Turn, if you would, to the book
of James. We'll continue our journey through the book of James.
The message named today is, Here today, gone tomorrow. Here today,
gone tomorrow. Last week in our study, we looked
at verses 9 and 10 of the first chapter of the book of James.
And we saw two estates bought before us of believers. One was
of low estate, poor, and one was a rich man. So just two estates. There's other estates too. There's
in the middle. And this was just two estates
in the context that James was writing and showing us that no
matter the brother being in low estate or in rich estate, they
were all one in Christ. They're one in Christ. And that's
the main thing. They were born again by the same
Holy Spirit of God. They had the same Redeemer. saved
and washed clean from all their sins in the same blood, the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they had the same standing
spiritually in Christ. Their estates may have been different
on this earth, but in Christ they have exactly the same standing. And let us remember that all
believers have the same standing in Christ. No matter what we're
called to, Within the church, we have the same standing in
Christ. Always remember that. We are
equal. We are on equal ground, beloved.
And I like that. I like that. Because there's
no one lording over anyone else, is there? We're one in Christ,
beloved. One in Christ. Then we consider
the fact, again, that all believers are equal, equally saved, equally
holy in Christ, equally made righteous by the righteousness
of Christ, equally forgiven of all their sins. You are equally
forgiven of all your sins, just like I'm equally forgiven of
all my sins in Christ. It's wonderful, isn't it? So
therefore, we can both rejoice, can't we? No matter what state
we find ourselves in this life, we can all rejoice, because we're
equal in Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. The Lord Jesus Christ's blood
was shed to save us from our sins. We have that in common,
don't we? We're equal in that. We're equal
in all things spiritually. We're all equal in spiritual
things. And remember too, he was showing
the contrast of the two estates. Those are both temporal. Those
estates are just temporal while we're on this earth. Right? Because where are we heading?
We're both heading towards the celestial city, right? Whether
one be rich or whether one be poor. They're both heading to
the celestial city in Christ. Their end is the same. Equal. There won't be anybody boasting
in heaven over somebody else. You know that? That's foolishness
when people start talking about, well, I'm going to have more
crowns than somebody else. You're just so full of self-righteousness
with that statement. It's not funny. Because Christ
is our exceeding reward. If you have Christ, you have
everything. You have everything. And so we're equal with each
other in Christ, beloved. There's no one saint better than
another saint. No, that's just self-righteous
foolishness. That's all that is. That's like
Henry Mahan said. I like this. That's one worm,
two worms sunbathing, and one worm looking over with sunglasses
on and going, I'm better than that worm. Well, they're both
worms, aren't they? Just because the one has sunglasses
on don't mean he's any better than the one who don't have sunglasses
on. And that's us, isn't it? See, we're all the same, aren't
we? We're all the same. So both the
rich man and the poor man are in Christ. He who is poor and
he who is rich have unity in Christ. They have unity in Christ.
So rejoice, brother and sister, no matter what your state is
in this world. Rejoice. Rejoice. You're in Christ. That's all that matters. You're
in Christ. You're blessed to endure temptations
when they come your way in this world because you're being tried. When you're being tried, you're
being endured with the crown of life. You know what that is?
That's just eternal life. That's eternal life, beloved.
One day, at the end of our trials and tribulations in this world,
we will be in eternity with Christ, enjoying eternal life in Him. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely
wonderful. So let's turn to James 1 here.
James 1. Let's read verses 2 to 12. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect
work, that she may be perfect in entire wanting nothing. If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that give to all
men liberally, and uprighteth not, and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers
is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree
rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made
low. Because as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away.
And these next two verses will be our verses for today, verse
11 and 12. For the sun is no sooner risen with the burning
heat, but it wherewith the grass and the flower thereof falleth,
and the grace of the fashion of it perishes. So also shall
the rich man fade in all his ways. Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive
the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him. So today we'll be looking at
verses 11 and 12 today. And I pray the Holy Spirit of
God, who is the true author of the Scriptures, will illuminate
the Scriptures for us and teach us the things of Christ. And
teach us the frailty of our lives and the shortness of our lives.
Our lives are not very long in the eyes of the Lord. One day
to the Lord is like a thousand years. So we can see how our
life is just a vapor. If we live to be 80, 90, 100,
it's just a vapor in the eyes of the Lord. It's mere seconds
to Him. And I often think of that too.
The Lord, if you count the Lord's being gone for two days, if you
count His calendar or His time, one day is a thousand years.
