James 1:1-9

[0:00] Good morning, everyone. It's good to see you. If you're here for the first time, it's really good to see you. Some new faces out there. Thanks for coming today. If you don't have a Bible or a little piece of paper that has small writing on it, feel free to raise your hand and we'll get one of those to you.

[0:20] But if you can, go ahead and turn to the book of James. It is page 699 in the paperback ESV Bibles.

[0:34] I am reading out of the New King James, so if that causes any confusion, sorry. But today we're going to start a journey into the epistle that is authored by a guy named James.

[0:51] And that's pretty much all the information that he gave us. He didn't sign it with his first and last name. He didn't tell us who his mom or dad was. He didn't tell us his social security number.

[1:02] Nor did he tell us the date at which he signed it. And those are kind of interesting because there is much discussion by theologians on who this James was.

[1:13] Because James is a pretty common name back in the day, especially if you were Jewish. So there were a lot of James. It's almost like Roberts at our church. Raise your hand if you're a Robert. Amen. But when our goal as we teach and our goal as we go through this book is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

[1:34] And that, what Paul gave for us as a goal for church in Ephesians chapter 4, James just picks up that ball and he runs with it.

[1:45] And he runs really hard. And that's good. Because Christ has a purpose for us as Christians. He has a purpose for us to be his ambassadors.

[1:55] And we think of us as an ambassador. If you were an ambassador to Taiwan, you would be geographically very far away from the president, wouldn't you? But you would have his understanding and you would know what he wants you to do while you are on that journey of being an ambassador to a foreign nation.

[2:14] And we are in the same state almost as Paul called us to be ambassadors in Corinthians. Our Savior is a great distance from us. He has seated the right hand of God.

[2:26] But he's given us his will. He's given us his word. And he's given us a purpose. He's given us a purpose of taking the gospel to all the nations. And James picks up with that.

[2:37] And he gives us very good instructions on how we are to live as Christians and how we are to navigate this life living out our faith on a daily basis.

[2:50] Now, I came up with some good resources. I came up with a very, very inexpensive resource. If you have access to Amazon.com, not the place, but the website, you can go on Amazon.

[3:06] And for 99 cents, which is currently cheaper than the price of a McDonald's hamburger, and this book will have much more nutrition, even if you print it off and actually eat it than a hamburger.

[3:18] This book is, and bear with me, is the ultimate commentary on James, a collective wisdom on the Bible. Now, how do you come up with the title, Ultimate Commentary?

[3:29] Because usually ultimate is like ultimate and then some superhero's name. But this is the ultimate commentary on James, a collective wisdom on the Bible. And again, it's only 99 cents. But here are the authors in this commentary.

[3:43] There's a Mr. Albert Barnes, who is a very profound Methodist pastor. There is Mr. John Calvin. I think a few of you might have heard of Mr. John Calvin.

[3:55] There is Adam Clark, Matthew Henry, another very famous theologian. There is a guy named Charles H. Spurgeon. And there's also Mr. John Wesley. Great thinkers.

[4:08] And this one collective commentary of all their thoughts on the book of James is only 99 cents. So I'd encourage you to make that purchase, download it. If you are hungry, you can print it off and eat a few pages.

[4:20] But the reason why I picked that collective is because those guys, they span from the 16th century all the way almost till the 20th century. A big chunk of time.

[4:31] And I have a neat quote that I stumbled upon by Mr. C.S. Lewis. And in his book, God in the Docket, Essays on Theology and Ethics, he states this on page 202 if you want to look it up.

[4:45] It says, every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths. And especially liable at making certain mistakes.

[4:57] We all, therefore, need the books that will correct us with the characteristic mistakes of our period. And that means the old books. So it's good to have a resource for only 99 cents that spans centuries.

[5:11] So that's my plug for not plugging for Amazon. I don't know any stock in their company. But it's a good book. It's a cheap, very inexpensive resource. What is the purpose of James? The way I see the purpose of James is James is trying to help us manifest our faith in every area of our life.

[5:30] He pretty much covers every area of our life. He covers, in chapter 1, trials and temptations. He covers us being a doer of the word, not just a hearer of the word. In chapter 2, he talks about a church that should not show favoritism to the social classes or the ethnic groups.

[5:47] He talks about, later on in chapter 2, we should see evidence for our faith. There should be evidence for our faith. In chapter 3, how we tame, we should tame the tongue.

[5:59] The understanding and getting wisdom and expressing wisdom. In chapter 4, he talks about true priorities that we should be having in our lives. He talks about humility and dealing with a judgmental spirit.

