WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:13.199 That is a question Christians have been asking since the fall in the garden. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:17.359 Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:18.800 It's not a new question. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:20.320 James asked it. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:21.839 The prophets asked it. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.039 David prayed it over and over again in the Psalms. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:31.280 And if we're honest, many of us who've been walking with the Lord have asked the same question. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.880 The world who doesn't follow Jesus and submit to the Bible as we do asked the same question. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:38.320 Why do we suffer? 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:42.479 Why does bad things happen to quote-unquote good people? 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.679 Well, I'll get to the world's answers later. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:54.079 But what's interesting about the book of James is James doesn't offer a philosophical solution, but rather something better. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:57.439 James offers us in these texts a conviction. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:10.719 A conviction that suffering, the suffering of God's people is never random, it's never punitive, it's never wasted, and it's never outside of God's control. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:19.760 What I want us to see this morning is this God uses suffering not to break your faith, but to build it. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:26.400 God uses suffering not to break your faith, but to build it. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:34.640 When pain enters your life, your story, James calls you to see it through the lens of faith. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:54.079 He exhorts us not to waste our suffering, not to misread God and his using of your suffering as a uh a tw uh rather evidence of his absence, but to see it as God's training ground for the endurance of his children. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.239 And if we're on his suffering is hard. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:01.680 A lot of people have New Year's resolutions. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:02.319 I don't. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.799 I just like to pray and ask God, please don't put me on your biggest warrior list this year. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.800 I'm comfortable with my sanctification where it's at. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.960 But the Lord refines our faith through pain. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:18.080 We look at James. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:23.599 We talked about this last week, but it's interesting here that James is the brother of Jesus. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:28.800 Grew up in the same household as Christ, didn't believe in him until after his resurrection. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:39.280 But right here in the opening verses, I love James's posture of humility when he says, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.840 Now that phrase servant could more literally be translated, slave. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.080 James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:53.280 So James chooses not to leverage his status as, hey, Jesus is my big brother. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:54.960 I grew up in the same household as him. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.599 The savior of the world is my big brother. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:07.599 Instead, he actually levels with his audience, saying, I'm a fellow servant, I'm a fellow slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, just like you, brothers and sisters. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.639 And he dives right into his exhortations. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.000 This is why I love the book of James. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.879 It's like a pocket version of Proverbs. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:18.960 He gets right into the nitty-gritty in verse 2. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:27.680 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:37.439 In verses two through four, James wants us to see that your trials are God's training, not his punishment. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:43.439 James wants you to see your trials as God's training and not his punishment. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.800 Now, before we talk about trials, we need to talk about that word he uses there, joy. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.759 What does he mean by joy? 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:59.919 When have any of you gone through suffering and said, Father, thank you so much for this precious gift of suffering? 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:14.879 And yet James says, consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, not when you go through like one or two seasons of suffering, whenever you experience various trials. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.399 But what does James mean by joy? 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:27.680 I think for many of us, you know, uh modern Americans, when we hear joy, maybe your mind goes to happiness, like a subjective emotional state. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.759 That's not what the Bible means when it talks about joy. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.399 James is not telling you, Christian, to put on a fake smile. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:43.279 He's not telling you to pretend everything is all good when you're going through various trials. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:50.079 He's not saying uh you have to pretend that the pain of your trial isn't real and doesn't exist. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:51.839 That's not joy. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.600 That's just lying. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:05:01.199 Biblical joy, I would define it as this: Biblical joy is a God-centered contentment. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:07.199 Biblical joy is a God-centered contentment, not a shallow emotion. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:16.480 So when you hear joy in scripture, don't think of it as happiness, which is emotional, it's subjective, it's fleeting, you can ebb and flow, and you have no control whether you're happy or not. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.680 You can't flip a switch and be happy or joyful. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:21.839 It's not that. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.800 Biblical joy is much deeper. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.399 It's rooted in conviction. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:33.199 It's not a feeling that depends on circumstances, but rather it's a heart posture that flows from trusting God. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:53.519 So when he says, consider it a joy, he when he's exhorting his audience to be joyful, what he's saying is biblical joy is a God-centered contentment that leads to a God-centered understanding of your circumstance, recognizing I could still have joy in God despite my circumstance. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.759 Where happiness is more emotional. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:00.879 I'm happy right now because I'm not suffering, but if I start suffering, I'm no longer happy. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:03.279 That's an emotional state. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:13.360 So joy, biblical joy, is not a feeling that depends on circumstances, it's a posture that flows from confidence in God. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:28.720 Or to put it another way, joy in Scripture is a settled assurance that your God is in control, that his purposes are good, and that his grace is enough even when life hurts. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:30.959 So that's a heart posture, right? 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:34.959 That is a perspective, that's a renewing of your mind. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:42.959 When suffering comes, you say, My God is on the throne, my God is good, and his grace is enough to sustain me. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.879 That is the foundation of biblical joy. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:55.279 It's not the absence of pain, it's the presence of God's peace in the midst of the pain you endured. 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:02.959 So when James says, consider it great joy, he's not telling you, Christian, enjoy your suffering. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:05.199 Enjoy the pain. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:12.000 He's telling you to rest in God, who is using it for his redemptive purposes. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:18.800 Joy is the settled conviction that no matter what happens, God is good. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.360 God is faithful, God is loving, and he loves me. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:33.759 He's sovereign, he's in control, and I can trust in him, even if I don't get any of the answers I have for why I'm suffering the way I am. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:40.319 So before you can face your trials with joy, you must first adjust how you interpret them. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:46.319 The difference between bitterness and blessing begins with your perspective, and I mean bitterness towards God. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.800 Some of us we suffer and we get bitter towards God. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.439 God, if you love me, why would you allow this to happen? 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:56.399 If you're my father, why would you allow your child to experience such pain? 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:05.199 So that that gospel-centered joy is the difference between bitterness and seeing our suffering as a blessing. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.759 Because our trials are inevitable, aren't we? 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:08.319 Aren't they? 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.839 I mean, we live in a fallen world. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.199 Suffering is inevitable. 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:12.959 It's it's it's gonna happen. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:18.800 However, if you are in Christ, it's never wasted, it's never meaningless. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:24.399 Because God is sovereign, because he's using it for his redemptive purposes. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:34.879 So this is the foundation James is working from when he writes, consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.279 And look at verse three, he adds the the because. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:38.799 So here's the connection. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:44.879 Because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.679 So just just even with him saying because, he's talking to them as if like you guys already know this truth. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.600 I'm just reminding you of something you should already be familiar with. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:05.679 In verse 4, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:11.759 Now, James doesn't doesn't sugarcoat the Christian life, does he? 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.759 He assumes suffering will come. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:22.159 He says, whenever you face trials, not if you face trials. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:26.960 The word various means multicolored, so he's talking about all types of suffering. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:33.120 So this could be financial stress, family tension, temptation, disease, disappointment, whatever it looks like. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:39.200 I'm a strong proponent for I encourage people to have a broader biblical understanding of suffering. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:46.320 Don't always think of suffering as the extreme, you know, a cancer diagnosis, a loss, or those things that cause the most pain. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:10:03.759 Friends, when you sit in God's seat and try to think about the world from his vantage point, I would say anything that comes into your life that's a product of the fall in Genesis 3 that was never a part of God's original design, that brings you any kind of pain or discomfort, that is a form of suffering. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:25.919 And then it can be a scale of the intensity, but it all is still suffering, which is why he could say, whenever you face various trials, not just significant trials, not just trials that bring the most pain, he's saying various multicolored trials that bring hardship into your life. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:28.720 Consider them all joy. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.679 Now, just a word of pastoral exhortation. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:44.000 The various trials and sufferings you experience do not speak to who you are, meaning your suffering does not communicate your identity. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:49.360 They reveal what God is ultimately shaping you to be. 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:50.559 This is important. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.000 I'm gonna get to this a little later. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:57.360 I think sometimes as believers, we could be tempted to believe that our suffering is our identity. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.240 I am a person who was a victim of blank. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.720 I am a person who has suffered blank. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:20.000 No, you're a child of God who lives in a fallen, broken world where that is evidence in your life at times, but praise be to God, your identity is rooted in your justified status with the king who uses those painful things in your life to make you look more like his son Jesus Christ. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.799 So your various trials don't speak to who you are. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:26.080 God does. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.360 So what is God doing with your pain? 