Pastor Nate continues our study through the book of James.
[00:00:00] You are listening to the Through the Bible Studio Series with Pastor Nate Holdridge.
[00:00:07] Join us as we continue our study through the New Testament book of James.
[00:00:12] Here's Nate.
[00:00:13] In Habakkuk 2, verse 4, God speaks to Habakkuk the prophet and announces to him that the
[00:00:21] just shall live by his faith.
[00:00:25] Now if you're a student of the New Testament, you know that that quotation is repeated three
[00:00:31] times in the New Testament.
[00:00:33] Romans 1, Galatians 3 and also in Hebrews 10.
[00:00:40] My feeling is that the book of James is a repetition of that phrase in the entirety
[00:00:47] of the letter.
[00:00:49] James is a letter that is addressed to believers who need to live with an active, alive, moving,
[00:00:58] real, living kind of faith.
[00:01:01] Those who have been justified will live by faith.
[00:01:07] Faith shows up in life and that's what the book of James is all about.
[00:01:13] James said in chapter 2 of his epistle, verse 17, faith by itself if it does not have works
[00:01:21] is dead and James 2, verse 26 says as the body apart from the spirit is dead so also
[00:01:29] faith apart from works is dead.
[00:01:34] This is faith that is absolutely alive.
[00:01:39] Faith that must move into action, verbal and mental faith are insufficient.
[00:01:45] Faith without works according to James cannot be called faith.
[00:01:50] If you call it faith you must call it a dead faith.
[00:01:53] No, faith must work.
[00:01:56] Faith will be visible.
[00:01:58] Faith must produce.
[00:02:01] And so an incredible letter that is in front of us today.
[00:02:06] Now of course the beginning of his letter is very similar to other introductions although
[00:02:13] very brief.
[00:02:15] He says in verse 1, James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes
[00:02:23] in the dispersion greetings.
[00:02:26] Now the first thing you have to deal with of course in this epistle is identifying the
[00:02:32] author.
[00:02:33] There were two prominent New Testament figures who went by the name of James.
[00:02:38] One of them of course was one of the apostles of Christ, the first apostle to be killed
[00:02:45] for his faith, Acts chapter 12 by Herod the king.
[00:02:51] The other prominent James in the New Testament and there were others who were less prominent
[00:02:55] but the other prominent James was the half brother of Christ.
[00:03:02] And the apostle James one of the 12 died so early that it would have been very difficult
[00:03:10] for him to actually be the author of this epistle.
[00:03:14] James the half brother of Jesus actually begins to be referred to with the apostolic
[00:03:22] group.
[00:03:23] Paul said in Galatians 1 verse 19, I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's
[00:03:29] brother when he went on a trip to Jerusalem.
[00:03:33] So it seems that James became a believer during Jesus' earthly ministry his brothers
[00:03:41] did not believe in him John 7 verse 5 but Paul makes it clear that after the resurrection
[00:03:49] of Christ James had a personal meeting with Jesus and I personally believe that it was at
[00:03:56] that moment that this half brother of Jesus as Mary and Joseph came together and had
[00:04:03] a family together after the miraculous birth of Christ.
[00:04:09] It's my belief that this man once he saw his brother resurrected from the dead that's
[00:04:14] when he became a believing man which is so wonderful because it tells us here in verse
[00:04:21] 1 he refers to himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:04:28] No reference to the fact that he's the half brother of Jesus he takes the humble seat
[00:04:34] I'm a servant of God I'm a servant of Jesus.
[00:04:37] Now James in the book of Acts it's very clear had a special heart for the 12 tribes of Israel.
[00:04:47] He loved the Jerusalem church, loved the Jewish believers became a prominent figure in ministering
[00:04:57] to them in fact he offered the concluding words at the Jerusalem Council concerning
[00:05:03] the Gentile brethren in Acts chapter 15 but here he says to the 12 tribes in the dispersion
[00:05:11] persecuted Jewish believers.
[00:05:15] Now Paul when he writes his letters sometimes has words of greetings followed by maybe memories
[00:05:22] or a list of his prayers.
