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James 1:1-18
Looking to the Future
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October 20, 2013 am
James
“DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL TOUGHNESS"
INTRODUCTION: I introduced this Sermon Series in James last Sunday…
1. The Sermon Series Title: “Looking to the Future”
2. A biblical rationale for 13 long-range goals for our church (2013-2020).
a. Adopted by your elders in September
b. Set before you and explained in October-December
3. The elders and I have divided these 13 goals into two categories.
a. Spiritual Growth Goals
b. Operational Ministry Goals
4. I want to present the Biblical Rationale for these goals from the text of the Epistle of James.
5. Please note: I will not necessarily take these in the order they come in the text of James but will handle
them in the order that will fit better with our church’s calendar, especially in this Fall season.
a. Stewardship Season (November)
b. Thanksgiving Feast (November 17)
c. December 1st Congregational Meeting (pm)
6. I laid out the Theme of James last Sunday: “Pure and Undefiled Religion”
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at
himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law,
the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in
his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion
is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:22-27)
a. Obeying God’s Word, Controlling Our Tongue, Mercy and Justice, and Christlike Holiness
(goodness)
7. Let’s turn to James 1:1-18 and look at the first of the 13 long-range goals and the first spiritual growth
goal:
a. Developing Spiritual Toughness
b. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
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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.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it
will be given him. 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.
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower
of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its
flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his
pursuits.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive
the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is
tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts
no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire
when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of
his creatures.
(James 1:1-18)
8. Americans, and thus American Christians, are spiritually, emotionally, and relationally “soft.”
a. We are the most overweight (obese) people on the earth…
b. …but younger Americans are leading our society into better patterns of diet, exercise, and physical
fitness.
c. But, on the inside, Americans are a brittle, soft, and pampered people.
9. Kris Decker has told me many times, “Our kids are soft, especially our CDS kids. They cannot handle
adversity, disappointment, or hard things.”
a. This coming from an Associate Pastor who…
b. …is a veteran Pastor with 20+ years in Youth Ministry
c. …a Pastor who loves youth and the youth of CDS and Christ Covenant Church
d. …a father of children at CDS and an avid supporter of our school
e. Kris is merely assessing the spiritual condition of our teens.
10. Pastor Decker’s assessment is one that I share, but I would broaden this assessment even more: Christians
in America are not spiritually tough enough to live the Christian life as God intends for us.
11. Some of you, perhaps many of you, may disagree with this assessment. You might say, “Pastor, that’s
unfair and unkind.”
a. First, please forgive me if I sound unkind. Both Kris and I dearly love you and your young people.
We are not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings but are pastorally making a spiritual observation.
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b. Incidentally, the evidence that we are correct in what we say is the fact that if your feelings are
hurt or you are offended by a simple statement of fact, your reaction proves our assumption to be
true!
c. Second, if Kris and I were alone in this assessment, we could well be criticized for being unfair,
but many, many social-observers outside the church share our opinion.
12. In fact, you should know that an increasing number of pastors, educators, coaches, psychologists,
sociologists, and journalists share a growing conviction that American people are soft, brittle and
unprepared for difficulty –
a. Dr. Jean Twenge: author, professor, consultant, speaker
i. Book: Generation Me
ii. Book: The Narcissism Epidemic
iii. Book: The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant
iv. Professor: San Diego State University, Department of Psychology
v. Generation Me (1970-1990’s) are tolerant, overly confident, open-minded, ambitious, but
also cynical, depressed, lonely, anxious
vi. A generation raised on everyone getting a trophy, false praise, and easy grades who cannot
handle adversity
b. Richard Whitmire: Columnist for The Wall Street Journal and USA Today (“The Lost Boys”)
i. Fear of failure drives “Lost Boys” to passive lifestyles
ii. Lack skills and aspirations to succeed in college and in life
iii. Why? Never forced to do “hard things”
c. George F. Will: “The Basement Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity”
i. Gary Cross, a Penn State University historian, wonders, “Where have all the men gone?”
