James Chapter One vs. 1-8

In this salutation, James refers
to himself, identifies himself, not as James the apostle, but
as James the servant of God. He simply calls himself the servant
of the Lord. He comes down to the level of
all the brethren. If you'll turn to Psalm 116,
you'll find David saying this same thing. In Psalm 116, verse
16, Paul called himself the servant of Christ, the bond slave of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to David here. James,
Paul, David, none of these men of God claimed any distinction
except that which every believer possesses, a servant of God. Listen to David in Psalms 116,
verse 16. O Lord, truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son
of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I
will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call
upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all his people. in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of the old Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. I am God's servant." And that's
the way James begins this blessed epistle, I am the servant of
the Lord, claiming no distinction except the bond slave of Jesus
Christ. And then he says, I am the servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in all of our worship,
in all of our praise, And in all of our service, we honor
the Father and the Son. There's no conflict here. We honor the Father, we honor
the Son, we honor the Holy Spirit. In fact, our Lord said in John
5, I want you to look with me now, John chapter 5, verse 23,
that no man can honor the Father who does not honor the Son. And
in honoring the Son, we honor the Father, John 5, 23. When
our Lord was walking with his disciples, from the Lord's table,
when he was walking with them, he said, you believe in God,
believe also in me. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Now watch John 5, 23. That all
men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent
him. We look to Christ for acceptance.
We look to Christ our Lord for assistance. I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me. We look to Christ for the
atonement. We honor Christ. We come into
the presence of the Father in Christ's name. He is our mediator. There's one God, one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So Paul says, I
am a servant. I am a bond slave of God and
of our Lord Jesus Christ. to the 12 tribes. Now, you know
this, that the people of Israel were referred to as the 12 tribes
of Israel, named for the 12 sons of Jacob. But I'm sure that James
is not writing this epistle to all of the Jews, believers and
unbelievers, saved and unsaved, the 12 tribes scattered throughout
all of the world, but more especially He is writing to Christians,
believers of his own nation. Believers of the Twelve Tribes,
for they are the true Israel. Believers are the true sons of
Abraham. When our Lord walked under the
tree, Zacchaeus was up that tree, and he said, Zacchaeus, come
down, for I must abide at thy house. Today's salvations come
to this house, for he also is a son of Abraham. Think about
that a minute. There were plenty of the sons
of Abraham around there by nature, by carnal birth, by natural generation,
but Christ pointed at Zacchaeus, whom we know to be one of his
own, one of his sheep, one of his redeemed ones, and he said,
he also, he also is a son of Abraham. So I'm saying that James,
who calls himself here the servant of God, the bond slave of Jesus
Christ, is writing not just to Jews as Jews, but to believers
of his own nation, the true Israel, the true sons of Abraham. And
I'm sure that you and I are not excluded from this epistle, because
we're strangers. We're sojourners on this earth,
aren't we? We've passed the time of our
sojourn here in fear. We're wanderers. We're citizens
of another country. We are those, like Abraham, seeking
a country, seeking a home, seeking an inheritance. So you might
call us the twelve tribes. I know certainly you call us
the true Israel of God. We are the sons of Abraham, for
Abraham is the father of all who believe. And we are true
Israel. All right, now notice verses
2, 3, and 4. I'm going to divide the rest
of these six, seven verses into two parts. Verses 2, 3, and 4. Let's look at them all the way
through and then come back. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into different temptations or trials, knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. but let
patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing." Now, these three verses, these three verses
deal with the endurance of trials and three important things about
them. Now, I'm not going to try to
preach to you, I'm going to try to just call to mind what I believe
God showed me yesterday and today in preparing this message. Now,
the first thing, how we are to look upon trials. Now, nobody
here without them. I don't care how old you are,
16 or 14 or 70 or 60 or 50, nobody here is without trials. Some
may be severe, some less severe. Some may seem to be greater than
others, but Every believer in Christ is going to have some
trials. If you be without chastening or trials, then you're not a
child of God. All right, first of all, how
we ought to regard our trials. Now listen to this. Verse 2.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into or are covered
with or visited with trials. Count it all joy. In other words,
James is saying here, brethren, consider it the joy of the highest
kind when God Almighty is pleased to put you under his afflicting
hand. Count it a time of rejoicing
when God Almighty is pleased to visit you with a particular
trial or a particular affliction. Now, let me show you that through
the Word. First of all, we go to Matthew 5. Now, you'll start
back at that, but now just let's Let's follow the word and listen
as God teaches us. Let's don't try to rationalize
and be our own teachers. That's where we get in trouble.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to teach us. God said when he's
pleased to visit you, in particular, with a severe affliction or trial,
you rejoice. Be glad. Now look at Matthew
5, verse 11. Matthew 5, 11. First of all. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." Rejoice, he said, when men curse you and
find fault with you and criticize you and identify you with Christ
and you come under their scorn. Be happy. That's what he says. All right, turn to Acts 5. The fifth chapter of Acts. Now
listen to this. Acts 5, verse 41. And they departed from the presence
of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for his name. They rejoiced that they were
counted worthy, that they were singled out by God and counted
worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Look at Romans 5.3.