[00:05:24] James is a very straightforward to the point kind of author all he says at this point
[00:05:30] is greetings doesn't even throw in Shalom just greetings he is as I've already mentioned
[00:05:38] going to show us and demonstrate for us and exhort us towards a life of real honest faith
[00:05:48] this is a book that is first of all takes the new birth in order to live these things
[00:05:53] takes an honest examination of the heart and a preparation for the resistance that we will
[00:06:02] feel as we read this short little epistle.
[00:06:07] Now in verse 2 he gets into his first and in one sense one of his more forceful exhortations
[00:06:14] when he begins to deal with the subject of trials and who is there on earth who
[00:06:20] has not experienced the difficulty of trials he says concerning trials in verse 2 immediately
[00:06:27] jumping into his exhortive style he says count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials
[00:06:35] of various kinds.
[00:06:38] Of course we notice here right off the bat that James considers that there are trials
[00:06:43] of various kinds there are relational trials physical trials spiritual financial emotional
[00:06:51] intellectual psychological trials there are different sizes of trials small and medium
[00:06:58] large life dominating or just for a few minutes there are seasons of trials the trials of
[00:07:06] a new mother versus the trials of a new widower there are different identity of trials trials
[00:07:14] that are common to human beings in general and then some trials that are specific to
[00:07:21] believers secondly we also notice that he says when you meet trials of various kinds
[00:07:29] we will meet them it isn't if you meet trials of various kinds but when and so since this
[00:07:37] is a book where James is going to tell us to live by faith and to have a faith that
[00:07:42] is active and real and constant and happening the question then is how does faith respond
[00:07:50] to trials now we likely already know how faith does not respond to trials we know
[00:07:56] what the natural man would do James isn't out to describe a natural kind of life no not at all
[00:08:04] he's out to describe a life of faith a supernatural life how does faith respond to trials the
[00:08:12] natural man responds to trials with fear and anxiety and anger and complaint and disappointment
[00:08:18] panic sin ultimately quitting seeking escape but the believer the person who is living a life of
[00:08:27] faith living by faith the believer he says in verse 2 he says count it all joy my brothers
[00:08:36] when you meet trials of various kinds now James is telling us that there is something that we
[00:08:43] are to count accounting trials all joy isn't a false religious joy it isn't even a feeling of joy
[00:08:52] what it is and this is a financial term really to count it all joy it's an evaluation
[00:08:59] it's an appraisal of something you know an evaluator sees a property with great potential
[00:09:07] there's nothing on it there's no building perhaps no infrastructure but he sees potential in it
[00:09:15] and so he places a value upon it that's what the believer is able to do with trials we place a
[00:09:22] value upon it faith enables us to count our trials as a thing of joy because we know that
[00:09:31] they have such major potential to produce in us so wonderfully I remember years ago I went to my old
[00:09:40] high school and it happened to be the homecoming football game and as I walked in the gates for
[00:09:48] the game a few of my old teachers recognized me and we began to catch up a little bit and they
[00:09:52] asked me hey would you like to be involved we need a few more judges to judge the homecoming
[00:09:59] floats and I said sure and they gave me some directions and I remember one of the things
[00:10:04] they said was as the floats are passing by the crowd you have to judge the side that is facing the
[00:10:12] crowd don't judge the back of the float it might be nice and everything and they may have kept it
[00:10:18] nice and tidy but they may have not you might see wires and cables you have to judge the
[00:10:23] side that the crowd is seeing and that's what the believer is able to do in the midst of trials see
[00:10:31] the correct side of the difficulty see the correct side of the trial faith meets trials
[00:10:41] with an overarching ability to have faith and say I see that there could be a joyful thing
[00:10:50] that is produced in my life as a result of this difficulty and trial in other words I count it
[00:10:58] all joy because I know that God can use it and when I look back in my own life at some of the most
[00:11:04] significant moments in my life the greatest lessons of my life the things that caused me to grow
[00:11:11] stronger and better and all of that all of them were connected to times and seasons of difficulty
[00:11:19] and trial sometimes people say look whatever doesn't kill me will make me stronger that's not true
