WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.000 So we're in James, jumping into it, and I sent out a link to some of the people about an audio that guy from the Bible school that I went through. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.000 ! I did the whole book of James in song, James Version, word for word. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 It's pretty cool. Super cool. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:33.000 You play this enough around your kids, your kids will memorize the book of James. Super cool opportunity. I've been working for years, and I'm a little less mind-elasticity than kids, but I'm getting it. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:40.000 A lot of fun. So that was in the New King James. He also did Psalm 119, which is pretty awesome. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:46.000 The longest chapter of the Bible. It's longer than a lot of books of the Bible. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.000 So those are two awesome resources for you guys. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:57.000 I'm going to read through the whole passage in the New King James, just because that's what I'm working with today, specifically with James. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:01.000 And then we're going to go through verse by verse. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:10.000 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:21.000 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:29.000 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:40.000 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. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 But let him ask in faith with no doubting. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:49.000 For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:54.000 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:59.000 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.000 Because as a flower of the field, he will pass away. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:17.000 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:30.000 Blessed is the man who endures temptation. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:38.000 For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.000 Okay. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:43.000 I think Chris is going to take up with verse 13 next week. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:48.000 So that's James 1, 1 through 12. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:54.000 So he starts off, James, a bondservant of God. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And so the word for bondservant is doulos. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 And it typically depends on who's translating it and when they're translating it. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:05.000 It means slave. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.000 And it's a little different in Bible times. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.000 Slavery was a little different in Bible times than it was in America's slavery. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.000 There was a Sabbath year. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Flames would get free every seven years. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:24.000 And then the 50th year, sevens, they'd be freed every 50th year as well. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.000 The year of Jubilee. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:36.000 And it wasn't, it was more of an indentured servitude like they had in Kingsland among some of the lower classes back in feudal, feudal times. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 And there were lots of rules about how to worry about that. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Okay. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.000 Welcome to the remote. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:04:01.000 So James identifies himself as the slave of Christ. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:13.000 And as I was doing my research this week, I saw a book that was titled, Christ's slave, a New Testament metaphor for total devotion to Christ. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:14.000 That's pretty cool. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.000 I didn't read the book, but I read the title. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 It was in one of the references, one of the footnotes. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:29.000 But yeah, just this idea of a single devotion, single minded devotion to Christ and what he says goes. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:35.000 And there's no self autonomy to it. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.000 It's his will, his way or the highway. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:49.000 You don't get to decide how to, you don't get to pick and choose what commands you like, what words you like, what dispositions you like about. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.000 The master who owns you, who controls you. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:59.000 And James called himself a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:03.000 And you could have said, James, the brother of Jesus. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:08.000 You know, you got to tell him some quick street cred that way. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:14.000 Paul in Galatians calls James, and it's almost certainly the same James. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:19.000 He said, I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Paul talking about the leader, the head, chief elder of Jerusalem at the time that Paul was living. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.000 And he called him James, the Lord's brother. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.000 And you know that Jesus had brothers who didn't believe in him during his lifetime. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.000 But once he got resurrected, that does something to change your mind about your brother. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:45.000 And James became a leader in the New Testament church. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:56.000 So, James, instead of identifying himself with this honorific that he could have used to get himself some street cred to bolster, 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.000 maybe the power, seeing the power of his words. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:02.000 James, the brother of Jesus, listen to me. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.000 Or even the exalted apostle, you know. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.000 Or head of the church in Jerusalem. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:14.000 He says, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.000 I thought that was pretty cool. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:31.000 He values that bond as a servant of Christ, as a slave of God, as more valuable than whatever else people might put their emphasis on. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000 Okay. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:38.000 I got a little note about servanthood, slavery in the Old Testament times, too. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:44.000 It said, in the ancient world, slaves often wielded the authority of their masters and were considered part of their family. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 So that could happen back then. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:54.000 And sometimes when that year of Jubilee came or the Sabbath year came, they would say, where am I going to go? 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.000 Like, I want to stay here. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Like, oh, we're family. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:03.000 And they would stay in there in a special way that they could mark themselves. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:09.000 They'd taken all sharp, pointing things, they'd took their beard to the doorpost, tying them to the house. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.000 Symbolically and literally. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.000 As a symbol. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.000 I'm sure they took it out pretty quickly. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:28.000 But yeah, it was, it's not like we think of when we think of slavery, typically in America. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.000 All right. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.000 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.000 So, he's calling Jesus Lord here. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:44.000 And Lord was the Old Testament way of talking about Yahweh, God, his name. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:52.000 So when he's talking about Jesus, he's describing to his half-brother by marriage. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:00.000 Obviously, Joseph, James didn't have God himself as the Father, as the incarnate Son. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:05.000 So we call him a half-brother when we're being specific about it. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:11.000 But, elsewhere in the Bible, like, we see the divinity of Christ explicitly. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:13.000 So John 20, verse 28. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.000 It says, My Lord and my God to Jesus. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.000 And then in 1 Corinthians 8, 6. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:23.000 There's one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.000 This idea of Jesus, the instrument through which the world was created. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 2 Peter 1, 1. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 By the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.000 Okay. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.000 So James, the bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.000 This is counting up. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.000 I shouldn't be counting up. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.000 I better fix that. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:47.000 Hmm. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:54.000 I can't figure that out. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Does somebody want to give you a hint of that? 