James 1:1-18 – Faith Revealed in Trials
The book of
James was authored by James. Who was
James? There are several people in
scripture called James. This James was
the step-brother of Jesus. James grew up
with Jesus, but didn’t believe He was the Messiah until after His resurrection. James became a leader of the church and
served God. He addressed this letter to
Christians everywhere. He wrote to teach
Christians how to act like Christians. He
wanted to help believers live out their faith and to see life as a series of
tests. We are to consider it pure joy
when we are faced with trials and temptations, because we know the results. It produces patience, perseverance and grows
our faith. We know He is at work in our
lives. As Christians we endure
exploitation and slander, because we are followers of Jesus. We experience this because Jesus experienced
it.
Why does God
allow trials and suffering? God has given us free will and the suffering
is usually a result from the choices we make.
Sometimes God allows suffering to guide His children back to the right
path when they have strayed. Sometimes
we suffer because of the sins of others.
Remember we do live in a fallen evil world. We all suffer because man corrupted
everything in God’s world when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. Sometimes God allows suffering to increase a
believer’s faith and show their witness to the world. Some suffering is to bring glory to God.
What a perfect
message at this time in our lives. We
are going through a huge trial today – the pandemic of the coronavirus. A few weeks ago we were eating in
restaurants, going to ball games and movies, shopping in the malls, children
were going to school, and grocery store shelves were fully stocked. Then the coronavirus happened. Things are very different now. We are isolated at home. Some are working from home, doing homework
from home, and some are out of work. It’s
a fearful time for many. At last count the
virus has made over 2,000,000 sick with over 162,000 deaths.
How do we
maintain our faith in such hard times? James tells us to consider it pure joy when
we go through trials, because of what can happen through the hardships in the
end. We’re not happy about what’s going
on in our world right now. But don’t
confuse happiness with joy. Joy is
deeper than happiness and is based on how you think about something, not how
you feel.
Do you what a
faith that can bring you through your trial? We all want a deep
faith to get us through hard times. We
can’t have deep faith if we don’t go through trials and sufferings. When you choose to endure the hardship, your
faith grows deeper. “So do not worry…. But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness…. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.” – Matt.
6:31-34. Trust God and He will bring
you through it.
Faith is proven
real when we are tested. How we live our
lives shows our faith. We think life
should be fair, but hardships and trials come to everyone. We should be joyful because of what we
know. God is developing us. “And we know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purposes.” – (Romans
8:28). How does He use a trial to
develop us? – moment by moment.
Running doesn’t eliminate the trial.
The only way is to go through it.
James said if we
lack wisdom, we should ask God for wisdom.
When we pray we should believe and not doubt. Is it sinful to doubt? We are all human and we have doubts from time
to time. We can doubt what someone says
and disagree with them. Sometimes doubt
can lead us to more study, knowledge and maturity. The doubt that is a sin is when we don’t
trust God and His promises. We should
surrender our will to God in trials. Our
belief is what keeps us stable. When we
doubt, we begin to get tossed around mentally and emotionally. James calls this kind of person double-minded
and unstable.
How much
confidence do you have in God’s wisdom and goodness?
When tempted,
don’t say it’s God who tempted you. God
cannot tempt anyone and no one can tempt God.
We are tempted by our own evil desires.
We’re dragged away and enticed. That
desire gives birth to sin, which leads to death. James said “don’t be deceived”. All good and perfect gifts come from above
from God. He chose to give us birth
through the Word of Truth.
No one is exempt
from temptation, but God never tempts.
Even Jesus was tempted. There is
temptation everywhere you look in this world.
We are tempted to gossip. We are
tempted to lie to make ourselves look good.
We are tempted to argue our political views. We are tempted in many ways. We live in a sexually immoral world. Sex is portrayed everywhere – TV, movies,
magazines, etc. Couples are living
together as if that was the way it was supposed to be – even Christians. Babies are being born and then couples get
married. When we give in to temptation,
we let Satan get a foothold and then we have sin in our lives. America is giving in to Satan with our
selfish and lustful desires and one day we as a nation will be sorry for His
judgment is coming. “For the wages of sin is death...” – (Romans 6:23).
Where is your
faith today?
How useful is
your faith in temptation? Trials reveal our true attitude toward
God.
Where are you
on the surrender scale?
How can we
avoid falling into sin? We can stay away from places and situations
where we might be tempted. Send a
message to Hollywood by not watching those “R” rated movies. Stay in His Word and fix your eyes on
Jesus. We can use the full Armor of God.
– (Eph. 6:10-18).
Principle:
God’s purpose in all trials is to develop spiritual maturity.
James 1:19-27-2:1-13 – Faith Revealed in Attitude
James lists
several ways a Christian should behave.
We should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become
angry. Usually anger comes from being
self-centered. If we are eager to listen
and slow to speak, we are others-centered.
