Untitled Sermon

Turn with me to James chapter 1, James chapter 1, and follow along as we look at the first 11 verses again this morning, James chapter 1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations, greetings, consider it pure joy, my brother, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave

of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind, and that man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat, and withers the plant.

Its blossom falls, and its beauty is destroyed. And in the same way, the rich man will fade away, even while he goes about his business. We've been looking at James for the last couple of weeks, as we just started in this epistle. And just a reminder of some things, James, the half-brother of Jesus, is the one we believe wrote this epistle, and you can pick up all of the background on that on the previous tapes.

The tapes are free, you can sign up for those in the lobby, and we'll get you those by the next week. But James is a half-brother of Jesus, we believe. Had some unique circumstances in growing up with the Son of God, really not liking that, feeling second best, probably feeling all the time like he had to measure up too, and not doing so. And probably detesting his brother, seeking to prove that he was a heretic, that he really wasn't the Son of God.

Wasn't until the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Christ that James believes, and Jesus appears to James in Acts chapter 15, verse 7. Special appearance. And from that appearance, James is received. Restored, becomes the head of the church at Jerusalem, the main church, the leading apostle, really. Even Paul submits himself to the authority of James.

And James writes his epistle now, probably the first in the New Testament that we have recorded, the first one written, to seek to show that we can't mess around with Christianity. It can't be a half-hearted thing. It can't be lip service only. That's what the Pharisees were doing. That's what the Sadducees were doing. It had to be restored. And if it was real, indeed, there would be evidence of the reality of that.

Thus, the title of this section that we're looking at in James is the workings of faith. The workings of faith. The necessity of salvation necessitates the fact that there will be the workings of salvation. There will be the outgrowth. If you plant a seed, you know that there's going to be a harvest because the blade starts coming up through the ground. There's evidence that the seed indeed has been planted and taken root because there's a shoot

that springs forth. And that's what James is saying. If indeed you believe in Christ, if indeed you believe and accept what Jesus said of himself, then there will be evidence of that fact in your life. There will be the works of faith coming out. Not to gain your salvation, but the evidence of it. And that's necessary. It's necessary to see that in our lives because of the deceitfulness of the enemy.

The enemy deceives. And he says to many today, just because you were born in a Christian family, just because you've been raised in a Christian family. You've been raised in a Christian environment, therefore you're a Christian. Far from true. Unless Jesus has become real to you, unless you have personally seen the need for a savior, cried out to God, asked him to come into your heart and cleanse you from your sin based

on the shed blood of his son on the cross, you're not saved. If you have done that, there will be evidence of that in your life. That's all James is saying. If the evidence isn't there, you're not saved. You better check it out again. And he's writing with an urgency because the days are short. And he knows it's soon. We'll see that when we get to chapter five.

He knows it's soon before his brother comes back, before the Lord comes back. And so it's like he is seeking to make sure the church has every understanding of what salvation is all about. And so beginning in chapter one, we're looking at the workings of faith and realize that in chapter one, they are revealed by trials. That's all chapter one talks to us about is the fact that these workings of faith are revealed to us by trials.

Before we get into that, I almost forgot this. The basics of the workings of faith are going to be a humble spirit that seeks to serve the Lord. If you're saved, the workings of faith in your life, I mean, although James gives us a list to go down through and we're going to look at the list, the basics of it are that you will have, you will be gaining a humble spirit, a submissive spirit that seeks to serve the Lord, that seeks to glorify God. You will be becoming others centered in a world that is self-centered.

You will become one who cares more first about. Making sure someone else has something before you yourself has something and you're doing that not so that they'll think you're great, but to the glory of God, you see yourself as as his servant, as his bond slave ministering to others for his glory. That's the essence of what James is telling us. And I get several periodicals and several briefings, faxes that come in.

This is one from Navigators that has been given to me. And it's what James is talking about here. And it's based on humility. He says humility. He is focusing attention on others. The author says, recently, I received a letter from a person I'd not heard from in over 25 years. To my amazement, his dispatch contained 43 references to himself as he chronicled his

many impressive accomplishments. Then without warning, the communication abruptly ended with his signature. Not one inquiry about my family or me. It would appear that his letter evidenced an amazing degree of self-centeredness. He goes on to say, ever observe how people crowd their way into an elevator or on a bus? You ever been, you go up to one of the hospitals up in.

Wichita, and the dinger dings and the door opens and people that are there, I mean, you know, it's almost like he who hesitates is lost and they just stampede in. They push each other and all that stuff trying to get in. Or ever observe how people jump to be the first to get off of an airplane? That always amazed me. Where are you going to go? You jump up in the seat like, I'm ready to go.

Where are you going to go? You got to wait for everybody else in front to move on through. But everybody does it. And it just, when they do it, it makes you feel like I got to do it too. You know, I got to get up and do that. And everybody. Everybody's standing there bent over because they can't stand up, right? You know, and it's a stupid thing to do. It's like, if I don't get up, I'm not going to get off.

But everybody's got to be first to try and push out to get off of an airplane. Or he says, have you ever observed how people leave their McDonald's hamburger tray for others to clean? That's their job, right? Self-centeredness, he says. And what about conversation? Amazing, is it not, the verbal dexterity people will employ to ensure that the focus of the interchange somehow centers on them?