[6:11] He talks about seeing God's will in every area of our life. Sorry, seeking God's will in every area of our life. And in chapter 5, he gives warnings to the rich. He calls on us to wait on the return of the Lord.

[6:26] He asks us to pray for one another. And then he closes the book out with something very, very special and something very, very encouraging. The last two verses of the book give us a task of chasing down those that wander away from the church or chasing down those that wander away from our faith.

[6:43] And what's interesting is looking at the last couple of verses of the book and the first few verses of the book, the first few verses of the book deal with trials and temptation.

[6:55] External events that can be discouraging to us and then us realizing our sin nature in the wrong direction and going down that path. Two things that can cripple a believer.

[7:09] And even if we respond wrong to those and we walk away from the faith, if we walk away from the church, James begs us to chase that individual down and bring them back to the faith.

[7:23] So in my reading, I was doing some reading and I stumbled upon some of the thoughts that Martin Luther had. And if Martin Luther and James, the writer of James, sat down in a room, they would probably be arguing about a few things.

[7:35] And what's interesting to think is when Martin Luther, where he was in time and where James was in time, very two different periods in history. Very two different men.

[7:46] And probably how they were educated on opposite ends of the spectrum. But Martin Luther realized that James was missing a few things in his gospel. And what he was missing is he did not talk about the passion of Christ.

[7:59] He did not talk about the crucifixion. James does not bring out the resurrection. And he does not touch on the Holy Spirit. And the reason I bring that up, bring up Martin and James, not to highlight that they would probably argue over things, is to realize that Martin pointed out some very good things.

[8:18] James doesn't touch, doesn't cover all the bases. And that's important for us to realize as we go through the book of James, because we need to tie in the passion. We need to tie in the Holy Spirit.

[8:31] We need to tie in the crucifixion. We need to tie in the resurrection. We need to interweave these into the book of James so that we can build a much stronger understanding of who our God is and how he wants us to live.

[8:46] So let's jump into the book of James. And we'll start in chapter 1, verses 1 through 8. And that's our goal today is to cover James chapter 1, verses 1 through 8.

[8:58] James, a bondservant of God and Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings.

[9:11] My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be complete and lacking nothing.

[9:27] And if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, not with doubting.

[9:39] For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. And let that man not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, being unstable in all his ways.

[9:53] There's our passage for today. I want to start kind of going verse by verse. It's just the way my mind works sequentially, and we'll cover a few of the different highlights. But how does James identify himself?

[10:06] James the carpenter, James the fisherman, James tall, dark, and handsome. How does he identify himself? He identifies himself as a bondservant.

[10:18] Now, in our culture, or in most cultures throughout the world and throughout time, if you came in and you said, Hey, I'm a slave. People are like, Oh. Right? Most of these guys that I talked about that are in the ultimate commentary on the book of James worked very, very hard to abolish slavery through their teachings and through their ministries.

[10:36] But here, James, he identifies himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. A slave of Jesus Christ. Question to think about.

[10:47] Who does James believe owns him? Who does he believe owns him? Jesus Christ. Who is he working for throughout his life?

[11:02] Jesus Christ. Question. Should we be identifying as being owned by Jesus Christ if we are believers in him?

[11:14] Should we be identifying that we are working throughout our life for Jesus Christ? We see the great writers of the epistles, Paul and Peter, James, many others, all identified themselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ.

[11:29] And as we move through this book, my encouragement for you is to start working. If you haven't already, start working towards it. Think about this. What does it mean for me to be owned by Christ and to be a bondservant of Christ?

[11:43] Because in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, let me turn real quick right there. It says, Paul says this to the Galatians, I have been crucified with Christ.

[11:54] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[12:06] Who is Paul living for on a daily basis? Is he living for self or is he living for Christ? He's living for Christ. He's realizing that Christ has been crucified.

[12:18] What was Christ crucified for? He went to the cross for our sins. And Paul is realizing that same thing, that I am taking my sins and realizing that Christ has died for my sins.

[12:32] I no longer live under the control of my sins, but I live under the control of Jesus Christ. How does Christ want us to come to him?

[12:44] Does he want us to come to him through faith? He does. How does Christ want us to continue to live on a daily basis? By faith.

[12:57] So, remember that. Christ wants us to live on a daily basis by faith as we continue on in the text. So, realizing that James is a bondservant, we should also be living as bondservants for Jesus Christ.

