Well, my friends, if you would, please take your scriptures and let us turn once again to the Epistle of Yaakov, or better known as James. If this was in the Hebrew, it would be the letter of Jacob. We'll be reading the first 11 verses, and we'll be focusing on verses 9 through 11 this morning. Let us go to our God in prayer. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we do pray that You would bless the primary means of grace that You've given to us, and that is Your Holy Word. We pray that we would hold it in all reverence and holiness, as You have again ordained it to be that by which You communicate to us Your special and holy revelation of who You are, of who we are, of again, our own sinfulness before you, but especially the way of salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you that you also reveal many things in the way we are to live in order to honor you and bring glory to your name that is good for us. And again, that we might fulfill our purpose, which is to glorify you and enjoy you forever. Bless your word now to your people this day, O Lord, And we pray it all again in the Word Incarnate's name, Jesus Christ. Amen. I would ask, brothers and sisters, out of reverence for God's Word, if you're willing and able, please now stand for the reading of God's Holy Word that comes to us from James chapter 1. I do remind you, this is the Word of your God. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve 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 is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beauty of beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit of God says to the church. Please be seated. You know, it's all too easy to pass judgment on someone without walking in their shoes. We tend to think we have experienced the most difficult trials, and yet God tells us that we are all called to endure hardships of various kinds and degrees, no matter who we are. or even what our particular situation or circumstances. And yet, there is one specific contrasting category of people that so often presume that the other category have it so easy in this life, that their path is almost totally void of trouble, trial, or difficulty. But James here in our passage reminds us that this is not true. It is a lie. which this world tends to declare is true. And this is with respect to the poor and the wealthy. Those who are subject to poverty will almost always say that they will gladly switch places with those who are wealthy. Why? Because they presume that the wealthy have no real problems. Or if they do, they are nothing compared to the struggles of being poor. But James, like the rest of God's Word, is seeking to correct this mindset. The Bible is clear that the problems of prosperity can be as intense and perhaps even more severe. For one, there are many more warnings in scripture concerning the threat of the love of riches upon the spiritual life. Jesus himself said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. James tells us that life is full of various trials and no one is immune from them. And so all of us, whether poor or rich, need wisdom to navigate the variety of difficulties that this life brings. And so no matter your circumstances, James is seeking to assure you that the principles that he is setting forth here apply to any and every circumstance. And here he is applying it to the contrasting categories of both the poor and the rich, both poverty and wealth, both the lowly and the exalted. Again, as worldly status finds equilibrium. in our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for we are all God's children united together in the family of God. So once again, it may appear from the passage as you read it, as if James has jumped unexpectedly into another unrelated or unconnected subject of the rich and poor, leaving us scratching our heads And yet, when we experience this in the Word of God, it should cause us to think more deeply about the reason why the Bible does this. What is the connection? Why does James move here from there? And as you ask God for wisdom to see and understand, the link begins to emerge. the clouds begin to dissipate and the connection becomes clear. James is using these contrasting circumstances of life, of poverty and wealth to illustrate the truth of verse two, that we all experience various trials no matter our situation. and that we all need to ask God for wisdom to do so. This brings us to our purpose statement for our message today, which is worldly circumstances do not define your position before God. Our faith is genuine and responds accordingly in difficult situations, whether we live in poverty or wealth in this world. We are all on equal standing before God in Christ, whether Again, seen as low by this world's standards or seen as high, we are all one in Christ. Worldly circumstances do not define your position before God. We'll consider this truth under three points. And our first point is the common worldly view. The common worldly view is to glory in riches. and wealth, and to despise poverty, want, and lack. This is natural. This makes sense according to how this world thinks. We esteem those who have wealth, riches, and power as successful. They are held in high reputation. They appear to have high self-esteem and come off as very confident because they believe they are self-sufficient and do not need help from anyone. They are accorded respect, are spoken well of, are revered, are envied. People desire to be like them, to be them. Outwardly, they have it all, and others desire to be in their position, in their shoes. And then there's the poor, the lowly, the unenvied, those who, when viewed by others, think, well, I am so glad that I don't have to walk in their shoes, for their life is horrible. They don't even have two nickels to rub together. They are those who are so often unable to provide for themselves. They