James # 3 James 1-5 thru 1-12
We’re going to continue teaching on the book of James, so let’s pick up where we left off last time.
I) Turn with me to James 1:2-4.
A) James begins to explain in verse 4 why we can count it all joy when we fall into various temptations (tests and trials).
1) We said last week from verse 3 that the tests and trials will begin to develop patience (perseverance) in our lives, but that’s only the beginning.
B) The Word “PATIENCE” in verse 3 and 4 means “PATIENTLY ENDURING.”
1) But it means more than just that. It means that you will “patiently continue to stand and continue to fight the good fight of faith.”
2) Verse 4 says that “PATIENCE” or “PATIENTLY CONTINUING TO STAND” will bring about its perfect work.
a) The first perfect work that it will bring about in your life is that you will be “PERFECT and ENTIRE.”
b) The words “PERFECT and ENTIRE” mean “MATURE and COMPLETE.”
3) Learning how to stand in faith and how to believe God for his promises without wavering; regardless how a situation looks, or how long it seems to take before we see change, is a true sign of MATURITY and COMPLETENESS.
a) Learning how to stand in faith for God’s promises is a sign maturity.
C) What is this maturity, which is true faith and perseverance going to produce?
1) The manifestation of God’s promises in your life.
2) James says if we’re walking in perseverance and in true patience, which is a byproduct of true Christian maturity, we will be “LACKING NOTHING.”
a) We’ll be lacking nothing in our maturity level, like the character and virtues that should be in the Christians life. But also means that we’ll be lacking nothing concerning the promises of God.
II) James 1:5.
A) You might be thinking, “I can’t produce the qualities and virtues that a mature Christian should be producing in their life.”
1) You’re absolutely right, we can’t produce these qualities in virtues in our live BY OURSELVES and we can’t always make the right decisions in our own selves.
a) We should not be relying on our own ability.
b) (1st JOHN 4:4) says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, then he that is in the world.”
(i) We have the Holy Ghost dwelling on the inside of us and we do not have to rely on our own ability, but we can rely on the Holy Ghost.
(ii) (John 14:26) says, “The Holy Ghost shalt teach you all things.” And (JOHN 16:13) says, “The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.”
2) (James 1:5) says, that if we lack wisdom on how to handle situations, we should ask God for wisdom and He will give it to us liberally.
a) We need to rely on the Holy Ghost to give us that wisdom and to guide us in all the areas of our lives.
b) But let me say this, I don’t think that any of us have reached a place where we hear the voice of the Spirit perfectly.
(i) We are pressing toward that mark, but we haven’t arrived yet.
(ii) Anything that you get from the Spirit, needs to be in line with the Word of God. You should always go to the Word to verify that the leading you have is scriptural.
B) James 1:6-8.
1) 1st all in context here James says there is a prerequisite for receiving the wisdom of God and that is to ask in faith without doubting.
2) But the same idea is true with all of God’s promises.
a) Wisdom is a promise from God, healing is a promise from God, prosperity is the promise from God and safety is a promise from God.
b) All of God’s promises come to same way. We must 1st ask in faith without doubting and God will give it to us liberally.
3) In these Vs. James adds that a person that is wavering is unstable in all his ways.
a) A wavering person is a person that stands in faith one moment and in the next moment they doubt that God will really come through.
b) James goes on to add in (verse 7) that the person that is not standing in faith will not receive anything from the Lord.
(i) James is not only talking about wisdom here because he says that person who is not standing in faith will not receive ANYTHING from the Lord.
C) James 1:9-11.
1) In verse 9 were James says, “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted.”
a) No matter how you look at this verse it is a faith statement.
b) Just because a brother or sister in the Lord is going through some different tests and trials in their life does not mean that they’ll automatically be exalted.
(i) But just as James has already been talking about in the previous Vs. if we stand in faith we are to believe that His promises are ours.
(ii) So if you’re going to different test and trials in your life then you can rejoice because the promises of God already belong to you.
2) He also tells us, starting in verse 10, that the rich man can also rejoice when he is facing different tests and trials because he will learn to trust God instead of trusting his wealth.
a) James goes on to add in verse 11 that the rich man who trust in his money will perish in his ways unless he learns to put his trust in the Lord.
3) The Word “LOW” in these Vs. refers to a humbling experience.
a) We all go through different tests and trials and those tests and trials cause us to become humble. So we can rejoice in those tests and trials because a humble disposition of mind is very valuable in inside of God.
b) They cause us to trust God and not riches or self.
D) James 1:12. (Temptation - trial).
1) In this verse James goes back to what he is talking about in Vs. 2 through 4.
2) God blesses and rewards those who persevere through tests and trials.
a) Those who steadfastly endure trials and have stood their ground will receive the CROWN OF LIFE.
b) I was reading 1 commentary and they said that “the crown of life” that is spoken of in verse 12 refers to the life here and now.
(i) That we will receive life in its fullness and completeness that (James 1:4) is referring to right now.
(ii) In (JOHN 10:10) it says that Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly.
(iii) If I was to read this verse emphasizing the proper tense it would say this: “Jesus came so that we would have eternal life now and that we would have, right now, life more abundantly.”
(iv) But again, there is a prerequisite, not only do you have to endure trials, but as (verse 12) puts it, we also have to love God.
c) Others have said that this “CROWN OF LIFE” refers to eternal life. Either way we’re blessed.
W. O. L. C. C. Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998