Foolproof
November 19, 2006
Trusting Faith – James 1:5-12
Review: Last week we started into a series on James entitled – Foolproof. I asked if anyone here had perfected the Christian life – and much to my surprise no one claimed to be perfect. Imagine That!
Note: James, the brother of Jesus, understood that not one of us is perfect, but that we are all in the process of being perfected. So to help us understand genuine faith, James wrote this letter to distinguish true faith from false faith. He wrote to help us to have a foolproof faith. That is, he wrote that we wouldn’t be fooled into thinking we had genuine faith when we only had religion and so we wouldn’t be duped by the false teaching of the foolish.
Note: As began our study, we introduced the purpose of trials and how they differ from temptation. A trial is any difficulty given to us by God to mature us in our relationship w/ Him. Its purpose is to approve the genuineness of our faith and to reveal to us any weaknesses in our lives and character. A temptation is authored by Satan for the purpose of hurting us.
Key: It is vital to remember that if we fail to learn from trials we can be certain of two things: (1) God’s testing will become more intention and intense to mature us and (2) Satan’s trickery we begin to cause us to stumble.
Insert: To refresh your memory, last week we looked at the expectations of trials.
Verse: Consider it joy, whenever you encounter trials of many kinds, b/c you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Note: As believer we’re to do three things as the result of encountering trials – we are to FIND Joy, GAIN endurance, and BECOME mature.
Word: consider (hegeomai) not a suggestion but a command. Don’t fake joy; choose joy. It’s not human nature to be joyful in times of trial; choosing joy is a matter of will and not feelings.
Word: whenever (hotan) not if, as in the possibility of, but when, as in the inevitability of. Meaning all Christians will experience times of testing, and they will come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can count on it.
Word: encounter (peripipto) literally to ‘fall into.” The word is used of the man who was robbed and beaten in the parable of the Good Samaritan – meaning that a trial can come at anytime and from any direction.
Word: trials (peirasmos) a test to approve or assay to determine authenticity. To determine the value and strength of a precious metal it has to be put to fire.
Word: know (ginosko) to know through experience. Trials test your beliefs to confirm that you know through experience your beliefs are accurate.
Word: perseverance (hupomone) hupo – underneath; mone – to patiently abide. The idea is that trials are intended to bring a person under the influence of God where you patiently wait upon and trust Him b/c you understand He is at work through difficulty to build inner strength in you character and life.
Word: mature (teleios) perfect in the sense you’re fully developed and mature – reaching your maximum potential in Christ; possessing true Christ-likeness.
Word: complete (holokleros) meaning whole in all parts or fully equipped; it refers to having an undivided heart and an unblemished character.
Insert: (1) Trials lead to soul satisfaction when we trust God.
(2) Trials provide believers w/ spiritual fortitude and staying power.
(3) Trials perfect us that we’ll be effective and productive in our knowledge of Christ and in our service to His kingdom.
Trans: Today we’re going to finish our study on trials by considering how we are to respond or engage them. It is all an issue of trust.
II ENGAGE Trials
Verse: 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all w/out finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, b/c he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, b/c he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Trans: We can’t sit back and hope trials go away, we have to engage trials to learn through them that they might have their perfect result. James tells us how.
A SEEK Wisdom
Verse: 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all w/out finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Word: wisdom – not Greek philosophy and human ingenuity, but moral and spiritual understanding based upon the fear of the Lord.
Verse: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Pr. 1:7
Verse: see Proverbs 2:1-15
Word: ask of God – imperative. This isn’t advice; it’s a command. James says attempting to handle trials on your own isn’t an option b/c you’ll always fail unless God gives you wisdom to understand and manage the situation.
Note: It is impossible to live the Christian life w/out absolute trust in God. It isn’t you and God or God and you – it is God in you living through you.
Verse: Trust the Lord w/ all of your heart and lean not on you own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your path. Pr. 3:5-6
Note: You can’t live the Christian life by sight – only by faith. You can’t have God’s power unless you are plug into to His Spirit. God gives us trials to force us to depend on Him alone. We must have His wisdom to guide us.
Insert: Everyone raise your hands. What is this? If I say, “Stick’em Up!”, then it is the posture of surrender. God gives trials to force us to surrender and say. “I give up; I surrender.” He gives trials to force us to depend on Him alone.
Note: Thus, trials should drive us to trust and depend on God alone. Trials should drive us to our knees. If our tests aren’t driving us to a deeper walk w/ God, then God is likely to keep the test active, and even intensify it, unto we come to Him and make our ears attentive to His wisdom.
Trans: Do you remember when the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years. Why did God send them on such a crazy journey? There are many reasons, but the biggest reason was to teach the Israelites that they had to trust Him.
Insert: Obey faithfully all the laws I have given you today that you may live, increase in number, and occupy the land the Lord promised to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you on this long journey through the desert these past forty years, sending hardships to test you, so that he might know what was in your heart and whether you would obey his commands. He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the Lord says. Dt. 8:1-5
Point: If we ask in faith believing, ready to apply His wisdom, God will generously and single-mindedly give His wisdom to realize the situation.