don't have resources. They need help, clearly. They also can't afford to defend themselves. They are often the objects of corruption, oppression, injustice. Again, there is a reason why God prides himself in defending the fatherless, the widow, the orphan, the foreigners, the strangers, the refugees who have lost their home and homeland, because so often no one else will help them. They are despised and rejected. They are exploited and abandoned. They are sacrificed. Their life is one of debt and desperation. The fundamental image of the poor is one of helplessness. And if God only helps those who help themselves, then they are truly hopeless. This is a very common, ordinary way to view things. It may be extreme, it may be harsh, and yet there it is. This is the world's perspective. And yes, it is natural to mankind's way of thinking and perceiving reality. Well, as is often the case with Jesus, our Lord, as with those who follow and serve Him, James is shaking things up. He's turning things the other way around. He's presenting things in an otherworldly light from another way of seeing things, like with his count it all joy when you fall into various trials. In verse 2, which is absolutely contrary and opposite of ordinary, common, natural, worldly thinking, James continues on with a different view of how poor and rich believers ought to view themselves and their position, which brings us to our second point, the unique Christian view. The unique Christian view. Despite the worldly circumstance, the lowly brother ought to glory in his exaltation. Verse 9, and the rich, and then just imply the imperative, ought to glory in his humiliation or lowliness. Again, James is teaching, instructing, advocating for holding or accounting something that is contrary to our normal common way of thinking. And instead of seeing things from the divine perspective, the heavenly otherworldly perspective, as Jesus himself taught to be great in the kingdom of God is to become lowly and to become the servant of all. To gain life in the world to come is to deny your life in this world. James applies the same radical reversal to the poor and the rich, to the haves and the have nots. First notice that James is addressing both the rich and poor with the exhortation to glory. Or to boast, this verb can also be translated to rejoice. Although its primary meaning is to take pride in or be proud of, although it is usually considered negatively, referring to an inappropriate expression of pride or an inflated sense of righteousness, it can also be used positively as James uses it here in our passage. And since James is using these contrasting categories of poor and rich to illustrate his principal point, he's referring back to his initial command in verse 2, consider it nothing but joy when you enter into all kinds of trials. And here, for instance, James says, are two kinds. Poverty and wealth. They both. bring trials. No matter which one you're in, you can rejoice, you can boast, you can glory, not from a normal, natural, common, worldly perspective, but from a fresh, new, unique Christian perspective, which sees things not through the eyes of the world's wisdom, but in the light of the wisdom that comes from the given God. How does the wisdom of God teach us to view our circumstances. That's the question that James is illustrating here. Again, James illustration here points back to the goal of the believers maturity in verse four. Towards this end, we are to focus all of our efforts. Life's pleasant paths are made all the sweeter as we keep in mind that they lead to this spiritual end, but also life's grim moments. are to be endured patiently, remembering that patience and persistence turns our sorrows into stepping stones of growth toward completeness, toward wholeness. And in this, we can rejoice. And the illustrations of the poor and rich saints drive this lesson home. How? because both are exhorted to see their lot in the light of the spiritual reality that goes beyond the veil of this life, of this world, that which we see. To their financial hardship, the poor brother or sister says, I am rich. From every appearance, it may seem that they are poor. But no, I am rich. To the earthly glories, the rich brother or sister says, I'm a wet wretch. I do not deserve it. I am lowly. Each keeps life in the perspective of eternity. James leaves it to you to decide what each might mean respectively by being raised up or being brought low, depending on your particular circumstances. If you are pummeled by this world, if you are considered a person of little significance in the world's estimation, you are raised up to the heights of heaven in Christ. In fact, the Apostle Paul says you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. You may be hungry, and yet Jesus says, you have the bread of life. You may be thirsty, and yet you possess the water of life. You may be dirt poor, and yet you actually have eternal riches. You may be cast down by men, but you are raised and lifted up by the God of heaven. You may be rejected by this world, but you are received by heaven. You may have no earthly home, but you have a glorious abode reserved for you above. A mansion, we are told. This is how you can patiently endure. and be content. In fact, even be joyful through difficulties, trouble, and trials. When God in His infinite wisdom and absolute sovereignty takes away your physical possessions or reputation to bring you low in this world's estimation, think of our brother Job. It's for the purpose of making you spiritually mature. Of building you up in your faith. A blessing infinitely more valuable than anything that you have lost or have wanted but never possessed. Anything that you have desired. This is of great value. Again, you who are deprived in this life can accept this temporary and insignificant, as the Apostle Paul would say, deprivation or suffering, because