way, what Wurmbrand said of the incompatibility of Communism and Christianity, we must also say of Socialism and Christianity: They are just as incompatible. Please remember Socialism’s history. For example, the word ‘Nazi’ is an abbreviation of the German term "Nationalsozialist. The term refers specifically to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which was led by Adolf Hitler.

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And then there is the USSR – the abbreviation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

 

It is a demonstrably true aphorism: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat history.” And I want to be clear about this: Voting for politicians who call themselves Socialists is like signing your own death warrant and the death warrants of everyone you know and love who faithfully serves Christ.

 

And what Wurmbrand said of many of his fellow pastors who cozied up with Communists is something we should all heed – especially as America begins to lean toward Socialism at all government levels: “A man really believes not what he recites in his creed, but [he really believes] only the things he is ready to die for.”

 

We will see in upcoming weeks as we look through his entire epistle, there is a fundamental difference between professing Christian faith and possessing Christian faith. That difference is evidenced by how our faith governs our lives. Will we obey Christ when obedience becomes costly?

 

I conclude today’s message this way: The overriding theme of this first chapter of James’ epistle speaks to how a true Christian responds to life circumstances. He tells us trials test our faith, producing perseverance and spiritual maturity (verses 2-4, 9-11, 12-18). Finally (verses 19-27) obedience to God’s word proves whether our faith is genuine. Verse 22 will serve as our springboard next week:

 

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking with Him through a Broken World

Our text today comes from the first eight verses of the epistle of James:

 

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve 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.  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 and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 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.

 

Before we move any further into the epistle, let’s look more closely at the author of this letter because I think we all can learn a lot from his attitude. According to biblical scholarship, James was the brother of the Lord Jesus. Whether he was half-brother, sharing the same mother (but not, of course, the Lord’s Father), or he was simply a relative of Jesus growing up in the same household is not germane to the point. What IS the point is that James grew up with Jesus. They shared the same living environment, perhaps some of the same friends, and certainly the same synagogue and family training in Jewish Law and customs according to Moses and the prophets.

 

So, when James introduces himself as a “bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” his humility ought to be instructive. He could have called attention to his familial relationship with Jesus. Talk about ‘name-dropping’ – there could never be a more impressive resume than living in the same household with God incarnate. James could have also called attention to his leadership of the Jerusalem church, which was the largest church at the time anywhere in the world. He could have reminded his readers that it was he who led the first council of apostles and elders, as we find in Acts chapter 15.

 

But he did none of these things. He simply referred to himself as a bondservant – the Greek word means slave – a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. We tend to do our best to soften the New Testament term used for slave – perhaps in part because of America’s repugnant history of slavery in the South. But irrespective of American history, the writers of the New Testament reckoned themselves as being fully owned by their master, the Lord Jesus. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; Likewise, he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 7:22-23a)

 

In fact, the humility of all the New Testament writers ought to be instructive to us. For example, Peter could’ve called attention to the time Jesus said to him: “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:17-18) But he referred to himself in his letters as bondservant – a slave of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1).

 

What about Paul? No one did more in those early years to build Christ’s kingdom than he, yet he not only called himself a slave of Jesus Christ, but also the “foremost” of sinners (e.g. Romans 1 and 1 Timothy 1).

 

So, application time: What ought this point of humility mean to us here? Simply this: We ought to be very careful how we think and talk about our accomplishments in life. We ought to beware of boasting in our heart about our jobs or titles or ranks or prestige in the community or the accolades we’ve received during our working careers. After all, as James reminds us several verses later in this first chapter: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)

 

Christian: Beware. God shares His glory with no one. Listen to what

He says to us through Jeremiah: (Jeremiah 9:23-24) “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things.”

This is NOT a minor point. Boasting about OUR accomplishments is the kind of pride that leads to disaster. Just look at the ancient nation of Israel. God warned them even before they entered the Promised Land to be careful to recognize where their blessings came from: Deuteronomy 8:11-18a

 

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; ¹² otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery . . . .[and] you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth.”

 

But did they pay heed? You know they did not, and their pride resulted ultimately in their devastating judgments and exiles. So, Christian, be careful to remember and to quickly acknowledge, as Paul warned the Corinthians: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7b

 

So, James continues, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

 

Consider it ‘joy’ WHEN you experience trials. That counsel flies in the face of modernist preachers and those in pews who like to believe God wants them to always be happy and prosperous and healthy.

 

Well, of COURSE God wants those things for His children. He didn’t place Adam and Eve in that Garden for the express purpose of giving them a life of hardship. Their hardship came ONLY after their fall into sin. God did not design this world and this life to be corrupted by sin. That’s why hardships and trials continue to this very moment – because we live in a fallen and broken world.  And it will remain fallen and broken until Jesus brings about the new heaven and new earth as He promises through the various Old Testament prophets and in those last chapters of Revelation.

 

Please also notice James does not say, “IF you encounter various trials.”  He writes, “Consider it joy WHEN you encounter them.” He tells us why we should rejoice in the next clause, and we’ll get there in a moment – but first we need to park here at this clause for a short while.