Our anger simply promotes our own agenda. Our anger doesn’t bring about the righteous
life that God desires for us. We should
get rid of all moral filth and evil and humbly accept His Word planted in
us. We should watch our tongues. Our tongues will get us into trouble every
time.
We are to not
only be hearers of the Word, but be doers of the Word. Many hear God’s Word on Sunday mornings at
church, but they are not doers of the Word.
One way to be doers is to bridle the tongue. James uses the example of someone who is
religious, but is not really right with God which is evident because he doesn’t
bridle his tongue.
Do you gossip?
When was the
last time you walked away when gossip started?
James says the
real walk with God can be seen by looking after orphans and widows in times of
their distress and to keep yourself from being polluted by the world. Who are the
orphans and widows and how do we help them? They are the less
fortunate and are all around us. We can
visit the sick and elderly, send them encouraging cards, mow their yard, run
errands for them, take them to their appointments, etc. We can donate money or give our time to
organizations like Salvation Army, the Red Cross, food and clothing banks,
etc. There are many ways. Just look around and you will find them.
How eager are
you to hearing from God?
Do you study
the Word out of habit or hunger?
Do you accept
God’s Word as authoritive living?
Ask yourself,
“Am I living as a hypocrite”?
How has God
placed in your heart the love for others?
Has it
changed you?
Who is on
your mind that is lonely and thirsty for love?
James says we
should not discriminate. Don’t shun
those who are different from you or whose appearances don’t live up to what you
think they should. God shows no
favoritism. “But
if you show favoritism, you sin …” – (James 2:9). None of us are
perfect. We are human and we all break
the 10 Commandments. There’s nothing we
can do on our own to make up for it. But
Jesus did. He died on the cross for
everyone. He paid for our sins, which
make us perfect in God’s eyes.
The poor man may
not have earthly riches, but if he is a believer he has something greater than
he could ever imagine. He is an heir of
God. One who has Christ has all the
spiritual blessings of Heaven for eternity.
The rich man (if unsaved), has only his worldly riches to hold to. So if rich or poor, we are equal. God does not look at our bank account. He does not show favoritism by the clothes we
wear or the company we keep. The rich
are not any higher, because of their riches.
It’s all going to fade away anyway.
If we are Christians, we all have the wealth of salvation, which is an eternal
value. Worldly things are not eternal. God had chosen the poor, but not because
there is a benefit to being poor. Here in
this James passage the poor are a class of humble people who put their trust in
God. They depend on Him, not on things
they own. God chose rich and poor people
who trust in Him. They all have a place
in the kingdom of God.
We are to keep
the royal law which is, “Love your neighbor as yourselves”
– James 2:8, Matt. 22:39, Mark 12:31. It is the royal law because it comes from our
great King Jesus. If we keep this law we
are doing right, but if we show favoritism we sin. Judgment without mercy will be shown to
anyone who hasn’t been merciful. Mercy
triumphs over judgment. (James 2:8-13).
Principle: Authentic
faith produces genuine love for others.
James 2:14-26 – Faith Revealed in Deeds.
James gave
examples of both false faith and authentic faith. False faith knows about saving faith, but is
a stranger to living by it. This faith
in only an intellectual faith and is useless, but it has no value and produces
no results. Authentic faith is a
complete faith with words and deeds working together. Authentic faith lives in hearts born for
obedient service that works in cooperation with the Spirit to please God.
Faith without
action is not a saving faith. Real faith
produces action and changes your heart. Our
works (deeds) don’t save us, but faith without works is dead. “For it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Eph. 2:8-9. We might be a good person, but being good
doesn’t count. Being a good person or
having faith without works does not bring salvation to a person. Our deeds are the proof of our faith. We have to do more than just believe. Even the demons believe in Jesus. We have to put our belief and faith into
action like that of Abraham and Rahab.
They believed, had faith and followed with actions. That’s true faith. Works don’t save us. Every believer knows God and that He died on
the cross, but if we don’t fully surrender, we are lost, separated from God and
destined to Hell for eternity.
James tells us
there are three elements of true or saving faith: (1) The first element of faith
is to believe – to embrace the basic teachings of Christ; (2) Then faith involves
our response to what God has done - not only did Jesus die on the cross for all, but that He died for you and me; (3) Finally,
faith involves trust or commitment - trust in His promises and commit to living to
please Him.
Put all these
elements together and faith means that you receive Jesus as your personal Savior
and Lord and are committed to following Him.
Does this describe your life?
Principle: Authentic
saving faith transforms our hearts to love and to serve like Christ.
How do people
know you have committed your life to Jesus?
How are you
displaying love to others?
Does your
faith prove authentic love?
Do you
struggle to live out what you believe?
Join me here
next week as we continue our study of the book of James -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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