Humility, on the other hand, is focusing attention on others. Humble people have a quiet. They have a quiet softness about them. They step to the back of the crowd. They quietly pick up others' bags. They defer. They're not pretentious. They remain unperturbed at being inconvenienced. They are humble folk who are likable and easy to be around. That one really hit me.

They remain unperturbed at being inconvenienced. What do you do when you take your car in to be serviced and you go to pick it up and they say it's going to be another 15 minutes or another half an hour? Or we don't have it ready today. What do you do when you go in, you've made an order for something, and you go in to pick it up and it's not ready? Do you remain unperturbed?

Or do you move with the assumption that the squeaky wheel gets the grease? You see, that's a secular thought. That's not in here. I mean, people say that they prove that out because they've done that. But all they do is seek to irritate the situation by doing that. If God is indeed sovereign, if God is indeed in control, I can let him. He can part seas. He can make hamburgers quick, you know.

I can let him be God. But it never ceases to amaze me. You know, when they come up in your, especially like at McDonald's, it just happened the other day. And it's like, well, how come it's not ready? Like, that's going to make it cook faster. We think if I yell, if my volume of my voice goes up and accelerates, then I'll get it done quicker. I'll get it done better.

Listen, I've worked on that side. I've worked on the other side. I remember how I felt when people did that. You know, you want to be.

Not that I did that.

But somebody that's humble, that doesn't get perturbed when the things are going bad, when they're not good. And I just say, that's okay. You know, take your time. It's like you want to go faster for them. You want to bless them because they're not getting mad at you. That's humility. By contrast, he says, pride has a stiff, arbitrary quality about it, like bumping into a fireplug.

There's no give. It's bruising. They always are right. He says, ponder St. Paul's admonition on humility. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also the interests of others. That's Philippians 2. We went through that.

Jesus says, If any man wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself. This is Philip's translation. And keep close behind me. The son of man himself has not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to set many others free. Humility is focusing attention on others, being others centered. It's not natural. It's not of this world.

If you are saved, that attitude will begin, working itself out in your life. God will be working that out. And the areas where there is still a self-centeredness, the self-concern, self comes first, are the areas where God is going to humble and going to smooth and going to remove those things. And it's often those areas that the trials will affect. And so that's where we get to James.

James is saying, Rejoice in the trials because you want that stuff out of you. You want that garbage out so that you can become more mature like Christ. That's why perseverance, that's the work of perseverance, is to bring you into maturity, to bring you, to bring you into Christ-likeness. We went through the first four verses last week in this part one of the perspective of trials.

Trials are that which reveals the workings of faith. And so in verses 1 through 11 or 2 through 11, we're looking at the proper perspective of trials. And last time we saw we were to consider it pure joy, that that phrase in the Greek is a matter of evaluation. That when you and I come into a trial, and any trial, any trial, don't rate trials by degree because there's no big trial to God.

Nothing's impossible with Him. So when you come into a trial, you come into any trial, any trial, stupid as it may seem, yesterday. I mean, yesterday was the day for a football lover. I mean, yesterday was the Big 12 championship. Yesterday was the WAC championship. And anybody who knows football realized that yesterday was a holy day, consecrated unto the oblong ball.

But yesterday we also had some things going on. We had people that were coming over last night, but I was right in the middle of Texas throwing a pass. They go down field to score a touchdown, and I had to get up and go answer a call of a family member, you know. That's not ministry call out here, you know, I've got to go do my duty as a pastor. It's in-house.

Would you come help me with the... I don't even remember what it was. It was inconsequential. I mean, this was Texas and Nebraska. You know, this was the two teams of the day. That was a trial. Did I stop and evaluate the trial, realizing that it was God working a work in my life, that this was an appointed trial, specifically designed, to test, to bring me to that point

of pulling self out of the way that I might serve others? Did I realize I needed to hang in under? No! Texas was moving down the field, you know. And it's so easy to think, well, that's just something that happened. No, that's a trial. See, God was working in the midst of that. And as we grow in the Lord, we learn that there are going to be trials of many colors and sizes and shapes.

That's when you fall into diverse trials or temptations, if you're reading King James, when you fall into trials of many kinds, when you face trials of many kinds. They're designed, and you're going to have them every day. And one of the biggest frustrations in life, and we mentioned this two weeks ago, is seeking to think that normal is freeing your day of trial, that you're trying to get away from trials so that you have this normal, glassy, smooth day. That is from the pit.

There is no such thing. You're going to have trials. In the world, you will have tribulations. Jesus promised it. He didn't promise frequency. He didn't tell us how severe. He just said you're going to have them. James said, count it all joy when you have them. They're profitable. That means I'll probably have lots of them. So expect them. So my day should not be designed

with trying to eliminate all of them. It's designed to know what God wants me to do in the midst of them. And if you don't have that mindset, you get frustrated like I did yesterday. It wasn't until I was already in the midst of my frustration and complaining and letting my family know that I was frustrated by my complaining that the Lord slapped me with what we'd been studying in James.

Then I was able to surrender to him, confess it to my family, and move on. I could see. He was working that in me. You've got to see some of the game anyhow. So we're to evaluate the situation. Consider it all joy. Realize that God's working with a purpose. When we fall into or when we face the different trials, we saw last time that that means they're appointed.

