Date: taught to our Awana Varsity class 9/30/09
Resources: John MacArthurs Commentary on James, & a sermon series from Denton Bible Church
Audio: http://eek-71.xanga.com/audio/ed0963701696/
INTRO:
• James is described as the NT's "Wisdom Literature"
• James is the earliest NT book (approximately 45 AD)
• James is Jesus' little brother and became Pastor of the Jerusalem church. James knew his bible... he references 22 OT books and makes 21 references to the Sermon on the Mount
• James is intensely practical, answers the question "what is a godly person?", James gets straight to the point and gives a treatise on what the life of a godly person "looks like".
• James is "Practical Christianity 101".... how a believer relates to trials, his bible, to the poor, how faith relates to works. How a follower of Jesus relates to his speech, to other people, to quarrels and anger, to money and covetousness...
• James is about how to take Christianity from the "lecture hall" to the "real world". Today's message is how the Christian relates to TRIALS
• write in the margin of your bible...
> vs 2 "perspective"
> vs 5 "response"
> vs 9 "result"
> vs 13 "danger!"
1. HOW DO YOU PERCEIVE TRIALS? vs 2-4
• not "IF" but "WHEN"... trials are not an "elective", they are required in "Jesus Following 101"
• "various" = of all kinds. Jesus is not an escape from trials, rather we still experience trials of all sorts.
• "in ALL things" = from flat tires... to life taking diseases... God is sovereign over ALL, therefore consider it JOY, why?...
• "consider it" = I KNOW God is testing me, don't laugh it off or ignore it, CONSIDER it!... think it over and respond in faith b/c I KNOW what God is doing
• Trials help you strip/chip away everything that doesn't look like Jesus!
• KEY POINT = a trial is not an accident, it is an act of God to force me out of my wisdom power and strength, to rest in the truth of my Bible, to the point where I will not trust what I think, feel or am, but I will trust GOD. So whatever you are going through, thank Him because He is working on me!
• PERSPECTIVE = God is Sovereign, He is testing me, and helping me grow in intimacy with Him.
2. HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO TRIALS vs 5-8
• "wisdom" = Gods mysterious ways. Gods ways seem upside down to us because we are upside down people living in an upside down world. God tells us to be great we must be humble, that to be strong we must become weak, that beauty is on the inside of a person, etc., etc.
• read Rom 11:33-36... "God, your wisdom is so great I don't understand!... God I am so dumb, so broken, so fleshly that I don't have any sense. God would you take me and show me and open my eyes to your Word and help me to understand."... THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A TRIAL, to drive us to our KNEES & TRUST Him.
• RESPONSE = Turn to Him, Trust Him
3. WHAT SHOULD THE RESULT OF TRIALS BE? vs 9-12
• a trial is a wonderful thing, b/c it proves that I am Gods child!
• read Heb 12:8... all Gods children grow through trials
• vs 12 How do I know I am saved? I've experienced trials. Often, our scars are greater signs of our Christian life than our baptism or church membership... the scars of a proven life (lookup Gal. 6:1)
• RESULT = God is proving & purifying our faith. He is drawing me closer today, and someday will draw me to heaven and give me a crown of life.
CONCLUSION
• vs 13 the danger of a wrong response to trials... bitterness
• trials are the proving ground of the elect
• trials increase the distance, harden the hearts, and produce bitterness and blame in the hearts of the unbeliever... BUT for the believer, His Word becomes deeper and more precious, we are humbled and time in prayer becomes sweeter and the presence of Christ is nearer, richer, and inspires our heart to praise Him. Thanks God for your trials because He is using them to make you more like Jesus and to draw you closer to Himself.
Recent Comments