It's only been two days since He's been gone. Not very long,
is it? Oh my! Our God is so good. So
may he teach us, may the Holy Spirit teach us the frailty and
shortness of our lives. Let's look at verse 11. For the
sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass,
and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion
of it perishes. So also shall the rich man fade
away in his ways. So we see James here. He's continuing
his thoughts upon trials which come into believers' lives, which
every one of us will face trials, won't we? Every one of us, we
know we will. The scriptures tell us we will.
But we're to endure these temptations or these trials and temptations
which come our way because they produce in us hope. And that's
also endurance too. They produce endurance in us.
The Holy Spirit keeps us. Never forget it's Him that keeps
us. We don't keep ourselves. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and present you faultless before His throne
with exceeding joy. See, it's all His work. In religion,
I always used to think it was me. It was all about me, what
I did. No, I found out in grace it's all about what the Lord
does and what He continues to do. We have no ability and strength
to keep ourselves, do we? But praise be to God, we rest
upon, we lean upon the One who has all power. in all might,
and will not lose one of his sheep. Not one. My goodness. Note the scripture
here brings forth the shortness of our lives. Let's read this
again. For the sun is no sooner risen with the burning heat,
but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and
the grace of the fashion of it perishes. So also shall the rich
man fade away in his way. So we're bought before us by
the Holy Spirit of God, who's the true author of these scriptures,
the shortness and the frailty of our lives. I looked up some statistics.
for this. Here's some statistics to help
us understand the frailty of our lives. Every day there are
401, this is a statistically based, just a general number,
401,300 births per day on average in this world. And there's 158,686
deaths per day. per day. Each hour, there's 16,720
births average and 6,611 deaths. Each hour, each minute, there's
278 births and 110 deaths. Each second of every day, there's
four births and two people die each second. We don't think about
that, do we? We don't think about that, that
every second that passed, two people are entering into eternity. Stepping into eternity. In a half hour we spent studying
this morning, there have been 3,300 people who entered eternity.
3,300 people who died and stepped into eternity. 158,000 people per day step into eternity
on average. Those who die trusting in Christ
go to be in His presence. But those who die in their sins
go into a Christless eternity in hell. So the question to you
and I who are listening to this message and who will listen to
this message is, what think ye of Christ? See, we don't know when our day
and time is coming, do we? That's why Scripture says today
is the accepted time. Today. Trust Christ today. You
might not have tomorrow. You might not. Some people say,
well, I'm young. Yeah, well, young people die
all the time too, don't they? Suddenly. So with these numbers in our
minds, how many people die each day? Let's read that verse again.
How many people die each minute, each second? Let's read this
verse again. For the sun is no sooner risen
with the burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the
flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth. So also shall the rich man fade
away in his ways. So the sun comes up with a burning
heat. It withers the grass and the flowers. And so shall the
rich man of the world and the worldly-minded man or woman who
are in that state die in the midst of their pursuits. Not
even expecting some of them to die. Now, some people, they see
their death approaching. But some people die suddenly,
don't they? And even the person seeing their death approaching,
they're still hoping that that day is not going to come. The unsaved person. Now, the
believer, We still struggle, don't we? We struggle. But we
have what we have waiting for us on the other side. Sister,
I hope you don't mind me talking about Wayne and how he just,
you said, he just couldn't wait to get the glory. He knew what
was there. He knew what was waiting for
him. And he's in eternal bliss right now. Isn't that wonderful?
Absolutely wonderful. Same with Brother Joel. Internal
bliss. It's wonderful. My! But think of people who step
into a crisis eternity. Who think, well, I'm good. I prayed a prayer. I walked an aisle. Or just how I was before the
Lord saved me, saying, well, I'm a good person. You want to
know sinners, man. You need to go to jail. You need
to go... No. How many people just enter into
eternity with no care at all about their souls? Do you see
the blessing of knowing Christ? And who made us to differ from
any of them? Only God. Only God made us to
differ, so rejoice. If you're a child of God, rejoice.
