Well, we've been studying James Epistle, if you'll take your Bibles out, remember we're all to bring our Bibles to church now because if I'll put those Bibles under your seat should all complain because you're kicking them all over the place, so you can just carry your own. And it turned to James, it's right after Hebrews, and those of you who've been here the past couple of weeks, you know that we've looked at this Epistle realizing that it is Jesus' little brother, half brother, who wrote this we think seems fairly clear that he did. This would be the oldest of Jesus' siblings after himself. And James was known as the Bishop of Jerusalem, he very quickly became a prominent leader in the Church of Jesus Christ, and as one who had doubted Jesus' sanity at times as a member of the family during Jesus' ministry, it's remarkable how a Holy Spirit had come into his life and given him a clear vision of who Jesus was and what the kingdom was all about. And especially when you look in Acts 15 and discover that at the Council of Jerusalem, the first general assembly of the Church, this huge issue of whether Gentiles should be included in the Church without some of the Jewish traditions, James was the one who stood up clearly to say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, this is God, and they are not to observe Jewish rituals, but rather to be included in the Church as Gentiles. That was a remarkable speech, and ever since then James has been a very prominent figure in the Church. James writes a book that some would question because we don't see a lot explicitly of Jesus Christ, only his name twice, and the Gospel seems to be tucked in there somewhere, but you don't see it explicitly, but we saw these past two weeks that the Gospel is very much in James, is suffused throughout it, and what James' task is is to speak to the Jews who are in dispersion, who are believers in Christ, and encourage them with some of the same teachings that Jesus gave himself. James had heard the sermon on the Mount, and he is regurgitating it in many ways in his epistle. So what we're talking about is that if you do trust in Christ, if you have given your life to him, what would your life look like? And James seems to hit some of the same emphasis that Jesus did in his own teaching ministry, not only in the sermon on the Mount, but throughout the Gospels. Now we saw that the first issue that James addresses in the Christian life is the issue of confronting trials in your life, nothing could be more common to all of humanity with facing trials. And James showed us, in those first few verses, how the one who has really put their trust in Christ faces trials very differently from the ordinary human being. We're tempted to do it like the ordinary human being, but we are being moved in another direction. Because the normal human being, when facing trials, will either pretend that there's no trial there at all, and try the denial route, or will learn how to pout and feel sorry for themselves, or will complain and criticize others. But James says on the contrary, those who are walking with Jesus Christ will rejoice with their trials. And we saw why. Because first of all, those trials get us home. Secondly, we saw those trials get us holiness that we become mature, not lacking in anything, through persevering through trials. And thirdly, it gets us him. We get closer to him. And that is the sum of all humanity, the highest good is to have him. And we get that in walking through our trials with Christ hand in hand. Now last week we saw that when we are facing trials, the decisions we make are extraordinarily important. Because oftentimes you lay the foundation for the rest of your life, or at least the rest of this circumstance, by the way you make decisions when the chips are down. And James says that the way in which you do that is with wisdom. And we ask the question, how do I get this wisdom? How could I be making really good decisions? I want this wisdom. How do I get it? James says very clearly, verses five through eight. First of all, simply ask him. He is far more willing to give than you are to ask. He gives generously to all graciously without finding fault. He doesn't say, well, you got yourself in this mess, you just get yourself right out of it. No, you ask him for wisdom, he gives it. So simply ask him. And then we saw secondly, ask him simply, don't ask him with duplicity. Don't ask him with a divided mind or a divided heart. And this is the problem of most church people, is that we want God to give us direction, but we want it for the purposes of pain relief. And so we take enough of His direction that we can stand, mix it in with what Aunt Martha said, and go right down the road and put it into practice and it feels pretty good. As a matter of fact, the Bible can help you, help you with your finances, your family, child ring, help you with your work, help you with relationships. It can give you a lot of help and reduce your pain relief. But that is not specifically wisdom. Wisdom is with one heart, one mind, one soul seeking His kingdom, His agenda, His righteousness, His pleasure, no matter what it costs you. Now says, James, you'll get wisdom. Simply ask him, ask him simply. Now today we come to verse 9, which introduces another major theme, which is a theme for certain trials that we face. And