Listen to Paul here. This is a startling text here. Romans 5.3. He says here, not only so, but
we glory in tribulations. We glory in tribulations. That's
trials. Knowing, tribulation works with
patience. One more, 2 Corinthians 7, verse
4. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 4. Great is my boldness of speech
toward you, great is my glorying of you, I am filled with comfort,
I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations. All right,
now that's established. No question about that. James
says, count it all joy when God singles you out, young or old,
and visits you with affliction and trial. Be happy. All right? Why? Look at verse
3. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. Now, these comments, We are to
rejoice in trial and affliction because, number one, we are providentially
brought into these trials by the hand of our Sovereign Father.
It's his will. Now, like I said the other day,
when the Sibeans destroyed Job's property and the Chaldeans came
and destroyed his animals, and when the wind came and destroyed
his children, Job didn't do like some of us do. Well, curse the
Sibeans. Well, curse the Chaldeans. Well,
curse the Wenians. No, sir. He said the Lord gave
and the Lord had taken away. These things, the Sabeans and
Chaldeans and Wen, are second and third and fourth causes.
God's the first cause. And we're to rejoice in affliction
because our sovereign Father has brought it into our lives.
All right? And as difficult as these trials
may seem, we should rejoice in the prospect of their future
good, not their present affliction. We have got, as one man said,
to rise above the present and to look to the future. If you
judge trial and sorrow by its present effect, you miss the
blessing. You've got to judge it by its
future glory and future blessing. Let me show you that in Hebrews
12, just back one page. Hebrews 12, verse 8. Now this
is good here. Now, trial in affliction is chastisement. Now, you know, a lot of people
miss the word chastisement. They think of chastisement as
we think of it, when you never deprive a child of something
until you get mad at it. And when you get mad at it, that's
when you knock the blazes out of it, you know, and that's not
the time to knock the blazes out of one when you get mad at
it. We're to exercise discipline when we're not man. We're to
exercise these things when we're not angry. That's what chastisement
and trial and affliction is the same thing. Now, in verse 8,
Hebrews 12, but if you be without chastisement, whereof all are
partakers, all of God's children are partakers of chastisement,
then are you bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we've had
fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits and live? For our fathers on earth barely
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, according
to their own wisdom. But God, for our profit, that
we might be partakers of his holiness. Now, watch verse 11. No chastening for the present
seems to be joyous for the present, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward,
It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised thereby." There's that last line. And right now,
when we are, it's like sometimes our children, bless their hearts,
when they're 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, don't think their parents
have got any sense at all. And then they wake up when they're
21 or 22 or when they have children of their own and they're amazed
at how much their parents have learned. how wise their parents
are. But they're looking at the present.
They're looking, they want this, and you won't let them have it.
They want that, and you won't let them have it. They want this,
and you won't let them have it. You're just mean, and not understanding,
and tight-fisted, and all these things, you know? And if they
could just see like you see, and if we could see, instead
of looking at what we don't have, or what we are afflicted with,
let's look at the future. God's doing it for our good.
Now, our parents make mistakes, but God doesn't make mistakes.
