 Okay, with that said, we're in James. We're gonna look at James chapter one verses one through eight today. And let me give you an introduction before the introduction and that is the way I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna give you an introduction, then I'm gonna move into a secondary introduction, then I'm gonna move into the teaching. So there'll be some layers today just getting you prepared and developing the introduction to the introduction. So beginning at verse one in James chapter one, reading to verse eight. James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He's a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. So as we begin laying the first layer of the foundation, we're looking at a book that helps us to understand what faith is. Throughout this letter, the book of James, we're gonna see that faith is something that motivates action and James will make it clear that dead faith is actually worse than no faith at all. Now we live in a day where many say they have a faith in God. But James makes it clear that faith is found in actions. Philosophic, mental, sentimental, emotional or verbal faith is not saving or living faith. There have been a few once professing Christians. Perhaps you've been reading your newsfeed or whatever. There have been a few once professing Christians who have recently rejected Christ and this has been coming out over the social media. And these who are now professing to have rejected Christ were once outspoken. They were trusted, visible members of the Christian community. One of them that was fairly well known at least in some circles is manned by the name of Joshua Harris. Joshua Harris wrote a book encouraging people not to date. Another one is a Hillsong songwriter who recently stated that he is losing his faith and that he believes Christianity is just another religion and only desires genuine truth. Perhaps you've read of Joshua. I think he wrote something like I Kiss Dating Goodbye and perhaps you're aware of the songs of the Hillsong community. Well, another songwriter is rejecting his faith and Joshua Harris turned away from it. So there's a fellow by the name of John Cooper and John Cooper is the lead singer for a Christian band. Many of you perhaps are familiar with, it's called Skillet. And he wrote a thoughtful post about this and he pointed out that these men were once influencers for the gospel but are now wanting to influence people away from the gospel. And he thinks out loud about that. How come these people who are so desperate to influence for God are now desperate to still be an influencer but this time it's away from God. And so he is concerned about that and rightly so. And so he wrote something that I think is worthy of quoting and this is something, a portion of something he wrote that I read just this week and this is what John Cooper said. He said, I've been saying for 20 years and seemed probably quite judgmental to some of my peers that we are in a dangerous place when the church is looking to 20 year old worship singers as our source of truth. We now have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern praise songs rather than from the teachings of the word. I'm not being rude to my worship leader friends many who would agree with me in saying that singers and musicians are good at communicating emotion and feeling. We create a moment and a vehicle for God to speak. However, singers are not always the best people to write solid Bible truth and doctrine. Sometimes we are too young, too ignorant of scripture, too unaware or too unconcerned about the purity of scripture and the holiness of the God we are singing to. There's truth to that. My own pastor Chuck Smith used to say, let the singers sing, let the teachers teach. Because it's true because in worship, especially in today's culture when people go to church, many people are more exuberant when they're singing than they are excited about learning. And many of the lyrics that are being written are actually not true. They're not right. They're not according to scripture. So even here in our fellowship, especially here in our fellowship, I will look at the lyrics and I will speak to Jared, my worship leader here. And I ought to say this. Well, I say that the worship leader here, but the real worship leader in any Calvary Chapel, you may or may not know this. I'll say it quickly. He is not the person who's leading the band. The worship leader is the pastor. That's who your worship leader is. You may or may not know that. You may have gotten into the same mentality that a lot of people have in the church which is, oh, they're the worship leader. No, they're the singers. They're the ones who lead in music and worship. The pastor is the worship leader in the church. And I have the responsibility as the worship leader to evaluate the songs that are sung here because I know that songs communicate theology and sometimes the theology is off because the emotionality of this song is what people like. I could give you examples. I won't, that's not part of my notes, but I'm just pointing this out. And John Cooper from Skillet says that. It's a big mistake when you have a 20-year-old up there that's looked at as being the one who's teaching you truth when in fact he's a poet. When in fact, what is a 20-year-old? No, I'm not knocking that. We were once 20, I was once 20. I got saved at the age of 20. I'm not saying that's a bad