James Week 1 • James 1:1–12

Show Notes

Sunday, September 11th • Beau Bradberry

"And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." — James 1:4

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Beau Bradberry

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Thanks for listening.

This morning, as Dave was talking about, we've been doing a five-week series on discipleship,

and then this week we're going to start, and we'll go all the way through until we do our

Christmas series, working through the book of James together.

Usually we intentionally do this in the fall, and we've got the opportunity, I know most

of our small groups are going to be walking through this book with us, and so hopefully

you're connected to one, and so this morning can kind of be that opportunity where we can

dive in and begin to have a conversation, begin to think about some of those things, and then

tonight, as your small group, can gather together and dive into that that you can go through.

Also want to throw this out there, we've got our right now media account that's there, and we are

following the outline that is used in the James study by Francis Chan through that.

So even on your personal time, if you want to go through in your personal life and walk through

that, I would encourage you to do that with us.

I want to throw out an opportunity to allow you guys to pray.

For me and for a team that's going to be leaving here, actually next Sunday.

So what's going to happen next Sunday is I'm going to come and I'm going to preach, say

amen, grab some lunch, and then head to Atlanta, Georgia.

And Atlanta, Georgia, catch a flight that is going to get us almost two days later to India.

And so we're excited about this opportunity.

I got invited to come back to India to partake in a Bible college's graduation, which will

be the first graduation that this Bible college has been able to have since COVID.

And so we're going to be doing a pastor's conference, Bible college graduation.

We'll be working with these Indian church planners who will be graduating, and these pastors who

are coming off the field for a time of rest, and then going back out onto the field where

there is India's not like it is here.

As we even talk about persecution this morning in the church, they are experiencing more of

what the church at Acts experienced, and maybe a little less of the convenience that you and

I have the opportunity to be a part of here in the United States.

So I just want to encourage you to pray for me, pray for the team.

There's a couple of guys from here, a couple of pastors from other churches that we're going

to be going and just have an opportunity, kind of twofold, to be a part of this.

Of this with this Bible college, but then also to have the opportunity to see other ministry

opportunities that the Lord may provide for us as a congregation to be a part of in the

future.

So pray for that as we're going to do that.

But then also, pray for these pastors and their wives that are going to be coming back

for this conference, for this time.

Last time I was there, you hear story after story of what it means for these pastors to

sometimes to be arrested, to face persecution.

I actually literally had a conversation with a pastor that was there last time I was there,

and two years before, he was brought out, drug out of his church, and they were going to kill him.

And they brought him out into the middle of the village, and they began to pour gasoline

all over him.

And after they poured gasoline all over him, they brought out a lighter to set him on fire.

And he said, in a way that only is the answer of God, the lighter would not light.

Would not light.

And so they told him that his life was spared, but to never come back to this village to preach

the gospel again.

And one week later, he showed back up to his church and opened God's word and proclaimed

the truth of the gospel, right?

And so to realize and to know that that's what these men and women face, I just want to encourage

us to continue to lift them up in prayer.

So let's go to God before we dive into James this morning.

Lord, I thank you so much for the wonderful privilege and opportunity it is, Lord, for us

to gather in here today, Lord, to open your word, Lord, and to be taught by your spirit, Lord,

the truth of scripture.

Lord, I pray for all the men and women of faith all over the world this morning who woke up

and went to church with a fear that was set in them, but also a confidence that comes from

you, or they don't know what persecution they may face as a result of simply going to church

this morning, but they will not let it deter them from being where you've called them to be

and to do what you've called them to do.

Lord, I pray for them and their boldness.

Lord, I pray for their protection.

Lord, I pray for an increase in faith in their life.

And then, Lord, for us.

Lord, may it remind us, may it convict us, may it encourage us of what it means to live

boldly for Christ.

Jesus, we thank you for who you are, that you died on the cross, that you saved us from our

sins, that you were resurrected, and in you, and in you alone we find life.

And it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

So let's dive in.