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.000 It'll be in about 40 minutes. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:00.000 Yep. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.000 Wait. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.000 Okay. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:03.000 To the 12 tribes. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.000 So James is writing, To the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.000 Greetings. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.000 So, whose sons were the 12 tribes? 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:12.000 Any kids know? 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.000 Who is the father of the 12 tribes? 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:20.000 The tribes of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Yep. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.000 Jacob is later called Israel. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.000 And it's the tribe of Israel. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.000 And we're going to be learning about them because they're all going to get born here. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.000 And we're going through Genesis. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.000 Probably, depends if we take a break for Christmas. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:40.000 But in the next couple of readings in Genesis, we're going to hear about all the children of Israel. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 And there were certain. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000 What did I call them? 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.000 I didn't call them conditions of the covenant. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.000 There were stipulations of the covenant. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:56.000 So, the covenant wasn't conditional in the sense that they could ever get out of the covenant. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.000 They're in the covenant. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:02.000 But either they, as the people of Israel, would receive the blessings of the covenant. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:05.000 Or they would receive the curses of the covenant. 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.000 So, there was blessings for obedience. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.000 And God was very explicit about this. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.000 He spelled it out over and over again. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:18.000 We see it in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are probably the two most condensed versions of them. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.000 You can see it all throughout the prophets too. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.000 When they obey, they get blessings. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.000 And none can stand before them. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:31.000 And their enemies, when they rise up against them, God helps them just slay them. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.000 Scatter them seven ways. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And they have an everlasting inheritance in their own land that God gave to their forefathers as long as they're obedient. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.000 And they're not obedient, by and large. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:48.000 And they haven't been. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.000 They're like you and me. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.000 They're a fraudulently wayward people. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:11:05.000 And they're kind of the macrocosm of the human heart, writ large as a nation, that God deals with like he deals with us. 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:06.000 But they were scattered. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.000 To the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.000 And so, there's promises about them being scattered. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.000 And they did get scattered. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:20.000 The northern tribes got scattered in the 700s BC. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:27.000 And then Judah and the southern tribes got scattered about 200 years later in the 500s. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.000 And they were still in dispersion. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:31.000 Or they call it diaspora. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:40.000 They're spread abroad throughout the nations as one of the curses of the covenant. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:50.000 But those scatterings promised as a stipulation of the covenant had it so that in James' day, 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.000 the tribes weren't all assembled. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 And he was preaching. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.000 He preached to Thessalonica. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.000 And not him. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:58.000 But the church. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000 There was a circular letter. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.000 It made its rounds throughout the churches. 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.000 And that's how it came. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.000 Got into our Bible. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.000 And Paul would preach to the different churches in Philippine. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.000 And they were in the greater Mediterranean. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:18.000 And some in Egypt and some in Rome. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.000 They were scattered. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.000 They weren't all living in their promised land, Canaan. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:28.000 And James is greeting them as the head of the church in Jerusalem. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:29.000 He says, 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:34.000 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.000 This is verse 2. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:36.000 James 1-2. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.000 Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:45.000 And I don't think we should think about this joy as kind of an effervescence, 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.000 bubbliness, you know, happy-go-lucky, skippity-doo. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:55.000 It's something that we can be sorrowful, Paul says, but always rejoicing. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.000 There's a depth to it. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.000 There's an anchor balanced to it that makes it unshakable. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.000 And you're not, I mean, certainly we can be effervescent. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.000 You know, with love and joy. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.000 But it's not always evident right there. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:17.000 A lot of times, like John 1620, talks about sorrow turned to joy. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:24.000 And even like, you know, sorrow of birth, like women, when you have a baby, it's painful. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.000 But if you keep your eye on what you're getting out of it, it's a no brainer. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.000 Like, it's worth it. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.000 Like, you get a baby at the end. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:37.000 I mean, a new human, you know, part of your family, something of you that you get to hold at the end. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.000 So also, you have sorrow now. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:46.000 And then there's promises that no one will be able to take your joy there in John 16. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:53.000 1 Corinthians 4.1 talks about in all of our afflictions, I'm overflowing with joy. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:58.000 So Paul links these two because it's kind of counterintuitive. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.000 It doesn't make sense. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:05.000 Like we would naturally, the natural mind would think about sufferings as opposed to joy. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:10.000 Or despite joy. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:34.000 But I think James here is wanting us to cue in on the linkage that if we're mindful of that linkage between sorrow and joy, between trials and temptations and maturity and eternal reward, it makes it not only bearable, but we could say like Judas, when he was facing his greatest trial on earth, 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.000 said for the joy set before him, he was facing his shame. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:46.000 But there was a joy because he was purchasing something for the father that he was going to get to inherit and get to enjoy eternally. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:51.000 So there's a light momentary affliction or even heavy momentary affliction. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:54.000 Time wise, it's light because it's momentary. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:02.000 But that contrasts with an eternal weight of eternal glory that you get on the other side. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:08.000 On the other side, and if we can bend our brains and our hearts and our minds to that. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:17.000 It just changes the whole experience of the trials that we, that we face. And when you're in the midst of a trial, it's not always. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:20.000 That helpful to have somebody come in. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.000 Effervescence. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:27.000 Tell you to keep stiff upper lip. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:28.000 No. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.000 I don't know. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.000 Put on a heavy face. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:34.000 Put on your church, your church face. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:43.000 But when we're not suffering, I think that's the time to drill down and get these truths to our hearts. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:46.000 The value of the trials and what God's wanting to produce. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:51.000 The kind of gold that he's wanting to produce in our hearts. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:57.000 In the hardest things that can make us see the outcome of those things, which we'll get to. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.000 What verses? 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.000 Okay. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:06.000 Hebrews 10, 34 says, 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:15.000 You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:29.000 So, even if we lost all of our stuff, our house, our goods, our car, if you knew that you had a better possession than that and an abiding one that you couldn't lose, it puts it into perspective. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:36.000 It allows you to weather the storms with grace and dignity and hope and faith. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.000 And without a doubt. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:44.000 So, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:51.000 That fall into various trials, it's the same word that they used in Luke 10, 30, the parable of the Samaritans. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.000 It's on the road to Jericho and fell among Roberts. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.000 Okay? 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.000 So, something's coming at you, you know? 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:07.000 And it's not you just bringing cause and effect things on yourself that he's talking about here. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.000 It's, we live in a world with an enemy. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:12.000 Yeah. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:14.000 And he loves to undo us. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:22.000 When he threatens to undo us, we can be thankful that God has willed his truth to triumph through us. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.000 And the, how did all joy? 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:36.000 So, in my mind, before looking into it, I thought it was consider all things joy. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:41.000 And it has a little different emphasis in the Greek. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.000 So, the all is attached to joy. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.000 So, consider it pure joy. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:51.000 Consider it complete, unalloyed, unmixed joy. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.000 Only joy will be trials. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:58.000 So, like, there's other things we could consider. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:07.000 And there's the natural thing that we will consider it, but he's asking us, commanding us, to count it all joy. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.000 Consider it all joy. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:11.000 Reckon it all joy. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.000 And it's a mental shift that you've got to do. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.000 Like, it's not going to do, it's not going to happen for you. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.000 You've got to ask God for help. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:23.000 And it takes the spirit to do that, but it's an act of the volition. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.000 It's an act of the will to be counting it joy. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:45.000 And when we put down these stones of remembrance in times when we're not going through it, when it's not, the waves aren't crashing, and we're not on life support, that's the time to be setting up these Ebenezer stones to look back on and point back to them. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.000 You know what I felt when I set that up, and I trust it. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.000 And it's the same God the day that it was then. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:19:04.000 And he doesn't change, though I change, though my circumstances change, though storms come and beat, the rock doesn't change. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 So set up those reminders in your own heart. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000 We've got a little poem from William Cooper. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.000 I love this guy. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:15.000 I might have another one at the end. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.000 I'm sure there's not going to be time, so don't worry about that. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:20.000 It's called the Welcome Cross. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:27.000 And it is framing things in this counting things joy because of what we get out of them. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.000 The Welcome Cross. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:38.000 Tis my happiness below, not to live without the cross, but the Savior's power to know, sanctifying every loss. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:51.000 This is happiness to me. 00:19:51.000 --> 00:20:04.000 God in Israel sows the seeds of affliction, pain, and toil. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:11.000 These spring up and choke the weeds which would else or spread the soil. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:14.000 Trials make the promise sweet. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.000 Trials give new life to prayer. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.000 Trials bring me to his feet. 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:22.000 Lay me low and keep me there. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.000 Trials. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.000 Did I meet no trials here? 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.000 No chastisement, by the way? 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Might I not, with reason and fear, I should prove and cast away? 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:33.000 If we face no trials. 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Bastards may escape the rod, sunk in earthly, vain light, but the trueborn child of God must not, would not, even if he might. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.000 So, like, there's a rod of discipline that shows that you're a son. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:59.000 And you can embrace the rod of chastisement if you have that internalized. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:06.000 And it just changes the whole orientation, the whole framing. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.000 Framing is so huge. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:11.000 The way you frame things can educate the way you feel about them. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.000 And he's giving us some really good framing inventions here. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:18.000 Okay, so why can we count it all joy? 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.000 Like, think of some of your own trials. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.000 Like, Katie, you're going through it. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.000 Like, the winds are beating. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Like, the waves are crashing. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.000 And how can we count that all joy? 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.000 Like, it's hard. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:32.000 It's not automatic. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.000 We're tempted when we face trials. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:38.000 We've all faced trials. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.000 Things that would drown a person naturally. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.000 And, but how can we count it all joy? 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Verse 3 says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.000 Hebrews 12, 11. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:05.000 Let's turn there real quick. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000 For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:20.000 But later, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.000 Okay? 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:28.000 So there's a training to be had in painful discipline or trials. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:35.000 And if we will be trained by it, there's a fruitful harvest to be reaped from that. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.000 And we can miss out on it if you're not, if you won't be trained by it. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:41.000 If you won't let it have its perfect, perfect way in you. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.000 We'll do that in verse 4. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:48.000 So knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.000 There's a kind of patience. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:56.000 There's a couple of different words used in the Bible that translates to our English patience. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:01.000 And this is not the one about unhurried tranquility while waiting. 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.000 Just, oh, he's very patient. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:08.000 Like, he can resist that marshmallow, marshmallow test. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.000 He's good at waiting rooms. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:20.000 There's another kind of patience that has more of a connotation of ability to bear up under difficulty. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:27.000 Or endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance, patience endurance. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:30.000 And that's the one that's being used here. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.000 So knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:41.000 And endurance, one commentator said, is faith stretched out. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.000 So, love that language. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.000 But stretched out for all to see. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.000 Like faith externalized. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:50.000 Making its way outside. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:53.000 Not kept under wraps. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.000 Closeted. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:57.000 But stretched out for all to see. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:59.000 Making its way externally. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:01.000 Outside of the heart and mind. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:05.000 Providing positive proof about what was inside. 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Faith does certain things. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:10.000 And James is really good about this. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.000 He's got a lot of different categories of faith. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:17.000 Most of which aren't faith. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.000 He talks about dead faith later. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.000 He talks about demon faith. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:22.000 Like demons believe. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.000 They shudder. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.000 They don't love the truth that they know is true. 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.000 Like that doesn't help. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:28.000 That kind of faith doesn't help anybody. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.000 So it's not just a mental ascent. 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:32.000 Demons can do that. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.000 But there's a kind of faith that works. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.000 Faith actually does work. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.000 Or else it's a non-working faith. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:42.000 Like it should be obvious. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:43.000 But faith works. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:51.000 And we're not talking about the faith and works as a different conversation. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.000 But faith actually does work. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:54.000 And there's no question about that. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.000 And that's James's point. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:58.000 Is the proof. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.000 Proving of faith. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.000 Knowing that the proving of your faith. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.000 The testing of your faith. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.000 You test a metal. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.000 To prove that it's. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:08.000 That it's pure. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:10.000 You burn away the dross. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.000 And what you come out with. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.000 Is more fines. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:14.000 It's a refined. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.000 Product. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:16.000 After going through the refining fire. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.000 And that's what we're talking about here. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:18.000 Is that kind of endurance. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:19.000 That kind of a testing. 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:20.000 So. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:21.000 Revelation 13.10. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.000 Here's a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.000 Hebrews 12.1. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:24.000 Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:25.000 That's this word that they're using. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:26.000 In the Greek. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.000 Romans 5.3-4. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.000 It says not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:30.000 Knowing that suffering produces endurance. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.000 And endurance produces character. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:32.000 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:33.000 And hope does not put us to shame. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:34.000 Because God's love has been poured into our hearts. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.000 Through the whole of our hearts. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:36.000 And ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending ending 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.539 this word that they're using in Greek. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.660 Romans 5, 3 to 4 says, 00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:45.279 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, 00:25:45.660 --> 00:25:48.380 knowing that suffering produces endurance, 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:50.720 and endurance produces character, 00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:52.779 and character produces hope. 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:55.220 And hope does not put us to shame, 00:25:55.539 --> 00:25:58.619 because God's love has been poured into our hearts 00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:01.720 through the Holy Spirit who he has given to us. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:06.140 And then just one verse to kind of overarch 00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:07.720 everything we're talking about. 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:11.680 God works all things together for good, 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:12.600 for those who love him. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:14.000 He's been called according to his purposes. 00:26:14.360 --> 00:26:15.920 So Romans 8, 28, I think. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:18.339 Just have that as a backdrop here. 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:20.299 All right, let's look at verse 4. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.059 But, so we saw, 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:26.460 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:29.759 but let patience have its perfect work, 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.259 that you may be perfect and complete, 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:33.519 lacking nothing. 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:36.940 So James describes this work, 00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:39.680 there's a Blomberg quote, he's a commentator. 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:42.839 James describes this work as perfect or complete, 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.920 and the word for that, for perfect here, is teleon. 00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:49.879 So the telos is a Greek word, 00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:52.339 and it's a really weighty word 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:56.079 in both Greek philosophy and in Christian theology. 00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:57.879 It does a lot of work. 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:01.660 And it fundamentally means end, 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:05.860 or completion, or goal, or purpose, 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:07.760 orientation towards the end. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:11.220 So think of a, we're talking about telos, 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:13.220 think of a telescope, okay? 00:27:13.260 --> 00:27:14.140 What does that help you do? 00:27:14.800 --> 00:27:17.300 It helps you to see the end. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:19.780 Like we can see as far as, 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:21.920 even with your human eye unaided by a telescope, 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:25.500 I read something in an astronomer, 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:26.039 where it said, 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:29.120 we have an infinite field of vision. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.300 I was like, what? 00:27:31.100 --> 00:27:33.320 And just, there's no natural limit 00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:34.480 to how far we can see. 00:27:34.539 --> 00:27:36.440 If there's a light strong enough to make it here, 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:38.820 or like a galaxy big enough, 00:27:39.340 --> 00:27:40.980 like it doesn't matter how far away it is, 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:42.320 we can see it. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:45.099 Which is just mind-blowing. 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:46.839 Because like, when you look at the Milky Way, 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.579 each, it looks like a bunch of pixels, 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:50.980 you know? 00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:52.759 Like, you can't even distinguish them apart 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:54.740 because they're so not close together. 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:55.819 They're so far away 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:57.319 that they're making 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:00.059 an unpixelated 00:28:00.059 --> 00:28:02.139 cream of milky, 00:28:02.139 --> 00:28:05.039 milky light in the sky. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:06.339 And each one of those, 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:07.259 which is a star, 00:28:08.019 --> 00:28:09.339 probably as big as our star, 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:10.220 is the sun. 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:11.599 And probably as far away 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.440 from the next star 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:15.139 as our sun is 00:28:15.139 --> 00:28:17.039 to the next galaxy, 00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:18.420 the next solar system. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:19.859 It's mind-blowing 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:22.359 that we can see that far away 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:25.319 that the stars 00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:26.700 are undifferentiated 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:28.599 like the pixels in our iPhone screen. 00:28:28.819 --> 00:28:29.460 That's wild. 00:28:29.819 --> 00:28:29.980 Okay? 00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:31.099 Anyway, 00:28:31.379 --> 00:28:33.339 a telescope helps us to see 00:28:33.339 --> 00:28:34.579 that far. 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:37.419 helps us to see the end 00:28:37.419 --> 00:28:38.740 all the way 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:40.699 to the completion, 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:42.559 to the end. 00:28:44.980 --> 00:28:47.159 So telos can also mean 00:28:47.159 --> 00:28:48.539 something about a termination 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:49.119 or conclusion. 00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:50.919 So when God's doing things, 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:52.299 he has a teleological, 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:53.539 he has a telos, 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.639 he has an end in mind for us. 00:28:57.819 --> 00:28:59.079 When all his work is done, 00:28:59.259 --> 00:29:00.419 we're going to bear the image 00:29:00.419 --> 00:29:01.039 of his son 00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:02.179 for all those who are in Christ. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:03.399 We're going to look more like Jesus 00:29:03.399 --> 00:29:04.179 and we're going to be, 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:04.840 in him. 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:06.600 We're going to be with him 00:29:06.600 --> 00:29:07.560 in glory. 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:09.039 That's the telos 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:10.299 of the Christian. 00:29:11.600 --> 00:29:12.799 And that's perfect. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.700 So when we think about perfect, 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.160 what comes to my mind first 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.360 is Christian perfection. 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:18.840 And it's just this thing 00:29:18.840 --> 00:29:19.279 that I just, 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:20.620 that ate my lunch 00:29:20.620 --> 00:29:22.100 for years growing up. 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:25.139 and this idea that I had to be perfect, 00:29:25.139 --> 00:29:25.480 like, 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:26.459 or else, 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:26.740 like, 00:29:26.859 --> 00:29:27.419 I'm going to hell. 00:29:27.879 --> 00:29:29.500 And it's true. 00:29:29.679 --> 00:29:30.500 You do have to be perfect, 00:29:30.679 --> 00:29:31.619 but you can't be perfect. 00:29:31.879 --> 00:29:32.859 But Christ was perfect. 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:35.179 And so if I'm in Christ, 00:29:35.259 --> 00:29:36.299 I get his perfection, 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:38.799 credited to my account. 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:42.099 And so, 00:29:42.099 --> 00:29:46.379 but let patience have its perfect work, 00:29:47.339 --> 00:29:48.759 that you may be perfect and complete. 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:51.199 So this perfect doesn't have 00:29:51.199 --> 00:29:52.259 the Christian perfection 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:56.899 connotation to it. 00:29:56.959 --> 00:29:57.980 It has more of a, 00:29:58.439 --> 00:29:59.399 that you may be 00:29:59.399 --> 00:30:02.139 in concert with your 00:30:02.139 --> 00:30:03.319 created order, 00:30:03.439 --> 00:30:03.980 your end. 00:30:03.980 --> 00:30:05.779 And that's, 00:30:05.779 --> 00:30:06.299 that's a perfect, 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:07.360 that's a type of perfection, 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:09.259 but it's not the sinless perfection 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:09.700 that, 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:11.860 that we think of in this verse. 00:30:12.779 --> 00:30:14.460 But let patience have its perfect work, 00:30:14.539 --> 00:30:16.059 that you may be perfect and complete, 00:30:16.920 --> 00:30:17.839 lacking nothing. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:20.500 And then he goes on to, 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:27.640 ask the guys around the fire, 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:28.720 who asked them, 00:30:29.660 --> 00:30:30.259 two minutes ago. 00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:31.579 Um, 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:32.940 oh wow. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:34.119 Like, 00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:35.160 does it, 00:30:35.379 --> 00:30:36.859 any of you guys not lack wisdom? 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:38.480 There's somebody that doesn't lack wisdom, 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:39.279 Michael, 00:30:39.779 --> 00:30:40.299 played along. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.279 Like, 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:42.579 no, 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:43.119 I'm good, 00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:43.460 you know. 00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:44.799 Like, 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:45.819 just acting the hope, 00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:46.299 you know, 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:46.559 like, 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:46.819 like, 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:48.339 you don't need to ask for wisdom, 00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:49.519 that you don't lack wisdom, 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:49.799 like, 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:53.180 how thick would you have to be? 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:54.279 How dull would you have to be 00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:55.879 to think you didn't need wisdom, 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:57.279 to think you didn't lack wisdom? 00:30:58.140 --> 00:30:58.740 He was joking. 00:30:59.099 --> 00:30:59.720 So everybody, 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:02.920 he made it obvious that he was joking. 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:04.380 But this idea that, 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:04.759 um, 00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:06.600 we could be perfect and complete, 00:31:07.220 --> 00:31:07.900 lacking nothing. 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:10.120 So there's a lacking nothing. 00:31:10.900 --> 00:31:11.299 Um, 00:31:12.339 --> 00:31:13.420 in second Peter one, 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:13.720 three, 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:16.579 it talks about us having everything we need. 00:31:16.660 --> 00:31:18.880 So his divine power has granted to us 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.160 all things that pertain to life and godliness. 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:22.380 We're not lacking anything. 00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:24.259 He's granted to us all that we need 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:25.100 for life and godliness. 00:31:25.099 --> 00:31:27.619 Through the knowledge of him who comes, 00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:30.539 who called us to his own glory and excellence. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:33.599 So there is a sense in which we're lacking nothing, 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:34.779 but still, 00:31:35.059 --> 00:31:36.519 we're lacking wisdom. 00:31:36.719 --> 00:31:38.599 We're lacking the end, 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:40.439 the final perfection of wisdom 00:31:40.439 --> 00:31:41.639 that we're going for. 00:31:42.399 --> 00:31:42.759 Um, 00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:44.799 the telos of wisdom. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:46.519 We're lacking that at least. 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:47.400 Uh, 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:48.660 we haven't arrived there yet. 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:49.539 Um, 00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:52.559 so if any of you and all of you do, 00:31:53.379 --> 00:31:53.859 um, 00:31:54.059 --> 00:31:54.859 lack wisdom, 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:00.019 let him ask of God who gives to all liberally 00:32:00.019 --> 00:32:01.019 and without reproach, 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:02.399 and it will be given to him. 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:04.519 This God who gives, 00:32:04.899 --> 00:32:06.240 let him ask of God. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:08.019 Then I have a comma in my translation, 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:11.059 who gives to all liberally without reproach. 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:14.319 But the words in the Greek is, 00:32:14.879 --> 00:32:15.559 did on toss, 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:17.559 they do is the giving God. 00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:19.039 Ask the giving God. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.940 Which I thought was just a cool way of framing it. 