God has made you to differ. It's nothing you did. He did
it. So when we breathe our last breath, we step into glory. And
that glory is glory because Christ is there, isn't it? Oh, my. You know, in the land of Israel,
there are a variety of flowers, I read, that spring to life when
the rains come. But they only last for a short
time before withering away. And on the scale of eternity,
this is how quickly the unsaved rich men and the worldly men
will also fade away in their pursuits. They're just here for
a short time and then they're gone. Then they're gone. We see the
wicked prosper. Remember, their time is short. Their time is short. Very, very short. They have no
care for the things that are eternal. They have no care for
Christ. They have no care for his gospel. And they feel safe
in their refugee lives. They feel safe, some of them,
in their worldly possessions. Some of them feel safe in their
intellect or their strength. But our minds can soon forget
things as we get older. We learn that we forget more
than we remember, don't we? As we get older, our strength
starts to wane. We can't do the things that we
used to do. But oh, for the believer, we
just trust in Christ, don't we? But for the unbeliever who's
trusting in their own ways or their own riches or their own
intellect, well, those things start to fade away. And then
you know what happens when they die? If they do not trust Christ,
they are ushered right away into a Christless eternity. My, oh, my. Our God's no one
to be trifled with, is He? He's no one to be trifled with. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
12. In Luke chapter 12, we see a
good example from the Scripture And remember, the Holy Spirit
of God had Luke pen these words here. And we are going to see here
the parable of the rich fool. Now, here's a man who had all
kinds of money, all kinds of worldly goods. And we're going
to see in the text what he's trusting in. And it's not Christ. to his doom,
to his doom. Look at this. Luke chapter 12,
verses 11 or 13 to 21. And one of the companies said
unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance
with me. And he said unto him, men, who
made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said to them,
take heed and beware of covetousness. World thrives on covetousness.
I know, I was there. World thrives on covetousness.
Get whatever you can, don't care who you step on. Look out for number one. All
that stuff. Which is the exact opposite of
how we feel when the Lord regenerates us. Now we live our life for
Christ. Now we know the things that we
have, they're blessings to us, but they're just temporal. They're
just temporal. They're going to fade away. When
I die, someone else is going to get my stuff. Right? It's just stuff. It's my stuff,
but it's just stuff. Right? Can't take it with us.
Can't take it with us. So the Lord's warning us here
of covetousness. And beware of covetous, for a
man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which
he possesses. Look at that. Now see, the world thinks, well,
those guys who have all that money, look at how they're so
happy. No, they're not. They're miserable.
I read an article this week about one of the rich famous guys from
the 30s, I think it was, I can't remember who it was,
but he looked out the window, he was having lunch and he looked
out the window and he saw this guy sitting there and he had a brown
bag, remember the sandwich? bags we used to carry and all
that. He had a brown bag there and he's just eating a sandwich.
Supposedly the guy said, man, I wish I had the freedom that
I had and the lack of worry that that guy has. He's just out there
sitting there, just eating a sandwich, enjoying a sandwich. See, because
he was rich, he couldn't just go out in public because people
would swarm him and all kinds of stuff and ask him for stuff.
And he saw the freedom that that man had. My, oh, my. So our Lord here is warning us
that a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of the things
that we possess. And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, the ground of a certain rich man bought forth plentiful.
So this man, his crops were booming. I'm reading a book right now
on the Roman Navy. And in the story, one of the,
Guys who's the head in Rome, he had bought all this property
outside of Rome. And he was now supplying the
city of Rome with goods. And he could bring the price
down, and he made a ton of money. So, think of that with this guy.
He's made a whole bunch of money on his crops. A whole bunch of
money. It's plenteous. And he thought
within himself, okay, so here we're going to get a glimpse
at an unsaved man here. We'll get a little glimpse into
his thoughts. And he said within himself, what
shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? My barns are bursting. I've got
so much. He's proud, isn't he? He's proud. And he said, this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater barns. I'm going
to rip them barns down. Oh, they're good-sized barns,
but they are not big enough for my crops. So I'm going to rip
them barns down, and I'm going to build me some great big barns. That's what he's saying. Look at this. And there will
I bestow all my fruits and goods. I've got so much that they can't
fit in the barns I've got now, I'm going to tear them down,
I'm going to build great big barns, and I'm going to fill
them to the brim. Oh, he's got some plans, doesn't
he? And then look what he said. Then
I'll say to my soul, soul, thou hast much good laid up for many
years. Oh, now we're set. How many people have you heard
say that? Now we're set. Now we're set. Now we're going to
live the good life. But you know what happens to
that rich man? He's not content with what he has. He's not content. He wants more. He wants more. I have a brother
who's made a lot of money being a sod farmer. And my other brother
and I keep telling him, you know, you can slow down now. He's got
two huge farms. We keep telling him, you can
slow down. You know, he just keeps going. He's not content. He's
not content. Well, this man's laid up for
many years. Take thine eaties and eat and
drink and be merry. No worries for years now. But God, now here it is. Now
this is a but God that's not like the but God in Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2 but God is when we're
dead in trespasses and sins and it says, but God who's rich in
mercy. Now this but God This is what falls upon those
who are not in Christ. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee. And whose shall those things
be? Whose shall all those riches you have? Your soul will be required
of you tonight. And think of this in light of
this. For what shall a prophet of man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul? But what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? Well, what shall profit a man
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? No profit
at all. And what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? There's nothing we can give in exchange
for our soul. That's why Christ had to come
here and die in our room and place. That's why His precious,
precious blood had to be shed to redeem our eternal souls,
beloved, because there's nothing we can give to the Lord. to ransom
our souls. Nothing by anything we do or
think or say can ransom our souls. God says here, but God said unto
him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.
Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God." How many of those
158,000 plus per day who die and go into eternity are like
that rich man? And go into a Christless eternity,
thinking upon the things, whether they be rich or poor, thinking
upon the things of this world and the things that they have.
Trusting in themselves. I was watching a show last night
about dangerous roads around the world, and they were showing
this road that goes through the pass from India, all through
the Himalayas, and it's just incredible. I couldn't even drive
on these roads, I'll tell you that. I'd be hanging on to the
side of the door the whole time. But they stopped at these certain
areas, and they call them prayer areas, and they go in there,
They have all these different gods. And this one guy, he's
touching all the papers like this, and I'm thinking, oh my
gosh, Lord. They're all just manufactured
idols. And he's doing this, and his
prayers are going nowhere, aren't they? He's worshiping not an
idol made of wood or stone, but this was just on a piece of paper.
He's worshipping idols made with man's hands. And if he was to go off that
cliff, drive in that truck, without
Christ, he'd perish and go into a Christless eternity. Because
really, he's trusting in himself. He's trusting in the things that
he's doing. He's trusting in his prayers to those false idols.
So how many people out of the 158,000 that step into eternity
every day, how many of them go into a Christless eternity? This
is why this question is so important. What think ye of Christ? Examine
yourself. What think ye of Christ? That's
why we're going to do the Lord's Supper today. This do in remembrance
of me. Examine yourself. Examine yourself. 158,000 people per day step into eternity. And how many of them think they're
going to die that day? Probably not very many of them. Probably none of them. They're probably hoping they
won't. Even if some of them have a terminal disease, they're probably
hoping they don't die. Probably hoping they don't die.
And how many people are just like this rich fool that we read
about? Trusting in themselves. How many
people out of those 158,000 step into a Christless eternity? Trusting
in themselves. See, what bought before us is
the frailty of our lives, isn't it? In these verses. So short. So short. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Oh my. And I ask again you who are listening,
what think ye of Christ? Who is He? What do you think of Him? I'll
tell you who He is. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
And He came to this world to save sinners. The question is,
are you a sinner? Has God, the Holy Spirit, shown
you that you're a sinner? Some might say, well, Wayne,
you don't know how far God I am in sin. Well, I know the Lord saved me.
He can save anybody He pleases. And I know how far gone I was
in sin. And I know that I'm still a sinner, even now, but I'm a
sinner saved by grace. And for a person who says, oh,
I've gone too far in sin for Christ to save me, here's some
good words for you in Hebrews 7, verse 25. Wherefore, He is
able. See, we're not able. We're not
able to save ourselves, are we? But Scripture says, wherefore,
He is able. God's able. Christ is able. To what? To save
them to the uttermost. Well, who's the them? Well, that
come unto God by Christ, by Him. God is able to save. All who
come to God through Christ Jesus our Lord shall be saved. Shall
be saved. He's able to save to the uttermost.
Oh, but my sins are so great! He's able to save to the uttermost.
Man, King David, he was an adulterer and a murderer, right? Because
he sent Uriah to the front lines to die. And he slept with his
wife. And what does the Lord say about
David? He's a man after my own heart. Oh my. Paul was out grabbing
Christians and he didn't kill any of them by himself, but he
was throwing them in jail and they were dying. So that blood was
on his hands, wasn't it? The Lord said, He's a chosen
vessel of mine. We saw that last week, didn't
we? He's a chosen vessel of mine. He's mine. Oh, it's wonderful,
beloved. Wherefore, He is able. He's able
to save. Oh, praise God He's able to save.
