An Attitude You Can Glory In

The book of James. I mentioned
when I started this, this series could go a couple years or it
could go ten years. And it looks like it may be the latter. The verses we’ll be looking at
this morning, James 1-9-11, but let me read verses 1-11. James,
a bondservant of God. and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
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. But the brother of humble circumstances
is to glory in his high position. And the rich man is to glory
in his humiliation. Because like flowering grass,
he will pass away. 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 too, the rich
man in the midst of his pursuit will fall away.” Just a brief
recap. Book of James written by James. The half-brother of Jesus. James, the half-brother of Jesus,
was not a believer until after Jesus appeared to him after his
resurrection. After that point, a great change
in James life because we read that he became a pillar of the
church. He was the head of the Jerusalem Council and he became
the pastor of this church. But he became a pillar of the
church. But it wasn’t until after Jesus appeared to him in the
resurrection after the resurrection, he was known as James the just.
And as I said, he was one of the pillars of the church. Paul
mentioned that in Galatians two, nine. The people who he is writing
to. Jewish Christians who have been
dispersed. They have been driven from their
homeland because of persecution from other Jews. These people
were fairly well off, but now they
have been driven from their homeland, forced to leave everything. And James writes to them, greetings,
consider it all joy. And as we talked about when we
covered these first verses, what do you think their reaction was?
To get a letter from their pastor, oh, some sympathy. What does
he have to say? Consider it all joy. And we said,
has James lost his mind? No, he hasn’t. Because as he
points out in the verses, He shows us what we need to know
about trials. Number one, that they are promised. It says, when you encounter various
trials. That’s not an if, it’s a when.
So, trials are promised. Jesus said, in this world you
will have trouble. Job 14.1, man who is born of
woman is short-lived and full of turmoil. So we know we will
have trouble. that trials are promised. But
also, trials have a purpose. Knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
results so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We know we’re not going to be perfect. But it is a walk. It is a process. We can be assured
that trials don’t come about just because. There is a purpose
for them. There is a reason for what we
go through. The purpose is to test our faith and to ultimately
build and increase our faith. Everything that God does for
us, in us and to us, is to bring us closer to Him. And that’s
what these trials are designed to do. Not only are trials promised
and have a purpose, but to go through them, you need an unnatural
perspective. It’s not natural to have joy
in trials. But we know joy is not a happiness. Joy is knowing that the relationship
between us and our Savior is good. It is in good standing.
It’s natural to worry, to get angry, to seek someone out who
will give you pity. But being able to rejoice through
trials, knowing that God is working in you, is a proof of genuine
faith. We also saw that we can ask for
wisdom for the things that we are going through. But if any
of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all generously
and without reproach, and it will be given to him. That’s
to drive us to prayer. If trials don’t drive us to prayer,
there’s something wrong with us. We’re trying to do it on
our own. Trials are meant to bring us
closer to God. But when we ask for wisdom, we
need to expect it and not doubt. We talked about how easy it is
to pray for someone and believe that God will heal them. He will remedy that situation. But sometimes when it comes to
us, when we pray for ourselves, we’re going, will he really do
that for me? We doubt. Or at least I do. Maybe I’m the
only one here. But we, you know, yeah, he’ll do it for Marlene.
I believe that. But for me, I don’t know. But
we are not to doubt. We are to ask expectantly, knowing
that God will give us the wisdom that we need. And in those times of trials,
we are to go back to what we know. What we know about God. And that He is a good and gracious
God. Merciful. We also know that in trials,
He won’t necessarily take us around them. The purpose is to
go through them. And He will go with us. There
are times where maybe He will remove the trial. and we can
go around it. But most often, it’s the case
that He will go with us. He has promised us His presence
and He will go with us through the trial. Which brings us to
verse 9. But the brother of humble circumstances
is to glory in his high position, and the rich man is to glory
in his humiliation, because like flowering grass, he will pass
away. 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 too, the rich man in the midst
of his pursuits will fade away.” Everyone, as we have just talked
about, will be faced with trials. And genuine faith comes through
trials. It is revealed in trials. In
verse 9, we see two groups that are faced with trials. It’s kind
of like the haves and the have-nots. This is not a sermon about the
sinfulness of material possessions. It’s not to say that those who
are rich or have material wealth, that is sinful. It’s not about
that. It’s the reactions, it’s the attitudes we are to have
as we face trials. Whatever lot we fall into, We
need not to look at our status in the world, but to our spiritual
standing. These trials and circumstances
come about, require us to look to God. As the poor brother forgets all
his earthly poverty, so the rich brother forgets all his earthly
riches. The two are equals by faith in Christ. Do I need to
speak up? I’ll do that. It’s about to ring, so I’ll do
my best here. As I mentioned, the book of James
is for practical living. It’s not full of doctrine. James
is teaching his readers the right attitude in order to deal with
the trials in a way that is in line with our faith. Again, but
the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position.