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.399 What is God doing with your suffering? 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:38.320 Well, according to James here, he's producing endurance, not despair. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:52.879 The fire of testing that the Lord puts his children through does not create faith, it reveals faith's authenticity and increases its strength. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:54.399 That's important. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:07.759 I think some Christians might question their salvation sometimes when they endure various trials because maybe their understanding of the gospel is a little jaded in that season, and they're thinking, is this evidence that I'm not a child of God? 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:09.759 Is this God punishing me? 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:11.759 Have I forfeited his love? 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.559 Have I backslidden so far that he has not rejected his love for me? 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:30.559 But according to not just James, but the entire biblical data, when you look at what the scriptures teach us about suffering, you see clearly, no, the fire of testing that God puts us through, it never creates faith. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:36.320 It reveals faith that's already present, but it refines it and makes it even stronger. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:49.200 So you could say our suffering gives us evidence that we are children of God, and we learn more about the gospel, more about the character of God, and more about ourselves and where we're at in our walk with the Lord. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:58.639 This is why Proverbs 3 would say, Do not despise the Lord's instruction, my son, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:09.360 Now, that word discipline is not what we might think, it's it's more training, like a father training his children in righteousness, similar to uh Hebrews chapter 12. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:18.639 God disciplines his children, and that discipline is evidence that he loves them and is molding them into the image of Jesus Christ. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.840 That should shape how we view our suffering, shouldn't it? 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.120 When we go through trials of various kinds, we shouldn't ask, why me, God? 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:32.000 But rather ask, what are you forming in me, God? 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.799 You could ask why me all day. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:37.279 It's not going to change the fact that you're suffering. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.759 But you could ask, Father, what are you forming in me? 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:43.440 What are you teaching me? 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.399 What are you revealing about yourself so that I can love and serve you more? 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:54.879 So when James makes this statement, consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:14:03.679 Don't think he's just given some just disconnected fortune cookie Christian wisdom that his audience would have been completely detached from. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.960 His teaching is rooted in Old Testament theology. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:18.320 They could have looked back throughout the Old Testament and seen evidence over and over again of how God uses what man meant for evil, God would ultimately sovereignly use for good. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.399 So this isn't a new teaching that James is bringing up. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:39.679 Even though, let's be honest, I'm sure it would have been hard to receive, especially when you consider the context of uh many of these Christians are, it's believed were a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles, primarily Jews, and many of them were facing various persecutions and other types of uh hardships in their community. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:44.559 And James comes in and says, guys, consider it a great joy. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:47.200 It would have been hard to receive. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.879 But he goes on in verses five through eight. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:15:02.320 He says, Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to him. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:03.759 That is a promise. 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:10.559 But let him ask in faith without doubting, for the doubter is like the surging sea driven and tossed by the wind. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:20.879 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:28.960 When life hurts and suffering comes, you do not need to know why everything's happening. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:30.399 You don't. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:31.600 I'm sorry. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:32.799 I know that's hard. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:36.159 But to be honest, sometimes it's not even it's not even your business. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:37.840 Because God is all-knowing. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.759 God does not owe us an explanation for anything, for that matter. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.360 Go read the book of Job. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:45.519 It ends with a wonderful ending. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:50.080 But if you really pay attention, Job never got any answers to his questions. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.799 He just got rebuked, and his faith grew, and the book ends. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:05.039 You don't need to know why everything's happening, but you do need to know how to live faithfully in the midst of it. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:09.120 That's where we should devote our attention. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.840 That is the gift of wisdom. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:20.240 Some have taken this verse to use it in a more broad context of just ask God for wisdom about all sorts of things, like should I take job A or job B? 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:22.639 That's not the context of what James is saying here. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:39.919 He's saying, as you are striving to count your suffering as joy and to have uh this God-centered perspective, if you lack wisdom in walking faithfully with the Lord in the midst of suffering, ask the Lord for wisdom and he will graciously grant that wisdom. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:47.600 So wisdom is a little bit different than how we might think about it here in our culture. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.080 So in the Bible, wisdom is not intelligence. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.080 Wisdom is not how much information do you have in your head. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:02.480 In the Bible, wisdom is more uh skillful living, how you are implementing the knowledge that you have and say you believe. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:10.559 It's seeing life through God's eyes and walking through God's world according to God's ways as you see in God's word. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:18.000 So wisdom in scripture is taking the word of the Lord and living it out practically in the day-to-day. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:23.039 This is why Proverbs 9:10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:26.400 That doesn't mean those who just tremble in fear God are wise. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.839 What that means is you have a reverence for God and his word. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:33.920 You submit to his word as his divine authority in your life. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:37.279 It's sufficient for everything pertaining to life and godliness. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:42.400 And so you lead your life according to God's word, which then makes you wise. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:54.880 So James is echoing the Old Testament's heartbeat here, saying that real wisdom begins with reverence for your God, even in the midst of suffering. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:00.720 Suffering is a good test to help us see just how mature we really are in our walk with Jesus. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:05.440 Because it's easy to say, yes, I revere God, I serve God, He's my King. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.440 And then when you suffer, maybe that heart posture changes. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.839 We can be prone to be angry with God, to blame God, to question God. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:18.559 It's like, well, then maybe that reverence then is not as strong as you thought it was. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:25.920 And the most loving thing he could do as a father is to reveal that to us so we could grow more and more. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.960 So wisdom in the Bible is skill for godly living. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:44.960 It is learning to study God's word and interpret life's pain through God's promises and not primarily our emotions, which will always deceive us and lead us into despair. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:53.359 Sometimes we in biblical counseling, I love to draw a little train where I'll say, you know, our thoughts, our actions and feelings. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:03.599 The train, y'all are facing this way, but the train goes this way, and in the front is our thinking, in the middle is our actions, and in the back is our feelings. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:05.920 So normally the Christian life should go. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:12.799 We study the Bible, God's word informs our hearts and minds, which then informs our actions. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.799 And sometimes the feelings might come, but we never make decisions based on feelings. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.319 Now, where we get in trouble is we think the train goes the opposite way. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:33.920 I'm faced with a situation, and based on how I feel, I choose an action, which then reinforces ungodly ways of thinking and behaving, which is counterintuitive to sanctification. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:41.599 We always start with the wisdom of God, which informs our volition, what we do, despite how we feel. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.279 Think of Ephesians 5. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:48.400 It never says, Husbands, love your wives as long as you feel warm and fuzzy and they're lovable. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:54.640 He just gives a direct command love them as Christ loved the church. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:59.119 So wisdom is skill for godly living. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:03.519 But notice uh James's encouragement here, though. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.160 We have some promises in verse five. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:14.880 Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.440 Doesn't that sound like a good father? 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:23.920 God is eager to be generous and granting you wisdom to follow him. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:35.359 And he just, I appreciate he adds the ungrudgingly, and he doesn't do it like you're praying, asking the father for wisdom, and he's like kicking dirt in heaven saying, Oh, fine, whatever. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.839 All right, I'll help you out again. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:43.599 No, our father is generous, he gives ungrudgingly, and here's the promise. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:50.319 And when you come to the Father in faith and you ask for wisdom, it will be given to him. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.000 But here's the caveat, verse six. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.240 But let him ask in faith without doubting. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:02.799 For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:12.799 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:18.240 So though our God is not stingy with his help, he is generous. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:29.039 He gives all generously and ungrudgingly, but there is one condition, you must believe he is who he says he is, and will do what he says he will do. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:35.440 If you doubt, he will not grant the wisdom you need. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.000 And here's the thing: we all believe something when it comes to suffering and God. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.599 We either believe God is good or we believe he's not. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.279 It's two options. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:47.440 I don't think you can be neutral and indifferent. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:56.400 Either you truly believe God is good and is for you, or you believe he is not good and therefore he is not for you. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:58.880 That is faith and unbelief. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.759 This is why. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:08.240 Proverbs 3, 5 through 6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.400 Faith is trusting God's character when you can't see his hand. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:22.240 This is why James encourages his audience: no, seek the Father and His wisdom if you need help. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:23.759 Find your trust in Him. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:27.359 Faith is trusting God's character when you can't see His hand. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:36.160 However, before you can endure trials faithfully, I think we need to understand what real faith is and what it isn't, because that's important. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.960 So let's start with what faith isn't. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:48.559 It's not superstition, it's not positive thinking or a guarantee of comfort or a pain-free life. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:50.559 It's not a ticket out of suffering. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:55.920 It's not the ability to control outcomes because that would be God, because we're not sovereign. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:04.319 We gotta, we gotta, we gotta define this because there's a lot of language out there that gets popularized, like just have faith, brother or sister. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.400 Or, you know, we we say a lot of weird things. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:13.759 You know, you see people online when you know someone's suffering and someone might tweet or send a message out that says, hey, sending, sending love and and feeling. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:16.000 It's like, how do you send love over Twitter? 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:16.880 Like, how does that work? 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:25.119 You know, we say things that make no sense, but in the Bible, faith is not always speaking to salvation. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:38.400 So, for instance, you look at the Bible, sometimes faith could mean salvation, sometimes it's referring to just trusting God, sometimes it's referring to the body of doctrine we believe, uh, the gospel that makes us Christians. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.079 Let me give two examples. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:48.000 In Romans 10, 17, Paul says, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:55.519 So, in that context, the surrounding data helps us understand what Paul means by faith is salvation, the message of the gospel. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:06.319 But when you look at Hebrews 11, verses 1 and 6, the author says, Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:17.039 Now, without faith, it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:23.920 So in that context, it's more referring to those who have salvation must trust God. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:30.079 They must believe that he is who he says he is, and that he rewards those who seek him. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:32.720 So, what is faith? 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:47.200 One way I would describe it is this faith is the unwavering, at least in this context in James, faith is the unwavering, obedient trust in every single word that flows from the mouth of our good God. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:54.640 A trust born from the deep conviction that He is inherently, undeniably, and eternally good. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:01.839 So when James is referring to faith in this context of suffering, I believe that's what he's saying. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:15.920 It is the unwavering, obedient trust in every word that flows from the mouth of our good God, a trust that is born from a deep conviction that God is inherently, undeniably, and eternally good. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:27.759 Because if you believe God is good and faithful and unwavering, then that builds conviction in you to suffer well and to remain faithful in the midst of a difficult trial. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:34.319 Now, let me give a brief warning here about false teachers. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:50.240 Because there are prominent false teachers, prosperity gospel preachers, health wealth teachers who take these same passages of scripture we're looking at this morning and twist them to say the opposite of what I'm saying this morning. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:58.720 They say faith is what helps you prevent trials and sufferings of various kinds. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:06.960 Therefore, Christian, if suffering comes into your life, well then that's evidence you don't have enough faith or you're not tithing enough to the church. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:12.480 And so God is allowing suffering to come into your life as punishment. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:28.960 That is a popular teaching that is ravaging people all across the US in predominant places like Africa, where the prosperity gospel is unfortunately flourishing, leading masses astray. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:37.920 This this false gospel that says you must earn God's love through your performance, through your financial giving. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:47.759 And if you don't have enough faith, then God rains down punitive punishment on those whom He allegedly loves. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:50.000 Let me say this very clearly. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.559 That is a lie from the pit of hell. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:57.440 And anyone who teaches such things is a liar, and you should not listen to them. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:02.640 That is a different gospel, which is no gospel of all at all. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:04.240 Don't believe me? 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:06.079 Listen to the Bible itself. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:13.200 Philippians 1 29, Paul says, it, and he's these are passages written to Christians, Christ's followers. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:22.960 It has been granted to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.240 1 Peter 4, 12 through 13. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:41.359 Dear friends, writing to a church congregation who is experiencing persecution for following Jesus, dear friends, don't be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:47.039 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.599 He literally says the same thing as James. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:13.599 It's evidence that you're a child of God and that you are in the long line of faithful saints who have also suffered for the sake of Jesus Christ. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:19.200 And let us not forget: here's where the prosperity gospel is just completely stupid to me. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:33.119 How are you going to build a whole gospel on prosperity and health wealth when the Savior we worship was the prime example of suffering, the only person who never sinned, who had all of God's favor and yet experienced the worst wickedness known to human history? 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:34.880 All right, I digress. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:37.519 So let's be clear. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:44.720 Faith in the Bible isn't fireproofing, it's fuel for endurance when the flame rises. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:53.279 One of the dopest stories in the Old Testament is when Shadrach, Meshach, and Nabednego are like, nah, King, we ain't worshiping your false God. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:54.400 We serve the Lord. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:57.839 And even if he doesn't save us from the furnace, it's all good. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:59.519 He'll still deliver us. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:03.519 And God does not necessarily pull them out of the furnace, does he? 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:05.920 He is in the furnace with them. 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.440 If that ain't a picture of our Christian lives, I don't know what is. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.880 He was in the furnace with them. 