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:22.220 You know, 00:32:22.299 --> 00:32:23.019 like ask, 00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:24.379 if you lack, 00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:26.460 you could ask the giving God. 00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:28.359 And he loves to give. 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:29.659 And how does he love to give? 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:31.299 He gives liberally, 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:31.980 generously, 00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:32.920 lavishly, 00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:34.139 and without reproach. 00:32:34.180 --> 00:32:35.139 He's not annoyed at us, 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:36.299 that we don't already have it, 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:37.359 that we have to keep asking, 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:39.200 that we have to always keep asking. 00:32:39.980 --> 00:32:40.259 Um, 00:32:40.259 --> 00:32:41.399 he didn't create us. 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:44.079 Like even Adam had to grow in wisdom. 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:44.899 Um, 00:32:45.500 --> 00:32:46.779 and he didn't. 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:47.180 And so, 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:48.659 here we are. 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:50.899 And we needed a second Adam. 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:52.039 Um, 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:56.059 but it's not a sin to be finite. 00:32:56.299 --> 00:32:57.539 It's not a sin to be created. 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:00.119 It's not subpar that we're human, 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:01.619 and that we're not God himself. 00:33:02.619 --> 00:33:03.139 Um, 00:33:03.139 --> 00:33:04.799 and that we have to be asking for wisdom. 00:33:05.420 --> 00:33:05.899 Um, 00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:09.019 but he loves to give when he asks for wisdom. 00:33:09.320 --> 00:33:11.500 And even when we are lacking nothing, 00:33:11.600 --> 00:33:13.740 even when we have everything we need for life and godliness, 00:33:14.040 --> 00:33:16.840 we still need it for wisdom. 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:17.279 Um, 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:17.679 and he loves, 00:33:17.879 --> 00:33:17.679 and he loves, 00:33:17.879 --> 00:33:18.240 loves, 00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:19.059 loves to give it. 00:33:19.159 --> 00:33:20.159 And he loves to give it, 00:33:20.399 --> 00:33:21.419 not stingily, 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:23.099 not begrudgingly. 00:33:24.099 --> 00:33:24.539 Um, 00:33:24.539 --> 00:33:28.220 he loves to give liberally, 00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:30.019 generously, 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:31.699 and without reproach. 00:33:31.899 --> 00:33:32.659 He's not annoying. 00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:33.759 He's not annoyed at us. 00:33:33.899 --> 00:33:34.159 We're not, 00:33:34.220 --> 00:33:35.679 we're not feeling put out, 00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:36.799 that we have to keep asking, 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:38.039 from his supply. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:39.680 It's him. 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:40.299 It's God. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:40.859 It's infinite. 00:33:41.099 --> 00:33:41.339 He's, 00:33:41.879 --> 00:33:42.819 he has the supply. 00:33:43.180 --> 00:33:44.000 Where we have the need, 00:33:44.099 --> 00:33:44.899 he has the supply. 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:46.359 And he loves to give. 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:48.099 Um, 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:51.759 and he has a trustworthy disposition to give generously. 00:33:54.139 --> 00:33:55.279 Christian perfection, 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.339 and the man who has no need to ask for wisdom. 00:33:57.480 --> 00:33:57.619 Yeah, 00:33:57.700 --> 00:33:57.920 so, 00:33:58.579 --> 00:33:59.759 that Christian perfectionism, 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:05.799 if any of you lacks wisdom, 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:06.180 I just, 00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:08.019 I just can't imagine the person arriving, 00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:08.659 this time, 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:09.019 we did. 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:11.619 Don't lack wisdom, 00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:13.239 or he would be as big of an oaf, 00:34:13.300 --> 00:34:14.279 as my most, 00:34:14.619 --> 00:34:15.420 for taking a feeling. 00:34:15.860 --> 00:34:16.079 Nah, 00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:16.300 dude, 00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:16.679 I'm good. 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:17.940 You know, 00:34:17.980 --> 00:34:18.139 like, 00:34:18.219 --> 00:34:18.400 it's, 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:19.739 it's just idiocy. 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:20.679 It's pure idiocy, 00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:22.199 that somebody would think, 00:34:22.279 --> 00:34:23.199 that they'd arrive at a point, 00:34:23.259 --> 00:34:24.639 where we don't need to ask for wisdom. 00:34:25.860 --> 00:34:26.099 Um, 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:28.440 the more you know about yourself, 00:34:28.699 --> 00:34:29.779 the more you know about God, 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:31.920 and how holy he is, 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:33.500 how perfect perfection is. 00:34:33.900 --> 00:34:34.079 Um, 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:36.980 when Isaiah went into, 00:34:36.980 --> 00:34:38.740 the throne room of God, 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:40.199 and beheld him in his glory, 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.000 and saw just the train of his road, 00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:43.280 building the temple, 00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:44.079 what did he say? 00:34:44.300 --> 00:34:44.840 He said, 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:45.860 woe is me. 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:47.660 I'm undone. 00:34:47.780 --> 00:34:49.620 I'm a man of unclean lips. 00:34:49.740 --> 00:34:52.019 I dwell among a people of unclean lips. 00:34:52.380 --> 00:34:52.680 Um, 00:34:53.160 --> 00:34:53.380 it, 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:54.340 it unraveled him, 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:55.860 but it almost disintegrated. 00:34:56.120 --> 00:34:58.780 It almost fragmented him in a thousand pieces. 00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:02.559 Almost came apart at the seams. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:04.480 So, 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:06.340 if any of you lacks wisdom, 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:07.799 let him ask the giving God, 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:10.799 who gives to all liberally and without reproach, 00:35:11.099 --> 00:35:11.960 and it will be given to him. 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:13.840 But, 00:35:14.259 --> 00:35:15.900 there's a certain way we gotta ask. 00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:17.219 It's not asking willy-nilly. 00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:20.119 It's not asking in a double-minded way. 00:35:20.519 --> 00:35:21.699 Let him ask in faith, 00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:23.679 with no doubting. 00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:27.139 For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, 00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:28.779 driven and tossed by the wind. 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:30.580 So, 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:33.040 there was something that happened in our, 00:35:33.780 --> 00:35:34.780 in my generation, 00:35:35.040 --> 00:35:35.620 growing up. 00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:37.180 Um, 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:38.640 I think it was a reaction against 00:35:38.640 --> 00:35:40.800 some of the earlier fundamentalism, 00:35:41.580 --> 00:35:42.080 where 00:35:42.080 --> 00:35:45.519 youths were encouraged to doubt. 00:35:45.940 --> 00:35:47.160 We're encouraged to feed our doubt. 00:35:47.580 --> 00:35:48.040 And like, 00:35:48.120 --> 00:35:48.320 hey, 00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:49.340 how can you handle it? 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:49.620 You know, 00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:49.900 like, 00:35:50.300 --> 00:35:50.480 you, 00:35:50.540 --> 00:35:51.140 you go doubt, 00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:52.120 and when you come out of it, 00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:53.560 your faith is gonna be stronger. 00:35:54.200 --> 00:35:55.460 Doubt is a faith maker. 00:35:56.420 --> 00:35:58.760 And it's just not the way that the Bible talks about doubt. 00:35:58.920 --> 00:35:59.019 Like, 00:35:59.019 --> 00:35:59.880 doubt is your enemy. 00:36:00.140 --> 00:36:00.400 It's, 00:36:00.460 --> 00:36:01.260 it's a killer, 00:36:01.460 --> 00:36:02.140 it's poison. 00:36:02.600 --> 00:36:03.860 And you don't drink poison, 00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:05.660 just so you appreciate health afterwards. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:07.900 It will not work for most people. 00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:08.600 Like, 00:36:08.740 --> 00:36:10.580 just because you can survive, 00:36:10.700 --> 00:36:12.260 just because God did save some, 00:36:12.660 --> 00:36:13.620 from that, 00:36:13.720 --> 00:36:15.060 it wasn't because of their doubt. 00:36:15.620 --> 00:36:16.100 Despite, 00:36:16.460 --> 00:36:16.680 um, 00:36:16.820 --> 00:36:17.840 them feeding in their, 00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:19.040 here. 00:36:19.260 --> 00:36:19.780 Hebrews 3, 00:36:19.860 --> 00:36:20.000 2, 00:36:20.160 --> 00:36:21.100 12 says it. 