His book, Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity, argues that “the culture of the
boy-men today is less a life stage than a lifestyle.” If you wonder what has become of
manliness, he says, note the differences between Cary Grant and Hugh Grant, the former
dapper and debonair, the latter, a perpetually befuddled boy.
ii. Although Cross, an aging academic boomer, was a student leftist, he believes that 1960s
radicalism became “a retreat into childish tantrums” symptomatic “of how permissive
parents infantilized the boomer generation.” And the boomer’ children? Consider the
television commercials for the restaurant chain called Dave & Buster’s, which seems to be,
ironically, a Chuck E. Cheese’s for adults—a place for young adults, especially men, to
drink beer and play electronic games and exemplify youth not as a stage of life but as a
perpetual refuge from adulthood.
iii. Video games: escape from the reality of doing hard things
iv. e.g., won’t go into the Army but will vegetate before a TV screen playing violent war-game
videos!
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13. This aversion to “hard things” led two young Christian men, Alex and Brett Harris (brothers) to write a
book Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations. (2008)
a. A book Dr. Marni Halvorson had the CDS faculty read a few years ago.
b. Alex and Brett Harris, p. 41.
i. The self-fulfilling power of expectations impacts teens in almost every area—often
maddeningly so. Take, for example, tech savvy and sexual activity. These are two areas
where teens are expected to have high interest and high performance. Just as you’d
predict, the levels of activity, consumption, and even obsession in these areas are
unprecedented. We are meeting the expectations set before us. Isn’t it ironic that many
teenagers, though fluent in multiple computer languages (we’re considered trendsetters
and early adopters), are not expected to understand or care about things like personal
finances, politics, or our faith? We’re not even expected to be capable of carrying on an
intelligent conversation with an adult. Isn’t something wrong when girls are constantly
judged on their physical appearance and pressed to become more and more sexually
provocative, yet are so rarely expected to develop qualities of character and intellect
beneath the surface?
ii. i.e., not expected to do “hard things”
c. Actor Chuck Norris wrote the Foreward to this book
As a young man, I discovered the power of doing hard things. Abject poverty, a father’s
alcoholism and desertion of our family, and my own shyness were a few of the obstacles I faced
and overcame growing up. My mother always told me, “God has a plan for your life.” And she’s
right. Each of us is called to reach for greatness. There really is a hero in all of us. We’ve all
been designed by God to be a blessing to many—a hero to some. But there’s only one way to get
there—it’s described by the title of this book: Do Hard Things. Today we live in a culture that
promotes comfort, not challenges. Everything is about finding ways to escape hardship, avoid
pain, and dodge duty. In the past, young people were expected to make significant contributions to
society. Today, our culture expects very little from teens—not much more than staying in school
and doing a few chores. A sad consequence of such low expectations is that life-changing lessons
go unlearned.
14. All these pundits are correct: Doing hard things is what God intends to use in order to build our character
and our faith.
15. And this idea is what begins the Epistle of James.
a. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings. (James 1:1)
b. James, the brother of Jesus Christ, and leader of the Jerusalem church
c. And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs
and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James
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replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from
them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but
should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and
from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in
every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:1221)
d. In 49 A.D., James wrote the first book of the New Testament: The Epistle of James…
e. …same year that Paul penned The Epistle to the Galatians
f. He wrote to Jewish Christians, suffering the persecution begun by Paul c. 30 A.D. and carried on
for several decades
g. Simon J. Kistemaker: James and I-III John; p. 7.
The Jewish Christians have been scattered among the nations. After Stephen’s death, the
Jerusalem church was scattered throughout Judea, Samaria (Acts 8:1), and even as far as
Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Acts 11:19). From Acts, then, we know that the scattered
Christians were Jews who had been driven from Jerusalem. If we assume that James wrote his
epistle to the Jewish Christians who were persecuted following the death of Stephen, then the
conclusion is that this epistle dates from the first part of the first century. James wrote a pastoral
letter to these scattered believers who, before the persecution, belonged to the church at
Jerusalem. He knew that they were living in poverty while they were employed by rich landowners
who exploited them. Some of them were merchants, but all experienced hardship. James
ministered to their needs by writing them a pastoral letter.