B TRUST God
Verse: 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, b/c he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Note: There is a condition – we must ask in faith believing. This is huge! If we ask but don’t believe God will provide the wisdom, or that His way isn’t the right way, then our actions reveal that we don’t possess a genuine faith.
Word: believe – possessing an unwavering conviction; to know w/ certainty – even when God appears silent I will trust that He is good and faithful.
Story: Scratched on the walls of a Nazi prison camp were the words, “I believe in the sun even when it does not shine. I believe in love even when it is not expressed. And I believe in God even when He is silent.”
Note: Trusting God when you’re accustomed to trusting yourself or others is brutally difficult. So God gives trials to force us to seek Him and trust Him.
Note: Should a person go through a severe trial and turn to human resources rather than singularly turning to God for answers and help – not only is he renouncing God, but even worse, he is living as if God doesn’t exist, doesn’t care, or is incapable of handling the situation.
Note: Remember – a fool had said in his heart there is no God. The fool denies God’s existence; and yet even though you may say God exists, if you live as if He doesn’t then you’re no better than the fool who rejects His existence.
Word: double-minded – wishy-washy; uncertain or wavering. Denotes having one’s mind or soul divided b/w God and the world – trying to serve two masters. Bunyan said it was a man facing both ways.
Note: Don’t miss it! God gives us trials to mature and complete us – to give us an undivided soul that is whole. To doubt by living as if God doesn’t know what He is doing or does not exist is foolish and leads to a divided heart and testifies that you do not have authentic faith.
C SUBMIT Self
Verse: 9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, b/c he will pass away like a wild flower.
Note: Whether you have little or much by the world’s standards, you must live in submission to God and under His authority and influence.
Note: Trials level the playing field for everyone making all believers equally dependent on God. Thus, whether you are rich or poor, you should rejoice that God has authority over you and is using your poverty or prosperity to keep you humble and determined not to glory in your earthly condition, but solely in God’s provision.
Point: To live completely abandoned and under the God’s influence/authority, absolutely dependent on Him despite your worldly fortune.
D ENJOY Blessings
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, b/c when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Word: blessed (makarios) same word used in the Beatitudes. It refers to inner joy and soul satisfaction.
Word: stood – to be approved b/c you have passed the test. B/c you have successful responded to trials trusting in God and not in yourself or others, you faith will be affirmed and you will receive and eternal reward.
Word: crown of life – translates “the crown which is life”. In Greek and Roman times, a victorious athlete received a wreath to adorn their heads to declare to the masses their victory. The wreath of the Christian race is eternal life.
Note: In high school, I was a wrestler. Wrestling was my favorite sport for two reasons: (1) b/c it was me against my opponent – mono-e-mono! There was no where to run or hide and no one to run to your rescue.
(2) b/c when you won, the celebration of victory was awesome – you were paraded to a stand and adorned w/ a medal celebrating your success.
Note: In the same way, when we successfully respond to God in the midst of trials, He adorns His people w/ life and salvation bringing joy.
Note: Enduring trials affirms genuine faith and receive a heavenly reward.
Enduring trials provide believers w/ soul satisfaction and inner blessedness.
CONCLUSION
Note: Trials are a gift from God to sift and approve our faith, to build spiritual muscle, but most importantly, to force us to trust in Him w/ all of our heart.
Note: When we encounter them the goal must not be to avoid them or ignore them, but to embrace them w/ joy b/c we understand that God is under the hood of our lives tinkering to have us run more smoothly for His glory.
Quote: A genuine believer is not someone who at some point in time made a profession of faith in Christ, but he is a person who actively demonstrates authentic faith by possessing an on-going love for God that cannot be damaged, much less destroyed, by troubles and afflictions, no matter how severe or long-lasting.
Insert: As I was running my usual route one Monday morning, I stepped on a rock that was in my path and rolled my left ankle. It hurt for a minute but I shook it off and was able to continue my run. The next night I was running the same path but thought about the rock from the morning before and made sure I steered clear of it. Wednesday morning, however, I once again was running my usual route and that particular morning I had a lot on my mind. This time I stepped on the rock and rolled my right ankle so bad that I took a fall and skinned my knee. I ended up on the pavement right beside the rock. As I lay there the realization hit me that this was the very same rock that had tripped me up Monday morning. I said, “Lord, this is the same stupid rock!! Can You believe I tripped on the very same rock?!” I then heard my Lord answer me so clearly with a question, “Why, Melinda, didn’t you move the rock out of the way the first time it tripped you up, or at least the night you remembered it was there?” I started to cry knowing what the Lord was trying to teach me; so I answered, “The same reason I leave so many rocks in my life, I guess!” He continued to speak to me as I cried and hobbled home. He lovingly and tenderly said, “Melinda, the things in your life that trip you up, the things that make you stumble and fall cannot be left in your life’s path. If you leave them there, you may remember to avoid them at times, but eventually and assuredly they WILL trip you up again bringing more pain and hurt than at first. It’s time to start picking up rocks.” Needless to say the actual rock is out of my running path, although I’m having to let my ankle heal before I can run on it again, but I am now praying for the Lord to make me aware of the “rocks” that I have left in my path of life so that I can, with His help, remove them as well.