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:21.800 Take care, 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:22.280 brothers, 00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:24.160 lest there be in any of you, 00:36:24.540 --> 00:36:25.019 take care, 00:36:25.140 --> 00:36:26.100 lest there be in any of you, 00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:26.940 an evil, 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:28.019 unbelieving heart. 00:36:28.019 --> 00:36:31.139 Leading you to fall away from the living God. 00:36:31.460 --> 00:36:31.559 Well, 00:36:31.639 --> 00:36:34.059 unbelief is dangerous. 00:36:34.380 --> 00:36:34.659 It's, 00:36:34.759 --> 00:36:39.119 it's a heinous arrogance against your creator. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:39.559 Um, 00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:43.059 yeah, 00:36:43.059 --> 00:36:46.320 as though a bird should curse the air, 00:36:46.579 --> 00:36:46.900 you know, 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:47.440 or, 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:47.880 uh, 00:36:48.259 --> 00:36:49.340 it's a little hyper poem. 00:36:49.980 --> 00:36:50.820 Not gonna remember it. 00:36:51.299 --> 00:36:51.639 Um, 00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:54.559 or fish compare the ocean to a grave. 00:36:54.779 --> 00:36:55.259 The mighty, 00:36:55.259 --> 00:37:00.679 the ant lifting his mighty voice and ranking against the earth with pride obsessed. 00:37:01.259 --> 00:37:02.659 Infants rail against the breast. 00:37:02.659 --> 00:37:13.239 this idea of a creature casting aspersions on its creator it's an offense against the holy god 00:37:13.239 --> 00:37:20.440 and it's not safe it's not wise it's not humble and i think it was kind of framed it was framed 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:29.899 as humility because we've gotten the attack from the ascended atheists who say oh this christianity 00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:35.480 it's so exclusive it's so it's so presumptuous like who are you to presume that your love's right 00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:41.240 all the thousands of gods you know that yours is right and we go oh let's let's use reason now 00:37:41.240 --> 00:37:46.360 we kind of reverted to to reason and doubt is in the realm 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:57.019 okay asking while doubting if we'll ask in faith if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god who 00:37:57.019 --> 00:38:02.139 gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith 00:38:02.139 --> 00:38:06.719 with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind 00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:12.539 so asking while doubting it's a subtle smear against god we don't think about that we think of it as 00:38:12.539 --> 00:38:18.079 maybe intellectual honesty that's how i framed it college years you know like if i really believe 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:25.239 it it could probably stand up to the script you know and it can't um but there's a way of holding 00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:33.959 ourselves above god to um assess him and putting god in the dock as the witness us being the judge 00:38:33.959 --> 00:38:42.039 that god resists the proud and he only gives grace to the humble he doesn't give grace to the one 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:48.659 pointing their bony finger of accusation at him doesn't work not how he dispenses grace 00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:58.639 um and asking while doubting is this two-minded idea um it's a subtle smear against god it's an 00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:04.480 accusation that either he's not generous or that he's not capable maybe even that he doesn't exist so 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:11.779 um it's not intellectual honesty it's not this um liberal 00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:22.180 um idea of no partiality in the marketplace of ideas so i remember like parents being told that 00:39:22.180 --> 00:39:27.560 don't push christianity on your kid christian parents being told not to push christianity for kids because 00:39:27.560 --> 00:39:33.940 it would like they have to they have to get it for themselves and and the way that 00:39:33.940 --> 00:39:42.220 families work and that cultures work and that faith works is faith comes by hearing and hearing by 00:39:42.220 --> 00:39:52.579 the word and yeah if they're not hearing it's not going to work so yeah this idea of 00:39:52.579 --> 00:40:06.699 asking while doubting this two-minded this two-minded reality as being a smear like it's it's saying 00:40:06.699 --> 00:40:11.619 lies about god it's believing lies about god and it's acting as though god is not trustworthy and 00:40:11.619 --> 00:40:21.019 capable and willing to be good to his children but let not that man suppose that he will receive 00:40:21.019 --> 00:40:28.519 anything from the lord yeah god hates that kind of pride uh he opposes the proud gives grace to the 00:40:28.519 --> 00:40:35.119 humble james 4 6 we'll see that in a few weeks so god opposes the prophet gives grace to the humble 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:43.019 submit yourselves therefore to god resist the devil he will flee from you so there's two masters and 00:40:43.019 --> 00:40:50.559 when we are double-minded we are playing with both masters and that does not work 00:40:50.559 --> 00:40:57.739 you cannot serve two masters no man can serve two masters here you will love the one and meet the 00:40:57.739 --> 00:41:02.840 other and be devoted to one despite the lord you can't serve god and money you can't serve god and 00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:09.799 um the devil obviously okay let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the lord 00:41:09.799 --> 00:41:15.860 he is a double-minded man this is a thought this double-mindedness shows up again and again through 00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:25.579 james it's a really helpful category to have um the greek word for double-minded is di suko so cite me 00:41:25.579 --> 00:41:38.280 two souls two minded so suke can mean soul life self mind heart interbeing it's a divided self it's a divided 00:41:38.280 --> 00:41:46.600 mind it's a two two to face it and two minded about things and that's an unstable way to be 00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:56.680 um one foot on reality and one foot on air is it's gonna move you from that foot on reality 00:41:57.720 --> 00:42:01.880 um that instability will be like it'll be driven and tossed by the winds 00:42:01.880 --> 00:42:13.619 so deep suko is a divided spirit or divided mind double-minded and contrast that with a single 00:42:13.619 --> 00:42:21.300 minded devotion that james was um talking about as a servant of christ like he has one master and 00:42:21.300 --> 00:42:28.640 he lives to do his will and there's a single unified devotion to christ and there's no division there's no 00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:34.779 two-facedness or two-mindedness about it so let not that man suppose that he will receive anything 00:42:34.779 --> 00:42:41.119 from the lord he's a double-minded man unstable in all his ways yeah matthew 6 24 says no one can serve 00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:48.960 two masters luke 9 54 to 55 and when the disciples james and john saw it they said lord do you want us to 00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:56.359 tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them um people were not accepting jesus and samaria i think it 00:42:56.360 --> 00:43:03.160 was and then some manuscripts add that jesus said you do not know what manner of spirit you are of 00:43:03.160 --> 00:43:11.160 so these were his disciples but they had another spirit that they were of um and that possible 00:43:11.160 --> 00:43:19.960 remember um oh here this is cool i never saw this connection here so revelation 13 13 it's talking about 00:43:19.960 --> 00:43:24.280 the beast and then there's a second beast that comes i forget if he's the false prophet or the antichrist 00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:31.080 what but the second beast performs great signs in revelation 13 13 even making fire down from heaven 00:43:31.080 --> 00:43:38.200 to earth so to consume people um in front of people and by the signs that he is allowed to work 00:43:38.200 --> 00:43:42.519 in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth so there's there's something about 00:43:42.519 --> 00:43:48.760 the enemy like there's an enemy power at work in james and john these are two of the inner circles jesus 00:43:48.760 --> 00:43:55.720 three dominants and they were of another spirit you know um at that moment and so that kind of 00:43:55.720 --> 00:44:03.480 double-mindedness can unstabilize a person and jesus was kind enough to call it out he he rebuked them 00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:10.760 he's a double-minded man unstable in all his ways we're going to see this in a couple different spots 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:17.800 here as we go okay now we get to a section about uh the let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation 00:44:18.920 --> 00:44:28.600 and the rich in his humiliation so we see a going down and a coming up um and it's thinking about it in 00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:30.120 gospel terms 00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:39.000 the lowly brother can glory in his exaltation and he's encouraged like don't identify yourself as poor 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:50.840 do you have christ um then you are rich indeed uh don't divide yourself that way as the you and then 00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:57.480 the you without christ the you in christ and you without christ you can't divide yourself two ways 00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:05.159 like that you're either in christ and it's a you in christ or it's a you without christ there's no two 00:45:05.159 --> 00:45:12.839 news anymore you're a new man when you're in christ and there is no old man um as your core identity we 00:45:12.839 --> 00:45:19.719 still drag them around we still got flesh we still live in the world um but we're that's not who we are 00:45:19.719 --> 00:45:28.599 at our at our deepest and we we have this dyed suitcase that was double-minded um schizophrenia that we 00:45:28.599 --> 00:45:34.519 fall into and we forget every morning we forget and we got to put that thing to death we need to 00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:43.639 we need to consider ourselves alive to god and dead to self and uh it doesn't happen