age. No, it's a great age, of course. But what do you know at 20 that is developed? And that's why young people don't lead the church. That's why elders lead the church. That's why you don't lay hands on any man suddenly. You don't put your hands on a novice. Why? Because they're not developed in their understanding of theology and the relationship with God. And very often what happens in the community of Christians is we listen to the music, we sing the lyrics and we don't wanna hear the word and that's what John is saying. He said, how can a 20-year-old who really has a limited understanding of scripture and relationship with God, how can that person be the one who's directing the spiritual vitality of a church that can provoke emotion, they can lead us into a place where God can speak but it's the word of God that you need. And these people who are walking away from the Lord are people who are walking away from God's word. And they don't have a relationship with the word of God and thus they're more than likely had a strained one with Him. And what we're seeing is, and I think what we have is a front row seat to what Paul indicated would happen in the last days. In 2 Timothy in chapter four verses three and four, Paul said it like this. He said, a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they wanna hear. They will reject the truth and follow strange myths. So James is writing to give believers an understanding of what faith actually is. Faith is not wishful thinking. Faith is not an uncertain hope that something good might happen. Faith is living in hope that is so real that it provides an absolute assurance, a confidence. In Hebrews 11 verse one, the writer said, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance. That word substance speaks of a sense of assurance, a confidence. It speaks of a steadiness of mind that makes you steadfast in your walk with God. It's a sense of assurance. He's saying that faith is a confident assurance. It's the title deed of things that you're hoping for. He's saying faith is living in hope, a hope that is so real that it provides absolute assurance. Faith is seen in the life of Moses. It's seen when Moses was leading the children of Israel from Egypt, from bondage. And there they are standing at the Red Sea and behind them are the armies of Egypt. And before them is the Red Sea. There's no way of escape. They're trapped. And as these people saw the Egyptians approaching, they were afraid. Here comes the armies of Egypt. They had chariots. The chariots were tanks during that day. And they see this armor coming towards them. There's nothing they can do. They're trapped between the armies and the sea and they begin to cry out. And they say it would have been better for us to stay in Egypt rather than to die here in the wilderness. And that's when Moses speaks and Exodus 14, 13 and 14 says this. Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. He said, stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord. That's faith and God delivered them. Faith isn't an energy. It isn't wishful thinking, an uncertain hope or a positive attitude. It is a confident assurance in the integrity of God and his word to man. Numbers 2319 says it like this. God is not a man that he should lie. Neither the son of man that he should repent. Has he said, shall he not do it? Has he spoken? Shall he not make it good? Faith is the evidence of things not seen. The word evidence is the divinely given conviction of things unseen, a divine conviction. None of us were present at the crucifixion of Christ. Yet all Christians believe he lived, he taught, he died, he resurrected, descended and we believe he's returning. Though we didn't know him in a personal way, yet we cling to him by faith. And as believers we know that faith is tested. We know it's refined by trials and we expect trials. We expect those things to take place. And we hold fast to him because we trust him. We have placed our full hope in him. In Hebrews 116 it says without faith it's impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we believe that he is, we believe there's a God. Second, we believe that he's a rewarder of those who faithfully serve him and also we've determined to diligently seek after him. We seek to please him with all of our life. So Christian faith is an invisible attitude. It's revealed, it's made visible by our lives. And true faith is living faith and living faith is revealed by actions and the actions are based on scripture. So in Psalm 25 verse four the Psalmist said show me your ways, oh Lord, teach me your paths. As we look at James we're gonna see things about faith that will help us to grow as believers. We'll see this in his book. James reveals that faith endures trials. Faith resists temptation. Faith obeys the word of God. Faith produces works. Faith is not prejudiced. Faith is more than just words or knowledge. Faith controls the tongue, is revealed by obedience and holds fast to God's promises. Faith chooses wisdom, separates us from the world and submits to God. Faith provides strength to resist the devil and faith waits patiently for the coming of the Lord. And in a word, faith works. Now as we begin, the book of James was written around, that's your first layer, here's your second one. The book of James was written around the years 46 to 49, as such it's regarded as the earliest epistles of the epistles. As you look at this book you'll