[13:13] First, how do we move forward? And in James, he says, in verse 2, he says, My brethren, or first, let me back up a little bit. I didn't have this in my notes.

[13:24] I kind of added it as I was praying earlier. He starts by talking to the 12 tribes that are scattered abroad. Now, he didn't date when he wrote this. We don't know when he wrote it. He could have written it very early after the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

[13:38] He could have written it sometime in AD 40s, AD 50s. He could have written it after AD 70, after the destruction of Jerusalem. But either way, he wrote it to a group of Christians that were suffering persecution.

[13:52] And he wrote it to a group of Jews that have been suffering persecution throughout history. He didn't write this book to people that had life easy.

[14:03] They didn't have an easy button that they would push all the time. Life was difficult for them. And the Jewish people had been persecuted throughout history. And those that were believers in Jesus Christ continued to be persecuted throughout history.

[14:15] So he was writing this to 12 tribes of believers scattered abroad that had it difficult in their culture. And that were persecuted by either their fellow Jews or persecuted by the Romans.

[14:27] Life was difficult for these individuals. And then he comes to verse 2 and he says, My brethren, talking to the group as a whole, he says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into trials.

[14:41] So who is he talking to? Is he talking to the brethren? He is. Is he talking to you? The individuals within that group? He is.

[14:51] And I want us to think about that in light of our community. And we'll come back to that at the end. But he's specifically, he's talking to the entire group as a whole. But then he focuses right in on the individual.

[15:02] You count it all joy when you go through various trials. So what is a trial? Has anybody shopped at Books a Million recently? They always try to get you to sign up for a temporary subscription, a trial subscription to pick your magazine.

[15:18] Okay? That's not this type of trial. It's also not the type of trial where you get a summons in the mail and you have to show up for court. It's not that type of trial either.

[15:29] This type of trial, and this is my definition, it is a difficult event or time in your life that is out of your control but can result in you being tested emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

[15:46] I'm going to repeat that again. It's a difficult time in your life that is out of your control which can result in you being tested emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

[15:58] That's what James is talking about. These individuals are going through very difficult times in their lives that are out of their control. If, could Stephen control his fate when he went before the Jews?

[16:17] He had an obligation to share the gospel. Did he share the gospel? It was out of his control about how they treated him. They stoned him to death. When Peter and John were taken before the Sanhedrin, they said, we cannot obey you, but we must obey God.

[16:37] What did that result in being done to them? They were beaten. Things that were out of their control, but they chose to go down the right path. So, example of trials. My wife was telling me when I came home last night that the Landex, Dan and Amber Landex, yesterday had a very difficult day.

[16:57] Our oldest son fell down and broke his arm. Their daughter fell off with a slide and had a huge black eye. And then their youngest son screamed himself to sleep because he had celiac disease and he had gluten and he just had horrible stomach cramps.

[17:17] It was a difficult day to be a mom or a dad for those little boys and little girls. Difficult time. That was a trial that they experienced and they walked through. That's a trial that an individual went through.

[17:36] The most difficult trial that I have been through in my life happened four years ago to this day. Four years ago.

[17:49] One of my former Sunday school students and his cousin were riding a motorcycle and they were killed instantaneously. It was a tremendously difficult time.

[18:03] Standing there on the side of the road with their family and waiting for the boys to get taken to the hospital. It was a horrible time to go through.

[18:15] A couple of days later, I was asked to be one of the speakers at their funeral. It was a tremendous challenge. And we'll come back. I want to finish that story as we continue to go through.

[18:28] But that was a tremendous trial. But remember, trials, he describes, are to you. They're on an individual basis. So how the trials we experience, what one might experience and call a trial, and what another might experience and call a trial, can be different.

[18:45] They're on a you basis. But remember the brethren part. So let's go back. Let's take one of those psalms that we have on your sheet. Psalm 11, chapter 5.

[18:56] Oftentimes we ask, why do we go through trials? Why do these difficult periods in our life, why do they happen? And the reason I gave this little sheet, and these psalms are little chapters, and they're by no means exhaustive.

[19:16] It's just a short little list that I came up with. But in Psalm 11, verse 5, it says, I'm going to start in verse 4. The Lord is in his holy temple.

[19:28] The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. His eyelids test the sons of men. And the Lord, verse 5, tests the righteous.

[19:41] The Lord tests the righteous. And we're going to see and continue on as we move through dreams why God does that. But we have to know that the Lord tests the righteous. Some of these psalms, if you go through them in your own time, you see that God is the owner of everything.