We don't just stumble over them. Fall into means to be found squarely in the middle of. That means that you're in there because God designed it. God's allowed you to be there in the midst of it. The trials of many kinds, the diverse trials, the diverse trials or temptations, the word literally is variegated. It means it's colored specifically for you. Your trial has been,

specifically weighed and fashioned for your particular need. And that's exciting. When we see the trials that some people go through, I wouldn't want their trials. They see the things we're going through, they don't want yours either. But they've been specifically designed. They're variegated. They're designed for you specifically. And we saw in verse four that that testing,

that trial, develops perseverance or patience. The word literally means staying under. Endurance. We stay under. Remember the last time we learned that the best way out of a trial is through it. The best way, whatever trial you're in right now, the best way out of it is to just go through it. And God has given you everything you need, just like we sang about this morning,

for life and God. He's given it to you. He wants to bring it out of you. He wants to work it out of you so that you can see it. And so he develops in us perseverance to wait upon him while he brings us through the trial. Now we come to verse five today. Perseverance, we saw last time, also must work its perfect work, which at the end of verse four is your maturity into Christ, likeness.

God is not going to leave you the way you are. He's not leaving you in your Mark likeness or your whatever you are. He is transforming you. And so all those things that you know about you that are faults that you don't like, he's transforming that. And that's what the trials are all about. So now we come into the second half of this section on gaining the proper perspective on the trials.

He says, if any of you, verse five, lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him. Now slow down. If any of you lack wisdom, what wisdom do you lack? What wisdom is James implying that you lack here? You see, a lot of times we read through this and we read, consider it pure joy, my brothers, because you know that the testing of your faith

develops perseverance. And then we shift the mindset and then we go, if any of you lacks wisdom, well, you know, I was just wanting to buy a car. I need to ask wisdom from God whether I buy this car or not. I'm wanting to go to school. I need to ask wisdom from God. Should I go to this school or not? I'm wanting to get married. I need to ask God, should I marry this person or not?

Is that what he's talking about specifically? Specifically, he's still flowing with the idea of the trials. You've come into this area of trial and you need wisdom. Ah, now here's where it gets interesting. Wisdom for what? Wisdom to do what? See, normally, we think of wisdom to get out of the trial. I'm in this trial. I want to get out of this trial. And so I need your wisdom, Lord,

to get me out of this trial. But to the Jewish reader, James, it says in verse one, is writing to the scattered, to the 12 tribes that are scattered among the nations. Those are Jewish believers. And the Jewish mindset, the Jewish reader here, understands wisdom as that being that which causes me to live my life to the glory of God. If the Jewish believer is asking

for wisdom, he understands that his entire life is to be lived to glorify God. The Lord, the Lord, our God is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. Deuteronomy six. That's what they learned when they could first speak. And that's what they were ingrained with throughout their lives, is seeking to love God, to do his will.

This is a discipline. This is a discipline. Normally, I ask God for wisdom, like I said, to get me out of the trial. But here we're learning that we ask God for wisdom in order to live to his glory through the trial. And you see, unless we get that concept, we fail to understand what James is telling us about asking God. See, if God knows the trial that you're in,

if God has designed it or allowed it, shaved off for a certain, he's allowing it for a certain purpose. If he is doing that, then if I'm praying for him to remove the trial, is he going to answer that prayer? Probably not, because he knows I need it. If I'm asking for him to get me out of the trial, is he going to get me out of it? Is he going to answer that prayer?

Well, yeah. The trial's not going to be forever. I mean, it's like you put a cake in the oven. You don't put it in for three days. You have a certain amount of time that it's supposed to be in the oven, and then it's done. God knows how long you need to be in the trial, and then you're done. So it's not so much that I got to pray that he get me out of the trial.

I need wisdom to know what he wants me to do in the trial to bring him glory. See, yesterday I lost it, just in a little football game. And before my family, they did not see Christ's likeness. They saw flesh. See, that happens with us daily, at work, at school, in our homes, in the stores, wherever. You're going to be placed in the variegated trials, trials of special color just for you,

God designed. And you and I need to consider that the minute it happens. Car breaks down, you have a flat tire. God has a purpose for that. Could he have gotten you home? You know the stories. You've been in those positions where you got home, and you pulled into the driveway, and the tire went flat. Why didn't he do that this time? Why am I way out here in the middle of nowhere?

Doesn't he care about me? Absolutely. Special trial designed just for you. Consider your purpose. Evaluate. Consider. This is joy, Lord. This is something you've designed for me. Now, what do you want me to do? How do you want me to act in the midst of this to bring glory to you? Something's coming down, and I want to be sensitive to that. Not just all caught up with the trial

and begin to curse and kick the car and all that stuff. Is it more a get me out of this, or is it seeking his wisdom to bring him glory? Theodore Epp writes, quote, All believers need wisdom regarding trials or testings that come into their lives. We need wisdom regarding how to bear the trials, wisdom to enable us to understand their design or purpose, and wisdom to learn the lessons intended by God so that we will grasp what he really wants to teach us.

We must have wisdom to know whether or not some particular sin has caused the trials and to know how to avoid that sin in the future. We need wisdom to avoid going in the wrong direction when the testings become severe, and wisdom not to complain. We also need wisdom to properly submit under the trial and to not lose the benefits of the trial which God intends us to. That's a lot of wisdom.

