Steady as you go! (James 1:12)

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Steadfast:

1

a: firmly fixed in place : immovable

b: not subject to change

2

a: firm in belief, determination, or adherence 

Despite the fact that his audience is undergoing trial and persecution, James does not send an empathetic letter of commiseration. Quite the contrary, James exhorts his audience to be steadfast in the face of persecution! Was he unfeeling or uncaring about the very real plight of his audience? Not at all! Rather, he understood what was at stake. 

When compared together, James fully understood that the eternal good of his brothers and sisters in Christ was infinitely more important than their comfort or ease in this life. It is because of this understanding that he challenged them to stand firm, be strong, and endure to the end. His approach flies in the face of human conventions. Closer inspection of his words, however, shows that he chose love over empathy, the eternal over the temporary, and ultimate good over temporary comfort.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:06

Welcome to drippings from the of another twelve ministries. We are so glad that you have the sweetness of God's Word, one Hello and welcome to episode one of season five of drippings from the honeycomb. We're about to jump into the more excited about it. James is a fantastic book, which I feel that way if you listen to James is just such a great life, and there's a few of those James is one of them. Ephesians is one of them. But I just think James is simple Christian living for simple Christian people. It really is. It doesn't waste any time. It doesn't waste any words. It just goes right after the as believers should be living So without waiting any more, let's just jump straight into our text. We're going to kick off the book twelve, and it simply says this. Blessed is the man who remains For when he has stood the test, life which God has promised to Now the first thing we can do is Of course, James kicks off his how we should rejoice even when It's a lot easier said than Rejoicing in the midst of trials Let's be honest, none of us like Trials are uncomfortable. They're difficult. They're not fun at all. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, I think today I will have trials. I think I would like to have I think it would be great if suddenly, horribly wrong. People would start to worry about you if you started talking that way. People might ask you if you're Who desires trial? Who desires trouble? Nobody does. We all like it when things run But the Bible says in James says here in the scriptures that we should be joyful when we encounter trials. Why? Because trials build up patience within us, and patience affects perfection. Now, it doesn't affect Of course, we know we can attain hampered by the sinful flesh. The Apostle Paul talked about The things that I want to do, I don't do, and the things that I don't want to do, I do those things. In other words, he's talking He's saying, I don't want to I want to live for God. But I I'm so burdened down by sinful, that I inevitably end up And it's frustrating. And when you read Paul's words can sense the frustration. This was a lifelong battle for Don't forget that Paul was a Paul says that according to the So this is a man who's saying, according to the law I was perfect, and yet I'm just still a sinner. And we know that Paul sinned appeared to him miraculously and He told him that the God that Paul believed he was serving appeared to him from heaven and said, hey, you're sinning against me. Talk about a letdown. Talk about discouragement. So we can attain perfection. But James teaches us that we need to rejoice under trials so that we develop patience so that we will be perfected when when God calls us home into eternal glory. So the first thing that we see is that what happens in this life has an impact on our eternal future. That's a really important based on that premise. What we do here has eternal That means that you should give every decision that you take on this earth the weight of eternity. That's pretty lofty. That's pretty complex when you It's heavy. But now, with that in mind, with that kind of concept stashed in your brain, listen to the verse again. Blessed is the man who remains For when he has stood the test, life which God has promised to This is eternal language. James is telling his parishioners, his followers, the people he's writing this letter to. He's saying, hey, listen, trials are hard, but be joyful because the one who perseveres through trials, through this life serving and honoring God receives the crown of glory, an imperishable crown. They receive eternal life. Now, don't misunderstand here. James is not putting the whole believers handle trials. That's not what he's getting at. James is talking about living trials of this world. The whole idea is faith based, we go through James. We're going to get a glimpse of And I encourage you as you reading the whole book because James is not just simply saying, well, those who go through trials and who get an A+ will go to heaven. Not at all. Don't forget here James is So? So the believer part is assumed. Okay. He's writing to the church, so already put their faith and These people are Christians. And also remember that these they are Christians. That's the whole idea. They're getting persecuted because of this very fact that they do have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so the trial that he's they're real to his audience. These people are suffering. And James isn't writing some pandering letter to them saying, wow, it's really terrible that you're suffering. And oh, man, I hope this I hope that you're able to go back to to lead normal lives again. He doesn't. And anybody could expect empathy and and perhaps is people he cares about. Fellow believers might have James doesn't, and James doesn't much about this present reality. Now, that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about his friends suffering, his fellow believers suffering. He cares deeply. In fact, he cares so much that of the situation. He says, look, you're suffering. That is, it's a fact. In fact, believers knew that suffering was going to come because Jesus told them suffering was going to come, and the disciples proclaimed that message. Suffering was just accepted. It was an accepted part of being It's something we've forgotten with our faith, and it's Christians, especially modern countries, need to remember. Suffering is part of faith. So James leaves that as an But he says, look, the suffering Embrace it. Face it with joy, because the suffering that you're going through right now, which is unpleasant, has eternal benefit beyond compare. It has eternal effect beyond This suffering today is going to It's making you more into the And that's why he says, the man who remains steadfast under trial. If you have spent any time in Matthew five, you will notice that this verse reads a lot like a beatitude. It starts with blessed, which Fortunate. In good state is the man who For when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life. James is looking at eternity, The right now is miserable. He knows that his brothers and They're being murdered for their They're being imprisoned for They're being shunned by society He's not oblivious to that fact. He's trying to get their eyes matters, that their Lord and to reward them so richly for small price to pay. Paul would go on to communicate a similar idea, just like what James is saying here in Romans eight eighteen. He says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing the glory that is to be revealed to us. James is saying it differently. Stand firm. Stand strong in the trial, will give you the crown of life Don't quit, Christian. Don't quit. Endure. Stand strong. Run hard. Continue to share the gospel no Continue to live a life of matter what the cost. Because today is meaningless for it will impact your eternity. The rest of it, everything else It will be destroyed along with worthless works on the earth. But what you do for the king So when you face trials as a believer, when you face opposition, when you're persecuted, endure. Stand fast. Be strong. Wait on the Lord because he is I hope you enjoyed this episode If you would like to learn more and the work that we are doing bring the gospel to all people, If you would like to support our link in the description below.