And we're going to read James 1, starting in verse 1 and going through verse 12 this morning.

It starts,

James,

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion.

Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in

nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,

and it will be given to him.

Verse 6,

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.

For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Verse 9,

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.

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, which God has promised

to those who love him.

So a little bit of information about James as we get into this, in this book, the letter

of James.

So the letter of James is written by James, not to James, right?

Sometimes we can see that in scripture.

1 Peter, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, written by Peter, where 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy are written by Paul.

But this is a letter written by James.

He identifies himself.

And James is the half-brother of Jesus, the natural son of Joseph and of Mary.

Like, we could take a whole nother dive on that, right?

Like, what it would mean.

I mean, can you imagine, right?

I've said this before.

Like, if there's more than one kid in the family, there's always that kid, right?

I was that kid.

And that's not always a positive that kid statement, right?

Like, just imagine, like, you're Jesus's brother, right?

Like, could create some moments for you growing up.

And this is what we see in James.

This is the half-brother of Jesus.

And James would end up becoming one of the early church leaders in Jerusalem, all right?

You can read about him in Acts chapter 15 in a council that's there in the Jerusalem council

where James speaks.

That is the James that writes this letter that we see.

Now, James is oftentimes referred to as the most practical book in the New Testament.

And maybe other than Proverbs in the Old Testament, one of the most practical books that we see in the Bible.

And there's a reason for that.

There's a reason that, like, for James, it feels like James' goal with everything he says is, like,

here's a practical application hits you in the face with the truth of God's word.

And there's no, not that there's any fluff or anything light in the Bible,

but James is driven onto this of just truth after truth after truth.

And here's what I mean by that.

There's 108 verses in this letter.

108 verses.

And contained in those 108 verses are 59 commandments that are given.

So as James goes through, it's commandment, commandment, commandment, commandment,

and James doesn't hold back.

James doesn't hold back.

And what we see is we're going to read through this a little bit,

and we're going to find out why,

is that James is writing, helping people who are going through some difficult seasons.

They're going through some difficult times.

They're facing some persecutions.

They're facing some trials.

They're facing some temptations.

And so we're going to see all of that woven continually through the book of James,

which is why, yes, James is a very practical book,

but it's also dealing with an extremely serious matter in extremely serious circumstances.

And so from the very beginning, what we see here for the book of James is growing in your faith,

growing in our faith, in and through difficult situations.

Let's look back at verse 1 again.

James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ,

to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, right?

So here's what's happening.

So James writes, he introduces himself.

He says, this is who I am.

And then he addresses who he's writing to.

And he says, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion.

Now, when we go back through and we look in Acts, right?

So Christ is raised.

Christ appears.

Christ is with his disciples.

He's with them for some time.

And then we see at the very beginning of Acts chapter 1 that he promises them the gifting of the Holy Spirit,

the power of the Holy Spirit in each and every one of them.

And then he ascends.

And then the Spirit falls and inhabits all the believers.

And what we see is in the early on of the book of Acts,

Christianity forms, it organizes, and then it begins to spread.

And it begins to spread rapidly.

We see in Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4 where we're not talking about a few people are coming to the Lord.

You see those, but you also begin to see where thousands of men and women and children come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Thousands.

And it spreads and it spreads and it spreads.

And in the spread of true, authentic Christianity in the book of Acts,

oftentimes it's not met with acceptance, but it's met instead with resistance.

And especially from the political and religious leaders of the day.

So when you begin looking, you begin to see some of this kind of playing out early on in the book of Acts.

So in Acts chapter 4, we see that Peter and John stand before a Jewish council who threatens them to stop doing what they're doing,

to no longer proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Acts chapter 5, there's a story of where we see where apostles are arrested.

In Acts chapter 6, we see where Stephen, one of the first deacons who is chosen, is arrested.

In Acts chapter 7, we see where Stephen is executed for his faith, brought out, and executed.