And our parents discipline us and correct us according to their
limited wisdom. But God Almighty disciplines
us and afflicts us and trials us according to his eternal wisdom. And these things are not pleasant
right now, but afterward, if we're exercised in the right
way, and we're going to get to that in a minute, it's going
to be profitable. All right? That's why we ought to regard
our trials as with joy, but now let's watch the next statement
here in James 1. In verse 4, but, and here's what, talking
about exercising, let patience have her perfect work, that you
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Now this is most important. Will you listen right here? This
helped me as much as anything I read. In order for the trial
or the affliction, or whatever we're going through, in order
for it To do what it was designed in God's sovereign providence
and purpose to do, we must wait the full time. We must go through
the whole trial. We must not pray for deliverance. We must not pray for an end. We must not look for ways to
stop God's work. He says, let patience have her
perfect work. Let the trial go right on. Now,
faith is the foundation grace. They said, what shall we do that
we might work the works of God? Christ said, this is the work
of God, that you believe on him whom God has sent. Now, believing
God is the highest worship, the highest respect of the creature. Faith is the foundation grace
on which all other grace depends. That's where I need the work
done, my faith. Our Lord said, Peter, I've prayed
for you that your faith fail not. Faith needs proven. Faith
needs proving, and it can only be proved how? By trial. That's the only way to prove
faith. Now, faith is so often counterfeited, so often counterfeited,
and let me ask you this. Do you ever have any doubts?
Do you ever wonder, am I leaning on God or am I leaning on my
own wisdom? Am I truly trusting Christ or
am I trusting a religious system or something handed down by my
parents? Am I really trusting Christ? Am I really one of his own? Have
I run in vain? Do I really know Christ in grace
and faith and love? Do I really have a saving interest
in Jesus Christ? Or am I or will I prove to be
someday, like so many, a stony ground hero? Don't you want to
know? I do. I want to know. Now, there are
a lot of preachers that have preached longer than I've preached
and still have fallen away. There are people who have been
in churches longer than you've been in the church and have fallen
away. I want to know, all right? The only way I can know is by
trying. That's what this word says. God
tries our faith. I must not grow weary. And you
know, let me read you something that I jotted down just a few
minutes ago there in the study about trials. Now listen to this.
It's not really the trials themselves that produce faith. It's not
the trials themselves that produce patience. It's not the trials
themselves that produce godliness. The trials determine nothing
themselves. It's our attitude towards the
trial. It's our behavior under the trial. It's our feeling towards the
trial that produces the results. Actually, God may send a trial
upon a man and it hardened him. Send the same trial upon another
and break him. So it's not the trial. In this
man's case, the trial hardened him. In this man's case, the
trial broke him. So it wasn't the trial, it was
the response, wasn't it, huh? God may send a trial upon this
man and drive him away from the church. God may send the same
trial upon this man and bring him closer to Christ. You see
what I'm saying? It's not the trial that produces
godliness and faith and patience, it's how you react to it. That's
exactly right. It's exactly right. And one man,
God may send a trial upon him and make him bitter, bitter in
his spirit, and wind up cursing God. And another man, the same
trial brings him to the place where he just cries out for more
of God's grace and God's mercy. So I'm not to grow weary. I'm
not to seek a premature deliverance. And not to resign from the race.
How many times have you heard that, well, I'll just quit? How
many times have you wanted to save it? How many times have
you felt like leaving the battlefield? I must endure to the end of whatever
the trial might be. Now read on. Let patience, let
God's work continue, let the trial continue. Let God's hand
be upon you that you may be perfect. Now brethren, you and I know
the word perfect here is Christian maturity. There is no perfect
believer on this earth. You know that, I know that. Paul
is talking and James is... Paul uses the term, James uses
the term, but the term is Christian maturity. That you may be perfect
and entire. That you might mature in grace. That you might not only be sound
in doctrine, but sound in faith. That you might not only be sound
in principle, but strong in works. That you might not only be grounded
in truth, but you might be gracious in love. You see what I'm saying?
That you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Now John Adams
and Thomas Manton both said this, wanting nothing is that we might
be lacking in nothing essential to being a Christian. are lacking
nothing essential to an interest in Christ. Paul said, I count
not myself to have attained, nor to be already perfect, but
I know whom I have believed. All right, now there we are.