Rather than just saying, God, get me out of this, we need to realize again, he's designed it, he's allowed it, there's a purpose, I've got to go through it, I need to bear up, to persevere, to have patience through the trial, and to seek his wisdom to know how he wants me to respond. So he says, if you lack that wisdom, ask God. He should ask God. You see, the testing and the trial reveals our need for strength, a strength outside of ourselves, a strength that goes beyond our ability.

It always reveals our need for strength, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability,

a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, a strength that goes beyond our ability, of a trial. And God whittled down the size of their army so that it would be evident not only to them and to those around them, but to us generations later, that it was God's hand that delivered them, not their fighting expertise. It was God's hand. So trials always are to reveal our weakness and our need to cry out to God. And in the word of God, we have several times where

they did that. They were weak and they cried out to God. But we also have revealed to us several times when they didn't. There was a time when Israel was divided, just like we went through our civil war. We had a north and south. They went through a time like that. And the north seceded from the south in Israel and became the northern kingdom of Israel. And the southern

kingdom became the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, or it was known as Judah. And there came a point in time when the northern tribes banded together and they came down to besiege the southern kingdom of Judah. And they built siege walls and siege ramps around the cities in Israel. And they built siege walls and siege ramps around the cities in Israel. And they built

siege walls and siege ramps around the cities in Israel. And they built siege walls and siege ramps around in Judah and specifically came up against Jerusalem to conquer it, to take it captive. And the king at that time in the southern kingdom, I think it was Hezekiah, he sent, he gathered all the utensils out of the temple, all the gold and all the silver and all the money from the temple, and he sent it to Ben-Hadad in Assyria. And he said to Ben-Hadad, would you take your troops? Because these guys in the northern kingdom are coming down against us. Would you

take your troops? Because they were right up there by the northern edge of Israel. And would you come in and start a ruckus up here in the northern edge of the kingdom so that these troops will have to pull back and go up there? And so Ben-Hadad did. And the troops from the northern kingdom had to pull back up and go face Ben-Hadad's troops. And while they were gone, Hezekiah took his

troops out and they fortified the cities around Jerusalem and all the cities in the areas of the southern half of Judah. Wise move. I mean, he fortified the cities. You think that's smart thinking. You used your own resources to take care of the trouble. But God says, because you did that, because you didn't trust in me, because you didn't call upon my name, I'm going to cause you to be

taken captive and carried off into distant lands. See, it sounded good. Used his resources to get himself out of trouble. But the trials are always to bring us to the point of realizing that we don't have the resources, that our strength lies outside of ourselves. And it's to call us to ask God to come to God first before seeking to rely on human resources. Now, as young Christians, as Christians

young in the faith, when we come into trials, our first response, see, nonbelievers forget turning to deathbed and, oh, man upstairs. Young believers, believers who are young in the Lord, when you first come into a trial, your first response is to turn to outward sources, to take stock of all your personal resources, to look at all your human resources, to seek out family members or to then to seek out friends, to seek to have them help you in the midst of this trial instead of learning to go to God first. That's the process of discipline in doing that. That's what takes some time.

Pastor Chuck was talking on one of his tapes one time about when he was, before he was in Calvary, when he was still in a denomination and they had an evangelist come through town to do a series of evangelistic events at their church. And he said the first night the evangelist got up there and he prayed and he asked the congregation to pray with him. And he said, oh, God, you know that how much stuff we've been doing as we've been going through these crusades. And you know that my shoes are just flat worn out, Lord. And you know how I need

a pair of shoes, Lord, brown in a size nine, Lord, you know that, you know. And lo and behold, the next night of the crusades, there's somebody brought him a pair of brown shoes, size nine. And he got up and he just praised God for delivering those shoes into his hands. And Chuck went up to him and said, hey, God didn't do that. You threw your need out to the people

in the congregation and you played on our heartstrings and somebody got you a pair of size nine shoes. So don't do that anymore. And see, that's a sign of immaturity. We have a need. We have a particular area of trial. And the first thing we want is for other people to know it because there are resources, we think. They can help stabilize us. They can help provide for that

need. What a blessing it is to come in your walk. To the point where when that need first hits, the first place you go is the Lord and you just lay it at his feet and you ask for wisdom. You don't necessarily ask for this thing because he's promised to provide for you. It's okay to ask. I mean, ask and it shall be given. But you just lay it at his feet and you ask specifically here for wisdom, know how to glorify him through the

midst of this and to watch him provide when you've not shared it with another source. I had somebody this week share that with me, how God provided. They didn't tell anybody else. And God just provided in such a way that they didn't tell anybody else. And God just provided in such a beautiful way. But that, see, that comes with time because our natural response when a trial hits is

to seek help from the human sphere rather than asking God. And James says here, if that happens and you need wisdom, you ask God first. You turn to him first for wisdom again to joyfully carry out his will. That's the wisdom that you're asking for. How can I carry out your will in the midst of this trial? Hold your fingers here and James, go back with me to Proverbs chapter three. Proverbs

chapter three, very familiar passage. But at times I don't think we really understand what we read. Proverbs chapter three, of course, the wisdom of Solomon. Proverbs three, and let's begin at verse five. You probably have one of these memorized and you may even have those little bread things with the little promises in the top that you pull out every day. And this is one of them. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and

lean not on your own understanding in all your ways to fear the Lord and shun evil. For this will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Okay, back to verse five. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. What does that mean? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. That means when you fall into a trial, you trust the Lord. You realize that God has the trial under control, that he's designed

it specifically with a purpose. That's James chapter one. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. That means God's in control. That means I know he's in control. That means I don't have to wonder if he's in control. That means I know he's in control. I'm trusting in him with all my heart and lean not to your own understanding. Don't lean on your own understanding. What does that mean?