The brother of humble circumstances. This represents the vast majority
of the people he’s writing to. As I mentioned, they had been
dispersed. They had been driven from their homeland, forced to
leave their homes, or had their homes and possessions taken from
them. Now, they were probably laborers in the field. They were
economically in a low position. They were low in prestige. Poverty
was the common lot for most of these Christians. They are the lowest of the low.
They were now people who were treated with disdain. But they’re
the ones who are called to glory in their high position. To glory,
to rejoice in. To rejoice in something that
is good. First, they are told to count
it all joy when trials come, and now they’re told to glory
in their high position. What high position? That being
their spiritual position, their standing in Christ. Romans 8,
verses 16-18. Paul, who knew a little something
about trials, writes, “…the Spirit Himself testifies with
our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs
with Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him,
so that we may also be glorified with Him.” for I consider that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” One wrote, the
Christian here is called not to look at material possessions,
but spiritual treasures. Another said that poverty is
a short life trial. Don’t look to find joy in the
world. Joy does not come from things or status. The rich man, verse 10, is to
glory in his humiliation because like flowering grass, he will
pass away. The rich man, I believe, is a Christian. And so do 99%
of the sources that I read. There was one who did not think
that the rich man here was a Christian. Number one, because he didn’t
specifically say brother as he did in verse 9. But in listing
some of the reasons, one of them was James does not admonish or
call this person’s repentance, which to me tells me he was a
Christian. James does that later in the book to those who he is
singling out as not being part of the family of God. So to me,
I believe that this rich man is a believer. And this rich
believer is to glory in his humiliation. This is not a humiliation of
Going out and doing something stupid. Dressing up some dumb
way and being humiliated. That’s not the case. His humiliation is the material possessions that
are so fleeting. If they were to be taken away,
glory in that, when you struggle. Glory in that when things aren’t
as easy as they normally are because you have material possessions. The rich believer should rejoice
in his humiliation because it teaches or reminds him that these
material possessions do not bring inner peace or happiness. A trial
should drive us, both rich and poor, to God. The rich man is to rejoice in
the fact that this trial is keeping him from being puffed up, or
as one wrote, delivered from proud self-exaltation, from the
falseness of worldly distraction. The rich man is to rejoice if
it all goes away, because it will one day. He is not to find
joy or satisfaction in those things. The rich and poor are
brought together through attitudes that see their true riches are
in Christ. So, what I want to show you this
morning are three things necessary in order to have this proper
attitude or perspective. The first thing necessary is
an attitude of, and I’m going to cheat here. Don’t write this
yet. What I want to say is humility.
But the pressure to alliterate in this church is immense. So, I want you to put sincere
humility. I grappled with different words
in the work. Fortunately, I had my wife there
to help me. But there can be insincere humility. So, we need an attitude of sincere
humility. This humility is a relation to
who we are and to who God is. Understanding this relationship
should quickly bring us to submission or humility. We are the creation. God is the creator. But our pride
gets in the way. Andrew Murray wrote a book called
Humility, and he wrote, God is the ever-living, ever-present,
ever-acting One who upholds all things by the word of His power,
and in Him all things exist. The relation of the creature
to God could only be one of unceasing, absolute, universal dependence. The creature has not only to
look back to the origin and first beginning of existence and acknowledge
that it therefore owes everything to God, its chief care, its highest
virtue, and through eternity is to present itself as an empty
vessel in which God can dwell and manifest his power and goodness.