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:19.440 Just for out of curiosity, I looked up how is gold refined? 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:22.000 Because that's just what I do in my free time. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.240 But this is interesting. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:34.720 When gold is refined, it is heated to about 2,000 degrees until the impurities in the gold rise to the surface. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:37.440 That's the point of refining gold, to get the impurities out. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:43.200 So 2,000 degrees is important because that's the temperature you need to get the impurities out of the gold. 00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:51.440 But here's what's interesting the person who's the refiner who's refining the gold during this heating process, they never leave. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:56.079 They don't walk away from the gold that's being refined. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:01.279 Because if it gets too hot, you might lose the gold. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.400 If it's too cool, the impurities might remain. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:11.279 So the refiner has to give careful attention and oversight to the refining process. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:13.680 Y'all better catch a good illustration when you hear one. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.039 That's what God does with his people. 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:33.839 He sits there, he watches, he gets careful attention and oversight to make sure all the impurities are removed. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:38.000 And all that is left is pure gold. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:52.880 God puts his people, yes, God, God puts his people in the furnace, not to destroy them and their faith, but to display the beauty of what they are becoming. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:31:00.400 That is true even in the worst moment of suffering you have ever endured in your life as a Christian. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:08.400 Even if it doesn't feel true because it's a hard season, you feel the pain, the tears keep coming. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:14.000 But this is what this is what James means when he says, consider it joy. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.119 How can I have joy? 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:19.599 My circumstance might not change, but what I know is my God put me in this furnace. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.759 He's superintending the heat of this furnace. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:28.880 He knows every impurity in my heart that I'm not even aware of as I'm in this furnace. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:34.079 And when I come on the other side, I will look more like my Savior. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:37.119 That is what the Father does. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:46.799 When you begin to think with God's wisdom and walk by real faith, you start to value things in your life differently as well. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:57.920 You see that life is not about status, it's not about money, it's not about retirement, it's not about leisure, it's not about comfort, it's not about getting this trial over with as quickly as possible. 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:00.000 It's about faithfulness. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:01.599 Faithfulness. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:04.000 That's where James turns next. 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:05.359 But let me be clear, friends. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.759 Faithfulness does not always mean perfection. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:18.160 Faithfulness doesn't mean I never doubt God, I never struggle, I never have a little bit of anger in my heart towards God. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:24.640 No, friends, faithfulness is even why do you think we add in our pastoral prayer a confession of sin? 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:32.400 Because faithfulness is being honest about your shortcomings, taking them to your father and confessing them and asking for his forgiveness. 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:34.559 That too is faithfulness. 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:36.400 Just want to make that clear. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:41.440 But now James turns to faithfulness when we look at verses 9 through 11. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:52.079 He says, Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, but let the rich boast in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a flower of the field. 00:32:52.319 --> 00:33:00.480 For the sun rises and together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass, its flowers fall off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:07.839 In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities. 00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:11.119 Now, at first glance, you might think, okay, this sounds random. 00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:14.880 Like, how are you just pivoting to wealth and poor people? 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.799 Like, what's what's going on here, James? 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.319 Again, keep in mind, this is the first New Testament book that was written. 00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:21.759 James grew up a Jew. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:23.519 He was very familiar with the Old Testament. 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:30.160 And when you read James, there's a lot of uh similarities to the Sermon on the Mount and the book of Proverbs as well. 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:37.839 As a matter of fact, if you go read the first three chapters of Proverbs, you see a lot of echoes of what James says in in these uh five chapters. 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:43.200 But what he's doing here is he's he's again encouraging them in wisdom. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.440 I believe what now there's some debate here. 00:33:45.599 --> 00:34:07.200 So the ongoing conversation for those who geek out on this kind of stuff is when James talks about rich people in his book, because he does so several times, are the rich people he's referring to, are they Christians who are wealthy, who are maybe struggling with their faith, or are they non-believers who are wealthy and who are oppressing some of the less wealthy people in the church James is writing to? 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:08.480 I have no idea. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:09.599 I land in the middle. 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:20.880 I think maybe he's actually giving general wisdom to the wealthy per se, but then also addressing some wealthy Christians in the church to give them godly counsel on how to uh follow Christ with their wealth. 00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:28.480 But what he seems to be highlighting to his audience is this that trials and suffering are a divine equalizer. 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:34.079 They reveal what truly matters and easily strip away what doesn't. 