Now please turn back to the letter of James. Page 1011. Let's pray one more time as we come to God's word. Let's pray one more time as we come to God's word. Let's pray.
Father speak in these moments we pray. Do that work in our hearts by your Holy Spirit that we need.
And change us to be more like your son because we ask it in his name. Amen.
Graham Linehan, the comedian, you might know his work, most famous work is Father Ted.
He was cancelled recently by the comedy community that he belonged to for taking a stand against the trans issue.
And for Graham Linehan, his refusal to back down on the simple point that children should not be mutilated for ideological reasons cost him his marriage, his professional reputation, and his livelihood.
Now Linehan is an atheist so we view the world in very different ways.
But for his resolve to stand against the madness of the culture on this point, I admire him.
But as I was listening to an interview with him recently, I was kind of struck or it occurred to me that his case poses a challenge and raises a question.
A challenge and a question for the church in these days in which we live.
The challenge comes in his willingness to stand up at huge personal cost.
He lost his marriage, his livelihood, and his professional reputation.
And he did that because he believes that there are things that are right and things that are wrong and things that are true and things that aren't true.
And it struck me.
Am I prepared to be so courageous?
Are we prepared to be so courageous?
It's a challenge.
The question that his case raises is, well, as the church of Jesus Christ, how should we live?
As the people of God, how should we live in a culture that does this kind of thing?
In a culture that is shaped and informed in this way?
Aaron Wren is an American social commentator who you can come across online, AaronWren.com.
He has observed how the church has been received, particularly in the American context, but in Western culture, how the church has been received over the last several decades.
And he has developed this way of thinking about the church and the culture.
And he describes it as a positive, a neutral, and a negative world.
So the positive, he thinks there was a time when being a Christian was viewed in the culture as a positive thing.
In so far as if you put, I belong to a church on your CV, that would be of benefit to you.
That would be viewed positively.
If you wrote church elder on your CV, well, they would take you very seriously.
That was the positive world.
Then there was a shift.
The neutral world was a time when being a Christian was viewed as neither here nor there.
That was okay for you if that's what you're into, but it's not for me.
It might be church for you.
It's golf for me.
It might be church for you.
It might be new atheism for me, whatever it is.
But most importantly, actually, that was fine.
We could agree to differ.
We could have arguments.
We could disagree.
But we would all largely get along.
That was the neutral world.
But Ren talks about the shift that has happened more recently.
Now, he's writing in an American context, and he ties it to particular points in American history recently.
But I think the way of viewing things works really well for all of us.
The negative world is where we are now.
There's been another shift.
And what that means is that being a Christian puts you at a cultural disadvantage.
We're no longer viewed just as a bit dumb.
We're dangerous.
We're no longer thick.
We are a threat.
And where there's a danger and where there's a threat, what happens?
Well, that needs to be driven out.
And so there's hostility.
We face, in our day, hostility like we haven't experienced for over a century in this country.
You are more likely than ever, more likely than ever probably in the last century,
to be ostracized by your friendship group and dubbed as a bigot
because your allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ won't allow you to cheer along at the things that the culture cheers along at.
Because you can't endorse what the Lord Jesus refuses to endorse.
Because you won't do that, you're a bigot.
You're more likely than ever to find yourself in a disciplinary hearing at work or perhaps even to lose your job
because your allegiance to truth means that you won't play along with the lie around, for example,
what is a man and what is a woman.
I was talking to somebody just last night who, in their job, if they are to be promoted to the next level,
they have to not just kind of accept that this is part of the work,
but they have to endorse a particular policy that as a Christian they're not able to endorse.
So there is a ceiling now.
If you're going to be a faithful Christian, in his industry there is a ceiling over which you can't climb.
And you will be inevitably vilified for holding the view and refusing to endorse that.
Persecution, rejection, struggles.
This is the negative world.
And the letter of James, to say written by the apostle, was written to Christians in such a world.
Verse 1, when he defines his audience as the 12 tribes in the dispersion,
he is writing to Jewish Christians who are mentioned in Acts,
just after the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts chapter 7.
So in Acts 8 chapter 1, Acts 8 chapter 4, Acts 11, he talks about those who were dispersed.
They were pushed off into exile around the time because they were followers of Jesus.
They're among the first converts to Christianity.
James refers to them, you see down in verse 18 here, as firstfruits.
