It's a great joy again this Lord's Day to invite you to open your copy of God's Word to James 1. James 1. It's been a few weeks since we've been in our series on James. Maybe you've heard about the three boys who were sitting around doing what young boys do. They were boasting or bragging about their dads. And one of the boys said, do you know how fast a cheetah is? My dad's faster. The second boy wouldn't be outdone. He says, you know how smart Einstein was? My dad taught him. The third boy was really reaching for something now, and he says, you know the Dead Sea? My dad killed it. Boasting or bragging, it's supposed to be a sin, right? I mean, we read in Psalm 75, verse 4, I said to the boastful, do not deal boastfully. Or I remember reading in Proverbs 8, 13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance in the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate, God says. We're not supposed to boast. We're not supposed to brag. But is that always the case? Is that always the case? Because as we pull our chair up to James chapter 1, verses 9 through 11, our text this morning is going to call us to brag. It's going to call us to boast. Look at the next couple of verses we have as we study this epistle. James 1, look at verse 9. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory. Some of your translations say boast. his high position and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation because like flowering grass he will pass away for the Sun rises with a scorching wind and and withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed, so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away." It's not really the text you usually go to when you share a blessing you got from your devotions, is it? What in the world do these three verses mean? And if we parachute down into these verses without giving consideration to the context before and after these verses, we'll miss it. But there's no mystery in this fact. Verses 9-11 are calling us to boast. They're calling us to brag. You say, what do you mean? Well, let's unpack these verses. I want you, first of all, and I have notes in your bulletin if you want to follow along. I want you to, first of all, follow the flow. Follow the flow, and I do hope you will consider those notes as I didn't prepare a PowerPoint for this point, but I need you to visualize something that's in your notes. Follow the flow of the context. What do you mean the flow? Going all the way back to chapter 1, verse 1. In verse 1, and I put it down as letter A, we have the congregational contact. The congregational contact, you say, what's going on here? Well, this is James, the writer, saying hello to his readers. And we unpack this in our very first sermon in this series. This is James, the brother of Jesus, the next oldest sibling in that family. And this is the same James that would eventually be a leader in that church in Jerusalem, the first church, which was almost entirely, if not entirely, Jewish. Thousands of Jews converted to the gospel of Christ. And James was the leader. And it's interesting, as you look and watch through the book of Acts, for the first half of the book, roughly, the apostles are running things. The spotlight of leadership is on the apostles. But by the time you get to Acts chapter 15, the spotlight of leadership and emphasis has shifted in many ways, in a key way, from the apostles to the elders there at Jerusalem. And even at the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15, the apostles are coming and answering to the elders. And James is the main spokesman, the leader of the elders. And this is the man who was writing this epistle. You say, who is he writing to? Because persecution had descended upon the Jews, that first layer of the church in Jerusalem. And it was persecution that we read about in Acts chapter 8 and Acts chapter 12, and we looked at it. And this persecution caused these new believers, these Jewish believers, to leave Jerusalem and to go to surrounding regions. Many of those Jews fled persecution and landed in other Jewish territories. Some landed in Gentile territories. But here's what they were finding. While they were driven from their home because of persecution, and Acts tells us that the leaders stayed in Jerusalem, as they fled because of persecution, they were finding that they were landing now in worse persecution. The Jews were persecuting them where they landed out there, and now the Gentiles were joining into the sports. And it was getting bad. It's like, wow, we could have stayed home for this. Things are bad. We're not only out here now, in a place we didn't call home before, but there's persecution out here too. And the whole thing seemed to start unraveling a little bit. And these Jewish believers, because they were frustrated over what they were experiencing, were reacting to that frustration. They were reacting to that persecution. And they started turning their guns on each other. They were comparing themselves with each other. They were showing favoritism. They couldn't agree on leadership. And the whole thing will be described later by James as being divisive and confusing. And so James writes this epistle. James is still at Jerusalem, and many commentators believe it was only four or five years after his congregation scattered, and hearing on what they're suffering and how they're reacting in a sinful way to it, he writes these five chapters. What's he going to say to