those trials are about money, money. And it isn't interesting. So many of the trials in this room have to do with your possessions, managing your money, your estate, or lack of it. So many of the marital problems in this room have to do with two people with two very different ideas about money and what to do with it. Let me tell you something, it ain't new, this was the first century. Why do you think Jesus talks so much about money? Why do you think James is talking about it in almost every chapter of his abyssal? Because it's always been a problem. It's been a major area that demands wisdom. And dear fellow congregants, the symbol in the name of the Lord, He's got wisdom to give to us. And look to His Word and trust Him to give us that wisdom. Gracious God, we thank You that You speak to us in the midst of our need, that we need in doubt You, that You're always there, and no matter what our trials, no matter what our circumstances, You are here to guide us, to bless us, and to lead us along the way. We pray that You will open our hearts, that we may simply ask You for guidance, and that we may ask You simply. We ask, speak, O Lord, for Your servants, listen, Amen. James chapter 1, verses 9 through 11, hear the word of God. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant, its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever. Amen. Well, he took her out to a nice restaurant. He had the ring in his pocket, and he said, dear, I love you with all my heart. He said, I'm not wealthy. I'm not like John Green, who has his mansions and his yachts and so on, but I love you with all my heart, and she said, honey, I love you, and he said, I want you to marry me, and he said, well, I really do love you with all my heart, but tell me a little bit more about John Green. Folks, money is a powerful thing. Money can trump a lot of other desires in your life, a lot of other loves in your life. In fact, Jesus teaches regularly, as is James, money can trump your love for God. Jesus put it this way, he said, your tempted to have two masters. You want to have Jesus and have it all too, and he said, mmm, it won't work. You got to choose which master you're going to serve, because you're going to love one and despise the other. And lots of folks who think they can do both, they end up despising Christ, and he said, you can't do this. You got to choose either love me or love mammon or worldly things, and he teaches us very clearly, doesn't it? You got to make a choice. And if you don't, the love for things will trump every other love in your life. Your favorite friendship and relationship, your marriage, your children, you'll trump everything. James knows this, and he's telling us that wisdom should be applied to your financial life, your material life. And he basically says in these verses, it doesn't matter whether you're wealthy or whether you're poor. As a matter of fact, wisdom applies to both. There's a solution for being poor and a solution for being wealthy. And scholars debate this, because in other places, James will refer to the wealthy as those who are oppressing the people of God. It's not the poor people who oppress believers, and he says to them, remember this, it's not wealthy who always oppress the believers. So in some places, it appears as though he's talking about outsiders when he's talking about the wealthy, and it is true, the early church was made up primarily of poor or people. However, in this text, it seems clear to me, and to most scholars, anyway, that he is talking about the wealthy within the church. And he is saying that riches can be a temptation for both the poor and the wealthy. And certainly, I've seen this in my life, because I have observed many, many people dealing with different types of circumstances, and money is a temptation for both. Alex Motier, in his commentary on this passage, puts it this way, he says, wisdom opens our eyes to the glories of heaven and to the hollowness of earth. Wisdom opens our eyes both to the glory of the heavenlies and to the hollowness of earth. So whether you're poor or rich, wisdom has a lot to say. Now let's look, first of all, on verse 9, he's talking about the poor. And he says, the brother in humble circumstances, that's just one word there, which means the brother or the believer who is low, that is just a little above a snake's belly, just real low. The brother who's really low, here's the advice, take pride in your high position. That sounds really strange, doesn't it? Now let's think for a moment about what the temptations are for someone who is deprived or impoverished, and some of you who have incomes that would be seen as very generous by the rest of this world, when you compare it to somebody else, maybe it doesn't seem so generous to you, maybe you feel deprived from time to time. As someone once said, the definition of wealth is making ten thousand dollars more per year than your wife's sister's husband. Think about it. And so it's all relative. So you at times have felt deprived, too. What are the temptations of poverty? I've talked to a number of people through the years who have really experienced poverty, and I have to admit, I never have. On anybody's scale, I've never really experienced poverty, but I've talked to a lot of people who have, including my mother, who experienced poverty. And I would say, in my