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This is East from West, discovering God's amazing grace through the teaching of His Word. Psalm 103, 12 says that as far as the
East is from the West, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. And that promise is given through Jesus Christ.
Let's continue our study with Pastor Gate. Thank you, Becky, and welcome, everyone. Turn in your Bible to James chapter one.
As we continue our study of the book of James, such a blessing to have you along.
We see the numbers every day, knowing how many people are committed to listen to this program day after day and receive daily
Bible teaching. And we're so grateful to have you. And who is the we that I am talking about? Well, myself and my wife who put this program together and also our church family.
And we've got members of our own church congregation who make this a regular part of their Bible learning. If you'd like to find out more information about our church, perhaps our statement of faith, you can go to East from West dot org and click on the church tab there at the top of the page.
James chapter one. We're going to start in verse nine, reviewing what it was that we looked at yesterday and go through verse 18.
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away for the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, its flower falls and its beauty perishes.
So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which
God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived, gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
Do not be deceived. My beloved brothers, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change of his own will.
He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
And it's that section versus 16 through 18 that that paragraph there that we will be looking at tomorrow as we continue this section over the course of this week.
First, let's go back to verse nine, kind of review what we talked about yesterday. James says, let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation.
So both the rich man and the poor man can potentially face temptation in this world, desiring the same thing.
The poor man wants what the rich man has, and the rich man wants more of what he has.
But the things of this world are never truly going to satisfy, and we cannot take them with us.
They have no sustaining power. There's no meaningfulness in these things. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote, chasing after this wealth and these riches is like chasing after the wind.
All is meaningless, he says. And so there may be some amount of satisfaction that a person can find in worldly things for a period of time, but it certainly won't be sustained.
And once you've had the satisfaction that you can get from that one thing and it no longer satisfies you, well, then you look for the next thing that is going to satisfy you and and bring you joy and happiness.
Just yesterday, I was hopping in the shower in the morning and my son came in the bedroom to wake me up and he had already eaten his breakfast and everything.
It was time for daddy to wake up. So he comes in and he goes, Daddy, when you get in a shower, can I play a game on your phone?
And I said, certainly, buddy, I'll let you play a game on my phone. So I gave my phone to him. Usually I'm listening to the
Reformation Network or something like that. I listen to a sermon on RefNet while I'm in the shower or Al Mohler's The Briefing.
That's another program that I would recommend to you. But this time I let my son have the phone and let him play a game.
And by the time I got out of the shower, he was already bored with it, wasn't interested in it at all. I didn't have to beg for my phone back.
He was ready to put it down and go, yeah, I mean, the expression on his face and the tone in his voice, he was clearly bored with what it was that he was playing.
So we got about 15 minutes of joy out of the game that he played on my phone and then it no longer satisfied and he needs something else to find satisfaction.
And that's the case with us in all of the different worldly trinkets that we try to apply ourselves to, even when we get a new home or a new car, something big like that.
There's that that elation that we get the moment we receive it. But then over a period of time, there's all the maintenance and work you got to do to upkeep your home and your car.
And maybe you don't always get the kind of joy out of it that you got the moment you first received it.
And in order to find that sense of euphoria again, you got to turn to the next thing that is going to try to satisfy you.
So nothing in this world is ever truly going to satisfy and none of it has any real meaning.
We only find meaningfulness in Christ Jesus, such meaningfulness that even through trials, we can rejoice knowing that God is using this to produce something.
We are able to glorify God even in the midst of suffering. As Paul talked about in Romans chapter five, we rejoice in suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope, which the
Holy Spirit has poured into our hearts. And so we know that through God, who is working all things together for his good, for those who love
God and are called according to his purpose, that we can celebrate, we can rejoice in God for all things, even in the midst of suffering, knowing that God is using this ultimately for some great purpose to his great glory.
And we get to partake in that glory. We get to be partakers in the glory of God, fellow heirs of the kingdom of God, as we talked about yesterday, for all those who are in Christ Jesus.
It is Christ who has rescued us from death, which is what we deserve because of our sin. And we're going to go into that a little bit more here.
When James talks about desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin and sin, when it is fully grown, fully grown, brings forth death.
This is what all of us deserve because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as it says in Romans 3 23.
But we are justified by his grace as a gift. So though what we deserve is death because of our sin, it is by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, the promise that he gives to every one of his children who has turned from worldly things and is following after Christ.
We have been forgiven our sins and we have eternal life with God, peace with our creator whom we had blasphemed and sinned against and rebelled against.