It means you don't sit here and try and analyze everything. Go, let's see. Now, who said what to whom about this? And why was that said? And who said what to whom about this? And who said what to whom about this? And now just specifically, why did this thing? And how could I do that? And why could you have? And how did I? And what? Lean not to your own understanding. Trust in the Lord. It's

come with a purpose. Don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, it says, acknowledge him. What does that mean? Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. No, in all your ways, in everything that you're going to do, you're laying that before him. Lord, give me wisdom to do what you want me to do to bring you glory. James chapter one, verse five. In all your ways, acknowledge him.

And he will make your paths straight. He will direct your paths. In other words, he'll give you the wisdom you need to go the way that you need to go. Doesn't say anything about smooth. It says he'll direct. He'll lead you in the way that you're supposed to go. That's what you're asking him. Give me wisdom to do what you want me to do that will bring you glory.

And as you lean on him and not your own understanding, he'll do that to make your paths straight, to direct your paths. He will guide you. And then immediately there, it says, do not be wise in your own eyes. Do not be wise. In other words, again, don't try and do it yourself. Don't try and figure it all out on your own, but fear the Lord and shun evil. Fear the Lord

means to realize God's in control. He's the first one I seek. Shunning evil doesn't mean I'm just going to go out and commit, you know, corruptible sin. It means I'm not going to trust myself. I'm not going to rely on my own resources. See, that's what Hezekiah did. He trusted in himself. He trusted in his own resources. He trusted in his own ability. That's evil. We're to trust the

Lord. That's what it said back up here in verse five. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. So when I doubt him, that's sin. But the fear of the Lord is to shun that sin. So the fear of the Lord means I don't doubt what he's doing. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones because you're not going to be worrying yourself sick. You're going to know he's in control. It's the same thing James is saying. He's not saying

anything new. Turn back to your end of Proverbs. Go back to your left to Job. You go through Psalms, then go to Job chapter 28. Job chapter 28. The book that nobody likes to read because they have that superstitious idea that if I read it, it will come. Let me tell you, it will come whether you read it or not. So you may as well read it to know what to do when it comes. Job chapter 28. This is Job talking, answering his

counselors. And he says in chapter 28, verse 12, but where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth. It cannot be found in the land of the living. The deep says it's not in me. The sea says it's not with me. It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver. It can't be bought with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx or silver. It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or silver. It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or silver. Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold, coral and jasper. Do you ever read these things and wonder why God wrote all this stuff? I mean, why didn't he just stop with it can't be

bought with gold? What's he saying here? Where does wisdom found? Go back to verse 12. Where does wisdom, where is it found? Man doesn't comprehend it, verse 13. It can't be found in the land of the living. What's he saying there? It's not just found by going and just looking and finding somebody that's going to give it to you. It can't be found, it says, the deep, verse 14 says,

it's not in me. What's the deep? Well, the deep there, means Sheol or Hades. Death can't be found, but look at the young people today. Kurt Cobainers, death is the answer. Death has no sting. Suicide prevails because they think they're, you know, they're tired of this life. There's wisdom in death. I can just stroke myself off and sleep and not have to worry about it. But Job says, it's not there. Wisdom's not there, nor can it

be bought with the gold. And then he goes through all the gold and the jewels and the precious stones and the coral, every type of precious metal you have. Why? What do people pursue today? All of that. If only they can get the whatever, fill in the blank, the car, the nice house, the nice clothes. The nice job, the nice stuff. If only I can get the gold of Ophir, the coral, the topaz,

or whatever. You put the color on it, the stone on it, that's fine. He says, it's not there. Where does wisdom come from? Verse 20. Where does understanding dwell? It's hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. Destruction and death say, only a rumor of it's reached us. God understands the way to it, and he alone knows where it dwells.

For he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When he established the force of the wind, he measured out the waters. When he made a decree for the rain, a path for the thunderstorms. Then he looked at wisdom and appraised it, and he confirmed it, and he tested it, and he said to man, fear the Lord. Same thing Proverbs said. Fear the Lord, that's wisdom, and

to shun evil is understanding. Same thing Proverbs says. Same thing James says. If any of you lack wisdom, you can't buy it, you can't croak yourself off for it, you can't obtain it by a possession, you have to go to God, you have to ask God. So why do you spend all of your effort going the other way? Why is he the last resort? Because we've been deceived. If any of you lacks

wisdom, if you're in the midst of a trial, first thing to do is to become disciplined to going to the Lord, to seek, to ask God first. Look at the, back to James chapter one, middle of verse five, who gives generously to all without finding fault. This is awesome. When we ask God for wisdom, James wants us to realize three things here. First of all, remember he is the giver. He is

the giver. As you go through the word of God, you'll find some very interesting things about the giver. God made a garden in Eden, beautiful garden, had everything in it. Put Adam in the middle of it and gave it to him. He took the children of Israel and brought them to Canaan and gave it to them. He took David, a shepherd boy, and brought him into the kingdom