we know that we have an inheritance that is eternal and secure in God's kingdom. Is it difficult? Yes. But is it unbearably insurmountable? No. And that's why we have James's exhortation. In verse 10, James turns to the other, to the rich, who ought to glory, boast, or rejoice in their humiliation. What does James mean by this? Those who are rich have the natural worldly tendency to think well of themselves. But James is reminding them of their true spiritual state apart from Christ. James is telling the rich to look past the veil of this world's things, to focus rather to the depths from which Christ has rescued them. to the place where, except for the grace of God, they would ultimately reside, and that is in death. Here, James uses the poetry of Scripture so often found throughout, comparing man to what he sees in creation. You see, creation, actually, God does reveal this in His creation. but the worldly perspective hides it from our eyes. But God enlightens us to what his message in creation actually teaches, because as a flower of the field, he, the rich man, will pass away. He reminds that they too will one day die like everyone else and thus forfeit all their material possessions. Rather than restating the modern slogan, James counters it with, the one with the most toys still dies. Does not win. Dies. James continues the poetic portrait in verse 11. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass, its flower falls, its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in all his pursuits, his vision, his business plans, his strategies, his schemes, no matter what it is. Since everyone, including believers, have a natural tendency to trust in riches and wealth or material things, James places special attention and emphasis to its danger, seeking to shake us awake from the lust for riches and wealth, and to turn from them to full dependence on Christ. You see, here is the rich man's trial. Here's the rich man's struggle. To place his full confidence in that, again, to place his confidence in that which has no lasting saving power, for it too, like this world, is like the grass, like the flower, shall perish. The magnetism of riches is powerful, is insistent, And we constantly need the wisdom of God to see through the facade. We do not have to be wealthy to desire money, and the desire is threatening. If not more so than actually having it at our fingertips. We do not have to possess much in order to be snared by the delights of possession. As one man that I used to work with said, the more that you have, the more your stuff, a good theological term, has you. But the Bible never teaches that wealth is wrong, does it? In and of itself, wealth is not wrong. Did not the Lord give Solomon, as an intended blessing, riches? He asked for wisdom, he gave him riches too. But again, he gave him wisdom. We need wisdom to know how to handle the riches, do we not? How about Abraham? Abraham was very wealthy. Job, again, even though he lost his wealth, lost everything, God restored it to him tenfold. What about the wealthy brothers that Paul exhorts in 1 Timothy 6? He doesn't tell them to just basically cast it all off. The rich man that comes to Jesus, Jesus says, sell everything you haven't given to the poor. Why? Because it held onto his heart. There's nothing inherently evil about being wealthy. It's a blessing of God. But again, we are to use that wealth to serve and bless others, to glorify God. Everything depends on how it has been acquired, how it is used, and the place it holds in the heart of its possessor, which we know the possessor of all things is God. We are mere stewards of these things to use for His glory. So the warning is not to place one's faith or ultimate trust in riches. And this is a temptation and trial for both the poor and the rich. And so this brings us to the realization that the rich and the poor, the lowly and the wealthy, are really ultimately all the same before God. Which brings us to our third and final point, the great equalizer. the great equalizer. The loss, failure, transitory or temporary nature of material things is meant to drive the rich person to the Lord and to value his blessing and to be satisfied in their spiritual maturity. And at this point, again, the rich and the poor are exactly alike. They are united. They are equal. Neither material possessions nor the lack of them is of any ultimate consequence. What is of true significance is a trusting relationship with the Lord, who showers all of his children with spiritual wealth that will never diminish or fail or cease to satisfy. It's faith in Christ. Faith in Christ to supply our needs lifts us who are poor and lowly beyond our trials to the great height, to a position in the eternal kingdom of Christ, where as God's children we are rich and may rejoice, may boast, and may glory. Faith in Christ does an equally blessed thing for those of us who are rich, whose riches are temporary. It fills us with a spirit of lowliness, of a true humility, as the poor brother forgets all his earthly poverty, so the rich brother is exhorted to forget all his earthly riches. The two are equals by faith. in Christ. Think about it, brothers and sisters, when you lose a loved one, wealth is no comfort. You may think that it is. In fact, families divide over this at the death of a loved one. It causes division. It causes hardship, more difficulty and division. When you lose your health, or you are betrayed by a close friend, or you are wrongfully maligned. Riches cannot buy you peace of mind or decrease your pain. The sovereign God, who is the great equalizer, who uses trials in your life to bring you into full dependence of Him. He's the one that is the great comforter. He is the one that brings you peace. He is the one that can bring you through the pain and bring you joy. You see, wealth does not bring God closer, and nor does poverty keep Him