16. And James begins his pastoral letter to them by telling them how God develops spiritual toughness in His
saints.
a. James 1:2-18; 5 paragraphs, 5 truths…
b. The Testing of Faith (2-4)
c. The Stability of Faith (5-8)
d. The Perspective of Faith (9-11)
e. The Response of Faith (12-15)
f. The Goodness of God (16-18)
Please note: This is not academic (boring) stuff. James is telling us why God does allow difficulties,
disappointments, and distress to enter into the life of every person, especially Christians.
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I. DIFFICULT THINGS BUILD UP OUR CHARACTER (James 1:2-4)
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. (James 1:2-4)
1. James is quite explicit: “Testings” from God – either directly or indirectly – help to build up our faith
and develop our character.
2. Notice the chain reaction here:
a. Trials of various kinds helps produce…
b. Steadfastness (the Greek: hupomonē), a virtue of character, which develops…
c. Perfection and completion: The Greek teleios, meaning completion, maturity, fullness
3. Peter H. David’s: Epistle of James: NIGTC; p. 70.
a. “Perfection,” meaning a full-blown character of stable righteousness, is the virtue of a righteous
man. James sees the culmination of Christian life not simply in the secure holding of the faith,
but in a fully rounded uprightness, an approach toward the character of God or an imitation of
Christ. In expanding this goal of maturity James adds a synonym that stresses the incremental
character of the process. That is, perfection is not just a maturing of character, but a rounding
out as more and more “parts” of the righteous character are added. The Christian partakes in
the testings which are part of the struggle between the ages. But rather than mourning, he
rejoices in that he knows that this testing will produce the virtues prized in Jewish and Christian
circles which Paul would describe as “Christ being formed in you.” (Galatians 4:19)
b. …my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in
you! (Galatians 4:19)
4. The peers of James – Paul, Peter, and the other Apostles – saw this process of character development as
the building of Christlike virtue upon a sincere and steadfast faith. Peter writes:
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very
great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort
to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and
self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection,
and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from
being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these
qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice
these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into
the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:3-11)
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5. My parents accepted this process of spiritual formation, character development, and maturing of faith as
a normal and even healthy facet of life. When hard times hit, they would say to me, “This will make a
man out of you.”
6. Herein lies the problem; in fact, three serious problems that stunt our spiritual growth and make us
spiritually soft:
a. First: We no longer really care about character, but rather, we fixate on our personalities.
i. Virtues are objective and public standards
ii. Values are subjective and privatized preferences
iii. David F. Wells explains this monumental shift in his book Losing Our Virtue (pp. 1516).
When the virtues were thus privatized, when they were disengaged from public life, that
life had to be governed, not by morality but by social rules that became etiquette. It was
these rules that replaced the virtues, and these rules have now been replaced by
governmental regulation and by litigation.
Morality became so thoroughly relativized and subjectified that virtues ceased to be
virtues. They had also ceased to be virtue. They had become “values.” Virtue had to be
replaced by values. Today values may mean nothing more than a preference, belief,
feeling, habit, or convention – “whatever any individual, group, or society happens to
value, at any time, for any reason.” Thus our values have, in a strange way, become
“value-free.” That, though, is hardly a surprise, for values can have no universal value
if truth has died. Our society talks of values in this way because relativism has
triumphed and because the constant rubbing against postmodern life has had the almost
inevitable effect of emptying us out morally. It is because we have lost our virtue that we
are left to talk about values.
iv. In this shift, character was replaced by “personality” (Wells: Losing Our Virtue; pp. 9698).
Today, we cultivate personality (a word almost unknown before the twentieth century) far
more than we do character, and this is simply the concomitant to the way in which values
have come to replace the older sense of virtue. The change came exactly at the turn of
the century. More social and cultural analyses were offered, and, of course, psychology
and psychotherapy began to emerge as important conceptual frameworks for
understanding the person.