Wherefore, He is able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by Him, through Christ, seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for them. Christ is the only one who's
able to save sinners. He's the only one who's able
to save a sinner from their sins. Oh, may God give you faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do, thou shalt be
saved. Do you believe on Christ? Is
He your Savior? Is He your Redeemer? Is He your
All-in-all? Paul said to the Philippian jailer,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Just look to Him. If there was
ever a time when anyone could say that you have to do something,
it was right there, wasn't it? Because He said, what must I
do to be saved? What can I do? Paul said, just believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And we know that's
a gift from God, isn't it? Just believing on Christ is a gift
from God. It's amazing. It's wonderful. It all goes right
back to our King, beloved. He gets all the glory. He gets
all the honor. And He gets all the praise. So
Christ is the only one who's able to save a sinner. So in
light of verse 11, think upon this. If we put our life and
our identity and the things that fade away, we will fade away
too. We're here today in Gondamon. How much better to live our lives
serving the Lord Jesus Christ, pouring our life into things
that will never fade. That will never fade. If a man
is only rich in this world, when he dies, he leaves his riches
and goes to a Christless eternity. But if a man is rich and trusts
in the Lord Jesus Christ, just like the brother of low degree,
then when they both die, they go to their eternal riches, which
are in Christ. Our inheritance is in Christ
and it's in heaven. And it doesn't fade away. It's
reserved for us. Our treasure's in heaven and
that's Christ, isn't it? He's our reward. He's our treasure,
beloved. You know what He said to Abraham?
He said this, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
That's what our Lord told Abraham. And that's true for every one
of us as believers. He's our shield. He protects us. He guides us.
He directs us. And He's our exceeding reward.
Oh, what a Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. The forgiveness of
all our sins. Born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. Think of all these spiritual blessings we have in Christ.
Justification before God. Eternal life in Christ. Made
fit to be in glory because of the righteousness of Christ.
Peace with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And when
God sees the blood of Christ, He says, I'll pass over you.
Oh my. Makes you want to shout, doesn't
it? Let's look at verse 12 now. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Now in
our study thus far, we have seen in verses 2 to 12 that the one
great object of these verses is to comfort and to direct believers
who are subject to trials and temptations in our lives, to
direct us to look to Christ and to rest in Christ, knowing that
our Heavenly Father has sent these trials our way. They're
for our good and for His glory. And these trials are painful,
aren't they? Turn, if you would, to John 15. These trials are
painful, but they're for our good. And they reveal genuine
faith. They strengthen our faith and
they promote patience within us. They make us useful servants
for the Lord because they wean us from this world. That's what
these trials do. And they make us lean upon Christ
even more. Look at this in John 15, verses
1 and 2. Our Lord tells us, I am the true
vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now note in
verse 1, the Lord Jesus Christ proclaims, my Father is the husbandman.
Now what's that? This is a parable about the true
vine being Christ, and the true branches, which is the body of
Christ. And note who the husbandman is. Note who the caretaker or
the gardener is. Know who the one who's doing
the pruning. And why do we prune trees like these apple trees?
We haven't pruned them in years, but they say that if you prune
these apple trees, they're going to have more fruit. Our trials
is God pruning us, beloved. They're for our good and His
glory. My. And the word purges there
in the Greek means to prune. It means to prune. So again,
the trials we go through, the Father's burdening us. He's weaning
us from this world. And whenever we go through these
times of trials, we always come out the other side trusting Christ
more, don't we? Leaning on Christ more. And we
look back and look, look what the Lord did. It's amazing. So happy is the man or woman
who stands up under the trials that come our way when God has
put them through these trials. It's like gold in the refiner's
hands. You know how the refiner knows
when that gold and all that stuff is being sorted out? When he
sees his reflection. Who are we being conformed to
the image of? Christ. Amen. We're being conformed to
the image of Christ. Oh my. And it says here, that
we'll have a crown of life. Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. The crown
of life, beloved, is eternal life in Christ. It's wonderful,
isn't it? We have eternal life in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ and all because of what He's done for
us as our substitute on Calvary's cross. Shedding His blood to
redeem our souls, satisfying God's law and justice, and bearing
the wrath of God that was against us. Remember, He said, Abraham,
I'm your shield. What's the shield do? It bears
the wrath of the enemy, doesn't it? Well, who was our enemy?
The law of God? The justice of God? He bore it
all. Glory to his name. Glory to his
name.