Do Not Be Deceived
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
James 1:12-18 – Doing the Word: Directions for life to a scattered church from The Letter of James
Fifth Sunday of Pentecost – July 5, 2020 (am)
Do you feel blessed today? That is our aim today, for you to leave today feeling blesses by God, and knowing just what that means. But it’s hard to answer, yes, to this question during this season of time, isn’t it? Those of us who are in Christ know that we’re blessed despite our circumstances. But in the face of hard times like these that just continue to accumulate like they’ve been doing, it’s hard to say, yes, I feel blessed.
Just this past week another family among us encountered a new level of weighty trial with their children. Not long after responding to that, we heard word from Jim Ruhl’s mom up in WI that her house burned to the ground Thursday night, struck by lightning. She was visiting a nearby neighbor at the time, so she is safe. But at her home all was lost. It’s hard to say: Yes, I feel blessed.
Last week we learned that we can count it all joy when [we] meet trials of various kinds [because we] know that the testing of [our] faith produces steadfastness (2), unwavering faith even in the face of trials. And if ever our faith were going to [waver], it would happen when we’re facing a trial—conflict at home, a challenge at work, some unforeseen failure or fear or loss, a trial.
Our problem is that our faith can [waver]. And far too often it does! We meet a [trial] of [some kind], maybe even an old familiar one, and we don’t prove steadfast at all! We cave! That’s so frustrating! But we’re still sinful people, so it does happen. And worse, our frustration then makes us foolish! We can actually start blaming God, asking Him why He’s sending [trials] our way, why He’s putting stumbling blocks in our path, why He’s working against us and not for us!
Enter today’s text; it comes in two parts.
God Is Not Against Us – 12-15
Out of the blocks it can rub salt in an open wound. We’ve been reminded that we can be [joyful] in trials because they produce steadfastness (2). But way too often that’s just what we lack! Now as James turns back to that subject, he speaks again to those who are handling the trials well: 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. But what about those who don’t? Because that’s most of us! Or at least many of us!
But, mercifully, as though he knew his people well, that’s just where James goes next (13). Don’t blame God for your stumbling, He’s not causing it! In fact, He’s the One Who’s delivering you from it! He’s the One Who’s providing a rescue, an escape! He’s the One Who’s guiding you through, and out of, this barren wilderness of a world!
God is not against you—not those of you who have trusted in the death of His Son as payment for your sin, and in His resurrection as your promise of life! In this crowd: 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. He just doesn’t do the thing that we, in our frustration with our own fallenness, can often accuse Him of doing!
He’s not throwing [temptations] at us trying to knock of off-balance! He does send [trials] into our lives; they function like workouts in the life of an athlete—they make us stronger, more steadfast! (2)
But [temptation], and the stumbling that so often follows, that’s not on God! That’s on us! Weakness is what we bring to the table: 14 … each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. We stumble because, in the midst of our [trials], we desire something more/other than [steadfastness]. Later James says: 4:1 What causes quarrels and… fights among you? … 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. … [Desires] run amok, that’s what we struggle with! And it drives us crazy! It can even make us feel like God is against us!
But nothing could be further from the truth!
God Is For Us – 16-18
In fact, it’s a lie, from the pit of hell! 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers, James pleads. Don’t think that way about God! The very opposite is true! His sights are set in just the opposite direction! 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above! God is working for good on behalf of His children! All His resources in heaven are ours in Christ (cf. Eph.1:3; 2Pe.1:3), coming down from the Father of lights, the God of all creation
3 [Who] said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Gen.1:3). He’s the Maker of [light], and the heavenly bodies that produce and reflect [light]. Using this image as a backdrop to affirm the immutability of God, James finishes his description of God saying: with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Then he turns his attention to the actions of God, which express the heart of God, the very intention and purpose of God with regard to you and me and all whose eyes have been opened to the glory of God in the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 Of his own will, James wrote of God, he brought us forth, he [gave us life] (contrast v.15), by the word of truth, by the gospel, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures, the ‘first installment’ in the universal redemptive plan of God (Moo 80) (cf. Rom.8:23; 2Th.2:13; Rev.14:4), the beginning of His payoff.
This is God’s heart for His people! This is His plan for them, for us! God is not against us; He is for us! He’s for us in our walk with Him, in our marriage, in our singleness, in our parenting. He’s for our children as they trust in Him. He’s for you, kids, in your relationships with family and friends, in your struggle to be pure, and in the [trials] of your faith.
So, have you trusted in Him? Are you trusting in Him? If so, stumbling will not be your final legacy, because your relationship with God, your steadfastness, doesn’t depend on the strength of your will and purpose, but on the strength of His. And He has [granted you life] of his own will! (18) He is with all of His children to help them press on, endure, [remain] steadfast under trial, for when [we have] stood the test [we] will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. He has made this promise to those who are His! And He will keep it! He is for us! Thus, we are blessed! (12)
Conclusion
James is called NT Wisdom Literature. It’s not like other NT letters with a linear flow. It speaks in briefer, vivid, pithy expressions that help God’s people live into His truth and [goodness] and presence in the world—to live along the grain of reality and not against it, if you remember that description we used in our study of Pro.
I appreciate a statement our own Dr. Brendsel made using that image of biblical wisdom in his overview lecture on James: biblical wisdom is knowing the “grain of reality” with the result that we live gracefully and improvisationally with “the grain of reality” and not against it (Brendsel 3). This is a real-time dynamic.
Last week we said wisdom in this letter of Jams is practical insight into the ways of God in our time of testing, along with the humble courage to live accordingly. That’s getting at the same idea of the real-time, [graceful improvisation] aspect of living in biblical wisdom. This tells you there is a wide range of options in any given trial, or time. And genuine believers must act on their best understanding of God and His Word and the biblical instruction and values that are in play in that trial, or time. It tells you there’s an artistry, not just a science, to living in accord with God’s wisdom in this world.
And the reason I’m mentioning this now is because this insight is essential to our sense of being blessed. Not only do we bring nothing into our trial but our weakness, we don’t even need to discover one precise response, one action, in order to be confident that God has granted us the wisdom He promises, and the steadfastness He rewards.
What this means most immediately is that the outcome in our trial is not going to be nearly so important as our response of faith in the midst of it—whether we actually trust God, believe His promise, seek Him for wisdom, know He provides it, respond in obedience and hope, and look for His good in the midst of it all—sure we’ll find it! We trust, believe, and act. That’s what it looks like to be steadfast. And that’s what it means to be blessed.