[19:57] He has the right, because he owns everything, to test the righteous. And it's a difficult thing to understand. And trials are difficult to go through. But we realize that God is the owner of all things, and he has the right to test the righteous.

[20:14] And James chapter 3, or sorry, James chapter 1, verse 2, he says, My brethren, count it all joy. What is joy? Joy is a state of contentment.

[20:29] We're just content. It can be a state of contentment, happiness, which others see in our life. Can you pick out a person that is full of joy? You can, right?

[20:40] They smile. They probably stand a little bit straighter than normal, right? They smile. There's a skip in their step. On the opposite side, can you pick out a person that is sad, that is beaten down, that is discouraged, right?

[20:55] Hold their head down. Maybe they slouch a little more. Walk slowly. Walk heavily. There's a difference. But what's interesting is count it all joy.

[21:05] James is encouraging these readers, when they go through trials, to be joyful, and be joyful in such a manner as that their community that they are in can see it.

[21:21] So, count it all joy when you go through various trials. Verse 4, sorry, verse 3, Knowing that testing your faith produces patience. Patience.

[21:32] The testing of your faith produces patience. Patience. Who here was born patient? How about give it a couple of weeks? Did you get more patient?

[21:45] Anybody with a newborn that's a couple of weeks old, did they, like, get patient? No. Give it a couple of years. When you're a toddler, are they patient? No. How about, let's, I'll bring it closer to us.

[21:56] Give it a couple of decades. Kind of, you do a better job of hiding the fact that you're not patient. But, patience is not something we're born with.

[22:07] But it's something that these trials, these tests that we go through, God wants to increase and build our patience. But patience have its perfect work. Okay?

[22:18] So, we are not born with patience, but we want to have, God is trying to bring into our lives this attribute of waiting for an unknown period of time. It could be even decades for resolution or change in this trial that we're going through.

[22:32] Building patience. Where else is patience found in the New Testament? I'll give you a hint. It's in Galatians. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience.

[22:46] Part of the intertwining that we want to do is realizing that as we go through trials, it's, James isn't telling us to roll up our sleeves. I don't have a belt on, so I can't tighten it. Or to pull up our pants or to tuck our shirt in and grit it out on our own.

[22:59] Now, Paul is encouraging us to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience. And you know what's neat about those love and joy and peace?

[23:12] Is people can see those radiated from us. They can see love. They can feel love. They can see joy. They can hear of our joy. They can understand and see that we have peace.

[23:25] And we're called to live out these fruits of the Spirit. To walk by the Spirit and not carry out the desires of the flesh. Verse 4. Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

[23:41] Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Love, joy, peace, and patience. Let's turn to Psalm 139, verse 17.

[23:54] Psalm 139. Is it easy to feel discouraged when going through a trial? It is. Is it easy to feel alone when you're going through a trial?

[24:05] Is it easy to feel helpless when we're going through a trial? It is. Psalm 139 is a beautiful psalm.

[24:16] Because it describes the best friend that we have. And in Psalm 139, I'm going to start in verse 1.

[24:30] Once my fingers, my thumbs get me there. Excuse me. Psalm 139, 1 and 2, he says this. Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me.

[24:41] You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thoughts from afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down. Are there things that we think about that aren't good?

[24:57] Are there things that we think about that aren't wrong? Sorry, that are wrong. That are unrighteous, that are unholy. We think about some weird... I do. I admit I'm a sinner.

[25:08] Sorry. But there are some things that we think about that aren't good. And God searches us. He knows us. He knows our sitting down and our rising up. He knows our path. He knows the direction that we are going.

[25:21] Verse 10. Even there, your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. Verse 11. If I say, surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me.

[25:34] Indeed, the darkness shall not hide me from you, but night shines as day and the darkness and the light are both alike to you. Even though God searches us and knows us intimately and in depth, he leads us.

[25:51] He walks with us. And even though the darkness may be encroaching around us as we're going through a trial, it can be his light. Because God is there. To me, that is just amazing to realize.

[26:02] Even though God knows us, he is right there with us. Verse 17. How precious also are your thoughts to me. How great the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.

[26:16] When I am awake, I am still with you. God's great and loving thoughts to us are not numerable. That's the analogy. The sand on the seashore. If you want an unending hobby, you can run down to the beach and start counting the sand.

[26:31] You'll never run out of that hobby. And that's the thing is God's thoughts are like that. They don't. His positive thoughts towards us, his good, perfect will for us never ends.