them? Well, that takes us from letter A, congregational contact, but notice I have an indent going here. Follow the arrow in your notes. B, I call simply theme. James establishes a theme right out of the gate. What does he have to say to those that he loves and he's writing with all the love of a pastor to them? And they're hurting. What does he write to them? He sets the theme right out the front door. Verses 2-4, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing what does he say right out of the gate he says you are experiencing something amazingly difficult but don't just focus on what's happening to you focus on the grace of God that will allow you not only to remain in this but he will actually use what you're suffering to create endurance in you but The end goal is not merely endurance either. He says, with endurance, you are now in a vehicle that will take you on to complete maturity as a Christian. No suffering, no endurance. No endurance, no maturity. That's verses two through four. That's a theme. Now some of you enjoy literature, right, Pastor Ernie? You enjoy reading lots of books, right, Hillary and David? And those of you who enjoy literary criticism or you enjoy different literary devices, you know what I mean when I say the word inclusio. Now you say, I have no idea what an inclusio is. I don't like that word either. Let me give you another word I like, bookends. You see right here at the front, James puts one bookend down in verses two through four, and it's his theme of how do I steward suffering? But he's going to come around now in verse 12, and he's going to drop another bookend, and it's going to say the same theme. Look at verse 12. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. The first bookend is, endure what you're suffering. And then in verse 12, he restates it, second bookend, endure your suffering. Now that's very important, because everything that James packs in between verses 5 and 11 are within these bookends of this theme. He's not starting new topics in this section we're looking at. He's still developing his main theme. And so that leads me further in the indent here to letter C in your notes, which I call prayer for application wisdom. Prayer for application wisdom. Remember verse 5. We looked at this text the last time we were studying this together. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." So within the bookends of endurance and suffering, here in letter C, he says, with this being the case, with this being the goal, this endurance, here's how you need to pray when you're suffering. And you need to pray for wisdom of how God's using your suffering to create endurance and maturity. That's this prayer for wisdom. And he says this, you have to pray like this in faith, because if you don't, you're going to wobble around in all your suffering like a double-minded person, a person with two different focus points. You'll be unstable. But that brings us now to the next three verses before we get to this final bookend here in the beginning. And so I call letter D a story problem. A story problem. Or you might want to, as I have in your notes there, look at it as an application example. So here's what we have. I want you to follow this flow. You have James saying, you must endure for the sake of maturity. And in your endurance, you must pray for wisdom as to how God will not only sustain you in this suffering, but what specifically he's doing to mature you through the suffering. And then it's as if James at this point when he comes to verse 9 says, let me give you an example. And verses 9 through 11 is an example. It's an example. of this theme. And as I come to the topics that we see in chapter 1 verses 9 through 11, I think we are looking at what is the most common example of an obstacle to our growth and maturity, especially when we hit difficult times. And it's the topic of riches and status. Because even though these believers scattered, some were of a lower status, if you will, even before they were persecuted. And some had means. But now that they're being persecuted, their focus could be getting out of whack. They could be becoming double-minded. Those who are poorer, becoming focused on what they don't have. those who have some means and cushion focusing on their security of their means of their riches so he's giving us here a story problem of what he has been talking about so follow the flow but secondly I want you to meet meet the men I want you to meet the women I want you to meet the players in verses 9 through 11 And you have two main characters, two main characters. Look at verse 9. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position, and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation. We have two characters here. So first of all, you're going to note that the one that's easy to identify, I'm going to call this one the poor believer. Letter A, the poor believer. The New American Standard translates it, the one of humble circumstances. The ESV translates it, the lowly. What are we looking at here? What do you mean poor believer? It's interesting, as I look at verse 9 it says, the brother of humble circumstances is to boast, is to glory in something. And this is a command that if you are poor, if you are of lowly circumstances, James is saying, you have every reason in the world to boast, to brag. You're like, huh? So let's look at what he means here. What do you mean brother of humble circumstances? Or what do you mean