The word that he uses there is the same word the apostle Paul uses in Romans 16,
and again in 1 Corinthians 16,
to refer to the first group of believers in a particular area.
These are amongst the very first believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in the history of the church.
And they are driven out of Jerusalem by the overzealous Jewish religious establishment
simply because they follow Christ.
They left their homes, their work, and their communities under pressure from a religio-political system
intent on bringing them back to Judaism by any means possible,
including things like killing others like Stephen,
kind of violence and torture that saw him killed.
And James writes to address the problems that have arisen because of this pressure,
because of this opposition.
Pressure and opposition bring out the worst in us.
On the one hand, or they can bring out the worst in us.
On the one hand, it can make us fight in the wrong kind of way.
So our anger at injustice, our frustration at abuse,
sort of thing that is happening here in chapter 1, verse 19,
can lead us to respond in kind.
So we pursue life on the same terms as our opponents.
We operate by the same values, chapter 2 in James.
When we are criticized, chapter 3, we fight back with a tongue lashing of our own.
And this includes chapters 4 and 5,
turning on our allies who we don't think are really engaged in the fight the way they should be.
Because they don't see things the way we do, we turn on them.
Question their commitment, question their faithfulness.
So on the one hand, pressure can make us fight in the wrong way.
On the other hand, there is a temptation to completely capitulate,
to roll over because of fear or because simply we don't want the hassle.
To say chapter 2, James chapter 2, what's going on there is to say that we still believe,
but we step back from the fight.
To still believe, but become indistinct from the world around us.
Because it's too awkward.
We don't want the hassle or we're scared.
Or we care about certain things so much that we're prepared to step back from faithfulness.
We say we still believe, we still go through the motions,
we might have a very kind of somewhat consistent private faith,
but we're unprepared to take the stand that we need to.
When James talks in chapter 1, verse 27, have a look down there,
verse 27, he talks about being unstained by the world.
What he's saying is we can't imbibe the same mindset as the culture.
A culture in the context that he's talking about here,
where it's okay to ignore widows and orphans,
to see them as an inconvenience rather than a responsibility.
Where lines are drawn between the wealthy and the poor.
Chapter 2, it runs all the way through the letter actually.
And where selfishness rules the day.
To be unstained by the world is to take a different mindset to those kind of values.
So for James' hearers, this letter is a call to obedience
in the face of a kind of opposition
that is drawing them into destructive ways of thinking and acting.
They need to decide which way they'll go.
And so do we.
Now we might wish it was otherwise,
but depending on our personality,
this is how we instinctively react, isn't it?
We fight like the culture, or we blend in with the culture.
Think about the way things went down during COVID.
The church was under pressure in a really pronounced way.
The state told us we couldn't meet.
Many thought we could meet.
Many thought we shouldn't meet.
How those two groups behaved,
and how they treated each other particularly within church fellowships,
was not the church's finest hour.
So how do we respond to the growing tide of opposition?
When you do experience this kind of rejection,
the rejection of those around you that costs you something more than just your pride.
It's no longer the case that we're just a bit offended,
or we feel a bit rebuffed by others,
but actually it costs us more than that.
What happens when the state is reaching into your business?
It's this great behemoth that has established itself as both Lord,
that is, you must obey,
and Savior.
When you get into trouble, we're the ones that will help you.
When we live in that context,
how do we respond?
What do we do with the anger that we feel towards legalized abortion,
or our despair in the face of...
What do we do when we despair in the face of the mutilation of children
who are confused about their gender?
These are relevant questions.
So,
we need this letter
to remind us what it means to live in exile.
We need to be reminded
what it means to live faithfully in exile.
And James begins,
he begins his instruction by calling us
to settle in our hearts and minds
three convictions
that need to frame
how we think
and how we act
in the negative world.
Three convictions
that need to frame
how we think and act
in the negative world,
and these convictions will underpin
almost everything else he says
in the letter.
Joy,
dependence,
and faith.
Dependence and faith
sound similar.
I hope the distinction will become clear
as we go through.
Joy,
dependence,
and faith.
If we get these in place,
they'll help us with much of everything else
that James has to say.
Point number one,
joy.
He says,
rejoice in trials
because of what they are achieving.
Verse two,
count it all joy,
my brothers,
when you meet trials of various kinds.
For you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect
that you may be perfect
and complete,
lacking in nothing.
Remember,
he's saying this to people
who have lost everything.
Those are the kind of trials
that he's talking about.