An attitude of humility has us entirely dependent on God, and
what takes this dependence away is our pride. Scripture tells
us that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Without humility, we could not be saved. We need that humbleness
to acknowledge our sin and to know it is an offense to God. Once again, Murray writes, humility
is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living
on trust. And every breathing of pride,
even the most secret, in self-seeking, self-will, self-confidence, or
self-exaltation, is just the strengthening of that self which
cannot enter the kingdom or possess the things of the kingdom, because
it refuses to allow God to be what He is and must be the all
in all. In other words, without humbleness,
we aren’t prepared to trust God. And if we can’t trust God, how
are we to go through trials, believing that he has our good,
believing that he is trying to bring us closer to him? Christ
displayed this attitude. We read in Philippians 2, have
this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus,
who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regarding
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself,
taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness
of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
So we need that sincere humility. Not only do we need that attitude
of humility, but we need to have a proper understanding of the
spiritual. If we are called to focus on
our spiritual standing, we need to have a proper understanding
of what that entails. And so that first part of our
spiritual understanding, that first sub-point there would be
blessings. Preparing for this morning, I
was looking over all the blessings that we have. In Him. If you read Ephesians 1, there’s
a list and it says, In Him we have. In Him we have. In Him
we have. And I encourage you to read that
because we’re not going to have time to do that this morning. And it got to me how easily we
let all these things that we have get away from our focus
or attention. When we let ourselves feel down
or deprived, to as we don’t have things, we’re letting our spiritual
status, the things we have in Christ, get away from us. First and foremost of these blessings
is our salvation. The Gospel. That God is holy
and perfect and He cannot have a hint of sin around Him. God
is perfect and His standard is perfection. We are sinful. We have all sinned and fallen
short of God’s standard. And because God is holy, righteous,
perfect, and a God of justice, our sin had to be punished. And
no matter what we did or do, we can’t fix that on our own.
But God sent Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, to live a perfect
life. In all He did, He never sinned. So God made Him who knew
no sin to become sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness
of God. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
the spotless, perfect Lamb to take our place and to drink the
full cup of God’s wrath. He did and was buried. When Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead and gave victory over spiritual
death, and those who call upon His name and place their faith
in Him are saved from what would be a deserved eternity in hell. But instead, we have a place
in heaven where we will worship Him forever. And even this wasn’t
our doing. It was God’s. He chose us before
the foundation of the world. We were dead in our sins, unable
to respond. But God, being rich in mercy,
made us alive together with Christ. For it is by grace you have been
saved. Not by works, lest anyone can
boast. And if that isn’t enough, when
we come to faith in Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit to
guide us and to direct us, to enable us to live in the way
that Christ wants us to live. And that Spirit works in us.
And we have the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. We don’t just have one or two.
We have all. We have His promise of provision. Matthew 6 tells us about that. Why are you worried about clothing?
Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil
or spin. Yet I say to you that not even
Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. And
if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today
and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more
clothe you? Do not worry then, saying, what
shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall
we wear? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. Your Heavenly
Father knows that you need these things. But seek first His Kingdom
and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto
you.” Psalm 103. A long list. I will bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” And the following
verses go on to list those. Read Psalm 103 this week. And
I mentioned Ephesians 1. All the things that we have in
Him. We have all these things and far more. And they are more
valuable than the things of this world. When we fully understand
our spiritual standing in Christ, We can have joy in trials. We
can glory in our high position. Because we’re not missing out
on anything. Yeah, we may say, I wish I could have this. Man,
I wish I was able to do this. But those things are temporary. The blessings that we have in
Christ are permanent and eternal. And that is our second sub-point.
A proper understanding of the spiritual also includes the fact
that our standing is eternal. Ephesians 1 again, verse 13,
after it lists all the things that we have in Him, mentions that we are sealed with
the Holy Spirit. When we come to faith in Christ,
sometimes we still battle with doubt. Are we really saved? But this seal is a pledge. It’s
a guarantee. the down payment to secure a
purchase later. This is a pledge guaranteeing
our standing in Christ. Also, 1 Peter 1. Starting in v. 3, “…blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled
and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” These blessings are eternal.
