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Collierville First Baptist Church
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I know you've heard this saying and I want you to complete the blank that I leave.
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When life gives you lemons make... Oh, you've heard it. Good. Do you know that that statement has a philosophy behind it that really has a lot of truth to it? In fact, a lot of biblical truth. Now there's nowhere in the Bible that says if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But the principle is found in the letter of James that we're going through verse by verse.
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Listen, the message that James, the brother of our Lord and the spiritual leader of the first church there in Jerusalem delivered to Jewish Christians who had been spread around the world because of persecution. I'm telling you, that message rang true in their hearts and it should ring true in all of our hearts.
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They left behind their homes, their jobs and everything they had spent their life building. They were hated both by Jews and Gentiles because of their bold faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. See, they were Jewish Christians and they loved Jesus and it cost them dearly.
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Now James introduced his letter by highlighting how they could face tough times with dignity and integrity. Every person in this room, teenagers, adults, even children, every person in this room has experienced tough times in the past. And can I tell you this?
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I hate to burst your bubble, but you're going to face tough times in the future too.
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That's a part of life. How you handle these tough times confirms the sincerity of your faith or either exposes the hypocrisy of your faith. One of the two.
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In the first 12 verses of James, there are six commands that provide a framework that allows us to be an overcomer when it comes to the trials we go through.
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Listen, last week we zeroed in on part one of this text, verses one to four. And we discovered number one, the believers perspective. Look at verses one and two. James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes who are dispersed abroad.
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Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
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And then we looked at the believers perfection and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. If you want to know why God allows you to have trials and troubles in your life, there's your answer right there.
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See, I want you to understand that God is concerned about how you live your life as a believer after you are saved.
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So we see here the important principle that God's desire for you is that you learn to endure and that you develop spiritual maturity in your life. Bill Buckley, who played football at Mississippi State, I was talking to him the other day and he shared this thought with me and he said this, you know, Chuck, in school we were taught a lesson and then we're given a test.
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And then, but when it comes to the kingdom of God, we're given a test and then we're taught the lesson. It's backwards, right?
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See, I want you to understand that we're given the test first, the trial first, and then God reveals to us the lesson he has for us to learn in allowing us to go through that. Now here's something I want you to remember. Trials are a sign of God's approval, not his disapproval.
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Do you understand that? Let me repeat that because I'm not sure that we really understand that. Sometimes I think we think, well, I'm a believer. I'm not supposed to have any trials in my life. Everything is supposed to go easy, squeezy throughout the rest of my life. Not true.
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Let me tell you, trials are a sign of God's approval, not his disapproval. It's a sign that he's doing something special in your life to get you ready for eternity.
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So you can't be an overcomer as you face life's trials. All right. So last week we looked at the believers perspective and the believers perfection. Today we're going to look thirdly at the believers prayer. The believers prayer.
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Look at verse five through eight. The Bible says this, but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. So verse five presents the unquestioned sincerity of God,
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who paves the way for us to be spiritually mature in our lives. And verses six through eight raises the question of our sincerity. Okay. We know that God's sincere, but how about you and I?
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Are we sincere? Are we ready to go forward with God? Are we committed to his perspective and his plans for our future? Now I want you to notice here in verse five, the request. He tells us what to ask God for. I mean, you're in the midst of a trial. It's hard. It's difficult. It keeps you up at night and you lose sleep over it. But here's what we need to ask God in the midst of a trial. Look at him. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. So what do we ask God for? We ask him for wisdom. You see, trials have a way of scrambling our perspective. We don't think the way we should think. We don't feel the way we should feel when we're in the midst of a trial. So we need to go to our heavenly father and we need to ask him to give us wisdom to understand what we're going through and to learn the lessons that we need to learn. Now, last week we talked about the perspective we need to have. We need to have the perspective of a student. When you're going through a trial, you have the perspective of a student. Here's what you'll be asking God, God, what are you trying to teach me?
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God, what can I learn from this? How do you want to use this trial in my life? Don't develop the perspective of a critic.
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Of a critic where you blame God. You blame God for the trial. You ask God, why, why, why? You quit coming to church. You quit reading your Bible. You quit praying.
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That's not the perspective you need. You need to ask God for wisdom to understand what you're going through.
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Now listen, James draws heavily from the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, I would encourage you as we go through this study in the book of James, on the side, read the Sermon on the Mount. You'll be surprised how they connect with each other at various points. In Matthew 7, 7 through 11, listen to what Jesus said. He said, "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you.