He's not specific about the nature of the trials.
They are various.
And he doesn't suggest
that we rejoice
in the actual suffering itself.
Rejection and persecution
aren't themselves
things to enjoy.
We don't experience rejection
and suffering
and think,
ha,
wonderful.
But they are,
James' hearers,
are to rejoice
in the process
of suffering trials
and testing
because of what that process
is accomplishing.
James doesn't want his hearers
to walk into the fire,
but he does want them
to rejoice
when they feel its flames
because under God,
these trials are taking them
to a destination.
Verse 3,
for you know that the testing
of your faith
produces steadfastness.
Spiritual steadfastness
is what we all need.
Endurance.
The word has the connotations
of perseverance,
spiritual toughness.
This is what is required
if we will faithfully serve God
all the way to the end
in a culture like ours.
How do we get that toughness?
We get that toughness
by being put through trials
and prevailing.
Now,
we understand what this is like
in the physical realm.
If you're going to get fitter
or you're going to get stronger,
you need to do things
that are difficult.
You need to do things
that are a trial.
Things that you feel at first
that you can't accomplish.
whether it's lifting weights
or going for a walk
or going for a run
or whatever it might be.
At the start,
you feel weak
and it's painful.
But it's the process
that makes you grow.
And if you're going to grow,
if you're going to get stronger,
you're going to get fit,
there is no other way
to get there
and there's no shortcut.
Our trials make us feel weak.
Our trials are painful.
But if we receive them from God
as his means of growing us up,
we can rejoice
that we're actually getting stronger.
And it's that kind of spiritual strength
that will lead us to maturity.
Verse 4,
and let steadfastness have its full effect
that you may be perfect.
The word literally means mature
and complete,
lacking in nothing.
Trials create steadfastness
and steadfastness in turn
creates maturity.
I was saying to the children
before in their bit
of Sunday school this morning,
it's the same with anything we do
that we need to learn
in order to grow.
Think about when you were learning
to write,
holding a pen,
drawing the letters.
It was really tedious.
It was really difficult.
Your hand got sore.
But what invariably happens
over time,
you go through that process,
and it's no longer a struggle.
You're much more competent.
You're mature
and able to write.
That is what the process accomplishes.
And this is what,
this maturity is what James' hearers,
what all of us are going to need,
we're going to be effective
as agents of Christ
in his coming kingdom.
So trials,
I don't know what you're going through
at the moment.
This may be very relevant
for you right now,
but it's important to say
that trials are not a sign
that God is annoyed with you
or that he's picking on you.
Quite the opposite.
In fact,
one of the striking things
about this letter
is how much James
is simply echoing
the words of Jesus.
I've chosen this series
to follow the Sermon on the Mount
for this reason.
So remember,
Matthew chapter 5,
blessed are you
when others revile you
and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely
on my account.
Rejoice
and be glad
for your reward
is great in heaven
for so they persecuted
the prophets
who were before you.
Rejoice in trials
because this is the way
that it has always been,
James is saying.
And he isn't,
by quoting Jesus here,
he isn't just trying
to give authority
to what he's saying.
He's also calling to mind
the first command
that Jesus gives
to anyone
who will be his disciple.
Do you remember?
If anyone
will come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me.
Discipleship 101
is the suffering
of the cross-shaped path
that Jesus walked.
It is the path
of mockery
and rejection
and suffering
because that is the path
that Jesus walked.
And that is exactly
the path
that James' hearers
are experiencing.
This is
the Christian life.
And it's the Christian life
because it was Christ's life.
So Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10,
For it was fitting
that he, God,
for whom and by whom
all things exist,
in bringing many sons
to glory,
should make the founder
of their salvation perfect.
How?
Through suffering.
Hebrews 5 verse 8,
Although he was a son,
the Lord Jesus,
he learned obedience
through what he suffered.
And being made perfect,
being matured,
he was designed,
designated by God,
a high priest
after the order
of Melchizedek.
Trials are the means
God uses to mature,
to perfect all his children.
As it was for Christ,
so it is for us.
Trials are how he gets us
off our training wheels
into maturity
and onto completeness,
to glory.
And it has to be this way.
It has to be this way
because it was that way
for Jesus.
If we want the resurrection glory,
we have to go
the way of the cross.
If we want vindication on life,
we have to go
the way of humiliation
and death.
The one inevitably
precedes the other.