lowly? This is an interesting Greek word that I do need to direct your attention to. It's a word that means low. There's nothing hidden here. It means a low degree. It means to be in a humble position. It can be translated as poor, as some of your translations do, but it's not poor so much as in how much is in your bank account. It's poor as a status, as a category. So this is who we're talking about here. And this person that he's addressing, I think, will be the majority of his recipients. These were people who were disdained. They were looked down on as low and poor and an object of persecution. The persecutors looked at them as sport. Look, they can't even fight back. They don't have the means or the stamina. We have them on their heels, back on their heels. That's the lowly person. And in most cases, even financially, they would have been poor and tight and discouraged. And what does James say to them? He says this, he says, the brother of humble circumstances is to cower. Is that what it says? The brother of humble circumstances is to mope. The brother of humble circumstances is to disengage. Wait just a minute. It says here that the brother of humble circumstances is to glory, is to boast. In what? In his high position. What do you mean high position? Some of your translations say in his exaltation. in his exaltation. Now this is why it's important to mark a few of these words. This particular term means, in his height. James is saying, yep, you Christian, with very little means, with very little esteem in the eyes of those around you, you who are low, as Psalm 113 said this morning, in the dust, you need to brag on how exalted you are. That's what he's saying. Robertson puts it this way, in his lowest state, he is in his height. Let's interview this guy. Let's interview this lady. I have a question for you in our interview. Why are you quote-unquote poor? And how can you brag in that? And in our interview, the poor believer would say back to us, I don't have much. I'm away from home and even out here I'm getting hammered. I don't have much. All I'm left with is the fact that I have been reconciled with the God of the universe. That's all I have. All I have is that He has reached down and He has rescued me and He has adopted me into His family and I am a full-blown son of God. That's all I have. I don't have much left. I can't really talk about much except for the fact that God called me. For some reason, God chose to set His love on me and eternity passed, and to redeem me in time, I've been born again, all of grace. It's all I have. He would say, you know, I don't have much. She would say, I'm just actually just a love gift. being passed from God the Father to God the Son, and vice versa. I don't have much. I do have the God of the universe and the person of the Holy Spirit indwelling me and animating me with His grace every day. That's all I have. I don't have much, and this hurts. It really hurts. But I do have this thing called heaven in front of me. I don't have anything. I do have access to His Word, which is the very mind of God Himself. And His Word tells me everything I need to know what's right, what's wrong, how to fix what's wrong, and how to keep right what's right. But that's all I've got. Oh, and I have opened eyes to understand it, and the Spirit of God illumines it to me and explains to me the meaning and the urgency of application. But other than that, I don't have anything. Oh, yeah, I mean, I get to be an ambassador of the King of Kings in my generation. But I, other than that, I don't have anything. You see what he's saying? Let the one who's esteemed little in the eyes of the world exalt and boast in their lowness of how exalted they are. The words that I read in Jeremiah chapter 9 verses 23 and 24 come flooding into my mind on this point. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, listen to this, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. that I am the Lord exercising loving-kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these I delight." That's the first character, the poor believer. But there's another character in these three verses and in your notes it says rich and then there's a blank. You see that? How are we going to fill in that blank? A lot of trees have died to make the paper that has gone into commentaries to debate how we should finish this sentence or this blank. It's an area of debate, even right up till today. How do we fill in this blank? Are we going to put the word unbeliever in that blank? Are we going to put the word persecutor in that blank? Are we going to put the word believer in that blank? I'm going to give you a little hint here, but I still want you to do some work. You have two options. You can boil it down and you have two options. You can either put the word unsaved in that blank or you can put the word saved in that blank. Now here's where I'm going to make my argument. Those who say we should put the word unsaved in that blank, and an example would be a commentator, a well-known one by the name of D. Edmund Hebert, He will say, we need to put the word unsaved in that blank because, well, whenever James describes the rich in this book, in this epistle, he does it severely. He does. Look at chapter 2, verse 6. Written to the rich persecutor. He says, but you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? He's saying that to well-to-do people in the church, I believe, but he's also condemning those who are