It's a great joy this morning to invite you to join me in the Epistle of James. Please open your Bibles to James 1. This will be my final opportunity to come to this series on James in 2017. The rest of the month is filled up with special sermons and opportunities to preach. And of course, as we meet together on New Year's Eve, which is a Sunday, I'm going to give you as strong of a challenge as I can on the importance of reading the scriptures through in 2018 as well. And so this is our final stop in James until January. And I'm really, really looking forward to our study this morning. Before we go to the Word of God, let's go to the God of the Word in prayer. Lord Jesus, we ask you right now, in your will, confident of your presence and your Spirit's work in our midst, we ask you to open our eyes to this text. I pray for your people to see your truth with such clarity that it will create an urgency. And Lord, I pray for those who may be here with us this morning, as most weeks, those who have yet to enter a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, with you, Lord, would you open their eyes, not only to your beauty, not only to your rescue, your salvation, but to their need for it. Would you give them faith and repentance this morning, all while we're in your word in this sermon. Do it, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I've mentioned a book to you on several occasions, one that had a profound impact on my life and thinking as I entered the pastoral ministry in 1994. My first six years in ministry were going to be as a youth pastor, a student ministries pastor. And as I was getting ready to enter that capacity of being a pastor, a friend of mine who had already started as a youth pastor in another state said, Jim, you've got to read this one book. I mean, there's a lot of good books on youth ministry. You've got to read at least this one book. And so he told me about this book. It was called, It's out of print now. But you can still find used copies on Amazon and online. It's written by a guy with a great name. I love his name. His name is Dewey Bertolini. How would you like to call in a pizza order with that name? Dewey Bertolini. Dewey Bertolini was not only a youth pastor and youth worker for years, but he's also the one that oversaw, at that time that he wrote that book, he oversaw the youth ministry major at the Master's College where John MacArthur is the president. Dewey was also one of the two main professors at the Master's College that held up John MacArthur's hands as Dr. MacArthur changed the Master's College counseling model to a pure biblical counseling model. And he took a lot of flack on that, and Dewey was one of the two guys that kept John in the game in that fight. Dewey is a great writer, and he wrote this book, Back to the Heart of Youth Work. And in that book, I love how he breaks it down. There's a chapter on ministering to parents, a chapter on ministering to your youth staff, a chapter on activities, two chapters on preaching to teenagers. It's just a great handbook for youth ministry. But one thing, as you read that book, you find out that Dewey Bertolini, what he did as a youth pastor and a youth worker is he volunteered as a substitute teacher at the area public high school. And that was to get an inroad with some of the teens, some of the unsaved teens in the public school system, and even as a chapter on ministering to the public school. And in that book, Dewey describes one of the scenes that he experienced as a substitute teacher in a public school one morning. I mean, he'd done it so many times, but this particular morning, he walks in and he has high school teenagers coming to the class that Dewey was subbing for, and they came in, I think it was the first class of that day, And they came in and they were all sleepy and subdued teenagers. You know, they have that sleepy, slightly disinterested look in their eyes. And they walk into first hour this particular day, they look at the substitute teacher, and then they figure, of course, why even pay attention today? And Dewey says there was one teenage guy that really caught his eye that particular morning. A guy slouched into the room, saw the sub, went to his seat on the front row, and immediately put his head down on his desk, like trying to go to sleep. And Dewey, who is a very energetic personality, still is, he started breathing life into that class as he normally did, but this guy in the front row was unmoved. And so Dewey started the class out trying to create discussion, saying, what is your greatest question about life today? He's asking these unsaved teenagers at the public school, what is your greatest question about life? And several teens started answering the question, but this guy in the front row was still unmoved. But finally, to Dewey's shock, The guy in the front row woke up, lifted his head up with red eyes, looked at the substitute teacher and said, here's my question. I have one question. Would you please tell me why I should get up in the morning? And it's a response that initially produces a couple of giggles, but it's a question of profound significance, even coming from this teenager. Why should I get up this morning? And Dewey went on to talk about why that answer