We are to count it all joy, pleasure, delight, when God puts
us under his hand, his chastening hand, when God puts us through
the deep miry clay, when God puts us through the dark valley,
when God puts us under the oppression of unbelievers, and even in our
own homes, in these trials, we're to thank God for them, because
they'll strengthen our faith, they'll reveal faith. They'll
bring us to the place of long-suffering, godliness, righteousness, and
we'll let it go on. We'll let God's trial continue.
Let Him work. Don't say, I want it ended right
now, Lord. I want relief right now. I'm
going to look for a way out. I'm going to look for another
way out. Well, just let God's work. Let
Him work. All right. Now, the next four
or five verses, let's look at them. Now, these next verses,
if any man lacks wisdom, Let him ask of God. Does he change
the subject here? No, sir. These next verses are
connected with the preceding verses. Now, let me offer this. We are to count it joy when we
go through severe trial. How is that possible? Now, be
honest. Let's don't be dishonest. Let's
don't whistle by the cemetery and say we're not scared when
we are. Let's not profess to be happy when we're not. You
see what I'm saying? Now, this is serious. We are
to count it joy when we go through trial. Now, how is that possible? All right? We are to endure the
most severe trial without complaining. Can you do it? Can I do it? We are to endure the most severe
trial without fretting or questioning God. Now, are you sufficient
for that? I'm not, and I don't believe you are either. I mean
without one time criticizing God's providence, fretting, questioning
God. We are to go through the trial
without seeking quick deliverance. We are to let the full work of
God be done. But I'm human. And so are you. And you know what we want when
trouble comes? We want out of it. When misunderstandings come,
we want to be done with them. When oppression comes, we want
relief. We pray for relief, don't we?
And yet this word says, let it have its perfect work. Let it
have its perfect work, that you may be perfect, and that God
may do for you what he set out to do, that you may be mature,
How in the world can I, with my limited understanding, pierce
the darkness of God's divine dealings? Now, I can understand
what Frank or Charlie are doing, because we've got about equal
sense, you know. But what God's doing, I don't
understand. You see what I'm saying? How can I? How can I
comprehend divine dealings? How can I get the meaning? How
can I find the will of God? Is it easy for you to find the
will of God? I hear people say, well, God told me to do this.
Well, I have problems with that. I have trouble. God doesn't speak
to me like that. I have real problems with that.
Somebody, if you know a recipe for finding the will of God in
a hurry, I'd like to have it. I've never found it. I never
have. How can I disentangle myself from these natural human feelings
and say, Lord, Do what you will. Do what you will. Wisdom, that's
what I need. You see, that's the reason he
says here, Brethren, count it joy when you fall into different
temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh
patience, and let patience have her perfect work. Now then, verse
5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. That's what
I need, wisdom. Now what is wisdom? Well, wisdom's
not just knowledge. Wisdom's not just a vast store
of intellect. A man can have a lot of knowledge
about mechanics and material things and a vast store of intellect
and be a simpleton. You know what wisdom is? Wisdom
is the proper combination of truth and conduct. That's wisdom. One old man said one time, wisdom's
the horse. I mean, knowledge is the horse.
Wisdom's the rider. Wisdom tells that horse where
to go. Now if you just got knowledge without wisdom, that's dangerous. But if you got a horse with a
rider on it that knows where he's going, then you've got a
good combination. Wisdom is the proper combination
of faith and works. Wisdom is the right altering
of the mind and the heart. Wisdom is knowing the mind of
God and yielding to him. Wisdom is discernment of heart
and discipline of mouth. That's right, that's wisdom.
Wisdom consists in seeing the mind of God and the providence
of God and what he would have me do and what he would have
me believe and yielding myself in the face of all opposition
from within and without. in defiance of frowns and flatteries
which Satan so deceitfully uses to turn us aside, yielding to
God. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. It's not just knowing the will
of God, it's yielding to the will of God. It's not just knowledge
of the mind, it's submission of the heart. It's discernment
of the mind and discipline of the mouth and yielding of the
heart. That's what wisdom is. That's
what I need. Now, where am I going to get it? He said, if any man
lack wisdom, what's this? Well, let him get him a book
and study it. Now, that's not what it says. Well, let him copy
other people's experience. Let him run down to Brother Bill
Porter's house and say, now you went through this, Brother Bill.