[00:11:27] we all know people who have been made bitter weaker horrible as a result of difficulties and trials
[00:11:34] but when you meet them with faith and count it all joy there is the possibility of something
[00:11:40] wonderful being produced and to that James writes verse 3 he says for you know that the testing
[00:11:49] of your faith produces steadfastness here's the reason that we're able to count it all joy when we
[00:11:57] come across trials of various kinds first of all we know that there is this testing of our faith
[00:12:04] something is being produced there is this purification process that we are going through Peter said in
[00:12:13] 1 Peter 1 verse 6 in this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you have been grieved
[00:12:20] by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that
[00:12:28] perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and honor and glory at the
[00:12:36] revelation of Jesus Christ we want our faith to be tested because false or dead faith is useless
[00:12:43] at best and deadly at worst and false faith does not save does not sanctify does not help
[00:12:50] does not empower and so we know that something is happening our faith is being tested and something
[00:13:00] is being produced he said in verse 3 we know that the testing of our faith as we go through this
[00:13:07] trial it's not just a hard time it's a trial it's a testing it produces steadfastness
[00:13:18] now for me when I first read this or initially read this admittedly there's not a whole lot of
[00:13:25] excitement there okay well so when I'm in a trial the thing that's being produced if I
[00:13:34] face that trial and faith the thing that's being produced is steadfastness a perseverance
[00:13:41] in the face of difficulty and suffering courage to be able to go through times of difficulty
[00:13:49] and pain and admittedly for me at least at first when I read that I think well that's that's not
[00:13:56] really all that wonderful of a of an attribute is it I mean steadfastness I would love for it to
[00:14:03] say knowing that the testing of your faith produces power produces you know effectiveness produces
[00:14:12] the resolution of the trial but James says no it produces steadfastness why is this kind of
[00:14:21] steadfastness so desirable well I would say it like this I think that it's true that everything
[00:14:30] in life works better with this brand of steadfastness if you want to have a good marriage if you want to
[00:14:39] have a strong ministry if you want to have an excellent business if you want to have anything
[00:14:46] in your life be used and wonderful and good you've got to have a stick tuativeness a steadfastness
[00:14:55] and endurance about you that enables you to go the long haul so often we want everything so quickly
[00:15:05] but in order to get the best things to look at the end of life and to have the family of your
[00:15:12] dreams you have to have steadfastness that does not come overnight to have the ministry
[00:15:18] of your dreams to see fruitfulness flowing from your life you've got to wait you've
[00:15:24] got to remain you've got to abide and cry slowly but surely over years over decades and then watch that
[00:15:32] fruit begin to come from your life and when we go through trials that steadfastness is being produced
[00:15:41] in us there have been just a handful of some of those heavier more earth shattering kinds of
[00:15:51] trials in my own life personally some of them related to ministry some of them not related
[00:15:58] to ministry but i tell you what they have built within me a strength and a resolve that i know
[00:16:08] i did not have previously god used all of that for good and so a steadfastness i encourage you
[00:16:18] to value that attribute and then he says in verse four that there's something that we have to allow
[00:16:25] to happen inside of our lives you see we don't just automatically grow as we go through trials we
[00:16:31] grow as we approach trials with faith and let verse four steadfastness have its full effect
[00:16:38] that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing let this happen inside of your life
[00:16:46] don't quit the trial too early wait for the lord wait for steadfastness to have its full effect
[00:16:56] and faith will let trials do that the financial pressure or the unruly child or the crazy boss
[00:17:03] or the cancer you're enduring or the difficult marriage that you're in as you endure and
[00:17:10] let steadfastness have its full effect there's this beautiful thing that happens you become
[00:17:16] listen to this description perfect and complete lacking in nothing who wouldn't want that description
[00:17:25] over their life the only way to find that full maturity that full strength is to endure trials
[00:17:33] with that excellent brand of faith so that's how we know that we want to approach trials by faith
[00:17:42] with the lord but perhaps as you're trying to let steadfastness have its full effect in your life