just gave an insight into the heart of that teenager of the despair he had. Without hope, without Christ. Well, I think that's a really great question for us to use to launch into our study this morning. Why should you get up in the morning? Why should you get up tomorrow morning? Because you're thinking, well, you know, I do ask that question because when I get up tomorrow morning, I'm going to be facing the same trials, the same difficulties, the same tests that I faced when I went to bed tonight. Why should I get up and face the troubles tomorrow? Now, it's easy right now for us to just jump into the verse and say, yeah, we all face troubles. Let's get the points of the sermon. Now, let's put some clothes. on these trials you're going to face tomorrow. I'm going to walk off sections on the stage here. Four sections. Perhaps your trial will look like this first section. I'll call this one strained relationships. In case you've grown used to the fact, there are some people in your life that don't like you. You might be married to them. Or they might be down the hall. But seriously, there are people in your life that perhaps it's been going on so long, you've figured out how to go through your days navigating around certain people because the relationship with them is very, very strained. And anytime your mind or your eyes go in their direction, there's great discomfort. Even pain. Strained relationships. Can you relate with this one? Here's a second area of trials that are waiting for you Monday, tomorrow morning. I'm going to call this one physical pain. It hurt on Friday. It's going to hurt on Monday. The Lord was so kind to me this past week that He loved me enough to allow my lower back to go out on Monday. You say, poor Jim, that's part of dying. Jim, you're 50. You're dying right on schedule, right? I've only done this maybe four or five times so far. The first time came about a decade ago. I have a concave back, lower back, which they say is prone to this, I guess. And usually when I throw it out, it's because I did something a week or two earlier that was dumb. And I did. I got under a recliner going up Pastor Ernie's staircase. And Salvador Toledo was up on top of the recliner pulling it up. I was pushing it up. And I knew when it got to the top, yeah, I shouldn't have done that. About a week later, this past Monday, I was working out at the gym and I did something and it finished the deal. Out went the back. Immediately acute pain. I'm like, oh yeah, that's what that feels like. It's been a while. And by the end of Monday, all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday, people were staring at me, including my wife, laughing. Why are you walking so funny? I was in acute pain. I started going to the Aleve and been running that course. My wife has me talking this week in emergency room numbers. OK, if it was a 10 on Tuesday, what is the pain today? And it's gone well, and I'm at least down to about a 4 or 5 today. But you know what? Lord willing, it's going to heal up like the other four or five times I've done this. It hasn't happened a lot. But when I hurt real bad, it jars me that there are people that hurt worse than I do right now with a 10. They hurt worse and they have no hope that they'll ever come out of it. They've been living with a pain worse than my little boo-boo in my back. They've been living with their pain for years, maybe decades, without any hope or medical expectations that it will ever have relief. As a matter of fact, it may just get worse. Can you relate to this spot? Let me go to a third category with you. We have strained relationships way over there. We have physical pain there. But right about here, let's call this one sin consequences. Not one of us is perfect in this room. I watch you walk across puddles and no one walks across on top of the water. We've all sinned. We will sin. And many times, our sin brings with it consequences. It's not that we're not repentant. It's not that we haven't confessed vertically with God and horizontally with others. That doesn't erase consequences, though. Yes, wounds heal, but scars remain. And we have to go through life sometimes bearing long-term consequences to sinful choices in our past. It may be consequences in our bodies or external to us. And though we're walking with God, and we understand His forgiveness, it doesn't erase the consequences. And these are waiting for us tomorrow, Monday morning, again. Let me give you one more section to consider. We have four. And the fourth one, I'm just going to call this, your daily pressure of responsibility. We're not really talking about conflict with other people. We're not talking about physical pain. We might not even be talking about sin content. We're just talking about the burden and the load of your daily responsibilities and weeks is sometimes overwhelming. I mean, you have deadlines. You have diapers to change. You have bills to pay. This is just living life, but no one said that this is easy and light. On most days, it's a race against the sunlight to get it all in. And to get it all in well. So when we talk about trials and tests, we're talking about these four categories in your life. Your responsibilities. your pain, sin consequences, and relationships. So I ask you again, why should you get up tomorrow morning only to face these four categories again? And to be honest with you, you know that James readers were asking the same thing. Why should we get up tomorrow morning We already had to flee our home in Jerusalem as Jewish Christians because we were being persecuted. And then we scattered away from those that we loved, and we landed in other Jewish areas, or even Jewish and Gentile areas, and now the persecution's worse than why we left home over. So why should we get up in the morning? And James is writing in this amazing letter to tell them why they should get up in the morning. Look at James 1.12. 