see that there's no mention of Gentile Christians and you'll also see that there's no distinctively developed theology. If you go into 1 Corinthians you see developed theology. If you go into the book of Romans, in the book of Galatians, you go into Hebrews. There's a developed theology but James doesn't have that. James has some rudimentary things that we see. And as you go through it there's no mention of Gentile Christians at all. And you're not gonna see a developed theology. He uses the word synagogue but he also uses the word church. And James reveals a very simple organization of elders and teachers. So it's a very basic book and it's the earliest letter. And so we begin by identifying the writer, James, verse one, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad greetings. And so we identify the author, it's James. Notice he's the servant of God. But who is this man named James? When you read your Bible and I assume that you do, when you read the New Testament you're gonna see that there are actually four men named James in the New Testament. You have James who was the father of Thaddeus. Thaddeus was one of the apostles. You see him in Luke chapter six. Second you have the apostle James but he was James the son of Alpheus. Also called James the last in Matthew 10, verse three. You also have the apostle James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, Matthew chapter four. He was martyred around 44 AD and it's not likely the writer of this book. And finally we have James, the brother of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 13 verses 55 and 56 it says it like this. Isn't this the carpenter's son? It isn't his mother's name Mary and aren't his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas aren't all his sisters with us. So it is this James the brother of the Lord that is recognized as the writer of the letter. And that James didn't believe in Jesus when Jesus was walking on earth and performing his ministry. As a matter of fact he was antagonistic towards him. How do we know that? Well John writes about that in John's gospel chapter seven verses three through five where it says Jesus's brothers said to him you want to leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret since you're doing these things show yourself to the world. And then John adds this for even his own brothers did not believe in him. So he didn't believe in Christ when Jesus was walking the face of the earth. That's an amazing thing to admit. But he didn't. How could you not? I don't know. He was raised in the home with a perfect kid. And Mary could have said, why James why can't you be more like your brother? And that would have really made me feel bad. Right? How can that be? But he didn't believe in him. He didn't believe in his own brother. He didn't believe until after Jesus's death barren resurrection. According to 1 Corinthians 15 verse seven that's when he became a believer. Eventually he became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He became what is called a pillar of the church. That's mentioned in Galatians chapter two verse nine where Paul said, James Peter and John those reputed to be pillars gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews. So he became a pillar in the church. Now tradition and not scripture. Tradition holds that between 62 and 66 AD before the fall of Jerusalem. A tradition holds that he suffered a violent martyrdom. A tradition holds that he was thrown from the Temple Mount, hit the ground and then beaten to death. Well this is James. Again verse one, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me develop something with you there. Even his introduction, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a Jewish concept, this bond servant. It's normally associated with loyalty to a prophet or rabbi. It speaks of being a servant too. It's like 2 Peter 219 where the apostle said, a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. Well James was a servant of the Lord Jesus and as such was submitted to him. Now this is something that I have to lay as a foundation because we're gonna look at trials in a moment. And this submission to Jesus Christ helps us to deal in our time, deal with the trials that we go through. It helps us to deal with the situations we find ourselves in. You see when you understand yourself to be a servant, you understand that you have given up your rights because servants gave up their rights and if you understand yourself a servant who has given up his rights, then you also know that you can have peace because God doesn't owe you anything and here's a problem a lot of people have. When you go through struggles or tough times or trials, you get mad at God. Oh God, I've been faithful and I've served you so well. I haven't done anything wrong. Why are you allowing me to go through these hard times? I would assume that every one of us in this room, at least once in our life and maybe more than that, I've actually taken that to the throne of God, a complaint to him saying, how come you're allowing this in my life? Why did you allow me to go through this? Well, one of the things that James is beginning to tell us even as he's gonna introduce the place of trials in the life of a believer is he's saying, I am a bond servant of Jesus Christ. And in that day, the slaves knew they had no rights and this bond servant was a voluntary servant of that master and he knew that that