And then in Acts chapter 8, we find out there's this man named Saul,

who God's going to do a wonderful, magnificent work in his life and transform him into the apostle Paul.

But as Saul, apart from knowing Christ, he's given permission to hunt, arrest, and kill Christians.

And this is the culture, this is the setting in which the early church is forming.

And so what happens in Acts chapter 8, is many of the believers who were in Jerusalem at the time,

where all of these arrests, all of this persecution has taken place,

they begin to scatter.

And they dispersed to the areas in the country.

They dispersed to other towns.

They dispersed to Judea and to Samaria.

And so what James is doing in this,

is he's writing out to all of those who have faced persecution,

all of those who are facing difficulty.

And so this letter that we are reading is not written in a time where things are easy, simple, and peaceful.

Instead, it's written to an audience who are receiving this as they go through some of the most difficult,

some of the most complicated, and some of the most frightening times of their lives.

And it's hard for a lot of us to understand that.

I was talking to someone this morning about what it means to minister to these individuals

that are going to be at the Bible college that were there.

And they've got men and women who are both there earning their degrees.

And the question was asked, you know, do a lot of those,

do all of those who come to the Bible college then go into ministry?

And I said, no, actually, that's not exactly what happens.

It's not everybody goes to the Bible college and then becomes a pastor and goes out and starts a church.

I said, a lot of times what can happen in countries like this is that when a man or a woman comes to faith in Jesus Christ,

not only do they walk away from the false religion that they've known,

but their family then walks away from them as well.

And so they're left without a support group.

They're left without a place to stay.

They're left without income.

They're left without food.

They're left with nothing.

And so what the Bible college can provide is a place to stay,

meals to eat,

support and companionship from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,

and more importantly,

discipleship to take place.

So imagine in being in this setting where things are difficult,

things are complicated,

things are frightening,

and then James,

what he's going to do is in 108 verses,

give them 59 commandments.

Well,

then I'm going to challenge you,

James says,

that in the midst of all of this,

it's not about how to get that to go away,

but it's how in the midst of the persecution,

in the midst of the trials,

in the midst of the temptations,

in the midst of the terrible situations that you're facing,

of how you can grow,

how you can come to know Christ more,

how you can deepen in your maturity,

how you can proclaim him to those who do not know him,

and how you can glorify the name of Christ in your life.

You see,

he's not writing them saying,

this is how you run away.

He's not writing them saying,

this is how you make this go away.

No,

no,

no,

James is writing them and saying,

this is how you dig deeper in these moments.

You know,

I was thinking about this this morning.

When Satan wins in our life,

when Satan has these moments,

he's already lost.

He knows he's lost.

He knows what Jesus has done,

but what he loves to do is in these moments of our life,

to take these situations,

to take these pieces and say,

I may lose the war,

but here's the battle that I'm going to grab a hold of.

And where Satan wins,

is not when difficult,

complicated,

painful,

frightening situations come at us,

but Satan wins when those difficult,

complicated,

painful,

frightening situations drive us,

number one,

either into a spiritual hole,

where we isolate ourselves away from the Lord

and growing in him,

or when we,

when those situations drive us a wedge between us and God.

That's when Satan wins.

When we face the difficulties of life,

and instead of running to God,

we run away God,

or we even oppose God.

And that's when Satan wins.

And so as James writes this,

he's,

he's driving them in to a deeper,

more powerful,

more authentic,

more growing relationship with God,

right?

So,

so when you think about this,

the situation that you're facing right now,

the situation that you face,

the situation,

situation that is awaiting you.

And I want you to think about this,

everything from criticism to cancer,

right?

Where Satan is going to win is when you push away from God.

And where God begins to see,

where we begin to see the victory in God

is when we begin to go through what we're seeing this morning

is when we're asking,

all right,

God,

how are you growing me in this?

God,

how are you growing me through this?

And the situation is,

what the situation is,

God,

what are you doing in this?

God,

what are you doing in me and through me in this,

right?