automatically it 00:45:43.639 --> 00:45:50.039 takes a reckoning it takes the act of the will to put that thing to death don't identify yourself as 00:45:50.039 --> 00:45:56.519 poor do you have christ don't divide yourself that way you without christ does not exist anymore you are 00:45:56.519 --> 00:46:02.679 seated with christ in the heavenly places do you know who you are child of god like let the lowly brother 00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:09.159 glory in his exaltation there's a way in which we're all lowly i mean that's that's how most people 00:46:10.119 --> 00:46:14.919 probably self-devent about if you ask somebody if they're rich like few even rich people i'll say 00:46:14.919 --> 00:46:22.839 yeah right no like but then on the other hand like zoom out any amount of time in world world history 00:46:22.839 --> 00:46:26.440 with the richest people you've ever met like you just have two cars 00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:34.119 um count the number of television in your house like television and see what things so far tell us 00:46:34.760 --> 00:46:36.119 sorry um 00:46:38.599 --> 00:46:48.840 the we are rich ephesians 2 4 through 9 but god being rich in mercy because of the great love with which 00:46:48.840 --> 00:46:56.440 he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with christ by grace you have 00:46:56.440 --> 00:47:03.800 been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in christ jesus 00:47:03.800 --> 00:47:10.120 we're in christ we're with him where he is that's father's right hand we're in him like what jesus gets 00:47:10.119 --> 00:47:17.000 we get we're if we're in him like there's there's no when he looks at us he doesn't see adam without 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:23.559 christ that person doesn't exist anymore it's adam in christ and he looks at christ and he imputes all 00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:30.519 of christ's righteousness to me takes all of my sin says paid by my son's blood you're in him 00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:38.679 you're flowing through his veins i don't know if that's right strike that maybe um metaphorically 00:47:38.679 --> 00:47:45.879 possible so verse 7 ephesians 2 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches 00:47:45.879 --> 00:47:53.399 of his grace in kindness towards us in christ there's an us in christ and if you look carefully 00:47:53.399 --> 00:48:00.519 it's always an us in christ if there's any good for by grace you have been saved through faith this is 00:48:00.519 --> 00:48:06.440 not your own doing it is the gift of god not a result of works so that no one may boast okay and 00:48:06.440 --> 00:48:13.880 god really really hates boasting and james really hates boasting and paul really hates boasting everybody 00:48:13.880 --> 00:48:21.480 who has the mind of christ should hate boasting um so we got this idea of the poor glory in his 00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:28.200 exaltation but there's also a flip side to that but the rich in his humiliation because as a flower of the 00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:37.879 field he's going to pass away like like we're a vapor um james 4 14 um what is your life it's a vapor 00:48:37.879 --> 00:48:44.839 that appears for a little time and it vanishes away so don't even say um today or tomorrow we will go to 00:48:44.839 --> 00:48:49.559 such and such a city for a year there buy sell make profit you don't even know what tomorrow 00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:56.599 what could happen tomorrow what's your life you're a vapor you're a vapor zoom out at all in history 00:48:56.599 --> 00:49:03.320 with the lord a thousand years it's like a game it's like it's it's nothing like our lives 00:49:06.039 --> 00:49:13.000 in retrospect from eternity looking at us it's a vapor it vanishes it's a breath 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:20.440 how fast does the breath despertage on a cold day your vapor 00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:27.719 for no sooner has the sun risen with its burning heat than it withers the grass flower falls and 00:49:27.719 --> 00:49:32.679 it's a beautiful appearance perishes so the rich man also will fade away in his pursuit 00:49:33.320 --> 00:49:42.280 so i think as a flip side to the poor exalting in his exaltation or glorying in his exaltation the 00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:49.560 rich man's also allowed to glory in his humiliation um oh great you're rich are you poor in spirit 00:49:49.560 --> 00:49:58.040 like is your richness keeping you from realizing how poor you really are um and you might miss out 00:49:58.040 --> 00:50:04.760 on the true riches of the kingdom of god an eternal richness that you can enjoy forever richer than 00:50:04.760 --> 00:50:12.200 anything you've imagined um matthew 5 3 the beatitude um blessed are the poor in 00:50:12.199 --> 00:50:19.960 spirit for theirs is the kingdom of god what else could we have what else could you ask for like 00:50:20.759 --> 00:50:27.079 the kingdom of god god's kingdom it's yours it's yours in christ 00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:36.919 that's riches don't let your riches keep you from that and that's what the rich man is told to glory 00:50:36.920 --> 00:50:44.039 it's humiliation there's a going down so the poor can't lift their eyes up to see what is theirs in 00:50:44.039 --> 00:50:49.000 christ like that that's the that's the poor man's challenge that's their temptation that they can't even 00:50:49.000 --> 00:50:53.960 lift up their eyes to see what's theirs in christ so they want to bring christ down to their level 00:50:54.760 --> 00:51:00.760 um and the rich can't see themselves debased to need the kind of grace that would send them down 00:51:00.760 --> 00:51:08.840 into an ignoble grave the grave of the slain savior and be united with him in a death like his like 00:51:08.840 --> 00:51:15.800 that's that's the rich man's temptation to not go down as far as we need to go down and james was saying 00:51:16.760 --> 00:51:25.480 you up there christ be in christ be buried with him in death go down he's saying to the poor man who feels 00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:32.039 down do you come up into christ it's christ it's not you um 00:51:37.079 --> 00:51:43.000 let's see romans 10 6 through 8. oh this is this was interesting i don't know that i have a ton of 00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:50.679 time to get into it but i'm gonna try do you not know oh but the righteousness based on faith says 00:51:50.679 --> 00:51:55.480 do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven that is to bring christ down i think that's 00:51:56.199 --> 00:52:03.079 that's the poor man's temptation is to say what can i go up to heaven like can i be as perfect as 00:52:03.079 --> 00:52:08.839 christ can i be as rich as christ and then so there's a temptation to bring christ down and the 00:52:08.839 --> 00:52:14.199 righteousness based on faith says do not say that in your heart or also don't say who descended in the 00:52:14.199 --> 00:52:23.719 abyss and i think that's the rich man's temptation that is to keep christ out of the grave um from out of 00:52:23.719 --> 00:52:31.799 going down into death with christ in him being buried with him um that's just a thought so 00:52:31.800 --> 00:52:39.000 and so romans 6 verses 3 to 11. let's look at that 00:52:48.519 --> 00:52:53.560 okay all right well then i'm just gonna wrap up um 00:52:53.559 --> 00:53:01.880 um yeah this two minds this idea of two-mindedness you'll see it over and over you see it in james and 00:53:01.880 --> 00:53:07.960 john when they're trying to fall down fire on their enemies during christ's years of mystery when he's 00:53:07.960 --> 00:53:14.920 with them they ask if they can do that i'm like no no um and then like uh peter he's trying to keep 00:53:14.920 --> 00:53:20.599 christ from going to the cross he's got a natural mind about it he's got doesn't have the line of christ 00:53:20.599 --> 00:53:27.000 and jesus says get behind me say do not know what makes what they say you know what makes for peace 00:53:29.559 --> 00:53:35.000 hey set your mind on the interest in there rather than which god and he didn't see what was going on 00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:42.279 didn't have the mind of christ about even christ and this crucifixion so he had a better idea and he 00:53:42.279 --> 00:53:49.719 said no so there's two minds that work often and you get in trouble when that happens it's a psychosis 00:53:49.719 --> 00:53:59.159 it's a deep soup the divided mind divided heart divided soul um that we gotta wage war against and 00:54:00.039 --> 00:54:08.519 let's go to the very end here verse 12 blessed is the man who endures temptation so this kind of 00:54:08.519 --> 00:54:14.599 wraps it all up for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the lord has 00:54:14.599 --> 00:54:21.719 promised to those who love him so you're blessed this is a beatitude so not only matthew not only 00:54:21.719 --> 00:54:28.839 jesus does it and in matthew but here we have a beatitude happy are you blessed are you um blessed 00:54:28.839 --> 00:54:34.199 is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which 00:54:34.199 --> 00:54:39.719 the lord has promised to those who love him and we get that by counting it all joy face trials various 00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:47.559 kinds knowing knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience and letting patience have its 00:54:47.559 --> 00:54:57.399 perfect work its intended end its telos its appropriate consummation goal that we may be perfect and 00:54:57.399 --> 00:55:05.480 complete lacking nothing having everything we need but when we lack wisdom if anybody lacks wisdom we can ask 00:55:05.480 --> 00:55:12.440 boldly of god knowing that he gives to all liberally without reproach and it will be given to him because 00:55:12.440 --> 00:55:22.119 he's the giving god but we got to ask in faith and nothing room for doubting and put that to death um it 00:55:22.679 --> 00:55:29.960 it tells lies about god and it slanders his his good his good character um for you doubts it's like a wave of 00:55:29.960 --> 00:55:40.360 the sea driven and tossed by women and we can't afford to eat your lunch um let not that man suppose that 00:55:40.360 --> 00:55:47.639 he will receive anything from the lord he is a double-minded man divided soul unstable in all his ways 00:55:49.960 --> 00:55:56.599 and then let everybody rich and poor find themselves in christ that will have a exalting work and a 00:55:56.599 --> 00:56:04.360 lower work in each of us because we can each we can each identify with each of those and we need both of 00:56:04.360 --> 00:56:10.599 those works to happen in us same time