Tell me how you reacted. That's not the way to get wisdom.
Or let him search the writings of other men. No sense. You know
what it says? Any man like wisdom, let him
ask of God. Now, brethren, let's be honest. Let's be honest. We pray for
blessings. We pray for healing. We pray
for safety. We pray for this. We pray for
that. How often do we actually, on our faces before God, ask
Him for discernment, for wisdom? for submission to his hand and
his will. I think about this a minute.
Here we are. We've got these trials ahead. We've got to endure them. We're
going to be blessed by them. We're supposed to rejoice in
them. Now, how are we going to do that? We need wisdom. Let us ask of God. The law of
heaven is this. Somebody said the law of heaven
is ask and you shall receive. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. You have not because you ask
not. James says if any man lack wisdom and the proper attitude
toward trial, that's what we're talking about here, and the proper
spirit in this thing of yielding to God's will, let him go to
God and let him ask for that wisdom. Let him go to God. Now,
not let him gather a council of people around and study the
books and all. Let him go to God. Let him ask
of God. And God will give it to him liberally.
And you know what it says then? He upbraideth not. You know what
that means? So often we go to a friend and say, can I borrow
a hundred dollars? I just loaned you a hundred dollars last month.
What did you do with it? That's upbraiding. And we go
to a friend and say, would you help me start my car? It's frozen. Well, I helped you start it yesterday.
Didn't you get it fixed? No, I didn't get it. Well, you're
a dumb thing. You ought to take me to the garage and get it fixed.
Here you are back asking me again to come help you start it. We
started last week. We started the week before. Why
don't you have it fixed? Well, I just didn't do it. You
know, that's upbraiding. But when we go to God, he doesn't
say now, now I blessed you last week and you fumbled the bottle.
And I supplied your need before that and you weren't grateful.
And you remember what you did there and what you did? He upbraideth
not. You lack wisdom? You can go to
your Heavenly Father just like it was a brand new moment and
a brand new hour and a brand new day and no past at all. Because
in Christ there is no past. It's all under the blood. And
you can pray and he said he'll give to you liberally and he
won't scold you. And he won't upbraid you. But
now look at verse 6. But, now I'm going to get rough
on myself here, and I bet you I'll get rough on you too. But
let him ask in faith. That's what it says in verse
6. Let him ask in faith. So far, we're together, aren't
we? We got trials. We're supposed
to rejoice under them because they're good for us. We know
that, don't we? And so we've got to have the
right attitude towards them and the right conduct under them.
And we've got to praise God for them, we've got to let them go
on till they do for us what they're supposed to, and so we need wisdom,
so we ask God to give us wisdom. But, let him ask in faith. Now,
we must not only go to the right place, but we must approach God
in the right manner, in faith. Now our Lord said, what things
soever you desire in your heart when you pray, believe. He says
in Hebrews 11, 6, without faith it's impossible to please God.
if we draw near to God, confident of his ability, and confident
of his willingness, and confident that we don't deserve it, and
we plead for his wisdom and his grace through the merits of Jesus
Christ, and we bow to his sovereign will in giving it, that's faith.
But now what's the next word? Nothing wavering. This refers
chiefly to our prayer for wisdom. Today, now here we are, Today,
we're urgent. God, I've got to have wisdom.
Oh, God, I've got to have wisdom. Lord, give me wisdom. But tomorrow,
we're indifferent. You've ever experienced that?
Today, we're so submissive to the hand of God. We're so submissive. God, you've vested me, and I
need wisdom, and I need your direction. But tomorrow, we're
rebellious. See, we're wavering. He goes
on, he says, that man that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind. You ever, you've been on a ship
and you've seen the white caps come up? Well, they won't come
right back up in that same place. They'll come up over here next
time, and over here next time, and over yonder next time, and
over here next time. Depends on the wind. There's
no consistency. And he says that's the way we
are when we're wavering. Today we're zealous, tomorrow
we're lukewarm. Today we trust him, tomorrow
we doubt him. Today we're so enthusiastic,
tomorrow we're covered with and entangled with materialism. We're
just like the wave that's bouncing around, no consistency. You see
what I'm saying? Any man will lack wisdom if he
needs wisdom. If he needs God to give him that
grace of understanding, and discernment, and perception, and submission,
and yielding of his heart, let him ask God, and let him be like
Jacob. I won't let you go, you blessed
man. I'm going to camp right here.