master was right and just and good and James is saying, I volunteered for this. I chose this. I'm a servant and as a servant, who am I to complain about how my master treats me? In the gospel of Luke in chapter 17, verses seven through 10, Jesus said this, which of you having a slave plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, come immediately and sit down to eat. But will he not say to him, prepare something for me to eat and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk? And afterward, you will eat and drink. He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, we are unworthy slaves, we have done only that which we ought to have done. Not many Christians think that way today. Not many Christians believe that today. Now wait a minute, he owes me. You know, I'm the head, I'm not the tail. He ought to be blessing me, not cursing me. How come these things are happening to me? To a person such as I, I try hard. I pray, I give, I serve, I do all that I can. And yet I'm going through trials? How come? Why the pain? People do that all the time. Well, Jesus said, you're ultimately a servant. And your word is I'm unworthy on top of that. Your master, he said, owes you nothing. But what he gives you, you ought to be grateful for. That is not a current way of thinking today. That goes against the grain of everything most Americans believe. And yet that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible doesn't teach that I should get manic God for not blessing me the way I think he's supposed to. The Bible teaches me, I'm like James, I'm a bond servant. I'm a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the key to going through trials. We'll see that in a minute. So he goes on in verse one and he says to the 12 tribes that are scattered. The word scattered speaks of the dispersion, who are dispersed abroad. So he's writing as a Christian Jew to Jews outside of Israel. He's possibly writing to what you call messianic, which are Christian Jews. And it may be including non-messianic. It may be a message to Jews in general. At this time, there were Jews traveling and living or resident in most parts of the civilized world, especially in Asia, Greece, Egypt, and Italy. And many of them had come to faith in Messiah. And so he's writing to them and he gives his greetings and that's what he simply says, greetings. Literally greetings means joy to you. Again, the inference is that even in trials, you can have joy because he now moves right into the heart of what he wants to say in the first few verses. Verse two, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Count it all joy. You see, the world is in a battle where the powers of good and evil are in combat constantly. In 1 John 219, John said, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. So he's giving a word of encouragement. He's saying, you are in a battle. You need to have the proper mindset and don't be surprised that you're having such a difficult time because difficulties are part of the life of a believer. The apostle Peter wrote like this in 1 Peter 4, 12 and 13. He said, beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. Don't think it's strange that you're going through hard times, that you're suffering. This world is at war with God. It is in fierce combat for the souls and minds of man. So don't be surprised when you encounter fiery trials as if some strange thing is happening because this is part of what God is doing in the world today. You see, trials are inevitable and that's why he says to us in verse two, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Count, that word count speaks of considering or deeming, consider these trials appropriately. Somebody said, God does not give faith, love, hope, or any grace without meaning to test it. If a man builds a railway bridge, it is that engines may go over it and prove its carrying power. If he only makes a needle and must be tested by the work he can do, so when God made you to be strong in the Lord, he meant to try every ounce of your strength. You see, as a soldier of the cross, we must realize there's no discharge in this war. To be victorious requires endurance, but there's joy because of the certainty of victory. When Paul was writing concerning spiritual warfare in the book of Ephesians in chapter six, he says after doing all, he says stand, stand therefore. And when he says stand, it's a picture of a man, a warrior, and his armor has settled on him, and he begins to describe that, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, your waist is girded with truth, you have shoes that are, your feet are shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace, you have the shield of faith, and you have the sword of the spirit. He begins to give you the items of the Roman soldier, the battle-hardened man, and he begins to describe that, but he says having done all, he said stand, stand therefore, and the word stand there is a word that speaks concerning planning your feet firmly and not moving. You see, if you're going into battle, you're not gonna be shuffling around, he says you need to plant your feet, but it's not planning your feet just as if you're battling, it's standing in victory, and what God wants you to know, you need to know this today, is that the war is won in Jesus Christ, there'll be battles, but in Christ we win those too, you never lose, and when you go through a trial, you're not going