They cannot be taken away. Our salvation is guaranteed. We are truly saved. That cannot
be changed. Finally, not only does an understanding
of the spiritual see the blessings, know they are eternal, but they
see a glorious future. The believer has a future forever
with God. Heaven is a place where perfect
love, perfect unity, and perfect worship occur. Heaven is a place
where the cares of this world, sickness and worry all disappear. If you want a great piece to
read on about heaven, I encourage you to do a Google, because I
don’t know the website, but just put in Jonathan Edwards, heaven.
And his sermon, Heaven, a Place of Love, you can access it from
there. And go ahead and read that. tells us about what we can look
forward to. This world is not my home. I’m
just a passing through. How many of you heard that song?
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon
me through heaven’s open door. And I can’t feel at home in this
world anymore. I don’t know about you, but sometimes
I just feel too comfortable here. I look for things that will satisfy
me here, make me comfortable here. But it’s all temporary. And our future is a glorious
future with Him in Heaven. If there are things that we don’t
get, we should be okay with that, with this temporary and insignificant
deprivation, because our divine inheritance is our future. If we do get upset, we’re seeking
to be at home here. Hey, I don’t want to offend anybody
here. There’s a terrible Christian song out that’s been out for
a few years. It’s a fun song to sing. Catchy
tune. But it goes like this. It’s a
big, big house with lots and lots of rooms. With a big, big
table with lots and lots of food. with a big, big yard where we
can play football. It’s a big, big house. It is
my Father’s house. That’s not what heaven is. And
what this song does, it brings earthly joys and desires and
puts it in heaven. And we don’t want that. And there
will be none of that in heaven. Read Revelation. That’s what
we’re going to be doing up there. We’re going to be in the service
of worshiping our Lord and Savior. None of you, even if Kevin were
here, would not want to be playing football up in heaven. Not only do we need an attitude
of humility and an understanding of the spiritual, but we also
need an understanding of the secular. We have looked on the
blessings of the spiritual and know that they are satisfying
and eternal. On the flip side, however, the
so-called blessings of the world are temporary. Verse 10-11, And
the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering
grass, he will pass away. But the sun rises with a scorching
wind and withers the grass, and its flowers fall off, and the
beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So too, the rich man, in the
midst of his pursuits, will fade away. Picture here is of the
Shiraka winds that come from the east in Israel. And the grass,
which, and the flowers would bloom in February, are gone by
May, because these winds, these scorching winds come, and they
wither and die and blow away. We have this flower in the front
of our yard. If you come over tonight, you won’t see it, because
it comes up somewhere around April, and it’s gone middle of
May. It’s pretty. I don’t know where
it comes from. I don’t see it now. But then
all of a sudden, in April, this flower will appear. Like I said,
it’s pretty. It’s cardinal and kind of a yellow
gold, which for us USC fans, we like to see that. But then it’s gone. And if I
look right now, I don’t think I’d know where it comes from.
But then it will appear. That’s what the riches, the blessings
of this world do. They wither and they go away.
Possessions and power, things that are considered signs of
success in this world, are fleeting. Man is considered a mist or a
vapor that appears and is gone. And we all know that you can’t
take it with you. So either your possessions, by
the providence of God, will be taken away, or you will be by
the providence of God. Matthew 6.19 says, where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where
thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also.” As we said, riches are not of themselves
sinful. However, the danger is the desire
for more. I’ve seen many people with a
lot just strive for more and more and more. And being a Christian,
it makes it that much more difficult to live in a way that Christ
wants us to. They make it difficult to be
humble. It makes it difficult not to be prideful, puffed up,
or overconfident in ourselves. David in Psalm 30 said, in my
prosperity, I shall not be moved. Then he went on to say, you hid
your face and I was dismayed. He realized that those riches
are nothing. They will pass away. But if God’s
turning away or if we don’t have Him close by, we are in trouble. These secular blessings are also
deceptive. And that would be that second
sub-point under point three. Without a humble attitude and
fear of the Lord, riches can become a snare. Thomas Manton
wrote, it is a hard matter to enjoy the world without being
entangled with the cares and pleasures of it. It is a miracle
of grace to see a rich man gain to Christ and a love for heaven. Because they have a lot here. Life is good here. And although heaven may be something
they’re looking forward to, they’re pleased with life here. The rich
young ruler is an example. He came to Christ. What can I
do to be saved? The key word was, what can I
do? Well, you can’t do anything in
and of yourself but place your faith in Jesus Christ. But Jesus
went through these things. Oh, do this, do this, do this.