and gave it to him. He took Solomon, David's son, and gave the kingdom to him and all of the kingdoms of the world. See, God is a giver. He loves to give. As you look through the word, you find that he gives generously, and that's what it says. He says right here, he gives generously or liberally. If you're reading King James, it means unconditionally. And without bargaining, unconditionally without bargaining. If you have not experienced this,

you will sometime probably in a trial. You're going through a time and you'll say, God, if you'll give me this, then I promise I'll always go to church. That's the big, you know, if you'll, Lord, if you'll just bless in this situation, I'll go to church every day of my life. You know, that's like God gives without bargaining. He gives generously. And as you read the word and

as you begin to trust him, you find that you cannot give him. That's why Paul writes in Ephesians, Paul, who has been stoned and shipwrecked and beaten and imprisoned, he says, now may he who gives abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask or think bless you. You got to know that he's the giver. He does not restrict. No good thing, the Bible says, does he withhold

from those who walk with him? No good thing. Nothing will he withhold. He doesn't dangle. He gives. He pours out. Secondly, you need to know that God doesn't find fault. It says here in NIV, upbraideth. He upbraideth not in King James. Interesting word, upbraideth. Interesting translation of the word. It means he doesn't scold. He doesn't scold. He doesn't scold. He doesn't

scold you. He doesn't scold you for asking him. He doesn't scold you because you've been here before. You've been down this trial. I've been through this trial before, Lord, and I know it's a result of my own sin. God, forgive me. And would you give me wisdom on how to live for you through this sin? God doesn't. Are you kidding? How many times you've been here? You stupid idiot. See,

a lot of times we have an idea of that. Satan has deceived us to keep us from asking. In school, I remember growing up. It was not macho to ask. We didn't know macho. Macho was not a word when I grew up. It wasn't cool. It wasn't cool to ask. So you'd sit through class, algebra. You didn't know a thing he was talking about. You wouldn't ask. Not cool to ask. You'd walk out like you knew what was going on

because it wasn't cool to ask. You don't ask anybody anything. You don't ask your parents about sex. Not cool. Not cool to ask. And that same attitude, see, has come all the way through the cultures to where we don't ask. Satan's deceived us from asking. Teachers cry out for students to ask. Ask. That's what I'm here for. Please ask. Parents want kids to ask.

That's what I'm here for. God wants us to ask, and he doesn't upbraid us. He doesn't scold us. He doesn't get on us for coming to him again. There's a story, and it was in, I think they even reprinted it in the newsletter. It's an old story about the guy who is, I can't remember the name of the book. It's a little book even. It's a cute little book. And you open page one. Chapter one. I walked down the street, and there was a

hole. And I fell into the hole. And I cried out for help, and no one was there. And I crawled out of the hole. Chapter two. I walked down the street, and there was a hole. And I fell into the hole. And I cried for help, and no one was there. And I crawled out of the hole. Chapter three. The next day, I went down the street. I walked on the other side of the street, but there was a hole. I went and fell into the hole. I cried for

help, and no one was there. I crawled out of the hole. Chapter, whatever the next chapter is. I went down another street. Finally, we listen to the wisdom. God doesn't say, you're so stupid for going down that street. You're so dumb. Why are you going down the same street all the time? God's just waiting for us to say, Lord, what do I do not to walk down that

street? And God goes, here. And he pours out generously, and he doesn't upbraid us for asking. The third thing James wants us to understand about asking God is we must ask. He says, Verse six, believing, believing. When he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like the wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not

think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all that he does. You must ask, realizing who the giver is that he gives liberally and without bargaining. You must ask, realizing that he doesn't find fault with you for asking him. And you must ask, believing that he is going to give you the answer, that he's going to give you the wisdom that you're seeking for.

And not doubt him. He's not going to allow you to go into the trial and say, God, help me to live according to your will, and not tell you how to do that. You have to believe that he's going to do that. Otherwise, you're wavering or doubting, wavering in King James, tossed to and fro like the waves of a sea. Unwavering faith, unwavering faith simply believes that God is sovereign. God has a purpose, and he has given me everything that

I need for understanding that and for being able to endure through that. That's unwavering faith. Wavering faith. Let me give you an example of wavering faith. Lord, I'm not going to do this. Lord, give me wisdom to do your will. And God says, okay, love that person who has wronged you. Do good unto him. Let me see that's in here. Okay, you're in the midst of a marriage that's in real distress. You have a friend who has betrayed you and

hurt you deeply. You have a situation at work where a fellow employee has sought to cut your throat in business, and you're in the midst of this trial. And you come to God with this. Oh, God, give me wisdom to do your will. Okay. Well, basic wisdom is there. God says, okay, Matthew chapter five. I love those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and do good to those who despitefully use you and

persecute you. Does that fit all three situations that I just mentioned? Absolutely. Wavering faith, though, when you seek. See, initially forgetting all of that, and we cry out for God to get us out of that situation. God says, no, that situation's purpose. It's designed for you so that you seek me for wisdom on how to live in such a way that will glorify me, to do my will in the midst of the situation. That's what the trial is about.

So when we ask God, and God reveals that to us, love that person, bless them, do good unto them, wavering faith says, I can't do that. You don't understand. You don't know what it's like. You don't realize the pressure that I'm under. You don't realize what a jerk he is. You don't realize how bad the circumstances are. And God says, like a wave of the sea. That's doubt. That's a spiritual schizophrenia. Yes, Lord, I trust you. I'm asking for wisdom.