to lose, that's why you count it all joy when you encounter various trials, why? For the trying of your faith will work patience, but let patience have a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. You see, that's how you consider, you count these things, you count the cost, and you're aware, because there's so many people who think I deserve better, you know what I deserve hell, but I got grace, that's how it works, but we don't see that, we don't understand that, we're not getting what we deserve, and what he's doing in us is he's purging us, he's refining us, he's strengthening us, because didn't you, maybe you didn't, I have, God I have said, make me like you, and I forget that Isaiah 53 has described Jesus as a wounded healer, now if he's wounded, what makes me think I won't be? What makes me think I won't go through trials? What makes me think that I'm gonna just hop and skip and sing happy songs all of my life and then go to heaven? It's a battle, it's a war, and you are on Satan's hit list, and if you believe scripture and share it with people, if you do, you are his enemy, if you don't want him to bother you, he doesn't bother backsliders, he doesn't bother people who are lukewarm, he bothers the warrior, he battles the person who stands up, plants their feet and says, here I stand, so help me God, I will not be moved, I'm gonna follow Christ, no matter what, I'm not gonna allow the world to wash me down into the gutter, I'm not gonna be that person, I'm gonna stand, my feet are gonna be planted, I'm gonna wear the armor, and I'm gonna battle because that's what God called me to do, and that's why you encounter difficult times. And the Lord, you're thinking, but God, you see that I'm the warrior, and God says, yeah, but you've got things in you I'm dealing with because you may be doing things with the wrong heart or with the wrong attitude or with the wrong sense, and I'm gonna wash those things away from you too. Don't give up, please, don't lose hope. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, doesn't say I camp out there, it says I walk through it, and I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod, thy staff, they comfort me, but walking through is tough sometimes, it's not easy, it isn't, and the more you love the Lord, I promise you, the more your faith is tried, I promise you, I've had people, you say, please don't promise me that, no I do, I promise you. Those who shall live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. You will be hated by all men for my sake, but the one who endures will be saved. You are going to go through things we all do, but God is working in us and producing in us a longing for heaven and a longing for him, and we know the world is not my home, I'm a pilgrim, I'm just passing through, and one of these days, and it's not that long from now for any of us, we will see him face to face, and we're not gonna whine and cry and ask him, how come you allowed this? Because we shall know then, even as we know, as we are known, I won't have a question, in heaven there are no questions, there's only answers, and I will see the answer, the way, the truth, the life, face to face, and I won't question, he will wipe away the tears from my eyes, and I'll behold the one who cried for me. It's gonna be all good guys, I hope you understand that, that's called Christianity, it's not easy, it's a faith that you encounter tough times, you encounter difficulties, it's easier for a dead fish just to float downstream, it takes a living one to go upstream, and as you're going upstream, you're developing strength, and you're seeing that God is faithful to you, step by step, so James is writing to a church that needs to understand, first and foremost, that he himself is a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that they will go through trials, and you're to have an understanding that they are inevitable. In Romans chapter eight verses 17 and 18, Paul said, now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in his glory, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us, again with this, that's our reality, and he's giving a word of encouragement, trials are inevitable, so you must count, you must consider, you must deem these trials appropriately, and trials are adversity, trials are afflictions that are sent by God to test or prove someone's character, faith, and holiness, trials refine faith, they mature the believer whose eyes are on eternity, have you ever asked the Lord ever, in one form or another, there used to be a time when we used these literal words, we would say I wanna be on fire for you, have you ever said anything similar to that? I did, it's a young man, I was in Biola, I was a young guy, 23 years old at the time, going to Bible college, and my professor, Dr. Moore, Dr. George Moore said this, he said young man, have you ever said to God, I wanna be on fire for you? I had, God, I wanna be on fire for you, he said remember that fire burns, and remember that fire consumes, and if you're asking to be on fire, you will be consumed, and I put that in the little file cabinet that I had in my head at that time, what does this mean? You'll have to figure this out at a later date, and I did, fire burns and fire consumes, and so Peter said it like this in 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7, he said in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth and gold