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:40.800 For the believer in humble circumstances, suffering reminds you that you're already rich in Christ. 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:48.480 And for the wealthy believer, it reminds you that, well, that's a gift from the Lord, but your wealth will ultimately wither just like everything else in the world. 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:52.320 And the only thing that will remain is your faith in God. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:56.000 So trials are a divine equalizer. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:34:58.639 So it is a gift of God to be broke. 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:03.119 Because those who are broke have a better perspective of trusting in God. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:04.559 You don't got to amen too loud. 00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:07.440 We don't gotta share all our financial situation. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:19.119 But your heart is more open to the things of the Lord because you have a better comprehension of your need for someone to provide spiritually for you in a way that only the Lord does. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:25.760 But then there's the warning to the wealthy, and let's be careful because I know in some Christian circles we can get really weird and legalistic with some things. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.519 Wealth is not evil. 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:35.280 I encourage Christians, if you have, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself, become as wealthy as the Lord would allow you to be. 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:40.480 It was Christians who started orphanages, hospitals, and universities, and we can go on and on. 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:47.360 It's a a sinful greed and covetousness that leads to a misuse of wealth. 00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:50.159 But wealth in and of itself is simply a tool. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:36:00.559 But Proverbs 11, verse 4 says, wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:06.320 So James is just trying to help them have a perspective, an eternal perspective, rather, here of their wealth. 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:15.199 Keep in mind, when you die, you cannot show up to the gates of heaven and offer Jesus a down payment from your 401k to get into heaven. 00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:21.360 You either trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation or you perish for eternity. 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:23.519 And so James is saying, no, no, no, no. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:36.079 Wealth, I mean, sorry, um, suffering is the great, the great equalizer, and pain is a revealer because the suffering we go through, it exposes in that moment what are our hearts most clinging to. 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:49.119 Are we truly clinging to Christ and his righteousness, or are we clinging to our sense of control over our circumstances or over our wealth that we think we could use to help prevent suffering in our lives? 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:59.280 That's why there's passages in scripture that warn against uh an unproper view of wealth, because you can come to this uh temptation of, well, I don't need the Lord because I provide all my needs on my own. 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:00.239 I got everything I want. 00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:01.760 Why do I need God? 00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:10.159 Well, Proverbs says, wealth is not profitable on the day of wrath, but righteousness is what rescues from death. 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:17.840 So ask yourself, what is the trials that I endure revealing about what I treasure in this life? 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:23.039 Do you treasure comfort and peace more than Jesus? 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:25.519 Do you comfort your wealth? 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:33.599 Do you comfort treasure anything other than Christ, who is your true riches? 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:40.800 I love how John Piper years ago, it's a lesser-known book of his, wrote a book called God is the Gospel. 00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:46.880 And in that book, he's making the case: no, if you are in Christ, the greatest wealth you ever receive is the Father. 00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:52.480 The Son came to die and to purchase you to reconcile you back to the Father. 00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:57.199 Therefore, the the the heart of our salvation is God. 00:37:58.159 --> 00:38:04.639 So, anyways, that's a whole nother sermon, but but God is our true treasure. 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:09.840 Now in verse 12, he gives some gospel encouragement here. 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:22.079 Verse 12 says, Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:27.280 Friends, the Christian life does not promise an easy road. 00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:37.360 It actually promises the opposite, but it does promise an eternal reward to those who remain faithful and stay the course. 00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:48.800 The blessed person isn't the one who avoids trials, but the one who endures them with love for God intact. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:39:07.840 From my vantage point as a pastor, it's been interesting to see over the last couple of years, and this is nothing new, but just to see many prominent pastors, ministry leaders shipwreck their ministries and their testimonies and you know, pursue their sin or whatever it may be. 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:20.880 And it's been very encouraging to see lately men like a John MacArthur or Bodie Baccom, I can give many others, who have gone home to glory, and to just have this thought like, thank you, Jesus, that they finished well. 00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:24.800 Help us to finish well. 00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:36.719 Don't let our sufferings, don't let our temptations lead us astray, so that we shipwreck our faith and ruin our testimony for Christ and forfeit the crown of life. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:52.400 And when he's using that phrase, the crown of life, he's not, I don't believe he's referring to a literal physical crown, he's referring to eternal life, the weight of glory, being, yeah, being with the Father, the fact that we will be in the presence of Jesus. 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:55.199 Jesus is what makes heaven heaven, friends. 00:39:55.360 --> 00:39:58.400 Not golden roads and all this other stuff and a sinless life. 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:01.199 Those are all beautiful benefits. 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:07.840 But the true weight and glory of heaven is we are in the presence with Jesus and we belong there. 00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:34.239 That is what he said, he means what James means when he says, Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test, here's the promise he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those, and this is a very strategic word choice to those who love him, to those who love him. 00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:37.280