I'm going to camp right here. This is what I want, and I'm
going to camp here till I get it. That's what Jacob did. I'm
going to camp right here till I get it. And look at verse 7. Here's another. Listen to this
over here. Let not that man think he's going to receive anything
of God. I think sometimes, I tell you, I believe we need to zero
in on this thing of prayer. I believe that we need to look
at what we are and what we need And what we really want God to
do for us and just camp there instead of just so indecisive. Whatever comes to our mind, that's
what we pray for. Let not that man think he'll
receive anything of God. Anything. Now watch this. A double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways. Now, right here. That unsure indifferent, wavering
man, is not going to receive anything of the Lord. No sir. You see, so often, and this is
what I run into, people I go somewhere and hold a meeting,
the pastor gets up and introduces me and he says, Brother May has
been pastor of his church 25 years, pastor of the same church,
and I see everybody's eyebrows go clear up to their hairline,
you know. People just don't stay in a church 25 years. Preachers
stay in a church two years or three years and then they're
gone. And after the service, invariably somebody come up and
say, well, boy, you're either real good or you're people real
dumb, one or the other, you know, or something like that, you know.
Why do you stay there so long? And it's something that, and
it's not me, it's God's grace, but it's something I'm sure of.
I believe in camping somewhere. And I believe this more as I
get older. Stay in there till God bless you. Just stay in there
till God bless you. I believe God gives a man one
message, and he needs to find out what that message is and
preach it. I believe God gives a man the field of ministering,
he needs to find out where he is and stay there. And that's
what's wrong with most of these preachers jumping around here
and there. They're not consistent. And some of us, I'm saying some
of us are like the wind, tossed, waved, you know. We're here and
yonder. We don't know what we want. We're
enthusiastic and zealous and all this. God knows we're not
going to be there until the end. You see what I'm saying? We get
on our knees in prayer and people gather around, call two or three
friends. We all get on our knees and plead and beg. God knows
us. He knows in a week we're going
to forget that. He knows in two weeks that the same bunch is
not going to be together. So why should he? He said, let
not that man think he's going to get anything of God. That's
what he's saying. Double-minded. What is that?
It's the opposite of being fixed. It's the opposite of being fixed
with a definite commitment to Christ. And so many young people,
bless their hearts, I love them. with all my heart, and they get
enthusiastic for God, and then a week later they're not. They
get enthusiastic for the church and Christ and the gospel, and
a year later they're gone. Don't you think God is smart
enough to know that? Don't you know he knows you're
not going to be around a little while? He's not going to bless,
he's not going to give you growth, he's not going to give you understanding,
he's not going to give you discernment, he's not going to give you anything.
except when the rain falls on the just and the unjust, and
you being with one crowd or the other, you're going to get the
rain. And just like he causes the rose to bloom out yonder
in the desert and causes it to bloom in town, everybody gets
to smell it. And that's about it. But as far as going to God
and receiving from God what you're praying for, if you're not fixed,
single in your heart, determined in your mind, enduring to the
end, nothing's coming to you or me." That's exactly what he
said. He said, if you lack wisdom,
you ask God, but not wavering. No, sir. Don't let that man think
he's going to get anything from God, because he's a double-minded
man, and God knows he's double-minded. Now listen to these illustrations.
James not saying he's hypocritical. That's a different word. James
saying he's double-minded. James is not saying he's pretending
to be what he's not. No, he's not. James is just saying
this. He has an interest in spiritual
things, but he's distracted. He's distracted. He's divided
in his interest. He fluctuates. Do you? He fluctuates. He's inclined
to God, but he's also inclined to the world. He's drawn to God. He knows who God is and the blessings
that are in God and can come from God, but he also knows there's
a whole lot of comfort this world can give. See what I'm saying? He has a desire to serve God. He wants to serve God very much,
but he has a reluctance to turn loose of these things that have
such a grip on him. Oh, he wants to leave everything
for Christ, but he wants to keep it too. You see what I'm saying? He wants the blessings of patience.