discussions with poor people, the number one sensation is one of shame. And I did not know about the depths of my own mother's poverty until it was drawn out of her, primarily by my wife, God bless her. And I was able to hear some of the stories of my mother's poverty. Here's a little girl, and some of you have little girls, and you just think how this would affect you. And some of you are little girls. When she was a little girl, she didn't have shoes that would fit to go to school, but they found some that were about three sizes too big, and she took some newspaper and stuffed it in the toes of those shoes. And it worked fine until it rained, and then her shoes would fall off, and they wouldn't fit anymore. And this little girl, totally embarrassed, she was, she's a very fine pianist, and she couldn't do a concert until Mrs. So-and-so, two houses down, came and loaned to her, her coat, so she wouldn't be embarrassed on a cold winter's night, not to have a coat. And perhaps the most embarrassing moment that I remember of my mother was when she went to college. And of course, she had to count her pennies, literally, count her pennies very carefully to be sure she could pay the tuition. And she got to the little window at this junior college, and she was a few dollars, literally a few dollars short, she had underestimated, and she just broke down and soft, and she called her mother, who was the seamstress, and said to her, Mom, I'm so sorry, I've gotten over here, and I'm just a told embarrassment to everybody, I'm really sorry, I don't have enough money. And she says to this day, she doesn't know how my grandmother found the money, straight it together to send, to keep her in college, the embarrassment, the humiliation, the shame of being poor. And dear friends, it is that way today, and if you want to know what is really affecting our neighbors, who are around us, some of them, many of them, below the poverty line, thousands of people below the poverty line, you want to know the number one thing they feel really is shame and humiliation, and the gospel has a solution for that. It has it for you, and it has it for our neighbors, and the solution is this, boast. The NIVs has take pride, the word is literally boast. Bost in what? Me? I'm nothing. Right. The boast on what you really are in the eyes of God and what you're going to become. You say, well, money, fine, so right here I am, I'm still impoverished, and you're telling me to boast about this pine, the sky, let me tell you something folks, it's not pine the sky if you believe it, it's not pine the sky to me. And I see all the pain and the agony and the trial and tribulations of God's people and the people in this world and people starting all over this world, let me tell you something, it's not pine the sky to me, it's hope. And there is specific instruction for us when we are impoverished, and that is not to be humiliated, but to boast in the wealth of Christ, and the apostle Paul says, I boast in God, I boast in Christ, he says, man, never boast about anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He boasts in the midst of his deprivations, but there's another temptation, the temptation to fear. And like the young fellow said to his wife when they were just married and living on a shoes train, he said, honey, we're going to spend our money on food and clothing and shelter, pick any of the two. And sometimes you know you get in some tight spots and you're not sure you can pay the bill, you're not sure you have money to go to the grocery store and you get afraid, fear sets in. And at least all kinds of anxieties and misbehavior and attitudes. And James says, don't fear, boast. Boast that your father in heaven loves you more than he loves the sparrows and he knows every single one of them. Boast that your father closed the grass of the field and closed the azaleas and the dogwoods. He is the one who created this grandeur and beauty and he loves you far more than he does the grass of the field which he throws away at the end of the season. Boast about the security that you have in God. Boast is dead Joe who said, though he's slainy, yes shall I trust him, never fear. Only fear God. Don't fear starving. Don't fear being naked and don't fear being out in the cold. Don't fear because you have a father who loves you. So the apostle says, boast, James says, boast, Jesus says, don't worry, boast. Well there are other temptations. With the fear and the shame, oftentimes there is an acquisitive spirit, isn't there? There's an ambition and here's where the ambition comes from and some of you have come from poor backgrounds, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The feeling is I was embarrassed, I was afraid this is not going to happen to my children. This has not going to happen to my spouse. This is not going to happen to me. And with that fear and that revolution to avoid the shame and humiliation you didn't boast in Christ, you didn't see him as your provision, no, you're seeing what you're going to do for yourself as your provision and you get very ambitious and very acquisitive. That's the temptation of poverty and sometimes folks who are really making lots of money and will tell you that the reason they do is that they are afraid of what will happen if they don't. Fear based lifestyle, the opposite of boasting in one