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For everyone who asked receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be open. Or what man is there among you who when his son asks for a loaf will give him a stone?
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Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?
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If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask it?" You see, God gives generously. That word generously means sincere action. God's nature is to give. When we pray, he never says, "Hey, come back tomorrow when I've got more time." He never says that to you. You're in the midst of a trial. I tell you, he is waiting for you to pray and request wisdom for understanding what you're going through and how he wants to use it in your life.
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So he gives all men generously without reproach. God will not only provide wisdom, but will do so generously and not grudgingly. The creator of God knows you intimately. He knows every part of you. There's nothing about you he doesn't, he knows your motives. He knows why you do what you do. He knows everything. And he reaches out to you with this type of invitation. "Draw near to me and ask me to help you understand why this is happening to you and to give you perspective on what you're going through and ask me to walk alongside you."
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Do you realize that God wants to walk alongside you in the midst of your trial? Do you realize that the Holy Spirit of God who is fully God lives within you as a born again believer? Your body is his temple.
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So the request is ask of God the wisdom that you need to handle the trial. And then the requirement, there's a requirement.
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Notice 6th through 8 it talks about you can't ask anything of God without faith and expect to receive it.
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He must ask in faith, believing that the character of God is such that he will always give you exactly what you need because he's a loving heavenly Father. He will never, never, ever give you something to hurt you.
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And without any doubting he says, "For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."
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When I read that I thought of the children of Israel when Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage.
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Moses is my hero.
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You know why he's my hero?
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Because he put up with a bunch of griping complaining people for 40 years. 40 years.
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And the whole time they were moving toward the promised land, they were looking back to Egypt thinking they would have been better off in Egypt.
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You see that's a divided loyalty. And God will not honor that in our lives just as he did not honor that in their lives.
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For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord being a double-minded man unstable in all his ways. You see persistent doubt nullifies faith. It nullifies faith.
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Now, double-minded here basically means too sold. S-O-U-L-E-D, too sold. Although the doubter cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord, the devoted believer should expect to receive wisdom for the journey of life.
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One day, one day, every person in this room, every person watching live stream, every person in the entire world will stand before an almighty God and give an account for our lives. You know what God's goal is for you as a born-again believer?
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His goal is to prepare you for that day.
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That's why he's interested in helping you develop endurance. That's why he's interested in helping you to develop that steadfastness, that tenacity to never let go, to always trust him and to choose his way over your way. But he also desires spiritual maturity in your life. His will is to conform you to the image of Jesus. Now, it doesn't happen like that. It happens over the course of our lifetime as born-again believers. It's called sanctification in the realm of theology. So you face your trial with the joy that comes from knowing that the Lord loves you, he loves you,
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and he will never leave you nor forsake you. You don't have to go through the trial by yourself.
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You've got Christian friends. You've got church members who walk through trials with you. I've seen it over and over again in this wonderful church. But I'll tell you what, you've got somebody else that will walk with you. It's the Lord himself. He will never leave you and he will never forsake you. What a tremendous truth that is. With his help, you can be an overcomer over the trial you're going through. You can experience everything the Lord has designed for you to experience in that trial or that test that you're going through.
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So far, we've seen the believer's perspective,
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the believer's perfection, the believer's prayer. Now, here's a fourth thing I want you to notice in our text. It's the believer's practice, the believer's practice. Okay, you've developed the right perspective.
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You have developed a plan. You have developed a way of approaching trials whereby you know that when the trial comes, before it ever comes, you know that you're going to consider it all joy.
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You're going to do that.
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And then you also are in the process, he's in the process of perfecting you, making you more like Jesus. And you prayed for wisdom.
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But now, now, you must practice your faith. You must put your faith into action. That's one of the key themes of the book of James. To make his point, James focuses on two extremities of life. It's the test of poverty and the test of plenty. Look at verse 9.
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"But the brother," that's a Christian brother or sister, "of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position." Now, that seems rather odd to us, seems like a paradox, like an oxymoron. You've got a believer who's living in poverty, and the Bible tells us here that he is to glory in his high position.
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Now, this is the poor, seemingly unimportant Christian brother here.
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The poor are indeed humble because of the condition of their lives, and by the neglect of the part of the church members who have the wherewithal to help them in their struggles. But they're to glory in their high position. What in the world does the Lord mean by that?
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Well, glory is a present tense command in the Greek language.
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By faith, the poor person must look upon his circumstances and look beyond his circumstances to the unlimited blessings that he or she has in the Lord Jesus.