And this is why
we don't despair
in the negative world.
Look,
if this world
is all there is
and we aren't
in the hands
of a sovereign God
who is our loving
Heavenly Father,
then all the apocalyptic
rhetoric that permeates
our culture
is completely understandable.
The nihilism
that I hear
in lots of social commentary
makes sense
in the negative world
without God.
But that's not
our posture
as the church.
That is not
the posture
of followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ
because our trials
have a goal.
They come in all
shapes and sizes.
The way we get
misrepresented,
the lies and the abuse,
the exclusion
and the injustice,
the state sticking
its nose into our families,
the torpedoing
of our career ambitions,
and the damage
that the stress
of all of that
does to our physical
and emotional health.
all of those trials,
in all of this,
God is refining us
and he's strengthening us
and he's growing us up
on our way to glory
and that's why we rejoice.
Yes, we feel weak.
Yes, we feel like
it's hopeless.
But it's not.
It's like
when you've been able
to lift a certain weight
on the bench press
for however long
it's been
and you put more weight on
and you think,
oh, I've got weaker.
But gradually
you're able to lift it,
you get stronger.
God is refining us
and strengthening us
and he's growing us up
as he gets us to glory.
Rejoice because
of what your trials
are accomplishing.
But of course,
this response
doesn't come naturally
to us.
In fact,
it sounds a bit crazy
to talk about joy
in that context
which is why
we need to read on.
What do we do
and we can't rejoice?
Well, here's
our second point.
Depend.
Go to God
for wisdom
to see trials
this way.
Verse 5,
if any of you
lacks wisdom,
let him ask God
who gives generously
to all without reproach
and it will be given him.
Now, you'll know this verse
because anytime you're not sure
what to do in life,
some well-meaning soul
will have reminded you of it.
Ask for wisdom.
God will give it.
This verse isn't
about asking God
for guidance
about how to make plans
or about how to navigate
a tricky life situation.
It is about asking
for the ability
to see your circumstances
accurately
and to keep trusting God
with joy
in whatever trials
you're facing.
James is very practical.
He knows
that you'll only be able
to do this
if the Lord enables you.
There is something
unnatural
about rejoicing
in hardship
and in trials.
So we need God
to give us wisdom
that we might see
our circumstances
and see not just
our circumstances
but the whole picture,
the whole world
that we might have
our worldview
framed by God.
When did you last
ask the Lord
for wisdom
in this way?
When trials close in
when we're suffering
we usually cry out
to God for grace
maybe or mercy
but when did you last
ask him
for wisdom?
Not knowledge
or intelligence
or the ability
to understand
more theology.
Those are all good things
of course.
Not an end
to trials.
Not asking God
for a life
of comfort.
When did you last
ask him
for wisdom?
It is a prayer
did you see
that he promises
to answer?
It will be given.
And did you notice
as well
he gives it generously.
And we need to see
that when we ask
for wisdom
we're asking
for something
very practical.
And I don't just mean
I know the old trope
knowledge is knowing
a tomato is a fruit
wisdom is knowing
not to put it
in a fruit salad.
Ha ha.
I know.
I understand that.
Very practical.
No.
What he's doing here
remember his audience.
James' audience
is from a Jewish background
and in Jewish mind
wisdom
meant the sort of
practical righteousness
that God required
for everyday life.
Which is why we have
the book of Proverbs
for example.
That kind of
very practical righteousness
for everyday life.
Wisdom is a life
lived God's way.
A life lived
according to God's
purpose and will.
A life lived
to please him.
And the ability
to do that
is what we ask for
when we ask
for wisdom.
When you're being
squeezed
by the culture
this is actually
what you need.
When there are
tough ethical
decisions to be made
so when you have
competing demands
as it were
that are upon you
as a Christian
so on the one hand
you're called to provide
for your family
and on the other hand
you're called to not
glorify God
and not glorify
those things
that God says
you can't glorify
you know
there's a tough
ethical decision
to be made there
you need wisdom.
You need wisdom
in order to do
the right thing
in order to live
obediently.
When you're praying
for someone
who's struggling
this is what
you should ask
for them.
When you're supporting
someone through
hard times
this is where
you should point them.
When life
is harder
than hard
ask God
for wisdom
for the ability
as John Calvin
says
to submit to him
in the endurance
of evils
under a due
conviction
that he so
orders all things
as to promote
our salvation.