And so we,

we,

we,

we,

we understand and we believe,

even it's the manifestation of remembering that God doesn't say

that he may work in these seasons and times,

right?

That's not what God says.

God doesn't say I may work in them.

God says,

I will work.

I am working in them,

right?

And so we need to cling to that.

So diving into,

looking at this,

the first thing that we begin to see in three verses

is,

is maturing in faith.

Maturing in faith.

I want you to think about this.

How would you define mature Christianity?

Just,

just think about it for a moment.

How do you,

how do you define what it looks like to be a mature Christian?

Now,

I think for all of us,

we've got examples that we've,

that God's given us in our lives.

And we look at the different aspects of them.

We maybe see where we are growing and what matters and values to us.

We may see those things,

but,

but think through it because what James is going to do is James is going to give

us a definition here of what mature Christianity looks like.

Look at verse two,

three,

four.

Count it all joy.

Okay.

You've just ran for your life.

You've just had to flee everything that you know.

What awaits you could be imprisonment or death.

Your family has disowned you.

Count it all joy.

My brothers,

when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let

steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking in nothing.

How do we count trials as joy?

How do we get to that mindset where we take this word trial and we say,

what is going to come from this?

What is going to be a part of this?

What it begins to stir up inside of me is not doubt,

is not regret,

is not fear,

is not anxiety,

but is joy.

Now in this,

James is going to talk about two different kinds of trials.

The one he's talking about right now,

I want to think it's like outside trials.

All right.

It's the trials and the circumstances of life.

It's the persecution and the difficulties that this world living in this fallen,

broken world with fallen,

broken people bring about in our lives.

And then next week,

we're going to look at something different where this word is,

is translated more into temptations or temptations for,

for sin.

But for this one,

it's the persecution and the difficulties caused by others.

Because I want to be careful that we're not confusing trials with the sinful acts

and the sinful giving into temptation that we've brought on ourselves,

right?

That we all face the time and time again.

It's not that,

but it's the outside,

the persecution,

the living as a believer in the world that is broken.

Now joy is not going to be found in the persecution.

The joy is going to be found in the Bible,

in the battle.

Because the battle,

James says,

will produce something.

That trials will produce steadfastness.

In one of my books that I was reading this week,

there was quoted a theologian,

William Barclay.

And he says this,

he said,

it is not the patience,

or this is not the patience or steadfastness that passively endures.

That's not what he's talking about.

I'm going to give you a picture.

Have you,

anybody ever watched,

watched boxing,

all right?

or MMA or something like that,

right?

And you know that as the rounds are going on,

there becomes a point in time where one person is winning,

and it's really evident one person is losing.

And the person who's losing isn't ready to tap out.

And they're trying to figure out,

how can I just endure the punches until the bell rings?

So I'm going to run around.

I'm going to cover my face.

I'm going to duck.

I'm going to move.

There's no offense that can come.

I'm just simply in this,

enduring this,

hoping that this will end and end soon.

And the truth is,

when persecution,

when trials,

when suffering come to you and I,

that's how most of us face it.

I just got to get through it.

I just got to get through it.

I just got to have the strength to get through today.

I've just got to have this moment where there's nothing I can do other than get beat down and beat down and beat down.

And maybe tomorrow it will be gone.

And that's not what James talks about.

James instead says that this steadfastness is the strength that enables a person to stand on their own two feet while facing the storm.

It's hurricane season.

Hurricane season is coming.

Watching on the weather channel, seeing all of them.

And I don't love hurricane season.

But what I do love are videos sometimes that people take of themselves during hurricanes.

Right?

And there's always that one guy who's out in the road.

Right?

With no shirt on and cut off shorts, holding a flag as the storm hits him in his face.

Right?

Yelling, woo, as it comes.

Right?

Y'all have seen those videos.

Y'all know who I'm talking about.

Right?

They're standing in the face of the storm as it attacks them.

And like, I'm not going to hide.

I'm going to be right here in this moment.

Now, I'm not encouraging that at all.