Oh, I'd love to be patient. I'd love to be humble. I'd love
to have love. I'd love to have joy. I'd love
to have gentleness. I'd love to have these things.
He wants it. He does want it. But he's not
willing to endure the tribulation by which these things come. There
are no shortcuts. Like the young preacher came
to old Brother Mews down in Louisville, Brother Mews sitting in his study,
and he came in and sat down, and Brother Mews said, how are
you? Ed, he said, fine. He said, won't you pray for me,
Brother Mews? Brother Mews said, what do you
want me to pray about, Ed? He said, Brother Mews, pray that
the Lord will give me patience. Well, he said, I sure will son,
why don't we pray now? So Brother Mews got on his knees,
and Ed did too, and Brother Mews said, Lord, give Brother Ed a
hard time. Lord, visit him with affliction
and sorrow and make tears flow down his cheeks, Lord, break
his heart, crush him, Lord." He said, Brother Mews, you misunderstood
me, Brother Mews. I said, pray they'll have patience,
not a hard time. He said, son, patience only comes
as a result of hard times. You can't have the patience without
the hard times. That's what he's saying here.
We want the blessing, but we don't want the way to come. Have
you ever said, I heard, listen to Carolee play, this ain't nobody
play like her. And I sit and I think, boy, I'd
love to be able to do that. You would too, wouldn't you? But
she didn't get it that way. You know how she got it? When
her feet wasn't long enough to touch the floor. Her mama made
her practice, practice, practice, practice. That's the way she
got it. And we might want patience, Lord give me patience, okay.
Old Barnard said one time, said, don't ask God to use you, he
minds. If you think about that a little bit, don't ask God to
use you. He might. And we want God to use us, but
where we want him to use us. We want to select the place and
we want to select the time. We want the crown, but without
the cross. That's what we're talking about
here. James is saying this. You want wisdom? You really want
it? You first make up your mind if
you want. You want discernment? You want an understanding of
God's providence and God's dealing? Now, the way he takes you to
get there may be a rough road. It may be a stony road. It may
be a dark valley. It may be a lot of suffering.
But that's the way to get it. And you, if we're going to ask
God for it, God used me. And whatever goes with that using
me, Judson had to go to Burma and bury his wife and bury his
little boy. You can come back and marry again
and take her over and bury her. You can come back and marry again
and go back a third time. Now, that may be the way God
will give it to me or give it to you, but we can't be double-minded. All right, summary. Here's what
we're saying, these eight verses. Every believer is going to experience
trial. David said, I thank God for my
afflictions because in my afflictions I learned his statutes. Every
believer, everyone who lived godly in Christ Jesus, shall
suffer persecution. All right? Summary. We are to reckon it joy when
God sends these trials. Joy. When the sword pierces,
when the arrow stings, however painful, we'll say, thank God,
Father. Thank God. God will ultimately
work this out for my good and his glory. And in order to do
that, I've got to have wisdom. I've got to have wisdom. Without
wisdom, I won't see the hand of God in the trial. Without
wisdom, I won't see the grace of God in the trial. Without
wisdom, I'll draw conclusions that'll be injurious to me and
to others. Without wisdom, I'll fret and
I'll murmur and I'll fall under depression. And I do it and you
do it too. Without wisdom, I'll flee to
a false refuge. I'll seek strength from an arm
of flesh. I'll depart from the source of
strength. Without wisdom, the trial won't be allowed to complete
itself. I'll look for a shortcut. I'll
look for a way out. And it won't accomplish its purpose.
So, what I've got to do is this. I've got to go to God. Pray for
wisdom. Pray for wisdom. Pray for understanding. Pray for discernment. Pray that
God Almighty will make my reaction, response to whatever
he sends my way in accordance with his will,
that the good might be accomplished. We're going to enjoy this book,
and maybe we'll get into it next Wednesday night, too. But go
back and read the text again, read these...

James Chapter One vs. 1-8

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James Chapter One vs. 1-8

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