which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine, and may result in praise, glory and honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed, though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. You say trials are inevitable for a child of God, there are times when trials are physical, so knowing they have a purpose gives you strength to continue to endure, and 2 Corinthians 12, 10, Paul said for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong. You see these believers were not suffering needlessly, they were being purified, and they knew that good will come out of it. In Psalm 66, 10 through 12, the Psalmist said for you oh God tested us, you refined us like silver, you brought us into prison, you laid burdens on our backs, you let men ride over our heads, we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Lord we went through all of these things, but you were with us, you delivered us, and you have blessed us, and so he's saying this, count it all joy, why because what is a result is good, he says in verse three knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, the testing, patience, patience demonstrates genuine salvation. You see a pseudo Christian, a Christian in name only would never endure a trial, because when something bad happens, they blame God and they walk away, that's a fact. Jesus spoke about that in Matthew chapter 13, he gave a parable of the sore and the seed, and he spoke of seed falling on stony ground and immediately it sprang up, it germinated quickly because the ground was shallow, the ground had no depth, but later on he went on to explain what he meant by the story, he said in Matthew 13, 20 and 21, he said he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no ridding himself, but endures only for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles. You see the genuine believer understands that there are going to be times of trials, there are difficult seasons, but they know the end will be a blessing, he says the testing of your faith produces patience. You get to the point where you're saying, Lord, and I think I'm speaking to a few people right now personally, when is this gonna stop? When is this gonna end? When is this time of pain gonna be over? When? Maybe, maybe I'm the only one who's gone through that. As a husband, my wife says I'm pregnant and I say, oh great, you can have beautiful babies and baby separates the womb, you have that moment holding this beautiful baby in your arms and you're looking at the baby saying to yourself, you're gonna have a wonderful life, it's gonna be great, you're gonna be good, you're gonna always be a blessing. And then they grow up, they have a mind of their own and you see the cute little baby that was so small that used to get so agitated, you come to realize when they're a little bit older that if that little baby that was so agitated had the ability, that baby would've probably killed you and you begin to discover, you begin to discover things about that baby, things that you didn't imagine, things you never thought would happen. As a husband, you come to realize that the baby's like her mother. No, I'm just, obviously just plain. And some days you find yourself on your face in your carpet in your room, weeping to God saying, God, what have I done? What didn't I do? God help me. God help my baby. God help us. Have you been there? Have you been there? I have, I have. I have lived in my face, in my bedroom sometimes for seasons. God, when? When will you answer this prayer? I dedicated this one to you. I want them to serve and love you, God. It matters to me. As I look at this world, the world's going to hell. There's so much evil and sorrow, so much pain that could be avoided. The violence, the drugs, the promiscuity, God save my child. I don't want my child part of that. I want my child to be a warrior in opposition to that, to bring the truth. And yet, Lord, I remember dedicating that baby and then going through a season and you pray daily and you pray weekly and you pray monthly and sometimes you pray for years. And you hold onto the promises of God. Lord, you said, if I train up a child and the way should go when they're old, they will not depart from it. Lord, I want to hold to your promise. I have poured into this baby, right? They go through their seasons and you go through yours. And then one day you start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and you begin to step out and you begin to see that the things you poured into that child over the weeks, months, into the years are finally to blossom. You see, the seeds are finally starting to grow and some fruit is finally showing. And then you say, all of this was painful, but I wanted to have, I wanted patients to have her perfect work that I might be perfect and entire lacking nothing. And Lord, I've seen how you work in your time and my faith has not been destroyed. My faith has been refined because I see you are true to your word. And Lord, I held on to you. I grabbed hold of the hem of your garment and I wouldn't let go because I know you will bless and thank you and you rejoice. And in the meantime, you have grown. You've grown to know what faith is. You've grown in patience. You've grown in love. Your character has been formed. You've been tested, tried, you've been proven. And God works. And so we hold fast during those times. We hold fast to the difficult, during the difficult times. We