Please let none of us find your video on YouTube or social media that that's you doing that.

Especially you, Grayson.

Like, don't do that.

Right?

That's not what this is about.

But here's what it is about.

What if you face tomorrow like that?

What if you walked into work?

What if you walked in to face your day with all that the world, with all that Satan wanted

to throw at you, to cause you to put up your hands and just wait for the day to be over.

But instead, you faced it head on, head up, eyes locked in on Jesus.

We got this.

We got this.

There's nothing that can hold me down because I'm with Christ.

Right?

This is the picture that James paints for us.

And that in developing this steadfastness within us, that steadfastness itself does a work.

The word that is translated comes out perfect and complete, but it's where we get the word mature.

Mature.

And that's what it means.

That's what it means.

That's what it means.

I'll give this reference.

My favorite boxer of all time.

I know it wasn't real.

It was Rocky.

Right?

Y'all are there.

I cried when Apollo died.

Right?

This is where we're at in my life with Rocky.

And what happens in that movie?

When he's fighting Mr. T in Rocky III, theological moment for you, Mr. T's whooping on him.

He's whooping on him.

He's whooping on him.

And then it flips.

It flips.

It's because he trained himself for that.

And what does he do?

I can take another one.

I can take another one.

I can take another one.

Right?

And in the silliness of a pastor using Rocky III as an illustration, right, what we see is what the steadfastness of trusting in the spirit of God, of working through this,

of developing the maturity that comes through with this.

Right?

And so when we face these moments, right, we begin to have a different mindset of, Lord, not get me out of this.

But what we're going to see is asking a question.

Asking, why am I facing this?

Look at verses 5 and 8.

We're going to see James talks about asking in faith.

Asking in faith.

Verse 5.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.

But let him ask in faith with no doubting.

For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

So he begins this with, if anyone lacks wisdom.

All right?

So this is not like, I don't know what the right answer is on the test.

That's not what we're talking about.

This is in context of facing the trials and circumstances of life.

And so when we're in those, we're asking God, God, give me the wisdom that I need to push through this.

God, give me the wisdom of you to understand what you're doing in this and what you're doing through this.

I find oftentimes that what we want is for God to remove us.

But what we need is the wisdom of God to help us understand the nature and the purpose of the trial so that we can live victoriously in and through the trial.

And so James says, ask, ask, ask, ask.

Every morning, Joel Van Ham comes into my office to pray for me before I preach and before he goes upstairs with our youth.

And I want to say 100% of the time, there ends up with the two of us being on a side conversation about something different, right?

Like he comes and we do pray, right?

But then there's this rabbit trail that we're going to chase, all right?

And this morning, what we began to talk about as we chased this rabbit was the beauty of what it meant, right, when we were growing up to go to a toy store with your parents, all right?

And so I was telling him what it was like for me.

I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved G.I. Joe toys.

And any time we would go to Roses, I would ask my mom, hey, can I go look at the toys, right?

And then I would take off and I would go to the toy section at the North Augusta Roses.

It was in the front of the store all the way to the far left and I would go through all of the rows of the G.I. Joe toys, right?

Just going through one after another, one after another, one after another, got him, got him, got him, got him, got him, got him, don't got him, right?

Got him, got him, got him, got him, got him, don't got him.

And I would take the ones that I didn't have, I would take them down and then I'd go hide them at the My Little Pony section, right?

If you're in the My Little Pony section, you're not in the G.I. Joe section, you're going to leave those alone, right?

And then I would go to my mom, right?

And I would ask, can I get a toy?

And what do you think the answer was?

No, no.

But I had about 50 minutes.

And I knew that over the course of 50 minutes, I could wear her down, right?

And so the conversation would usually go something like this.

Well, mom, there's three that I don't have.

Can I get one?

No.

But mom, I don't have these three.

Are you sure?

Can I get one?

Can I get all three of them?

Mom, I need all three of them.

I've got to have this.

And for like 45 minutes, it was no, no, no, no, no, no.