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Now, what are those unlimited blessings?
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Well, in Romans chapter 2, verse 4,
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the Bible talks about the riches of his goodness.
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Hey, you may have a lot of financial strain in your life right now,
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but I'll tell you, friend, you are rich in Christ Jesus. You are rich in his goodness. And then Ephesians 1.7 talks about the riches of his grace. Aren't you glad that whether you have plenty of money or no money, that you, as a born again believer, you are blessed with the riches of his grace, his unmerited favor in your life, and nothing can ever change that.
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And then you are blessed with the riches of his glory. Ephesians 3.16.
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So if you're struggling financially, you can glory in the fact that your circumstances are teaching you to trust the Lord and to teach you that you are in fact highly blessed.
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That's practicing your faith. And then there's the test of plenty. In verse 10, the Bible says, "And the rich man is to glory in his humiliation."
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Now again, that seems rather odd, right?
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The rich man is to glory in his humiliation
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because like flowering grass, he will pass away.
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Now think about that just a moment. The great peril of riches is that the rich person tends to produce a false sense of security.
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In the mind of a person who has plenty, they have all the money they need to handle all of the struggles they'll ever face in their lives. They feel as if they can buy their way out of any problem or any trial they might face. But is that true? That is not true. Not true at all. Look at this, because like flowering grass, he will pass away. Look at verse 11, "For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So to the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away." Have you noticed that those who have plenty are always working hard to get plenty more? Have you noticed that?
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And it's a never-ending cycle in their lives. So if you have plenty, be careful because you too will experience trials.
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Just because you have plenty doesn't mean that you're going to be free from trials in your life. Now your trials may be different.
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Your trial may even be more difficult.
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And James says here, you got to be careful with this because money can't solve your problems.
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All the stuff you accumulate will not heal your wounds or result in lasting satisfaction.
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So what should you do?
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Well, to practice your faith when you have plenty, you need to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and let him exalt you whenever or however he chooses. That's what it means to practice your faith if you have plenty.
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So we've looked at the believers' practice. We've looked at the believers' prayer.
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The believers' practice. Now I want you to see five, the believers' promise. The believers' promise. There is a wonderful promise attached to this section. In fact, it's like in verse two where it says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." That's the beginning of this section, and this section ends with verse 12. Look at verse 12.
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"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he's been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him." It begins with, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." And it ends, this section ends, with "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for he will receive the crown of life."
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This speaks of two wonderful rewards that you have as a born again believer. The first one is the reward of character.
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"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial." The word "blessed" describes the person who has found life's deepest fulfillment. Can I tell you this? Listen to me. "The greatest fulfillment and satisfaction you will ever experience in your life will come from a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ." Nothing can take the place of a personal relationship with Christ. You can be absolutely stuffed to the gills with money, and it will not take the place of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
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You can be poor and in rags, and I'll tell you, being poor and in rags and chasing the next amount of food, the next bit of clothes you need, will never fulfill the deep satisfaction that Jesus can fulfill in your life. Never do it.
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"So blessed is a man who perseveres under trial."
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Now, look, it says, "For once he's been approved."
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See, God is at work in you the whole time you are enduring a trial. From the very moment the trial starts in your life
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to the moment the trial is over, God is at work in your life.
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And he's literally shouting here to you and to me, "Live to please the Lord, not yourself."
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And then he talks not only of the character, but he talks about the crown.
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Now, I want you to fast forward. Sometimes I think we need to take more of a future look at what's in store for us as born-again believers.
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And this is what the crown is all about. Perseverance comes with great blessing in this life and in the next life. You do have a next life, you know. If you're in this room and you're a born-again believer and your name is written in the last book of life, you have a next life. Your life will not come to an end when you die and are buried. Jesus said, "If you believe in him, you will continue to live." You will live forever, either separated from God in hell if you don't believe in him, or you will be joining with him because you do believe in him, you'll live with him forever in heaven,
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one of the two.
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He will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised. Don't you like that word promised?
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Let me ask you, has the Lord ever broken a promise? Do this. Nope. He's never broken a promise.
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And it says, "The Lord has promised the crown of life to those who love him." Let me ask you, do you love Jesus?
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Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll obey me." Are you obeying him?
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On a constant, consistent basis, do you have a lifestyle of obedience? If you do, it shows that you love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this crown pictures the law of wreath that would be put on an athlete's head in the first century if they won a race. You do realize they had something like the Olympic Games in the first century.