[26:42] It continues on and on and on. Is that a good friend to have? Is that a good person to have walking with us? It is amazing and encouraging. When after the boys died, I was sick to my stomach.

[27:06] I literally that evening I puked because of just how upset my nerves were. And then when I was asked to talk at their memorial service, I was even more nervous.

[27:19] I'd never done that before. I don't have any official training to do anything like that. I felt lost and hopeless. Was God with me?

[27:31] Was he walking with me? Did he have a perfect plan for the direction that I should go in? He does. That's the purpose of me trying to bring these psalms as we go through trials.

[27:42] The writer of these psalms went through trials. David went through tremendous trials in his life. And what he realized is the character of the great God that we have that walks through us, walks with us through these trials for the perfecting of our faith.

[27:58] Let's jump back to James verse 5. And James verse 5, he says, If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

[28:15] So I found my visual aid this morning. A clear plastic cup. So the reason I have a clear plastic cup is how much liquid is in here now? None.

[28:26] It's empty, right? So let's say the cup is me. And this is my water bottle. Hopefully I haven't consumed it. If this was a good analogy, I would have a hose going down to the river. Therefore I could drain the ocean continually.

[28:38] But this cup, let's say the water, is the wisdom that God provides. According to this verse, you can see this. There's three drops. Does he provide that much wisdom? Does he provide a measured quantity of wisdom?

[28:52] He does not. Okay, what does it say in your Bible? You guys can shout it out. How does he provide wisdom? Generously. Generously. Some translations say abundantly.

[29:04] Mine says liberally. Not the political belief, but the action. Okay? He provides. And he keeps providing. And he keeps providing. And he keeps providing. Does he then stop there when we're half full?

[29:15] No. No. No. No. He continues on. And he continues on. So what if he goes. Hopefully I can get there. What if he goes. That far.

[29:28] Pretty much full. And then we take a sip. And we feel like we're lacking wisdom. Lacking wisdom. Excuse me. Trying to talk and swallow. Does he then stop.

[29:39] You've had enough. I only have. I don't know how many milliliters this is. But I only have that much wisdom to give you. Or if we pray again. Does he then reply with more wisdom?

[29:51] That is the God we have. That his water bottle full of wisdom. Does not run out. If he could give a widow flour and oil. Abundantly. Throughout an entire family.

[30:03] Can he give us wisdom? He can give us wisdom. And that's the thing. Throughout that time.

[30:13] Not knowing how to. What to say. Or. How to say it at a funeral service. I lacked wisdom. I think I spent more time in prayer.

[30:24] Asking for wisdom. Than I spent time writing down. What to say. I had no idea what to say. And of course. I didn't have. Three weeks to prepare. I only had. Till that Saturday.

[30:36] But God. Provided. Wisdom. In verse five. God gives. Liberally.

[30:46] And without reproach. And he wants us to. To ask. Just to ask. One of the most amazing things. Is when your children. Ask you for something. That you can give them.

[30:58] When they ask for help. It's just a blessing. And that's what God. Wants us to do. Is ask for help. And he will provide. The wisdom. To navigate that trial.

[31:09] He will provide. Not earthly wisdom. Or human wisdom. But he will provide. Divine wisdom. In verse. In verse. Six. It says. Let him ask in faith.

[31:21] Not with doubting. For he who doubts. Is like the wave. Of the sea. Driven and tossed. By the wind. How did Paul say. In Galatians. Chapter two.

[31:31] Verse twenty. How does he live his life? He lives it by faith. How are we to ask in wisdom? We are to ask. By faith. When you're going through a trial.

[31:42] And you're getting beat up. And battered around. The picture here is amazing. That James uses. It's almost like being out of. In a boat. In the water. Through a storm. Usually what happens.

[31:54] When you're on a boat. In a storm. What was lunch or breakfast. Now becomes visible. For all to see. Right? And that can be. We go through these situations. And we are beat up.

[32:05] And we are queasy. And we have no legs. Under us. And we just feel. Like a helpless sailor. On a boat out to sea. And that is not. What God.

[32:16] Wants for us. He wants to have our feet. Firmly. Planted. On the ground. Psalm. 121. Verses one and two. It says. I will lift my eyes.

[32:28] Up to the hills. From whence. Comes my help. My help. Comes. From the Lord. Who made. Heaven and earth. Did God speak the universe. In new existence.

[32:39] He did. He spoke it. Into existence. Do you think it's hard. For him to provide us. With wisdom. It's not. He can provide us. With the wisdom.

