TOPIC: FAITH THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
(Series on the Book of James)
Text: James 1:1-8
Introduction:
(ILL, Tied to Old Habits - A drunken man entered his row boat one night to cross the river. He picked up the oars and pulled away so he thought. He rowed all night but did not reach the destination. When daylight came, he was surprised to find that he was just where he started the night before. He had forgotten to untie his boat. So it is with many of the Lord’s followers. They are tied to their habits, desires, wills, or some cherished idol or idols of the heart. Consequently, their lives are fruitless. Shore bound Christians never flourish and are of little or no help to others.) . We are in a world and time that is very different to what we believe and what we suppose to live. (ILL. A Christian Mandate - Do all the good you can/By all the means you can/In all the ways you can/In all the places you can/To all the people you can/As long as ever you can). And this condition gives us the challenge to really live and make difference to this very different world. It’s either we influence the world around us or the world around us mold us. That is the reason why Paul reminded and commanded us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Paul is saying here that we should not let the pattern, thinking, doing and way of the world mold us, but let God alone and His perfect will influence and have in our being. And in order to become a Christian that make a difference to this different world we need to have a change of mind so that we will know what is good and approved to God. We should not only know what we believe but we should also know how to behave as Christians. This morning we will start a book series that deals with our Christian living. And related to what we I shared for last two Sundays, this study will help and bring us to a healthy living in order that God’s bride – the church will bring into maturity. This is not anymore the time to drink milk or soft food for our spiritual life but hard and real food. So let’s open our Bible in the book of James. James is classified as a “general letter” because it was originally addressed to a wider audience than a local church. The salutation in chapter 1, verse 1, “to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” James’s personal knowledge of the “scattered” believers, and the authoritative tone of the letter. As leader of the Jerusalem church, James was writing to his scattered sheep. The author simply identifies himself as “James” (1:1). James, the half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem church, is generally regarded as the author. James wrote this letter first, to encourage Jewish believers who were suffering various trials that were testing their faith, second, to correct erroneous ideas about the nature of saving faith, and third, to exhort and instruct the readers about the practical outworking of their faith in righteous living and good deeds. This morning we will start with James 1:1-8. From this passage we can see the heart of true faith, or how our faith grows. Base on Hebrew 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And the whole chapter 11 of Hebrew is the demonstrations of the nature of the only kind of faith acceptable before God, a faith triumphant in the worst of situations. Faith is being tested and grows not in the times of good times but in difficult times. From our text we will see four characteristics of a growing faith.
1. It has JOY in the MIDST of trials (v. 2)
The word “trials” refers to persecution and troubles from the world or Satan. The believer must meet these trials with joy; James called it “pure joy”. James in his customary forthright way tells us to "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" (Jam_1:2-3). In case we are inclined to modify these words as the utopian command of one who had not really experienced sorrow, let us remember that James was one of the principal leaders of the Christians in Jerusalem who continually faced persecution from those outside the Church (culminating in his own martyrdom in his sixties), as well as internal dissension associated with a Judaizing element. James surely knew what it meant to "meet various trials!" But James had also learned that difficulties could produce steadfastness or patience, though the natural reaction is annoyance or bitterness. He never tells us to pretend that a trial is nonexistent. Instead he wants us to recognize and rejoice that any problem can be the occasion for God to work in and through us in a way that He otherwise would not. This is indeed a "testing of our faith"; it calls upon us to believe in the goodness of God, and to trust that He is not only willing but also able to accomplish His purposes, no matter what befalls us. Any difficulty, whether great or small, is an occasion for joy, but only when we remind ourselves of the nature of the God who loves us and wills only the best for us.
Matthew 5:11-12 says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” In Romans 5:3, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering...” and in I Peter 1:6, “In this (Christ great mercy) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” It is easy to rejoice in good times or where everything is well, but when we experience different kinds of trials it takes faith to rejoice, it takes faith to praise God, it takes faith to have joy in the midst of testing and trials. And that’s makes the difference of a growing faith in our lives, it changes how we respond to it, instead of anger to God, instead of blaming God we have joy with God, because we know and believe that God is there with us and knows what is the best for us.