rich who take advantage of the lowly Christians. And so he says, so yeah, if he's doing that in Chapter 2, that's probably what he's doing in Chapter 1. And people who want to put unsaved in that blank also will look at another passage. They'll look at Chapter 5. Look at Chapter 5. He says in verse 1, "'Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasures.'" And then he continues to go on all the way down to verse 6 with harsh words for the rich. not for the sake of that they're rich it's for the sake that it seems to be those who are well-to-do who are taking advantage of those poor Christians so those who want to put the word unsaved in that blank make those two arguments they go to those two texts so what about the people that want to put the word saved or they want to put the word believer in that blank I'm just going to show my hand now. This is where I stand. You say, why? A couple of reasons. First of all, one is a structural reason. As you look at verse 10, it says, and the rich man, and if you have the New American Standard, the next three words are in italics, which means they've been supplied by the translators to smooth out the reading. So it could read, the rich man in his humiliation. You say, well, that doesn't read smoothly. Well, most believe, as I do as well, that it's bringing down from verse 9 the command to glory. There's a command given and it goes in two directions to the poor or the lowly and also to whoever is the rich person in verse 10. So the rich and the poor are sharing the command to boast. That's a pretty strong reason in my mind. It's a textual reason here. But there's a second reason I think we should put the word believer in that blank or saved. And it's simply this, as we read through the epistle of James, we are going to find that even with the scattered suffering believers, some of them did have means. Not all of the believers who scattered and who were getting hammered were poor financially. As a matter of fact, I think when you get to chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 where he talks about showing favoritism, some of the richer believers were showing favoritism to the rich unsaved who were visiting the churches. And if that weren't enough, when you go to James 4, verses 13-17, you see believers, at James' warning, who have businesses, who are thinking about going to another city to start business there. Just start over. They have the means to not only relocate, but to start a business there. He has some words of warning to them. So just the presence of means does not mean that in James' epistle that these folks are unsaved. But there's a third reason why I believe you need to put the word believer in that blank. And it's back to that bookend thing. What James is saying between the bookends of chapter 1 verse 2 and chapter 1 verse 12 is all directed towards believers. And it's an illustration of how to endure. So my answer is you put the word believer in that blank. Rich believers. This passage, I believe, verses 9 through 11, is not a passage that's teaching you that you just need to hang in there, beleaguered Christians, until Jesus blasts the bad guys who are making life rough for you. It's not what we're reading about here. We'll get to that in chapter 5. We'll actually get to listen in to God talking to the persecutors. But that's not now. He says in verse 10, and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation." You say, what does this mean, rich? It's the idea of you're rich enough to have means to where you are fairly mobile and can be free from many financial concerns. He says this, he says, I want the rich believers, you wanna know what you glory in? You wanna know what you boast in? If God's given you means, if he's blessed you like this, you boast in your lowness. And he uses the same word that he used to describe the poor up in verse nine, lowness. So what do you mean by that? Well, let's keep reading. Middle of verse 10, because like flowering grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass, and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So too the rich man, in the midst of his pursuits, will fade away." You say, what are we talking about now? And here's the beginning of James constantly reaching to the outdoors for illustrations. He describes this scorching wind which could have been either a seasonal heat or it could have been what's known as a Sirocco wind that would come up and be of such intensity and such heat that it would kill vegetation extremely fast. Many believe he's reaching for Isaiah 40 And referring to verses 6 through 8, the voice said, cry out. And he said, what shall I cry? Here's what I cry. All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades. Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. James is reaching for this passage in Isaiah and saying to the rich believers, now look, God different people, different means. And we're going to see that in 1st Timothy 6 in a few minutes. And if you happen to be one that God has allowed to have means, understand that's not where your identity is. People that live for what you have quickly lose sight of their spiritual walk. People who set their planning and It says in their pursuits at the end of verse 11, they set their focus on what you have. It can be a slippery slope. And rich people that live for what you have will suddenly die, just like vegetation. And everything they were living for is gone. And just as the lowly person needs to be rescued, so does the person of means. They need to be rescued. And they are. Both parties, both characters are saved out of their hopelessness. They're free. If God has redeemed you and He's blessed you with means, whether it's obvious or not, understand that your identity now is with an outcast, not with a forecast. Your identity is with an outcast, Jesus Christ, not with the financial forecast. As Seneca said so many years ago, a great fortune can be a great slavery. And it becomes your identity. I believe that you have two characters here. You have the lowly Christians, often financially struggling, and you have rich Christians, or rich believers, or those who have means. And before you put yourself in that first category, may I remind you you live in America? May I remind you that none of us have missed too many meals this week? I obviously didn't. May I remind you what life might be like in Togo? Yeah, don't be too quick of putting yourself in that first category if you live in Washtenaw County in America in 2017. I mean, if you want to live there and put yourself in that category and compare yourself with people who have more means than you, you'll always find those people. What you might forget, what you might miss, is that you and I are very wealthy compared to the rest of the world. And as much as we want to fight our way from that first blank, letter A, we're probably in that second blank, every one of us. So we need wisdom with the resources God's given to us. I want to give you a couple for financial principles real quickly. that we get from the New Testament from Christ, from John, and from Paul. First of all, and you can call these, I used to call these the Master's Money Matters to Muse. I don't say that anymore though. Number one, riches, or means, can distract you from spiritual fruitfulness. Riches can distract you from spiritual fruitfulness. Jesus said in Matthew 13, remember the kingdom parables? Remember the parable of the soils? Matthew 13 22 we read of one of the seeds that fell amongst the thorns and Jesus says now he who received the seed among the thorns is he who hears the word but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he or she becomes unfruitful It could be the deceitfulness of riches that you already have, or listen, it could be the deceitfulness of riches that you don't have that you want. Both of them can take your focus off of your spiritual fruitfulness. Number two, riches can blind you regarding spiritual needs. They can blind you according to your spiritual needs. Many who have means, whether they're obvious or not, may not realize that spiritually they are paupers. Jesus says this in Revelation 3, verse 17, to the church of Laodicea, because you say, I am rich, I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. possible to be spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked and not see it. Number three, riches can challenge you regarding spiritual focus, having a single focus. Again, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 says, no one can serve two masters, general principle, For either you'll hate the one and love the other, or you'll be loyal to one and despise the other. And then he finishes with a concrete example. He says, you can't serve God and mammon. Or riches. Riches can challenge you regarding your spiritual focus. It's where the whole week, except for 90 minutes on Sunday, the focus is amassing or protecting. the number four, we get one more warning, one more truth about money and riches. Riches can provide you with spiritual opportunities. Riches can provide you with spiritual opportunities. Hold your finger here and look with me at 1st Timothy chapter 6. 1st Timothy chapter 6. Paul, in drawing this epistle down to a conclusion, saved some very direct, yet encouraging words to those very believers who have means, who would read or hear these words read to them. And he says in 1 Timothy 6, verse 7, for we have brought nothing into the world, so we can take nothing out, or we cannot take anything out either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich and fall into temptation and a snare of many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction, the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." That's a warning. But look what he says in verse 17. Instruct those. He's not condemning those. He's instructing them. God elevates some. It's his prerogative. Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. Riches can provide you with spiritual opportunities. Riches and means can give you opportunities to bring relief and be a blessing to others and to ministries. You say, so what do I take home? What do I take home from this brief thought within the bookends? What do I take home from chapter 1, verses 9 through 11? Well, thirdly, I want you simply to learn the lessons. Take the lessons home with you. There's a primary lesson. You've got to own this. But then there are also some secondary lessons. Don't forget those. What's the primary lesson of these three verses? It's simple. Find your boast in your spiritual fortune that you have in Christ. That's your boast. Who you are in your union with Jesus. That is your bragging. And by the way, you and I will boast in something or someone. We will. Every day. It'll be in ourselves, it'll be in others, it'll be in things. We will glory in something every day. It must be who we are in Jesus. Place your boast and your spiritual