rejoice in our sufferings. We know that suffering produces perseverance, that perseverance character and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he's given to us. He says in verse four, he said, let patients have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. Do not think that your trial will always be for a short time because sometimes it does last. And God wants to make you stronger, not for a single moment, but over a lifetime. You see, one of the problems we have is we're part of a generation that expects instant, whatever. We know that. You know, let me give you an ancient history lesson. It'll take a few minutes. I was in, in 1975, I was in Europe. And if I wanted to call the states, I would have to first get on the phone and I would call downstairs to the desk. In the front desk, I would say, I want to make a long distance call to California. And then the operator would say, who do you want to speak to? And I'd say, I'd like to speak to Marie. And so, and it's a collect call. That was Marie, my girlfriend at the time. So I'd call her collect. That's true. And then they say, okay. And then a half hour later, she'd ring up your room and she'd say, the party's on the line. And you'd pick, you know, and you'd say hello and you'd talk. Now, we have instant communication now. Instant in such a way that it, you know, this is satellite. I mean, I have been in Israel and I've called home and I'll get impatient because it took six seconds to connect. You know what I mean? So we're living in a time where the younger people, there's no fault in this at all. It's a different culture. The younger people don't understand that things that they expect right now were things we had the patience to wait for because we didn't have instant communication. You get in the car and you drive and you're going to a place you've never been to and you've got your phone. And you say, hey Siri or whomever, you know, I want to go to the Hollywood Palladium. Give me directions, right? And then you've got some woman telling you where to go because you do anyway, you know. Might as well be a woman's voice, you know. Turn right, stupid. Stop, do you see that car in front of you? But the voice comes on and tells you, right? You know, you go this and three miles here, take a right turn on here. You don't, we used to have maps. So we had to actually open up this big old thing, unfold it. And you had to get a special one because you didn't know and then you say, well, I'm going to drive from here, I'm going to go here, I have to take this. Then you hand the map to your, my wife, I'd hand it to her and she'd say, okay, well, okay, you're gonna, and she would talk to me like that. And then sometimes the map wasn't telling me where the home was and so I'd go into a gas station and I'd go to what they called an attendant and I would speak to the attendant and I'd say, I'm looking for this street and they'd say, oh, that's three blocks up and that's how we would find our way around. We didn't have portable phones, we didn't have nav systems but it's so different today. We had three channels on our TV sets, three of them. And I remember when, I'm traveling down the wrong road but I'll stay for just a moment. I remember when color TV was amazing, I remember when 19 inch screens were huge. I remember that and in color, in color, now you go, are you nuts man? You know the 75, 83, 104, no. And if you had 104 inch television, it took a crane. It would take a crane to bring it into your house. It would take it the whole front room. Now it's like a half an inch thick, right? So our generation's different and guess what that does to your patients? It doesn't develop it because if you want a Bible answer, all you gotta do is go to Bible Hub or whatever app you might use and say, I wanna see John chapter one verse 14. I want a various commentators and you can go to, I use Bible Hub, you go to Bible Hub and you'll get six different commentators and you can look at that and that's how I do my studies. Instant information. But what happens is we are beginning to think that the information is equal to knowledge and it's not. The Greeks believed that knowledge was information. So the more information you have, the more knowledge you have, the Jews didn't. The Jews taught that knowledge is information that has been assimilated and produced a transformed life. That's why Jesus said, if you know these things, blessed are you, if you do them. To the Jew, knowledge wasn't just information, knowledge was behavior, that's what James is all about. Faith without works, James is gonna say is dead. Knowledge without behavior is simply information. And so today the church is impatient. I've been waiting for so long. I still remember a young woman who was speaking to me after church service. She says, I'm going through a trial pastor. I'm going through a trial. When's it gonna end? It's been two weeks. Some trials never end. Some trials you're married to. Ah, oh, you're raising it. You're raising it. You might as well name it trial. Trial Rosales. Let patients have a perfect work. God wants to do work. And now if you're going through this, I hope that kind of encourages you a bit. You see, God's intention is to make us solid with a mature, settled faith in him. He intends to make us people who are unmoved when we undergo attacks. Like Psalm 91.2 says, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God in him I will