Until this time, the self had been understood in terms of character, of virtue to be learned
and practiced, of private desires to be denied. The words that had most commonly been
used to describe this character, were “citizenship, duty, democracy, work, building,
golden deeds, outdoor life, conquest, honor, reputation, morals, manners, integrity, and
above all, manhood. These virtues were all sustained by a belief in a higher moral law, a
belief that rapidly began to sag and disintegrate. Around 1890, the focus abruptly shifted
from character to personality. The adjectives most commonly used to describe
personality became “fascinating, stunning, attractive, magnetic, glowing, masterful,
creative, dominant, forceful.” None of these words could easily be used to describe
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someone’s character. Character is not stunning, fascinating, or creative. Character is
good or bad, while personality is attractive, forceful, or magnetic. Attention therefore
was shifting from the moral virtues, which need to be cultivated, to the image, which
needs to be fashioned. It was a shift away from the invisible moral intentions toward the
attempt to make ourselves appealing to others, away from what we actually are and
toward refining our performance before a public that mostly judges the exterior. The
self-sacrifice of the older understanding made way for the self-realization of the new.
Now, it became important to find one’s self, to stand out in the crowd, to be unique, to be
confident, and to be able to project oneself.
The crucial moral change that resulted from this development, “was the beginning of a
shift from a Protestant ethos of salvation through self-denial toward a therapeutic ethos
stressing self-realization in this world,” one that has produced, in our own time, an
obsessive interest in both bodily fitness and psychological health.
v. Today we’d rather be a popular personality than a person of character.
vi. But God is interested in our character.
b. Second: We no longer live for the long-haul but focus on the short-term benefits of comfort in
this world.
i. Heaven seldom enters our minds.
ii. A day of judgment is a distant reality.
iii. We aren’t interested in a lifelong process of maturity.
iv. But the Holy Spirit is focused upon our spiritual formation.
c. Third: We see our temporal comfort and safety as the #1 goal of life.
i. Be as comfortable as possible in this life…
ii. …then die and go to heaven.
iii. But Jesus does not see life that way.
iv. He promises us something far, far different:
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out
of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is
offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the
Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may
remember that I told them to you.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
(John 16:1-4)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
7. James would have heard Jesus teach this, time and again, and so he reminds us of this truth: God allows
hard things to come into our lives to build up our faith, to develop in us godly character and to wean us
off this world and prepare us for heaven.
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8. If you live to shelter yourself and your friends or family from hard things, your life will end in failure,
because God is concerned about your eternal character and not your temporal comfort.
9. Don’t waste your life pursuing an elusive dream: Comfort!
II. DIFFICULT THINGS BRING STABILITY TO FAITH (James 1:5-8)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be
given him. 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. (James 1:5-8)
1. When hard things slam into us and our loved ones, James says that such difficulties afford us
opportunity to obtain wisdom.
a. Wisdom: that theme and subject of Proverbs
b. Douglas Moo: James: TOTC; p. 62.
Wisdom is above all a practically-oriented virtue that gives direction for the life of the godly
person. ‘Insight’ into the will of God and the way it is to be applied in life are both given by
wisdom.
c. For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
(Proverbs 2:6-15)
2. This wisdom can be asked for and, if we believe God is good and the giver of wisdom, then we will gain
insight into the events of our lives – good and bad.
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3. But if we doubt the wisdom, the goodness, and the providence of God in our lives, then we will suffer
under difficulties without aid of God’s wisdom.
4. The key word in these four verses is the Greek word…
a. dipsychos = (di) two/double, (psyche) soul
b. Literally: two-souled; double-souled
c. A man with a divided heart and a double mind
5. James is describing a person with a fundamental cleavage in his (her) basic attitude toward God –
a. The opposite of faith according to James
b. One side of them says, “God is good; I can trust Him.”
c. The other side answers, “No! God is mean, and I must trust only myself.”