that you love and finding your treasure in him and not in things. And then lastly I would mention the temptation of poverty that I see and that is the temptation to end the other people. Now where does that come from? It comes from the idea that you are defined by what you have. In your case, if you're poor, you're defined by what you don't have. Some of you teenagers who begin to be aware of labels and fabrics and styles and colors. And you begin to notice that there are some of them that are attractive and win some and some of them that are not. And you've noticed some of you that other kids close budgets are a little larger than yours are. And you begin to envy them. You know why? Because you thought that you are who you are because you have a label. You are who you are because you got what everybody else has and you fall into the trap of the impoverished person who thinks of themselves based on what they don't have. That is an enormous mistake. James is saying, boast in him when you are low boasting your exalted status. That tells us who you are. That tells you who you are. And you know, you look at some of these poor folks and say, look at them, they're acting so happy. Well, they don't have anything. They're acting like they own the world. They do. And that's the whole secret is that they understand they own the world in Christ. Now, if you look at verse 10, he then says, look, if you're, first of all in verse 9, if you're impoverished, then you boast in your exaltation. In verse 10 and 11, he says, if you are exalted, you boast in your humiliation. So it's just the opposite, isn't it? What are the temptations of the rich? Well, the temptations of the rich are first of all to be proud. Hey, yeah, I dress up pretty good. Drive a nice car. You know, you just had that car wax yesterday, it's a sun shiny day and you get out and you take about five steps and you just can't help but see if anybody is looking and you turn around. Man, that looks pretty good. I bet I look good in that thing. I mean, you look at stuff from the mirror, you know, you get yourself all dressed up. And you take pride. It looks good. You earn the money to pay for it. You're feeling really good about yourself. The apostle Paul, rather than Jane, says, here's the gospel solution. Don't boast in what you look like or what you own begin to boast in your humiliation. Can you please explain this to me? Of course, I'm glad you asked. It's exactly what Jesus did. Remember, Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He has a lot of boast about, doesn't he? What does he do? We are told that he does not consider equality with God something to be grasped but empties himself, taking the very nature of a servant. He's not only used to become a servant but he serves all the way to death and not only to death but to the death of a crucified criminal. And he delights in it. When the apostle Paul comes along, he realizes this is what the victory, this is where the victory is. It's the cross. And so he says, man, I never boast about anything except the cross of Christ through which I have been crucified to the world and the world to me. The bondage is broken between me and them and I boast in it with no cross. Some people think that Christian financial management is simply paying your bills on time. Folks, I'm all for paying your bills on time, especially ties and offerings. But I'm all for managing your finances, all for it, and the Bible teaches it. And we must teach it, but that's a long way away from distinctively Christian financial management. Some would say, well, what do you mean, pastor? I guess you mean you were supposed to give a lot too. Yeah, good. That's great. You're supposed to make and save so that you can give away as liberally as you possibly can because you ain't going to take it with you. And all you're going to take are souls that you've won with the investment of your life. So you're wise when you pay your bills on time best you can and you give liberally. So folks, that's a long way away from a Christian distinctively Christian view of financial management. You say, pastor, I'm exhausted. What do you mean? Where's the cross a distinctively biblical and wise approach to the things of this world is to delight not in them, but in the fact that they mean nothing to you. There's where the joy is that ultimately we completely divest ourselves, not only the possessions, but the desire to have the possessions because we have such greater possessions, this is picking you in stuff. The one with the greatest estate and the fanciest card who was beautiful else and the one of most wonderful clothing, it is nothing compared to what I'm going to have in heaven. Why would I trifle with this little stuff that people around me are fussing about? It's nothing compared to who we are and I delight in that. And the apostle James says here, for those of you who are rich you take pride in your humiliation because you are wasting away. Look at what he says in verse 11, he says that in the same way the rich man fades away even while he goes about his business. You walk in front of the mirror lately, you folks who are over 40. And you look and you go, who is that person? I looked at someone, she'll be a picture of what I look like when I came here six years ago. It's amazing, what you've done to me. I mean, we're all fading away