 

Listen. There is not a person here who does not know that faithful Christians get cancer. Or die in car accidents. Or suffer chronic illnesses and disabilities. We know that faithful Christians become impoverished. And yes, are raped and murdered, as we know is happening in places like Nigeria, Iraq, Iran – and even here in America.

 

We live in a broken and fallen world. And it is to that very point the Lord Jesus counseled His disciples: John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 

And it is toward that point that James circles back to in chapter five of this letter: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. ⁸ You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . . You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” James 5:7,8,11

 

Consider it all joy WHEN trials come. Why? Now to that next clause: “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” And if I may paraphrase what he then adds: “So let perseverance work its full effect, that your faith may be made mature and complete.”

 

It is a doctrine of demons when preachers tell us if we only have enough faith, we can be healthy and wealthy. That sounds suspiciously like the false teaching popular in the first century. You may remember the story of the man blind from birth. Here is part of that text in John 9:2-3 – “And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

 

Listen, God has something far better and eternally more important for us than temporary earthly blessings. Listen to Paul again: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

 

‘All things’ INCLUDE trials and losses and griefs and even tragedies. God causes all things to work for good. And what is that ‘good’? Look at the next verse in Romans 8: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son” who, as the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 5:8 –  “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” Romans 8:28-29

 

Despite the lies of some modernist preachers, God PURPOSELY and PURPOSEFULLY brings varying degrees of suffering into our lives. That might be one reason Peter wrote: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

 

The reality of Christian suffering, and the benefit and advantage of Christians suffering might be one reason Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi: (Philippians 1:29) “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

 

And Paul himself was no stranger to suffering. Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Corinthian: (2 Corinthians 4:7-11) “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; ⁸ we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹ For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake . . .”

 

Christian, and this too is important, remember what Satan said to Jesus in the wilderness after 40 days of physical and emotional deprivation: “If you are the son of God” then do such and such. Likewise, he inspired the mob at the foot of Calvary’s cross to say it again to the Man as He suffered enormous physical and emotional deprivation: “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross . .. He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him.”  Matthew 27:40-43

Christian, don’t be shocked that Satan speaks similarly to you through family, friends, and neighbors when you suffer through some terrible trial. He’ll make some sarcastic comments through them such as, “If you’re really a child of God, if God really cares about you, then why are you suffering like this?”

 

He does those things to demoralize you, to seduce you to give up your faith. Hey, he’s been doing that for millennia. One of the reasons James wrote this epistle was to encourage his readers to persevere for Christ, some of whom were teetering on the edge of walking away from Christ. The book of Hebrews was written for the same reason. And even a cursory reading of the Lord’s remarks to the seven churches in Revelation tells us Satan is very skillful in discouraging and demoralizing Christians into giving up.

 

And I suspect that’s why James, so early in his epistle, tells his readers, “Hey, I know you’re struggling through trials, so do this: If you need wisdom to handle those trials – ask God for that wisdom, because He gives it to everyone who honestly asks for it. And then James goes on: ⁶ 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. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

 

If we lack wisdom as to HOW to deal with and to endure our trials – then ask God. But if we go to Him with a double-mind, if we ask Him with an underlying plan to ignore His counsel if we don’t like His answer – then we should not expect to receive anything from Him.

 

It’s really that simple and straightforward. John Wesley said of a double-minded person is the person whose heart is not fully given up to God and His work in our life. John Calvin tells us that faith doesn’t require that we understand God’s plan, but it requires that we simply trust Him even when we don’t understand it – or like it. 

 

Job said it well: (Job 6:1-10) “Oh that my grief were actually weighed and laid in the balances together with my calamity! ³ “For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas . . . ⁴ “For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me . . . . “But it is still my consolation, and I rejoice in unsparing pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.”

 

The Psalmist also, in the context of grief and loss, writes: “All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, and we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, and our steps have not deviated from Your way.”

 

Do we want God’s wisdom? When I mentored nursing students, I often told them they must not wait until a patient emergency to occur before they ensured they had emergency equipment in the room. They were responsible for ensuring they had those things available when they first came on shift and went into their patients’ rooms to greet them.

 

I give the same counsel to myself – and to anyone interested in my counsel: Don’t wait until you NEED God’s wisdom to ensure you know what His word teaches about trials and grief and loss. Instead, make sure you’re prepared for trials BEFORE they occur.

 

How might we be prepared? I’ll tell it again what I do: In addition to my daily reading from both Old and New Testaments, every morning I also read a chapter or two from Psalms. I urge you to do something similar.

 

I close with this reminder: Christian, Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” And, “If any of you lacks wisdom to handle those trials, ask God in faith.”

 

Christian, our Father in heaven knows our names. He knows our addresses. He knows our needs and circumstances. So I close with the lyrics from a song by the group, The Imperials –

 

He didn't bring us this far to leave us/He didn't teach us to swim to let us drown/He didn't build His home in us to move away/He didn't lift us up to let us down.