Oh, I’ve done all those. But then He says, one thing you
lack. Go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor. And
He went away grieved because He had a lot. And He didn’t want
to give that up. Let not your heart go after the
things of this world, one wrote, as your chief good. Indulge not
yourself in the possessions of earthly things as though they
were to satisfy your soul. This is the reverse of seeking
heaven. Riches are what the world puts hope in, and they don’t
satisfy. This is a proper understanding
of the secular. Our blessings in Christ, they
satisfy. How else then can a family who
loses a nine-year-old daughter find peace and comfort? How else can a family with a
husband and wife who don’t have jobs be confident that God will
provide for them? How else can a lady who is on
her deathbed be more concerned with the list of people that
she needs to talk to and share the gospel with than her final
days? Ask Trey about that one. Lastly, an understanding of the
secular shows us that the ways of the world are deceptive, and they are temporary, and they
have a tormented future. Oh, that’s a great way to go
out. Talking about a tormented future. The way of the world,
which is to live apart from Christ, will lead to an eternity without
Christ. The way of the world leads to
an eternity in hell. There are only two places to
go. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one
gets to the Father except through Him. Whereas heaven is a place
of perfect love, hell is the opposite. In that sermon, Heaven
a Place of Love, Jonathan Edwards closes with a description of
hell. Let me read to you an excerpt
from that. Jonathan Edwards. A world of love ends with a description
of hell. There are none in hell but what
have been haters of God. No love for God will ever be
felt there. They will continue to hate Him and without any restraint
will express their hatred to Him, blaspheming and raging against
Him while they gnaw their tongues for pain. The devils in hell
will hate damned souls. They hated them while in this
world, and therefore it was that, with such subtlety and indefatigable
temptations, they sought their ruin. And now they have them
in their power. They will spend eternity in tormenting
them with the utmost strength and cruelty that devils are capable
of.” Now, I realize I read that kind
of late last night. That scared me. Just thinking of that description. It goes on to describe more,
but that’s enough. There are no friends in hell,
there are no parties in hell. There is that unity of hatred
for God, but that’s it. Edwards does go on to say, let
the consideration of what has been said of heaven stir up all
earnestly to seek after it. If we value comfort more than
character, then trials will upset us. If we value physical and
material more than the spiritual, We will not be able to count
it all joy. We will not be able to have this
attitude that can glory in our exalted position or on the other
side, glory in our humiliation, looking at our spiritual standing.
If we live for the present and not the future, trials will only
make us bitter and not better. One wrote, trials are given to
teach us God’s blessings. Our reason tells us to value
the world. Our senses tell us to value pleasure
and ease. But through trials, faith tells
us to value the spiritual things of God with which He has blessed
us abundantly, including His Word, His care, His provision,
His strength, and most importantly, His salvation. Heroes of faith. Hebrews 11. They all forsook
the world for God’s Many never got to see them fulfilled. That’s Hebrews 11. And Hebrews
12 begins, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance in the
sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance,
endurance, that’s what trials produce, the race that is set
before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy sat before Him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
God.” Don’t know what economic status or station life finds
you right now, but can you glory in your exalted position? A position
that here doesn’t have you with much. Can you glory if you’re on the
other end? Can you hear humiliation if all
was taken away? Would we be okay? Because we
know what we have. We know what our future is. We
know what we have here. We have His protection. We have His provision. We have
His blessings. Let’s pray. Father, we thank
You for For the ability that You give
us through Your Spirit, through the blessings that we have through
You, to find reasons to rejoice in trials, we thank You that
we can find reasons to rejoice even though we don’t
have things that other people have, or that things are taken
away from us, that we can still rejoice because we have You And
we are Yours. We have Your inheritance. We have this pledge guaranteeing
our salvation. Lord, help us to find our joy
in You. As we sang, more than enough,
You are more than enough for us. In Your name we pray.
Amen. Hmm. Hi, buddy. Time can go quickly. How goes it, man? It’s going
well. It’s going well. Well, good. How’s things for
you? Good. Pretty good. Keeping busy? Busy about making it to your
house tonight. If you need help, we can get
you there or help you get there or whatever. Okay. Love to have
you. Thank you. Thank you.