and we're fading away even as we sit here. And here's the key folks, are you delighting in that or are you trying to hold on to that last bit of wrinkle cream and that last exercise program to get a few more pounds? Are you hanging on or are you delighting that we are like the flowers of the grass? Literally what it said here, in the NIV it says, in his low position because he will fade away like a wild flower, literally that says like a flower of the grass, which is a wild flower. But in Israel in February, if you were to go you'd see these minimis and the cyclomons and lilies, everything just comes out in February. And the fields are gorgeous because the grass that comes up has a flower on it. We'll go check it out in June. Nothing there. It's gone. It's all withered. The sun has scorched it. And James is using a very familiar analogy and saying, you rich folks, he says, do you think you're going to take this with you? Do you think you're going to add and add and add and it's going to get better and better? No, it's getting worse all the time. And so he said, let's face reality, but let's not face it with grim determination, let's face it with joy and glory. Let's boast in it that we're not bound to this. The apostle Paul says, my outer nature way so way, but my inner nature is being where you day after day. And we know that we have an inheritance beyond all imagination. This is the gospel solution for wealth. Is it affecting you? Are you looking at your wealth in your possession this way? Are you delighting in the fact that ultimately they mean nothing? Or are you trying to hang on? Those of you who don't have everything that you want, who feel someone impoverished, are you tempted? Of course you're tempted. Are you giving way to the temptation to envy, to feel shame, to have fear in your heart? Are you simply saying, I'm going to trust him and I'm going to live for him and I'm going to acquire him and not just things? James says, this is a distinctive aspect of our life together as we follow Jesus Christ. I close with this. The old toll story tells a story and the story is entitled, how much land does a man need? And the story goes like this, a rich man was given the opportunity that for a hundred rubles, this is in rush of course, for a hundred rubles, he could walk and circumscribe as much land as he could in one day and he would own whatever he could walk around. So for one day until sunset, he could circumscribe as big a piece of land as he wanted for only a hundred rubles. The toll story tells a story, the man starts to walk and walk and walk and he's just taking it all and he's just acquiring all of his land. Every time he takes a step, he owns a little bit more but he gets a little bit too ambitious and he walks a little far and so by the end of the day he realizes he's got a long way to come back and he wants to circle around so that he can include a lot of lands. He starts walking a little faster, a little faster, a little faster. The son starts to go down and he's still nowhere near at the starting point, he's got to get back in order to get all the land and so he starts running and he runs and he totally exhausts himself and finally he gets back and he croaks right there and the toll story tells a graphically blood is coming out and he's just dead. The toll story's conclusion, how much land does a man need? He says, from head to heel, six feet, let's pray, Father, help us to be wise by aspiring to the things that really matter in life, forgive us for wanting to grab on to the things of this world that are passing away before us and denying by that inquisitive spirit what we profess to believe that heaven is far more wonderful than our minds can possibly imagine. As we live in the light of these realities, we pray that you will help us to be fruitful in this world while you have us here and give us joy. May there be real boasting about heaven and real boasting in our humiliation because we know that we're exalted in heaven. Lord, may your gospel have its way in our lives. We pray for vacation Bible school that is upon us. We ask that you'll bless all of those young ones who come that they may learn more about this great gospel and this great Savior. We pray, Father, for Christanine and his ministry among us as he is ordained tonight that you would bless him and annoy him with your power and your wisdom. We pray, Father, for all of our elders and deacons today, that as they serve us, you will bless them with your guidance and direction. And Lord, we thank you for feeding us as you do by your word and spirit and by the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, bless the Lord this time as we feast together. And then, Father, we especially pray for those who have grievances in their own hearts, who are bereaved by the loss of loved ones. We pray especially today for Dr. George Woodbury on the death of his father, Robert. We thank you for those special blessings that come in this life day after day and week after week. Today, we especially thank you for Chip and Betsy Pillow's little girl, Caroline Clare, and ask that she would grow to love you and serve you with all of her heart that she might be a woman of wisdom. And now, Father, we commit ourselves to you and to your safekeeping and to the wealth of love that you give us in Jesus Christ and whose name we pray, Amen.