further away. So to this extent, the exhortations to the lowly and the wealthy run parallel. And this is James' main thrust. This is the way of wisdom. To always see yourselves in the light of what is spiritually and scripturally true, and to live by this truth before God. In other words, to always keep your eyes on the goal of the upward calling in Christ Jesus. James chose to illustrate his point here by reference to poverty and wealth. The point that he's making, beginning in verse 2. He could equally have chosen any of life's contrasts, loneliness and companionship. long married life, and short unexpected loss. Hope fulfilled, hope dashed. Work and unemployment. These are various trials which make up the hills and the valleys of every life. Marriage and singleness. family life and childlessness, health and illness. There is no end to the lists to be made of the contrast to be drawn. Life is like that. How then are we to steer a relatively straight path to the goal of maturity? How are we to see what is of stable worth and what leads to disappointment and loss? only by the wisdom from the giving God. Thinking as you ought to think of yourself. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12 to think soberly. Think from God's perspective. the great equalizer, rejoicing in your true spiritual position, your true identity before God in Christ. Christ raises the lowly and lowers the lofty to bring us all to the same place, complete maturity before our heavenly Father. Our outward circumstances can so often rattle us, can't they? They can shake us. from the foundation, from the rock, from the sure place. They can cause us to think and respond wrongly to these things. It was so common to think that if we're going through financial hardship or some other kind of suffering, that we must somehow have sinned and become unfavored and unloved by God. It's easy to think that way. We even think that way. We have a temptation to think that way. If this is happening to me, then it must be because I've done something against God. And it could be true, but it's not necessarily true. Conversely, if we are rich and wealthy, that must mean that we are in God's good favor. Yes? That He is pleased with us. It's not necessarily. The Bible teaches us that this is not necessarily the case and James stamps it with his Amen. Again, the greatest example of why we know this is not necessarily true is remember our Lord. Remember Jesus himself. He came from the heavenly glory with riches untold and came down and became lowly in earthly poverty. Did God love him any less? Was he somehow out of favor with his heavenly Father? No. In fact, his father loved him all the more because of that move. So how should you and I respond to these things? How should you and I see our outward circumstances? We are to respond from an unshakable consistent, steadfast faith in God, who has ordained them and who has sovereignly put them in your path. And rejoice, knowing that their purpose is to bring you closer to God, to bring you closer to maturity, closer to be like Him, to God-likeness. Again, James is trying to help you think soberly, to think properly. with a biblical balance. The image that he uses of the withering grass and the fading flower appears frequently in the scriptures. And it is used in order to contrast human frailty. That is, again, the transience of this life over against God's immutability. His unchangeableness. He is ever there. It's to compare this old world's passing away to God's infinite everlastingness. So the opposite of being like Him is instability, is inconsistency. is being given to extremes, flying from one point to another in your thinking. As he uses another analogy, like a wave of the sea being blown around from here and there with no control, which leads to despair. See, James desires your stability. In order for you to be like your God, who is immutable, unchangeable, you must grow. You must mature. You must patiently endure and persevere through the trials. As the storms hit the boat, where was Jesus? The disciples are up going crazy. Oh, you're gonna let us die! Where's Jesus? He's sleeping in the bottom of the ship. For a lot different reason than Jonah was. Right? Because, again, He was so... He was God incarnate, but He was... He knew that His life was in the hands of His Heavenly Father. And He trusted Him, because He knew that His Father was faithful. What did He tell His disciples? You of little faith. Where's your faith? Where is that steady, consistent, steadfast, unshakable faith. It's very easy for us to become shaken, become rattled, become moved by our circumstances. And that's the reason why we don't trust in ourselves. We don't trust in our riches. We put our faith in the God who holds us in His hands. We are to believe. Be renewed in your thinking. Think as you ought to think, thinking God's thoughts after Him. And where do we have a revelation of God's thinking? Right here in His Word. Worldly circumstances, whether poor and lowly or rich, do not define you. God alone does. He is the determiner of who you are before Him. So my friends, listen to Him and live. Here is life. Live your lives according to His Word, according to His truth. Don't allow your circumstances to dictate your view of things. Rather, James, in line with the Apostle Paul, says, set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth, but in heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, for your life is with Christ in God, and therefore it's secure. It will not be moved. So when Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with Him in glory. So glory. in your relationship to him. Amen. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word. We thank you that you help us to think correctly. We pray, Lord, that you would renew our minds by your word and bless it. Again, that it is for our good and for your eternal glory. Amen.