trust. So it says in verse four, let patients have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The word perfect speaks of being fully instructed. The word complete speaks of fully mature. It's a Jewish concept of a right relationship to God expressed in undivided obedience and an unblemished life. So he says in verse five, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives all men liberally and upright if not in the King James. God intends to strengthen your faith and bring you to maturity. And again, this isn't something that is instant. There are times that you might even begin to question as you're going through it. Psalm 10 verse one comes to mind, why do you stand afar off, oh Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? I'm going through this, don't you see me? It's like Psalm 22, one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? From the words of my groaning, God, don't you hear me, don't you see me? And there are times when you go through that, but our faith is being purified. And as we go through that, we pray for help. We pray for direction. And in his mercy and his generous spirit, God answers, he gives wisdom, he gives direction. Like it says in Psalm 40 verses one through three, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me, heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the myery clay, set my feet upon a rock, established my goings. He's put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. So God, I'm asking you and you give generously, but verse six, let him ask in faith without doubting. You see, doubting is a place where faith wrestles with unbelief, but leans towards unbelief. It's vividly illustrated when Peter got on the boat and he was walking on water and realized what he was doing. He saw the waves, he heard the wind, and according to Matthew 1431, when he was sinking, it says Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, oh, you have little faith, why did you doubt? You see, faith is always an essential condition of prayer. We come confidently knowing that God is able and that he will according to his will. And finally, he says in verse seven, let not that man suppose that he'll receive anything from the Lord, he's a double-minded man. He's unstable in all his ways. He's literally of two minds. He's got a divided mind. There's no confidence in his prayer. There's no confidence his prayer will be heard. He's not praying in faith. He is a soul divided between faith and the world and he's swaying, he's indecisive. It is useless to have two hearts. One lifted up to God and the other turned away from him. And somebody once said, a man can hope for favor from God only if he puts his confidence in him. You see, if his heart is divided, he won't be sensitive to the spirit's leading. He'll not discover the escape God gave to him and he won't rejoice in the fruit that is produced through that trial. Somebody asked me, what is the greatest lesson you've learned? I've been walking with Lord for a long time. I was 20 years old when I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. This next Friday I turned 69 years old. I've been walking with God for 48, almost 49 years and somebody has asked me a question. What have you learned? What is the number one lesson you have learned? And here's my number one lesson. What have I learned? It all works out in the end. God never fails. He is faithful to the end. What have I learned? He never lets me down. He is always with me. He is always next to me. He's always providing for me. He loves me. He doesn't fail. What have I learned? God is God and I'm not. So I trust in him. That's what I've learned. That's what I've learned. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. He will direct your path. So that's what you do. You cast your cares on him because he cares for you. You don't turn away from him because he didn't turn away from you. You come to him. He approaches you. He works with you. He brings you through and in the end you will say it was all worth it. Would you change anything in your life? I've been asked. Anything, do you want anything different than what you've experienced? What would you change? If you could change anything and my answer's always the same I wouldn't change a thing because even in the bad things that I've experienced even in the pain that I've experienced it's taught me to love God more. It's refined me and made me into the person I am right now and I'm very happy to be who I am because I'm a man who loves Jesus Christ. And that love for Christ has been refined through trials and pain and sorrow and loss as well as the joys that God has applied in so many abundant ways. But the trials have purified me. They have made me realize my weakness in my trials I came to recognize his holiness and his greatness. And that's why I can cast my cares on him because he cares for me because he has never let me down. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. That's a promise that Jesus gave and he's good to his promises. He's not a man that he should lie neither the son of man that he should repent has he not said it? Will he not do it? And the answer is yes, you are good to your word. Heaven and earth will pass away but your word will never pass away. You are good to your promises and you've made them to me and I hold them. And that's what you learned. So we're gonna go through the book of James and you're gonna have a good time.