We were enemies of God, but it is Christ who has justified us. And it is
Christ who is sanctifying us as we grow in this process of holiness. And these instructions that James is giving here is toward every believer as though he was addressing every
Christian individually and encouraging them in that process of sanctification.
So the lowly brother must boast in his exaltation, not that he would boast in anything that he could acquire or accomplish or the wealth that he desires, but rather in that Christ is exalted.
And so we get to share in that exaltation if we are in Christ Jesus. And so that's what the lowly man boasts in.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, as Jesus said in the Beatitudes.
The rich man boast in his humiliation because he knows that despite all of the things that he has, though he might have a certain prestige in this world, he has no favorable standing with God because of the wealth and possessions and power that he has in this world.
And so before God, he is humble and he must rejoice in God in knowing that before God, he is humble.
God is great. We are small, less of us, more of him because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away.
Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. So let us be filled with things, not that are temporary, not the stuff that will waste away in this world, not the things that are tomorrow's garage sales and trash heaps and garbage dumps, but be filled with the
Holy Spirit, which is eternal. There's eternal satisfaction in that we can receive momentary satisfaction in the spirit and also eternal satisfaction and nothing can replace it.
Nothing can take it away from us. So then we get to verse 12 here.
And James says, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. Now, we've never left the context of trials.
James came into this at the start of the letter. This is the way he began, counted all joy. My brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for, you know, that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
When we got to verse five, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him.
And so the kind of wisdom that we're looking for, that we're asking God for is in the midst of trials.
God, I don't know how to endure this trial. I do not have the strength to do it. God will give you the strength. God, I don't understand the meaning of this trial.
Why am I enduring this thing? Why is this happening? And so we seek God for wisdom and the
Bible says that he will give it to us. If we are seeking his glory and we seek to see things the way that he sees them and understand them the way that God has created these things to happen, the way that he has established all things to occur, then we seek after God who is sovereign for his wisdom.
And it says in the scriptures that he will give it to us. Now when Moses was talking with God in the burning bush, it was actually the angel of the
Lord that was speaking through the burning bush, but of course, speaking the very words of God. And as Moses is having this conversation with God, God says to Moses that he's going to send him back to Egypt and tell
Pharaoh to let my people go. And Moses says, who am I that I would do this kind of thing? And God's response was basically,
Moses, it's not about who you are. It is about who I am and you will know that I was with you when you come back here and worship me on this mountain.
The guarantee that God gave to Moses was not, you'll know that I was with you because we're going to do some amazing, miraculous things,
Moses. You're going to see these plagues occur in Egypt. You're going to touch the Nile.
It's going to turn to blood. There will be frogs and locusts and flies. There will be hailstorms. There's going to be darkness over everything.
The firstborn is going to die and then Pharaoh is finally going to let you go and then the Red Sea is going to part.
There's going to be the pillar of cloud that's going to guide you by day and the pillar of fire by night.
And because of all these miraculous, amazing things, that's how you know that I was with you.
That's not what God said. God said, you will know that I was with you when you come back here and worship me on this mountain.
When you get here, you will be able to look back and see, oh, okay, I see now where God was with me in the midst of all of this.
And so it might be that when we ask God for wisdom in the midst of our trials, he doesn't give us the clear picture right away.
As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, now we see as though through a glass darkly, but soon we will see face to face.
So we'll see kind of a fuzzy image, but the Lord is working something in us through the situation that we are in.
He is out to accomplish something for his glory. And so as we continue to praise him and rejoice in the midst of trials, he's going to bring us to a place where we'll be able to look back and we will see clearly how he was working through that situation the entire time.
And we will get to see things just as God sees them. He sees all things at once.
Nothing is a surprise to God. And once those events have happened for us, we're able to look back over events and see them more as God sees them and less the way that we see them.
Our limited perspective of the future, we have a fuller perspective of the past. And this is why we have been given the word of God.
But also, this is why we have the scriptures. So we can go back to the past and look at the ways that God had promised to deliver his people.
And he did so. And because God was faithful to deliver on his promises, we know that he is faithful to deliver on his promises to us even now.
God has worked sanctification in the saints throughout the past, and he is continuing to sanctify us even now.
As God delivered his people Israel from slavery into the promised land, so we know that God has delivered us from sin and into his marvelous light as Jesus raised the dead to life and as God brought
Jesus Christ himself from the grave back to life. We know that God will fulfill his promise for everyone who is in Christ Jesus, rescuing us from the grave and giving us eternal life.