[00:17:50] there's also this additional need within you you know what you want to have produced in your
[00:17:55] character but you also need help in this trial you need wisdom he says in verse five if any of
[00:18:03] you lacks wisdom let him ask god who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him
[00:18:12] but let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that
[00:18:18] is driven and tossed by the wind for that person must not suppose that he will receive anything
[00:18:25] from the lord he is a double minded man james writes unstable in all his ways so we might say and agree
[00:18:35] with james in verse four and say yeah james i want to be perfect and complete lacking in nothing but
[00:18:44] i already know what i'm lacking i am lacking wisdom and so he says if any of you lacks
[00:18:51] wisdom and often in a trial we do lack wisdom we don't know what to do we don't know what god is
[00:18:58] trying to teach me in the midst of that trial and so we're to ask god for wisdom in the midst
[00:19:08] of trials you see this is so unnatural to us faith enables us to ask god for wisdom but the
[00:19:16] natural man looks everywhere else for wisdom in the midst of trials i know over the years god has
[00:19:24] spoke into me in so many different ways through so many different means in the midst of trials as
[00:19:31] i've asked him for wisdom most often the lord has said to me nate stand still and see the
[00:19:38] salvation of the lord i'm not asking for you to do anything i'm asking for you to stand still
[00:19:43] don't leave don't depart just wait and watch me work in your life sometimes the lord might say well
[00:19:52] there's a particular sin that i'm wanting you to repent of sometimes i might receive the wisdom
[00:19:57] that god is merely building up my strength for something unseen in the future sometimes the
[00:20:03] lord is trying to give me the wisdom to lean upon others for help in a time of difficulty
[00:20:09] sometimes i see that the lord is trying to purge a specific idol from my heart maybe the lord is
[00:20:16] telling me to scale back and simplify my life that this trial that i'm in is a mere result of
[00:20:22] poor decision making and overloading my life sometimes the lord will give me the wisdom
[00:20:28] that this trial is designed to help me move in a new direction change course sometimes it just
[00:20:35] simply that the lord wants me to experience the fellowship of his sufferings and so whether it's
[00:20:42] through the word by his spirit by his people or all of the above the lord will give you the wisdom
[00:20:49] that you need at specific moments in time as you're going through a trial i remember a season
[00:20:58] where christina and i were having a difficult time figuring out one of our daughters and we
[00:21:04] were just crying out to the lord lord in this particular area we just don't know how to talk
[00:21:08] to her relate to her help her coach her leader and we just prayed and prayed god give us wisdom
[00:21:14] and eventually we asked a friend of ours to sit with us and listen and she had such incredible
[00:21:21] wisdom that was so counterintuitive to us but it was the wisdom from god for that particular
[00:21:28] moment in time don't look within don't look without look up to god and ask him for wisdom
[00:21:37] in the midst of trial and know that he's a god who wants to do it james says he gives generously
[00:21:43] to all without reproach understand he's not going to correct you he's not going to say stop
[00:21:48] bothering me why are you so sinful why do you need my help no ask in faith james says with no
[00:21:55] doubting don't be like the man tossed to and fro don't be thinking to yourself what god is distant
[00:22:01] he's uncaring he's foolish he's powerless don't be like that wave tossed man no don't be unstable
[00:22:10] in that way but believe and trust god ask god for that wisdom and you know certainly as we
[00:22:17] look into god's word we see the way that the lord used trials in the lives of his
[00:22:24] people his men and women and so many different ways whether it was hannah going through the trial
[00:22:29] of barrenness well that barrenness and that trial it led to samuel spiritually leading the nation
[00:22:37] for at least a generation she had a child that she gave to god she would not have done that had
[00:22:44] she not gone through the trial of barrenness or whether it's paul and the physical infirmity that
[00:22:50] he received from the lord after his abundance of revelations and seeing the heavenly realm
[00:22:56] designed to protect him from his pride or joseph going through slavery in 13 years of being
[00:23:04] forgotten and thinking that the promises of god are not unfolding in his life but he went
[00:23:09] through all of it so that he might become the second in command in egypt god was building a nation
[00:23:16] through his trial or jove being used by god to be able to taunt satan and be known in a deeper