2. It has UNDERSTANDING/AWARENESS in the MEANING of trials (v. 3)
Here in v. 3 the author uses the word, “because you know”. This implies that we have understanding; awareness, knowledge if not complete of what we are going to. It is not something that we are surprise or don’t have any knowledge of the trials we are experiencing. This is where our understanding about God grows even more. Hebrew 11 is the chapter that talked about the “Hall of Faith” and you will notice that all of them says there that “they know, they understand.” Faith is not walking without assurance of where he is going. But it is faith have an understanding, sure because God is a God that is sure. (ILL. Joseph – Gen. 45:8, “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.”). Every trials and testing that we experience always have a purpose and meaning like what Joseph discovered in the trials he faced. And from this we can see principles that before God brings you to the peak you must go first to the pit. (ILL. # 7) Many Christians don’t have patience with what God is doing in their lives, on their own they try to climb out of their pit of trials instead of just letting God in His perfect time to lift them up out of it like Joseph. God knows and true faith has understanding of what God is doing.
3. It has ENDURANCE/FIRMNESS in the MILES of trials (v. 4)
Romans 5:3-5, “3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” The believer must meet these trials, for testing will develop persevering faith, proven character and mature hope. Our faith can only reach full maturity when faced with difficulties and opposition (vv. 3-4). James calls these trials a “testing of your faith.” Trials are sometimes brought into believers’ lives so that God can test the sincerity of their faith. Scripture nowhere teaches that troubles in life are always an indication that God is displeased with us. They can be a sign that He recognizes our firm commitment to Him, our endurance to keep on and hold unto Him. We can see this in the life of Job chapter 1& 2. it is really a miles of trials but it was clear that God permit testing in his life because God saw in Job his commitment to God, his seriousness in his relationships with God, Job 1:1, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.”. Pag may dumarating na mabigat na Trials & Testing ang sinasabi lang ni Lord ay, “Kasi bilib ako sa iyong pananampalataya, pagtatalaga at pagmamahal mo sa akin.” Job 1:8, “Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shunned evil.” True faith brings endurance in our lives, and our faith should grow because there is a process in our life which is our sanctification that requires endurance, firmness. (ILL. Beautiful Vase – How to make it, Diamond, Pearl). All of these gone through a process, same thing with our faith, it gone through the process of trials so that the best out us should come out.
4. It has WISDOM in the MOMENT of trials (vv. 5-8)
Wisdom means the spiritual capacity to see and evaluate life and conduct from God’s point of view not ours or your wife or your neighbor, your boyfriend, etc but God’s point of view. It involves making right choices and doing right things according to both God’s will revealed in his Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:4-17 – life controlled by sinful nature or life controlled by the Holy Spirit.) (ILL. # 9) We can receive wisdom by coming to God and asking for it in faith – vv. 6-8. Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Faith with wisdom comes from God knows how to respond, how to react, what to do, what should be done, etc. True faith ask God for wisdom when trials comes. (ILL. Testing - A blacksmith known for his strong faith, had a great deal of illness. He was challenged by an unbeliever to explain why his God would let him suffer. He explained, "I take a piece of iron, put it into the fire to bring it to a white heat, then I strike it once or twice to see if it will take temper. I plunge it into water to change the temperature, put it into the fire again, then I put it on the anvil and make a useful article out of it. "If it will not take temper when I first strike it on the anvil, I throw it into the scrap heap and sell it for a half-penny per pound. I believe God has been testing me to see if I will take temper. I have tried to bear it as patiently as I could, and my daily prayer has been, ’Lord, put me into the fire if you will; put me into the water if you think I need it; do anything you please, O Lord, only do not throw me on the scrap heap.’")
Conclusion: (ILL. No Cross, No Crown - A grapevine says, in the early spring, "How glad I am to get through the winter! I shall have no more trouble now! Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful!" But the gardener comes, and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine calls out, "Murder! What are you cutting me for?" "Ah," says the gardener, "I do not mean to kill you. If I did not do this, you would be the laughingstock of all the other vines before the season is over." Months go on and one day the gardener comes under the trellis, where the great clusters of grapes hang, and the grapevine says, "Thank you, sire, you could not have done anything so kind as to cut me with that knife." No pruning, no grapes; no grinding mill, no flour; no battle, no victory; no cross, no crown.)
Without the cross, there will be no crown, this principles of growing our faith is true with everything. The process in between is essential for growing our faith. We start to have a seed of faith, and its destiny is to bear fruit but in between is process to reach it. If we have these characteristics in our faith then it makes our faith: GROW – it will produce strength to our faith, GO – it will produce endurance to our faith, to keep it going and GLOW – it will produce focus to our faith and brings us into His likeness. (Closing ILL. #8)