But then I would do this.

What about just one?

And my mom watches these.

She's getting my secrets.

But mom, what about just one?

And she'd say, fine.

Because my continual asking and asking and asking, finally she was like, good, just get the one.

So I'd take off over there in my little pony section.

I'd grab the one, head back, we're good to go, right?

So what does anything have to do with this?

When he says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.

And the word for ask here is a continual, a continual asking and pleading with the Lord.

I thought about this this morning.

My wife miscarried in June of 2006.

And when she miscarried, we began to ask the question, God, why?

What are you doing in this?

God, why are we walking through this season?

God, what are you trying to build in us?

God, why?

And I would like to tell you that the first time that we asked the question, we got the answer.

But that's not what happened.

That's not what took place in our life.

And I bet you, as you've walked through these situations, it's not what's taken place in your life.

But I can tell you now that in September of 2022, God in his grace and God in his kindness is continually giving us moments where he's answering the question, why?

He answered it the first time in 2007, and he's been answering it ever since in his grace and in his kindness and his compassion.

He answers the question, why?

And so in this, as what James is saying, as you're walking through these, be the person who continually comes to the Lord and asking in faith for God to generously give us the faith to persevere, the faith to push through and to ask.

But here's what we have to do.

We have to acknowledge that we're not God and that he is.

And that we have to set aside our expectation of what we want the answer to be.

And we also have to set aside our expectation of what we think the timeline should be.

Because he's God and we're not.

And so James says, as you're walking through this, as you're going through these battles,

as you're living in the effects of this broken world that you're contingently asking God in faith, why?

And God in his kindness will answer you.

Maybe not in the time that you want, and maybe not with the answer that you hoped for.

But God and his kindness will show you the beauty of what he is doing in it and through it.

Also, we begin to see that trials remind us who we are in Christ.

James 1, 9 through 11.

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.

So James here paints a picture of two men from two different circumstances.

One man is rich, one man is poor.

And the world defines them as different.

But the trials await both.

For one man, his trial is his poverty.

For one man, a trial is his wealth.

And what we see is the poor man finds God's grace,

not in the fact that he wakes up every day hungry,

that he wakes up every day poorly clothed,

that he wakes up every day in poverty,

but that his poverty reminds him that he's exalted in Christ.

This poverty reminds him the trial that he faces every single day

says that's not who your identity is.

The trial reminds him that there's beauty

and that there's riches that are found in Christ, in Christ alone.

So that when he sees that he is poor,

he is reminded that he is rich in Christ.

With his trial, this is what it does for him.

So in his poverty, he boasts in his exaltation.

But then there's a rich man.

And the rich man finds God's grace and is humbling.

And he's reminded that his pursuits in himself are not where his identity is,

but they will fade and they will wither.

And so too will he, if he's not found in Christ.

So every morning when he wakes up and he goes out to his field

and he sees the crops that have become green in the coolness of the night,

but he feels the dry heat of the morning that blows over him

and instantly they begin to wither.

It's the picture of his life,

if not found in Christ and in Christ alone.

So James says, let the poor boast in his exaltation.

Let the rich boast in his humiliation

as these trials teach them who they are in Jesus.

Facing the trials that await us.

They're there.

It's about the manner and the mindset in which we face them.

Three questions I want to give you and then we'll wrap up, right?

As you face trials, question number one to ask yourself,

what is God setting me free from?

What is God trying to set me free from?

What is it in my life that is holding me to the pursuits and the pleasures of this world?

And what is God trying to set me free from?

And then secondly, what is God pushing me to?

What is God pushing me to?

What experience, what person, what opportunity awaits me

as I walk through this and as I grow in this?

What is God setting me free from and what is God pushing me to?

And then lastly, and probably the most important,

what is God teaching me about himself?

That in it, what is God teaching me about himself?

It's so nice and it's so wonderful

when we learn things about who we are when we go through difficulties.

That's a beautiful picture and a beautiful piece of what God gives us.