So we look back over the scriptures and we see the fulfillment of God's promises. And this is how we gain wisdom in the midst of trials.
And we read in verse nine, let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation. Let the rich in his humiliation.
We're still talking about trials here because the person who is poor, the trial, the temptation that he is facing is the desire to want to be rich.
And the rich man, the temptation that he is facing is the desire to be more rich. And yet they remain steadfast in Christ, not depending upon anything of this world, not looking for satisfaction in anything of this world, but being fully satisfied in all good things that have been given to us in Christ.
Every good gift in every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights.
That's more what we're talking about tomorrow. Looking at verse 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life.
Jesus says to his disciples, Matthew 10, 22, you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.
And we find this reference to wearing a crown of life in other places in scripture as well.
In fact, Revelation, there's a couple of places in Revelation chapter two, Jesus is addressing the church in Smyrna and he says,
I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich and the slander of those who say that they are
Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. And for 10 days you will have tribulation.
Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. And then we see a crown of life referenced again in Revelation 311 as Jesus is addressing the church in Philadelphia.
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
What is this crown that we're talking about? It's actually not a crown that a king wears with jewels in it. It's not that kind of crown.
It's the it's the wreath, the crown that an athlete is given when they win the games.
So at the time of Olympic events that were going on in the first century, when these things would have been written, it wasn't gold medals that were bestowed upon those who finished the race.
It was a crown, a wreath that would be placed upon their head to show that they were the victor.
And Paul makes a reference to this crown. First Corinthians 9, 24 through 25. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?
So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self -control in all things.
They do it to receive a perishable wreath, the crown that they get. But we an imperishable.
So what we are pursuing is is not a perishable reward, but something that is imperishable, something that is eternally significant through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. So when we remain steadfast under these trials, when we give God the glory for our trials, when we have stood the test, we receive the crown of life, which
God has promised to those who love him. Again, Romans 8, 28. We know that God is working all things for good for those who love
God and are called according to his purpose, being shaped in the image of his son. Verse 13.
Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.
God does not desire that anyone would be would sin. However, God does allow us to go through temptation.
As a matter of fact, and when you read in Matthew chapter four, when
Jesus went into the desert to be tempted by Satan, the way that that's worded there,
Matthew chapter four, verse one, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And it wasn't that God tempted Jesus. It wasn't anything like that. But God allows us to go through temptation because we share in something that Christ went through.
We share in his sufferings. We endure through those temptations. We're enduring through trials and therefore rejoicing when we go through these trials of various kinds.
The testing of our faith produces a steadfastness. We are all the more mature in Christ, the more we resist these temptations, which all of us are going to face.
Nobody is exempt from temptation. We still inhabit fleshly bodies. All of us are going to face temptation.
And as we resist that temptation, giving God the glory for the trials that we endure, we will be given the crown of life.
Let no one say when he's tempted, I'm being tempted by God. God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
This is a fishing metaphor, lured, brought out of the little hiding place that fish are in.
You know, they're they're lured out by the bait that Satan has placed in front of us because he's prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, as Peter talks about.
And so we are lured and enticed. We're hooked by our own desire and then desire when is when it is conceived, gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
For the wages of sin is death, it says in Romans 623, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Notice that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Every person is born into sin. That's what we know how to do is sin. Nobody has to teach us how to sin.
But the scriptures do tell us, 1 Corinthians 10, 13, no temptation has overtaken you.
That is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
And so we continue to give God the glory when we face trials in various kinds, knowing that through the testing of our faith, steadfastness is being produced, a steadfastness in Christ Jesus.
If anybody finds himself weak, pray to God, ask that he would give you the strength to endure.
And we have that promise given to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord, our blessed assurance.
Washed in his blood. This is my story.
This is my song. Praising my
Savior all the day long.
This is my story. This is my song.
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Fake submission. Perfect delight.
Visions of rapture. Now burst on my side.
Angels descending. Bring from above.
Echoes of mercy. Whispers of love.
This is my song. Fake submission.
All is at rest. I and my
Savior am happy and blessed.
Watching and waiting. Looking above.
Filled with his goodness. Lost in his love.
This has been East from West with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you would like to support this ministry, visit our website eastfromwest .org
and click on the gift tab at the top of the page. All gifts go directly to our church to support local and international missions and more of the
Bible teaching like you just heard. You can also send a gift in the mail to First Southern Baptist Church, 1220
West 8th Street, Junction City, Kansas, 66441. On behalf of our church family, my name is
Becky, thanking you for listening to East from West, discovering God's amazing grace through the teaching of his word.