Calvin is saying
is
you're asking him
that you
can submit to God
in and through
this whole situation
trusting
that the trials
that you're going
through
are growing you up.
they are his means
of getting you
to glory.
John Newton
said everything
is needful
that he sends
nothing can be
needful
that he withholds.
When we pray
for wisdom
we are asking
to be able
to say that
of our trials
and do it
with conviction.
Nothing
is
everything
is needful
that he sends.
That trial
that has come
into your life
that opposition
that persecution
the Lord
thinks you need it.
The infinitely
wise God
thinks that
you need it
in order
to make you
holy.
And those things
that he keeps
from you
that you think
you want
nothing can be
needful
that he withholds.
He deems that
at the moment
you don't need it.
And so when we
ask for wisdom
we are asking
to be able
to say that
of our trials.
You say
no
can't do that.
I can't
do that
and
I'm angry
actually
with him
that he's
put me here.
Well you're
right in one
sense
you can't
rejoice in
trials in
your own
strength
but if we
ask God
he gives us
what we need
and he gives
it generously.
So let's
ask him
for what
he's promised.
Whatever
opposition
you're facing
simply because
you're a
Christian
ask God
for wisdom
he has
promised
that he'll
give it.
But there
is a
condition
do you
see that?
Verse 6
there is a
condition
and here's
our third
conviction
but let him
ask in faith
with no
doubting
for the one
who doubts
is like a
wave of the
sea that is
driven and
tossed by
the wind
for that
person must
not suppose
that he will
receive anything
from the
Lord
he is a
double minded
man unstable
in all his
ways.
Point number
three we need
faith.
We need to
genuinely trust
God.
Remember
Jesus Matthew
21
if you have
faith and
do not
doubt you
will receive
whatever you
ask for in
prayer.
Asking for
wisdom requires
us to have
faith that God
knows what
he's doing
that his
promises are
true that he
is making us
steadfast and
this is what we
actually need.
In our trials
there is a big
difference between
asking God
please take this
struggle away I
don't want it and
please give me
wisdom to endure
in faith.
one is about
your personal
comfort the
other is
acknowledging God's
providence and
the trial is a
necessary and
good thing for
you.
One has you at
the center the
other has God
at the center.
And if we ask
for wisdom when we
really want comfort
if we ask for
wisdom we don't
really think that
that's what we
need we're not
going to get it.
So the trials
won't achieve
their aim and
we end up stuck
and that's when
bitterness sets in
and resentment
and we spiral.
James's imagery
here describes us
as double-minded
now he'll revisit
this idea later
and so will we
Lord willing.
He's saying we're
blown all over the
place.
When we don't
have the wisdom
that we need
we're blown all
over the place
looking two ways
at once.
The double-minded
person literally
two-souled
person one that
trusts God and
one that doesn't
John Bunyan
Pilgrim's Progress
describes this
person as
Mr. Facing
Both Ways.
If our trials
don't push us
to rest on the
truth on the
promises of God
there will be no
calmness in our
soul and no
life of joy.
James isn't
demanding perfect
faith.
There's no such
thing.
Neither is he
dismissing the
person who is
genuinely wrestling
with doubt.
He's not seeking
to say it's all
easy and this is a
simple formula that
you follow on
happy days.
He is simply
warning the person
who doesn't really
think that they
need wisdom or
the person that
doesn't believe that
God is good and
can be trusted
through their
trials.
It's easy to
say the right
things even in
some cases to
pray the right
words but for
our hearts to
be divided to
face two ways.
It's easy for
our desire for
comfort to be in
the driving seat to
the degree that we
back off from the
faithfulness that
God calls us to
because it is too
hard.
We need to be
honest with
ourselves.
Perhaps we need
to repent when
this is the case
and to ask the
Lord for wisdom.
He delights to
give it.
And do you see
he delights to
give it by the
bucket load.
One theologian
says this,
God's picture
brimming with
wisdom is tilted
over us.
He is the God
who continuously
gives and he is
waiting for us to
ask.
He gives it with
ladles like all of
his blessings.
Not with
teaspoons but with
bucket loads.
So ask him.
Depend on him.
in total faith that
he will supply what
you need to grow
you to maturity and
to get you to
glory.
Then the trials of
the negative world
will achieve what
God intends.
And you can rejoice
as you grow on and
on and on to
maturity.
Joy,
dependence,
and faith.
Let's pray
together.
Thank you.