[32:50] That we need. As we have been saved. By faith. We are called. To walk by faith. And we are called. To ask for wisdom. In faith.

[33:00] The purpose is. In verses seven and eight. To not suppose. That we are going to get anything. If we ask in doubting. But to ask. Boldly by faith. So that we are not.

[33:11] A unstable individual. But a stable. Planted individual. Relying on God. For the wisdom. And the guidance. That it takes. To navigate. The trials.

[33:22] Of this life. I was not able to. Gather. My thoughts together. To speak. At the boys. Memorial service. Until. The very morning.

[33:36] That it happened. I was nervous. My papers were. Saturated with sweat. It was a difficult time. It was a. Hard time. But.

[33:48] What God used it for. Was the sharing of the gospel. You see. James was a. Person of tremendous joy. And you knew he was a person of joy.

[33:59] Because. He never stopped smiling. Unless he was sleeping. We. I spent a lot of time with James. He went to the races with us. Many times. I saw him sleep.

[34:10] That was the only time he stopped smiling. But he was. If you met him. For a nanosecond. And he would. Just like saturate you. With his joy. He was a. Great person. To know.

[34:20] Anybody that met him. Was pretty much his friend. Levi. Levi was a. A tremendous example. Of a servant. If there was an opportunity. To serve.

[34:31] If there was a vacancy. He was there to fill it. There were. People that. We still miss to this day. And. Their friends. And their family members.

[34:42] Were. Hard. To the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. They did not want to hear it. Levi's grandfather. Did not want to hear the gospel.

[34:55] I believe there were. Four different people. That spoke. At the memorial service. And what was neat. Is through this trial. Anyone. That was there. That had not placed.

[35:06] Their faith. And trust. In Jesus Christ. As their savior. He heard the gospel. At least. Four times. He who lives. And believes in me. Even if he dies.

[35:16] He will. Live. And that is an amazing fact. That God uses. Trials. For a purpose. To grow our faith.

[35:28] To share the gospel. We have a. A responsibility. We have a role. As bondservants. Of Jesus Christ. To be ambassadors. For him. And what's neat.

[35:38] What's encouraging. To me. Is that even though. We go through. Situations. That can. Cripple us. Emotionally. And spiritually. And even physically.

[35:49] God. Is there. To provide us wisdom. God. Is there. To work. Miraculously. For his name's sake. Did Christ. Suffer great trials.

[36:01] On our behalf. Was it difficult. For the father. To see. It was. But he sent his son. Into the world.

[36:12] So that we might have. Fellowship with him. For all of eternity. It's. Difficult. But he endured. And he.

[36:23] Went to the cross. On our behalf. In the beginning. Of James. In chapter two. Sorry. In verse two. He says. My brethren. Consider it all joy.

[36:34] When you. Fall into various trials. I think. And it's my thought. That he said. Brethren. And you. Because. Do we want to go through trials.

[36:47] Separated from our community. Of believers. We don't. Should we go through trials. Together. Should we be. Praying for one another.

[36:58] As we go through trials. If you look through the book of Job. Job experienced. Tremendous. Trials. He maintained his testimony.

[37:08] Throughout. His friends were there. For a few chapters. And they. Sat quietly with him. And they encouraged him. With their silence. And one of the lessons. That we can learn. From the book of Job.

[37:19] Is they open their mouth up. Not to encourage him. But they open their mouth up. To reveal. And to judge him. That is not.

[37:30] How we go through trials. As brethren. We go through trials. As brethren. To encourage one another. To pray for one another. To support one another. To lift up one another.

[37:42] And that. So what I'd like to do. Is take a time. If we want to. When we break up into. Small groups. If you feel confident. If you have a trial.

[37:52] That you know you're in the midst of. Or you have gone through. Or you're. You will be going through. If you want to take time. In your group. To pray. For that trial. To ask. Your fellow brethren.

[38:04] For help. You want to ask the Lord. For wisdom. You want to ask for encouragement. That's what we'd like to do. I want to. Close our time together. By. Applying. This aspect.

[38:15] Of brethren. Going through trials together. Praying for one another. Not being. Going through trials. By ourselves. That is not. What God. Wants us to do. That is not. What God. Does in Psalm 139.

[38:28] So I'd like to just. Take the time. Kyle's going to come up. And play. A little bit. Feel free to break them. Into small groups. To sit. And to pray.

[38:38] And to encourage one another. And pray for one another. As we go through trials.