fortune that you have in Christ. There's a Bible study tool out there I don't hear a lot about anymore. It's called the Life Application Bible. Maybe some of you have it. I don't hear about it much anymore. It wasn't a study Bible. It's an application Bible. It doesn't help you interpret. It helps you think through application. I love what they say here in their notes. Listen to this. Quote, the poor should be glad that riches mean nothing to God. Otherwise, these people would be considered unworthy. the rich should be glad that money means nothing to God, because money is easily lost. So what's the principle here, the primary principle? Just if you're poor, if you're lowly in position, and remember we live in America so we have to be careful reading this, stop grasping for riches. And if you are a person of means, a believer of means, stop gripping on to riches. Our grasp and our grip is on Christ Himself. The psalm writer says in Psalm 73 verse 28, As for me, the nearness of God is my good. That's it. Or Psalm 34 verse 2, My soul will make its boast in the Lord. And by the way, James is alluding to his big brother's Sermon on the Mount here in these three verses. Remember the first beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they have the kingdom. The kingdom. That's the primary lesson. But what are some secondary lessons to take with you as well? Just a few things to consider quickly. Number one, in grace, the ground is level. The ground is level in grace. Pastor R. Kent Hughes preached this to his people from this text and he said, this is the paradox of the rich poor and the poor rich. He got it. William McDonnell in his helpful commentary says, the same grace that exalts the lowly humbles the rich. And a great, this is the 500th anniversary of the renovations. That's tonight's service. It's the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. And we've been talking a lot about Luther, and a particular Lutheran commentator by the name of Lenski observes this, and it's impressive that Lenski does this because he's not always devotional in his conclusions, he's pretty technical. But he says this, as the poor brother forgets all his earthly poverty, so the rich brother forgets all his earthly riches. By faith in Christ, the two are equals. That's what I want to say. That in grace, the ground is level. James will return to this theme in chapter two. Number two, the cross can penetrate any obstacle. If you're someone who is not of means and there's constant struggle, and on top of that you're belittled and your status is one not to be envied, understand the cross can reach you, penetrate that obstacle, and exalt you, as Psalm 118 says, so that you sit with kings. But it can also penetrate another obstacle on the other end of the spectrum. If you're a person of means and your focus and security is in that, the gospel can crash through that as well, show you your poverty, and exalt you, and rescue you. The cross can penetrate any obstacle. And you know what? I say that to all of you here today. Whether we live in America, Togo, Washtenaw, wherever. The gospel can penetrate any obstacle that's blinding you this morning. It will tell the truth to you. It will tell you the truth that you need a Savior. You're blind and you don't see it. But the truth is, Jesus came to rescue you. If you place your faith in Him and repent of your sins, and cry out to Him to be your Savior and your Lord with all your heart, He'll give you new life. He'll rescue you from any extreme. You'll be a new creature. The cross can penetrate any obstacle. Number three, we are not merely tested within our status. Our status is a test as well. Those who struggle with means find that they have unique tests. because of their lack of means, unique trials. Those who have means are tested because they have so many means that are unique to those who have means. I'm not saying there's not a unique test based on where you are in life. What I'm saying here from this text, though, is that the status itself can be a test to expose our pride in either direction. He's using this word peresmos between these bookmarks over and over and peresmos is a test to see what comes out. One more secondary application to remember. Biblical insight breeds an incredible contentment. Biblical insight breeds an incredible contentment. It was a Puritan, Bailey, who said, Lord, burn eternity into my eyeballs. You might have heard the story of a little boy who was praying with his mom before he went to bed. He says, Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you for the food. Thank you for our clothes. Thank you for the nice weather. I pray that I'll be good boy. I pray that we'll have a nice day tomorrow. And please give me a bicycle. And the mother jumps, says, why? God's not deaf. Why did you yell just then? And the little boy says, I know God's not deaf, but Grandpa is, and he's out in the living room. OK. We need to learn to be content. We need to learn to be content. And content we can be with our good Heavenly Father. Well. Psalm 49, verses 16 and 17. Be content that you are reconciled with God. This is only a story problem, a case study of what James is arguing. When we come back, Lord willing, in a few weeks to this study, We will consider that second bookend. But this is enough for today. We're done. And the spirit has said what he needs to say to this church, our members and our guests today from this text. Now, what are you going to do?