I want to do your will. And God gives us the basic. I mean, that applies to every situation. And we say, no, Lord. Then he's not Lord. I am. You don't say, no, Lord, if he's Lord. Lord means I am his servant. Lord means I do his bidding. And that is his will in any of those situations. Always, I can know that immediately. Whatever else I am to do, I know I am to do those three things,

basically. You'd be amazed at how many people don't do that. You tell them that, and they go, not in this situation. I mean, this situation goes beyond that. That means that this situation doesn't fit it. That means that you're calling God a liar. Or we do the McDonald's quick fix, you know. All right, I agree not to call him a jerk, but he still hasn't changed. God didn't

work. God didn't say he was going to transform him. God said to endure under, to stay under the midst of that, that he would bring you through that time, that he'll give you the wisdom that you need to glorify him in the midst of the trial. That's what he's promising here. That's what he wants us to understand. And my wavering faith says, I've tried that, and it doesn't work.

I'm calling God a liar. Or my wavering faith says, no, I can't do that because you don't understand. No, we don't understand. God's given the basic wisdom. Peter, Matthew chapter 14, Jesus said, come on, out of the boat and walk towards me. He did. He started towards Jesus, took his eyes off the Lord, put him on the circumstances, and began to sink. When you say, no, Lord, I can't do that, you're looking at the circumstances. You're not looking

at the Lord. You're not considering the giver. And that's an immature faith. And God's going to continue. So you can get out of that marriage. You can get out of that job. You can get out of that church. But you're going to face sometime the same trial at the same place wherever you go. You're going to get into a relationship, and you're going to have that same thing happen in that

relationship. You're going to get into that job, and you're going to have the same thing happen in that job. You're going to hit that same wall. It's the trying of your faith that works perseverance. And God's wanting you to say, God, give me wisdom to live for you through this trial. And he's going to say, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good unto them that despitefully use you in persecution. I guarantee you, if you

begin to do just those things, you're going to get out of that relationship. And God's going to say, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good unto them that despitefully use you in persecution. I guarantee you, if you begin to do just those three things, remarkable changes will take place. But we don't do it, and we say that it doesn't work, and we go off trying to find something else in the world, the gold or the silver or the onyx or the opal or the sea or the deep that tries to give us wisdom that tells us what to do to overcome the trial. Verse 7 here says, that man should not think he'll receive anything

from God. God's going to say, you want to do it yourself? Have a ball. Go for it. Fall into the hole again. When you come back to him, he's not going to outbraid you. He's not going to scorn you. He's going to say, here it is. And you're going to watch you fall into the hole again until you get to the point where you say, I'm going to take another street. I'm going to do what he says. I'm going to trust in him with my whole heart and not lean

to my own understanding. I'm going to fear the Lord. I'm going to do what he says, and you'll find yourself going down a different road. Your paths will be straight. He is double-minded, the one who wavers. He is double-minded, and he's unstable in all that he does. If you are like that, you will find yourself being double-minded in everything you do. The minute you doubt God,

the minute you say God's not who he says he is, that he doesn't do what he says he does, you will find yourself unstable in every situation, making a decision this way one minute, no, then this way the next, and then just back and forth. Nobody's going to know where you're at, unlike the world today, for the most part. Changeableness, according to Epp, is evidence of an unsubdued will, not sure of anything. On a 18-year-old, 18-year-old, online this past week, they had a quote from Cardinal John O'Connor.

Adam and Eve, quote, may have been some other form than human, end quote. Cardinal John O'Connor told worshipers on Sunday, November 24th at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City. O'Connor's comments came a month after Pope John Paul II said the theory of evolution was more than just a hypothesis, end quote. See, once you start doubting this, once you start saying that this

isn't really that, you know, Adam and Eve weren't really what the Bible says they were, evolution is, and the Bible says they were, and the Bible says they were, and the Bible says they were, and the Bible isn't, then everything that you do, every area of your life, you will be changeable, moving along with what public opinion thinks is right, or what the times think is best, so that you can appease people. And James is saying, don't do it. Consider the trial. Stand on a word. Consider the trial. Trust the Lord. He will give you the wisdom

that you need to get through these circumstances. Now, quickly, we'll finish up. I know we're running over here in just a minute. Verses 9 through 11 tie right into this. Verse 9, the brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his low position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wildflower. For the

sun rises with a 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. He's not changing thought here. He's not changing what he's been talking about concerning trials. He's giving us an example of life. To keep life in proper perspective, you have to have the proper perspective of trials, because everybody thinks that

those who have more have it made. Otherwise, they wouldn't be seeking to gain more. Playing lotteries, gambling, sending in the publisher's clearinghouse sweepstakes, trying to gain more. The Bible says, woe to you that would seek to become rich. It's a death trap. But we have this idea that the haves have it together. They're the ones that set policy. The have-nots

are the scumbags. You know, they're just the serfs in the midst of this community of the vassals and the serfs and all that stuff. James says, hey, the brother in humble circumstances, verse 9, ought to take pride in his high position. Let me show you a couple things here. The word humble circumstances in the Greek means depressed financially. No question about it. He's talking about finances in these

verses. The brother who is depressed financially ought to take pride in his high position, his exalted state. Well, yeah, okay. That right there is a blow to modern theology that says, well, your poverty is a lack of faith. According to the Word of God, it's a high position. I'm to take pride in it. I'm to literally rejoice. Some versions say, rejoice in your exalted position of poverty. It's a high position. You see, most of the believers

that James is writing to are poor. They're victims of deprivation. They're victims of persecution. And they are poor. And their thoughts are like ours. All of us think this. If only I were rich. If only I had that whatever. And James is saying, no, take pride in your poverty. Rejoice in your humble circumstances because you're rich in the Lord. Listen, in your trials, you are suffering. Remember Philippians chapter 3 when we were there?