But if all we learn is more about ourselves,

we become the idol that we were supposed to kill.

And so as we walk through these,

our eyes are not fixed on the mirror that reveals ourself,

but it's fixed on God.

What is God teaching us about him?

And let's read this last verse, 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,

which God promised to those who love him.

Let's go back to Acts.

Acts chapter 8.

Persecution comes.

People are losing their life.

People are being imprisoned.

People's families are walking away from them.

And they flee.

They scatter.

They take off.

They go.

And in that,

we can view that as defeat.

Well, this church was there.

This church was growing.

Thousands of people were coming to know Christ.

And then the fear of death,

the fear of persecution,

the fear of being arrested,

overtook them,

and they scattered.

But what happened?

How did God use it?

What did God do?

You see, the story in Acts chapter 8

is not the story of the killing

or the defeat of the church.

But it's the story of the sending of missionaries.

Men and women of faith

who through the persecution,

who through the pain,

who through the suffering went.

And you know what happened?

The church grew.

The people remained faithful.

People came to know Jesus.

And the gospel was taken to places

it had never been before.

And see,

I believe on that day

that Stephen was stoned

and the church scattered.

Satan said victory.

Victory.

Victory.

And God said,

no.

Watch this.

And men and women of faith

took the gospel

to Judea,

to Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.

How?

Because they faced a trial

and they kept their eyes on Jesus.

How do you make it through

the trials that you're facing?

Do you isolate?

Do you go and put yourself

in a spiritual dark hole of sadness?

Do you drive a wedge?

Do you fight

and what builds in you

is anger and resistance to the Lord?

Or do you ask in faith

and persevere?

And what God's word promises us

is that when we do that,

what we receive

is joy and maturity in Christ.

We've all got our trials.

Some of us feel like the poor.

Some of us feel like the rich.

Wherever you're at,

God's working in all of it.

Keep your eyes focused on him.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you so much

for your word.

We thank you so much

for the boldness of James.

God, create within us

the power of your spirit,

a mindset that when trials come,

it's not defeat.

That when trials come,

it's not sadness.

That when trials come,

it's not anger.

But Lord, that we know

that through it all

you are working

and you are moving

and you promise us

joy and maturity.

Lord, you say that we can ask you

and that you'll give us wisdom

and clarity

in the circumstances

to see how you are working

and to see how you're moving.

Lord, you don't promise us

that we're going to be

immediately freed from it,

but you promise us

that you are there with us.

And that through the power

of your spirit,

we are capable to persevere.

And that through the power

of your spirit,

Lord, you're working in it

and you're moving in it

and you're mobilizing us

to be missionaries

and spreaders of the gospel,

people of faith

and of encouragement

and reminders of hope

and of joy

so that when the chains

of this world

try to shackle us

and throw us

in the dungeon

of the prison,

Lord, that's our physical reality,

but our spiritual reality

does like Paul

where we sing psalms

of praise

and prayer to you

because we're not defined

by the dungeon.

We're not defined

by the shackles.

We're defined by Christ.

And Lord,

I pray for each

and every one of us

we would know

that the spirit

of God

is working

in us

right now.

Right now,

we're through

the difficult

diagnosis,

right now

in the difficult

marriage,

right now

with a difficult

kid,

right now

with a difficult

job,

right now

with a difficult

neighbor,

that Lord,

that you're working

in it

and you're producing

something in it.

And Lord,

may we stand

in confidence

as the storm

approaches

and not hide

because we're not

being held up

by our own strength

or we're being held up

by the spirit

of the Lord

who is with us

Jesus,

I thank you

that when you

ascended,

you did not leave

but when you

ascended,

you sent your spirit

and we live

in the power

of God.

May we stop

being passive

Christians,

covering our face

from the blows

of this world.

May we stand

in boldness

of who Jesus

is.

In his name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge Church

weekly podcast.

We hope

that you enjoyed

listening to this

week's message.

If you'd like

to learn more

about who we are

or explore

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