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And they had sprinters, and they had long distance runners, and they had shot putters, and they had discus throwers, they had everything.
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And let's just say that there was a guy in the first century. And let's just, for example, say that he was running the 100-meter dash.
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And the gun goes off, and he begins his run, and he finishes first.
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They would bring him up to what was called the Judgment Seat. And they would place a laurel wreath made of evergreen branches, and they would put it on his head. And he was a winner, and he was recognized and celebrated as a winner. Let me tell you, when you, as a born-again believer, when you persevere through the trials of life and you love Jesus, I want you to know when you get to heaven, dear friend, when you stand before him, you're going to receive the crown of life, and you'll have eternal life with him, and you will serve him for all of eternity. And the Bible says you will reign with Christ. You'll reign with Christ. You'll serve him.
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I tell you, when you think about that, when you think about what's in store for us as born-again believers, we can understand now how James would write, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials."
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I tell you, God's made an amazing promise to us. So let me ask you, are you going through a trial right now?
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You're going through a trial.
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It could be a relational trial. It could be a financial trial.
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It could be a prodigal child trial. It could be a lot of different things, but you're going through a trial.
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I want to invite you to do something today.
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I want to invite you to take a step of faith.
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I want to invite you to take action in relation to the trial you're going through. I want to invite you to come to this altar in just a moment
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and bow your knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to pray that he would make you a student in this trial and not a victim.
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Ask him to give you the right perspective.
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Ask him to help you to endure and to spiritually mature as you go through this trial. Ask him.
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Ask him for wisdom so that you can understand what's happening and what God wants to do with this trial in your life.
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And then ask him to help you to live by faith, a real genuine faith, not a two-souled faith, but a faith in Christ that has no doubts attached to it. And then ask him to give you perseverance and love throughout your life so that at the end of your life you can receive the crown of the line. Ask the Lord Jesus to make you a winner. Ask him to help you to cross the finish line as a winner and not a loser.
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Now you may be here today and I tell you, friend,
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without it being well with your circumstances, it can be well with your soul.
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I'm not saying you come to the altar that everything in your trial is going to evaporate. I'm not saying that.
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I'm saying this. If you come to this altar and you pray for these five things in your life, the Lord Jesus Christ will help you to be an overcomer.
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He'll help you.
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And he can be well with your soul. Now some of you here today are trying to work your way through a trial without having a personal relationship with Jesus. You're not a believer. Do you realize that everything James says here in verses 1 through 12 is for those who are born again believers.
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These promises, these things I've talked about today are not for you if you're not a believer. But they can be for you if you repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord. Listen to what Jesus said in the New Testament.
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He said, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Rest from your trials. Victory over your trials. Endurance.
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Spiritual maturity. Everything that God wants to do in and through your life during this trial. So come to Christ today in repentance and faith. I'm going to ask our worship team to come, our staff to come, and they're going to be here to help you.
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And if you want them to pray for you, they'll pray for you. But if you want to talk to someone about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, how to receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior, come to one of our staff members and we'll help you with that. I encourage you, don't sit in your seat. Don't stand in your place if the Holy Spirit is calling you to come to this altar and pray these five things as a believer that we just talked about.
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Don't sit there as a believer or stand there as an unbeliever if the Holy Spirit is drawing you to Jesus to be saved. Come to Him right now.
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And then finally, can I be honest with you? I wouldn't want to go through a major trial in my life without having a church family. I never will forget when Darlene was in the hospital for nine weeks. I never will forget when we were, she was in the intensive care unit here at Baptist Carvel.
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And she was balancing between life and death. She almost died twice. And I never will forget to the day I died, I never will forget the church members coming in the parking lot of that hospital.
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And we sang and we prayed and we held up our hands toward the hospital. I tell you, I was surrounded by loving church members who walked with me through one of the biggest trials of my life.
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And I will always be indebted to the people of Carvel I Baptist for being there for me and for Darlene when we needed you.
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Now look, if you don't have a church home, I wouldn't want to go through a trial like that without a church family. So I'm going to invite you to come. If you're a born again believer, come to one of our staff members and just tell them that you want to be a part of Carvel I Baptist Church.
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Let's pray, Heavenly Father, I thank you that you make it possible
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for us to make lemonade when the life seems to give us lemons. Lord, I'm so thankful to you that you can make us an overcomer through some of the deepest, darkest trials in our lives. And I pray, Lord, that you would move with supernatural power in our hearts and lives to accomplish your plan and your purpose for us today. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand and sing, you come as God leads you.