[00:23:25] more intimate way by his man jove trials have a purpose ask god for that wisdom in the midst
[00:23:33] of that trial god is working god is faithful now when you're in a trial james tells us in verse nine
[00:23:43] it is so important to rejoice over and in eternity he says let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation
[00:23:53] and the rich in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away
[00:24:01] for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass its flower falls and its beauty
[00:24:06] perishes so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits so we have these two men
[00:24:15] the poor believer and the rich believer rich in this life and the first reaction is very simple
[00:24:24] the lowly the poor believer he's impoverished he doesn't have much to his name he's supposed to
[00:24:30] boast in his exaltation he rejoices because he's gained a lot in christ he's a co-heir with jesus
[00:24:38] he's poor now but he won't be poor forever the rich though is supposed to rejoice
[00:24:44] james says in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he's going to pass away
[00:24:51] basically he's going to die he'll fade away in the midst of his pursuits so why is what is james
[00:24:59] saying when he says that the rich man is to rejoice in his humiliation or in his death or that he'll
[00:25:05] pass away or that he'll perish or that he'll fade away why is he supposed to rejoice in that
[00:25:12] well the rich man rejoices that he is in christ and he's on his way to heaven you know he
[00:25:19] it's humbling to know that he's going to leave it all behind it's humbling to know that this little
[00:25:26] empire that he's built here on earth might last beyond him but he's going to die he'll pass away
[00:25:33] he rejoices because in christ he'll lose all things from this world and life what is james saying
[00:25:42] james is telling us that in the midst of trial whether we're poor whether we're rich we are to
[00:25:48] rejoice in eternity this is such an applicable statement from james because when it comes to the
[00:25:56] subject of trials one of the most major and constant trials that people go through in this life
[00:26:03] are trials of finances it's amazing someone can be poor in poverty they've got nothing to their
[00:26:11] name and they're in a financial trial but then you have people who have plenty they've got retirement
[00:26:20] accounts and are sending their kids to college and things are doing quite nicely and then boom
[00:26:27] they experience a financial trial as well albeit of a completely different variety
[00:26:33] but finances often lead to trials and when we hit a financial trial something concerning the state of
[00:26:41] this life we're to rejoice in eternity the natural response the non-faith response is to
[00:26:49] overemphasize our current state but james says get your eyes on eternity think about that eternal
[00:26:57] home now closing out this idea or this discussion on trials james says in verse 12
[00:27:06] blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test
[00:27:13] he will receive the crown of life which god has promised to those who love him
[00:27:20] here what james is doing is he just getting back to the simple truth that he'd already stated
[00:27:25] regarding trials remember verse 3 you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness
[00:27:33] he had written here he says remain steadfast under that trial you submit to it you don't try to escape
[00:27:43] from underneath it you stay under it you remain under it like that last repetition under that
[00:27:51] bar in the gym you stay you go through that pain you go through that difficulty don't
[00:27:58] leave it before you get every last drop out of it you stay you stay you stay and i would encourage
[00:28:08] you there is a crown of life available to us in the next life but i think also here in this life
[00:28:16] great blessing that comes when we remain steadfast under trial the natural responses to quit
[00:28:23] everybody's trying to quit a trial everybody's trying to get out from underneath it have endurance
[00:28:31] remain steadfast stay under because when you do oh when you do you are going to
[00:28:41] experience such great blessings in life your character will grow you will become stronger
[00:28:48] god will do a work in your life that can only be described as a crown of life coming don't have a
[00:28:58] half-baked theology one in which god owes you and should never allow you to endure any brand of
[00:29:05] pain remember the gospel know that jesus endured difficulty jesus endured pain and because he did
[00:29:13] he won a bride for himself think of what he is doing in your life and what you will win
[00:29:21] as a result of remaining steadfast under trial do not quit god bless you and amen thank you
[00:29:32] for listening for additional resources and teachings or to contact us please visit us at
[00:29:38] nate holdridge.com