6. This is the opposite of what we call being “whole hearted” for God.
7. George M. Stulae interprets for us what James means in these verses (James: IVP; p. 43).
If you encounter a trial and lack wisdom to know what to do, stand the test of faith by asking God for the
wisdom you need. As you ask God for wisdom, do not be unbelieving toward God or frightened about
your lack of wisdom. Instead, trust God to give wisdom generously. He will do so. Therefore consider
it pure joy that you face the trial, for that very trial will be used by God to develop perseverance toward
maturity.
8. When disappointment, difficulty, or distress enters your life, what is your default mode? Your usual
response?
a. A double-minded man: “Lord, why have You done this to me? Don’t You love me anymore?
What have I done to deserve this? Don’t I warrant better from You?”
b. The wholehearted woman: “Lord, what is this all about? I want to know how I should respond,
so please give me wisdom. Show me what You want me to learn from this great difficulty. Draw
me closer to You.”
9. Know this: Every event in your life is designed by God to teach you something about Him, draw you
closer to Him and help you trust Him more and more…
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
III. DIFFICULT THINGS BRING US THE PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH (James 1:9-11)
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the
grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and
its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (James 1:9-11)
1. James realized that these Jewish folks, turned Christian, had a fundamental flaw in their basic theology.
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2. They usually thought like Joel Osteen and other health ‘n wealth teachers: If you’re rich, it’s because
God has rewarded your faith; if you’re poor, it’s because you lack faith. The same is true of health and
ease of life.
3. James says, “Ridiculous! Look at Jesus Christ! He was not wealthy, not free from suffering, not a man
with an easy life! Yet he was favored and loved by God above all others!”
4. James makes us face the reality of riches –
a. The very thing we all really trust in to give us an easy, happy, care-free and safe life!
b. Fact #1: God has exalted the poor man by adopting him as His son in Christ.
c. Fact #2: God has humbled the rich man by making him His servant in Christ.
d. Saving grace equalizes all men and makes us realize that money cannot buy us a good life or an
eternal life.
5. James shatters four myths about money
a. Myth #1: Money brings personal worth; the richer man is the better man; the poorer man is the
lesser man. Men are either in Christ or headed to hell. Period!
b. Myth #2: Money can purchase for me security. Not so! The rich man perishes like the grass.
Money cannot keep trouble from your doorstep.
i. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
(Matthew 6:25-27)
ii. Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist
in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a
rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have
nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and
build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you
have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is
not rich toward God.
(Luke 12:15-21)
c. Myth #3: Money can buy power and advantage. No, God grants advantage to whom He wills
and gives honor to those who suffer for Him but not to the rich!
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will
receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
d. Myth #4: Money can make me happy. Wrong again. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit not a product of
purchase.
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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.
(James 1:2-4)
6. Example: The failure of my money in 1975, when my mother called me to let me know my father was
dying with incurable cancer at the age of 53! She said, “Only God can heal your Father.”
7. What good is money then? How we use it can have a great effect upon our character, our faith, our joy,
and our eternal reward. Money can hold us back from God or be used to draw us closer into His life
and mission. How we handle money (or lack of it) is another “testing of your faith.”
IV. DIFFICULT THINGS FORCE US TO RESPOND IN FAITH (James 1:12-15)
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the
crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am
being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person
is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to
sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
(James 1:12-15)
1. There are two trajectories along which difficulty, distress, and disappointment drive us –
a. One: the way of faith
b. Two: the way of sin
2. James reminds us, in verses 2-11, about the way of faith:
Testing
Perseverance
Maturity in Faith
Life
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. (James 1:2-4)
3. In verses 12-15, James points out the way of sin (unbelief):
Testing
Temptation
Sin
Death
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the
crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am
being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each
person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived
gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:12-15)
4. James is saying this: Testing will bring to the surface what lies deep within the soul.
5. James warns us, “Don’t blame God when your default mode is sin!”
a. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted
with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (James 1:13)
b. Face the facts: Immature believers (or non-believers) turn to sinful compensation when stress
comes.
i. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire
when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
(James 1:14-15)
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ii. Temptations: a sinful offer of escape
iii. Desires: the idols we turn to for comfort
iv. Sin: the actions of unbelief and disobedience
v. Death: the loss of God’s life and joy in repeated failures to walk by faith
6. Rubber meets the road: If you are discouraged or distressed by hard times or rough things, do you…
a. Turn to some mode of escape; some cheap pleasure as a substitute for the joy of the Lord?
b. Food (gluttony), alcohol or drugs (debauchery), illicit sex (immorality), pornography (control
and isolation), anger, shopping (materialism), etc.
c. There is ALWAYS a default response that leads to lusts, sin, and death…always.
d. Illustration: My friend’s return to drugs, bank robbery, and jail…after 15 years in jail and 25
years of freedom from drugs! The old “default mode” was still in place and still able to suck him
into ruin!
7. Incidentally: The homosexual lifestyle is a sinful default mode; an alternative way to seek fulfillment in
life, in one’s gender and in a pursuit of both pleasure and intimacy that takes us away from God’s way
of character refining and into lust, sin, and death. That is the bare truth!
8. The difference is all in how we see God! Is He good? Or is He not?
V. DIFFICULT THINGS REVEAL OUR VIEW OF GOD (James 1:16-18)
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he
brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:1618)
1. James warns us not to be deceived about God, in the midst of hard times and painful events.
2. James reminds us of three unchanging truths about God –
a. First: God is all good, incapable of evil or of bad things, always working good in our lives.
i. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)
ii. This is James’ version of Paul’s Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those
who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
iii. Everything God does is good, and all that God allows to enter our lives is for good
purposes.
iv. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that
many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20)
b. Second: God is immutably, unchangeably good; His goodness is eternal and unflinching.
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i. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)
ii. No variation or change in God’s goodness
iii. God has a perfect record of doing good to mankind.
c. Third: God’s purpose is to bring us to new life via His Word (Gospel) as the firstfruits of
Christ’s redemption and resurrection…
i. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)
ii. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the
dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his
own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
(1
Corinthians 15:20-23)
iii. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these
who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as
firstfruits for God and the Lamb. (Revelation 14:4)
3. This is James’ overall message: What happens to us in this life must always serve the purposes of God
for us in eternal life. This life is not the end all; Heaven is!
CONCLUSION: It is God’s desire that we all toughen up spiritually.
1. Life is not going to get better over time. As the world careens towards Christ’s second coming, things
will get harder in life.
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for
my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many
false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of
many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom
will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:9-14)
2. But as the world gets worse, God’s true people will get better – they will grow in faith, in godliness, in
endurance, and in goodness…
a. …i.e., in character like Christ
b. 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. (James 1:2-4)
3. For decades now, since the 1970’s, Evangelicals have been offering America a false religion –
a. Easy believism, promises of a comfortable life, man-centered faith, safe assumptions about life,
and the pursuit of popular personalities over godly character.
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b. A philosophy of ministry: Give the “customer” what he (she) wants!
c. No more!
d. David F. Wells: God in the Wasteland; p. 30.
The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is not inadequate technique, insufficient
organization, or antiquated music, and those who want to squander the church’s resources
bandaging these scratches will do nothing to stanch the flow of blood that is spilling from its true
wounds. The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too
inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, His grace is too ordinary, His
judgment is too benign, His Gospel is too easy, and His Christ is too common.
4. I am calling you, today, to a new kind of Christianity, to a Pure and Undefiled Religion, to face the future
in hope:
a. By placing your faith and your life in Jesus Christ alone
b. By trusting in the goodness of God in all the events of life
c. By pursuing the Spirit in the Word as He produces in you
i. Enduring, steadfast faith
ii. Godly, Christlike character
iii. The joy of the Lord in all things
5. I am preaching today for a decision on your part: To follow Christ with a tough faith!
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