That when we suffer, we are experiencing the leftovers of Christ's sufferings. And there's a glory in that that's indescribable. Paul couldn't describe it other than to say, I want more of it. I want more of those sufferings. The fellowship of sufferings. There's something that's there that's not experienced any other way. And you are rich in the Lord and the

realization of his presence. It's in the weakened times. It's in the times where you don't have the finances to bail yourself out. That you call upon the Lord, that you're more sensitive to him, that you're more willing and ready to listen to what he has to say. And James says that's an exalted position because the rich will trust in their resources for the

most part. That's why Jesus said it's so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven because he will not see his own personal need. He has resources. If something goes wrong here, he gets resources from here or resources from there. He has resources that he trusts in. He doesn't trust in the Lord until he loses his resources. That's why James says in verse 10, the one who is rich should take pride in his low position. Low position is

the same word for humble circumstances up in verse 9. Talking about the rich should take pride in his time of financial trial. Why? Because it shows his weakness. It's at that time that he's sensitive to the Lord. He's sensitive to a strength outside of his own resources. So when he goes through trials, rich and poor alike should rejoice in the trials because it's opportunities for them to see God. It's

opportunities for them to hear from the Lord. God is not a respecter of persons. And he says, just like the wildflower of Palestine, just like the wildflower passes away, the wildflower is in Palestine. We saw when we were over in Israel, they really bloom full in February and they're dead by May. Beautiful. And you walk and you go, wow, you know, but by May they're gone. That's

the way riches are with us. What is rich? We talked about this a couple of weeks ago and I don't think we really define it. Riches are always more than what we have, right? But the real definition of rich is just having discretionary income. Did you know that? If you pay your utilities and your rent and your food bill and you have money left over to go to a movie, you're rich. And by, go with me to Africa, we'll go to Nigeria, the armpit

of the world. And anybody here is mega rich. But just discretionary income is rich, but it's fleeting. And he says, realize it's fleeting. So when you go through financial trials, rejoice in that position of not having the finances to depend on right then, because it's at that time you're sensitive to the Lord. It's at that time you can ask God and depend upon him for his wisdom. So in both cases, James

is saying, God's not a respecter of persons. He doesn't condemn the rich or the poor. He says, trials brings them to equal ground. You're on equal footing in the midst of trials. God knows, God knows the trial that you're going through today. He has allowed it. He has designed it specifically for you. William Penn, for whom Pennsylvania was named after, says, no trials or no pain, no balm, no thorn, no throne, no gall, no

glory, no cross, no crown. We have to go through. But the best way out of a trial is through it. God knows it's necessary. He just wants you to ask him for wisdom in the midst of it. Let's stand together. You're going to have trials this week. It's guaranteed. It's not because I said it or spoke it into existence. It's because that's the way it's going to be. That's what Jesus said. In the world, you'll have tribulation. But be of good cheer,

he says, for I've overcome the world. Being of good cheer takes discipline to learn to do that. Same thing James is saying. Consider it all joy. Same thing Paul said. Rejoice in the Lord always. There's a key there. They all said it. It's possible. It just takes a realization of who God is and how much he loves you and how much he's given you the resources to be able to endure, to stay under, to trust him through this, to live for his

glory, to be humble, to be others. Be centered for God's glory. That's the only place it's found. That's the only place it's found. Father, this morning as we come, it may be with a heavy heart wanting to get rid of the trial. And Lord, I pray this morning that we'll see that you'll bring us through the trial. The trial is going to eventually go. Right now, you want us to just call upon

you for wisdom, to know how to live that will bring you glory in the midst of the trial. And so, Father, I thank you for the ones you've designed specifically for each of us because they're accomplishing the purposes that you want them to accomplish. May we learn what you're trying to teach us here. And James, may we glean the proper perspective of these things, these trials. May we see

that they are to bring out the workings of our faith, to reveal to us our love for you and our trust in you. We think it's there only until the trial comes and then we cry out for someone else or for something else. So forgive us for that, Lord, and now strengthen us for the days ahead. We want to bring you glory. We want others to know about Jesus. That's the reason we're alive right now. That's our only purpose is so that others can see

Jesus in us, that we can tell them about Jesus, that we can lead them to you, that we can be a strength during these last days. Come quickly. Come quickly, Lord, but use us for your glory until you come. Father, I know there's some here who may not have ever surrendered to you. I pray that you would just cause them to cry out to you in their hearts right now to ask Jesus in.

And if any desires, Lord, to come and pray, just let them be moved to move out and just come down to the altar and kneel and just spend some time with you. Maybe the only time they get today is to take some time with you. But let them not be afraid or ashamed to come and ask, just to come and seek your face. It's in Jesus' name.