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. Now as I mentioned a few weeks ago when we looked at verses 9-11, we have in this first chapter what we can call bookends. Those of you who are into literature, this is an inclusio. In v. 2, we have something that sounds very similar to v. 12. Look at v. 2. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And again, v. 12. It sounds a lot like v. 2-3. 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. You say, those sound amazingly similar. They are. They are bookends or inclusios. What they are doing is they are compressing between them incredible pastoral instruction and wisdom to a herding flock. Not just where the Jewish Christians had scattered to, but this instruction sandwiched between these two bookends reaches the congregation of Calvary Baptist Church this morning. Why endure your daily tests and trials? Why endure? Why get up tomorrow morning only to face the same thing? James here gives you five reasons to get up tomorrow morning. To face all these trials. Just jot them down. Number one, I'll call it the blessing of God. The blessing of God. Look at verse 12 again. And we're going to spend the whole time on this one verse. Though it's a bookend, and though it's a review of everything that preceded it, it is packed full. And it not only ties closed the thoughts that preceded it in this chapter, but it also is going to introduce us to what's next. You must grasp this verse. This verse says, wake up tomorrow morning. Why? Number one, because of the blessing of God. It says at the beginning of verse 12, blessed is the man or the woman. Blessed. This is the word makarios. It means you understand that if you are facing trials, it uses the word blessed to describe you. And the word blessed means you are fortunate. You say, what? Yes! When this word is directed in your direction, it's saying this in Scripture, you are in a place to be envied. Amazing! One commentator says, this is a state of the soul. It's a condition that is to be desired. Something big is going on. St. Augustine said, God is more anxious to bestow His blessings on us than we are to receive them. And he's right. Listen, whether we're talking about relationship problems, or physical pain, or sin consequences, or just your daily load and pressures of responsibility, you understand that these four categories that weigh you down are the very circumstances that set you apart. All four of these categories eventually are transformed into mercies in your life. To move you forward in God's plan for your life. You are indeed in a place to be envied. You say, why wake up in the morning? Because of the blessings of God. Doing so, waking up Monday morning to face what you're facing, places you in the circle of God's blessing where you would want to be anyway. Can I put it to you this way? Don't sleep in and miss out. It's interesting. I've had the joy and the challenge of not only working my own heart through spiritual depression at different junctures of my life, all the way from when I was a teen and all through adulthood at different times, we all go through the valley. Spiritual depression. And not only have I seen my own heart have to go through chapters of spiritual depression, but I've had the joy of working with others as they come through that valley. And I've noticed this about those who have hearts like mine who struggle with sliding into despair because of pressures like what we're describing up here this morning. And the tendency in my heart and in others' hearts who are struggling with a spiritual depression is this, I just want to sleep. I'm going to stay up late on the internet and study and Google search for people that are struggling with things I'm struggling with, and then I'll stay up so late I'll be tired and I can't get up the next morning to face my responsibilities, to even face the issues. There's almost a tendency when we're struggling with spiritual depression that might have these as the occasion. There's a tendency in us to self-dismiss us from these scenes. And I use sleeping in just as an illustration, but we just want to be numbed to these things. We don't want to be reminded that we're facing this. And James says to his readers and to us, don't ignore it. You are being fashioned. God is at work in you through these trials. Don't sleep in and miss it. Wake up. And face the full gale of what God's doing in your life. I call it the blessing of God. Get up. But what's the second reason to get up in the morning when you're facing stuff like this that we're describing? The second reason is what I'll call the grace of perseverance. The grace of perseverance. Look at verse 12 again. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial. You've heard Pastor Graham and others before me in this pulpit define this particular word for patience or perseverance. It may even sound familiar to you. It's hupomane. It's the willingness and the ability to remain under, to endure, This isn't usually, sometimes it is, but not usually. Usually the word for patience in dealing with people is a different Greek word that means long-angered. But this is the general word that means just to remain in one of these four boxes I described, just to remain in it. And not to collapse, but to endure. It means, as one writer says, it's a triumphant endurance. It means to remain on scene and constant. Yeah, there's 101 reasons why Lori and I are so thrilled that God has called us back to Michigan. After all these years, three decades. We stopped dreaming about coming back to Michigan two ministries ago. I mean, we just thought we were going to go to heaven from the south. And then the Lord opens this door and compels us in. We love being home. And there's so much we don't miss from the South. I don't miss salt in my water when I'm swimming. I don't miss sharks feeding at dusk. One thing I definitely don't miss, including the humidity down there, is the pesky hurricanes. Yeah, those aren't fun. They might be fun on a weather channel, and Jim Cantore has magic powers, but if you're in it, it's not fun, and it's not smart. And we've been through hurricanes, we've been through tropical storms, tropical depressions. One hurricane, we were within 15 miles of the eye, that was Hurricane Ophelia. Yeah, that was not fun. But after a while, you get used to them. It's like, oh, we got another one coming? So you do the same thing, you kind of get into a routine. Many residents board up their windows, we never did that. But you go outside, you start bringing things into the house. You bring your lounge chairs into the house, you bring your barbecue into the garage, because they won't be there after the storm. You bring potted plants into the house, into the garage. You start bringing things in that won't be able to handle the storm. But you don't bring anything in. We didn't have a garage. We had a storage room, a converted garage, so we could store stuff in there, but we didn't have anything to put our vehicles in. But that was fine in hurricanes. I never worried about my minivan in a hurricane. It wasn't going to blow away. And if a flood, it's not where we were, it's not going to float very far. You see, the potted plant won't survive the storm. A minivan will be just fine. Watch this. What we're reading in verse 12 is this, blesses the man who perseveres under trial. What does that mean? It means it's possible. It's possible to persevere. It's possible to remain with a triumphant consistency, whether we're talking about physical pain, difficult relationships, sin consequences, or daily pressures, you can remain on the scene in the thickest part of the trial. It's a possibility. How do we know it's a possibility? Because Scripture is talking as if you are standing. You will persevere. There's a grace. It's a gift of perseverance. One commentator puts it this way, it's not the patience that can just sit down, bow its head, letting things descend upon it with passive endurance until the storm's over. No. It is the spirit that can bear things not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope. That's this perseverance that's a grace. I mean, here's the fact here. When we're talking about the grace of perseverance, we're saying this, there is always divine grace available to you for steady growth and consistency in the worst of storms. It's a possibility, not because of your good track record, but because of the grace of Christ at work in you. We call it the grace of perseverance. You say, why wake up in the morning? You want to know the answer to that? Because you can. Because you can. Paul could. In 2 Corinthians 12.9, he described every morning when Jesus said to him, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect, Paul, in your weakness. And Paul said, OK, I'm going to get up. I mean, that's not exactly how he said it, but he said this. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Why get up tomorrow morning? Because you can. Because God's grace is present and powerful in you. The grace of perseverance. As a matter of fact, Peter talks of this. Hold your finger in James 1 and look at 1 Peter. Just one book to the right. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away. It's reserved in Heaven for you who are protected." Look at this. You are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." You say, yeah, but... My trial's pretty bad. And I fear, listen, I fear that even though I may be able to endure what my trial is right now in these areas, that I would collapse if it got any worse. Right? I don't know that I could handle more pain if that's what's waiting for me tomorrow morning. I don't know if I could handle more conflict if that's what's waiting for me Monday morning. I don't know if I can handle more consequences from past sin or more responsibility. I'm barely hanging in there now. What if it goes up just a little? I'll collapse. Let me make a promise to you. If God, with His good hand of providence, increases the weight and burden in each of your trials, listen, His grace will increase as well. Again, in 1 Peter 4, verse 14, listen to this. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, look at this, you are blessed. Why? Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. You've been in those situations before where you've said, I don't know. I don't know how I could handle any more conflict or the loss of a loved one. I don't know how I could handle more pain or responsibilities or consequences. But then you know what? The day reveals that indeed it did get worse. And I interview you at the end of that day, and you know what I hear so often? Yeah, I didn't think I could handle any more, but God was there too. And the Spirit of God and of grace intensified with the trials. The Jane Paschal I talked to a week ago, as strong as she was, was nothing compared to the Jane Paschal I saw last night and prayed with. Any understandable fears from a week ago She's facing them even more now as her husband nears heaven's gate. But Jane's a lot stronger than she was a week ago too. Because her shepherd's with her. Holding her. Strengthening her. Let me tell you this. If your trials are going to increase in intensity, so will God's presence and grace in your life. Don't miss it. Get up in the morning. Why? Well, because you can. There's a third reason to get up tomorrow morning and face whatever you have to face. I'll call this third reason the constancy of trials. Doesn't that sound encouraging? Wake up! There's more coming than you realize. You're only worried about the ones you know about. The constancy of trials. Look at verse 12 again. Blessed is the person who perseveres under trial. Who perseveres under trial. Trial. There's that word again. It's the Greek word peresmos. We met this word in 1 Corinthians 10.13. There's no trial that's overtaking you, but such as is common to man. We met this Greek word up earlier in James 1, verses 2 and 3 where we're talking about trials and tests there. But this is an interesting word if you remember. This particular word translated trial or test is to put something to the test to see what comes out. And I said that this is an amazingly important verse in this context. It's not only reaffirming the first 11 verses. It's not only serving as a bookend after verses 1-11, but it's going to open the door to the discussion coming up in verses 13 and following. Let me get you to considering in your mind a breakdown of James 1 this way. In James 1, verses 1-11, you are going to discuss a very certain type of test. I'm going to call them external tests. What occasioned this letter, at least the introduction, was James addressing the external tests of his readers. Specifically, people are beating on us. People are persecuting us because of our faith. You see, these external tests are circumstances that require remaining. They require a steadfastness in the midst of those tests. Well, that's verses 1-11. Those are external tests. But here on this coin of verse 12, James is now turning to expose a second type of test that really is the bigger test for his believers, for his readers. If verses 1-11 are external tests, what we're going to see in verses 13 and following are the greater tests. We'll call them internal tests. You see, external tests always reveal what's in the heart. Because external tests like relationships and pain and consequences and responsibility, what they do is they put what's in our heart out on the table. And what kind of a loving Heavenly Father would we have if He only makes these four tests go away, but never addresses what was in our heart in the first place? What he says here is, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, whether it's external test or internal test. If external tests are circumstances that require remaining, internal tests are temptations that require resisting. So what's the purpose? It says, for once he has been approved. This word approved is to test and then to come to a conclusion. The parēsmas brings what's in the heart out and this approval, this particular word means let's judge what came out. Let's form an opinion here after testing. It's ready in time for another illustration about pocket knives. Are you ready? Perhaps under our tree this Christmas, there'll be a small box with a buck knife in it at our house. Not just any buck knife, but a fillet knife. I don't own a fillet knife for fish. Used to, don't know what happened to it. And so, some of the extended family, the way we exchange gifts is we all have a Google Doc, and everyone puts one or two choices on there under a certain dollar amount, and we don't know who drew our name, but they might get one of those. Well, that buck fillet knife is on that list. But that won't be a knife that I put into a display cabinet. It's supposed to be a great fillet knife for fish, and I plan on doing a lot of fishing next year, again, but I'd like to eat some of it maybe next year. And so that buck knife isn't just going to show up shiny in a box. I want to put it to use. It's going to get dirty. You know, I'm going to put it to the test. Is it sharp? Will it do to a fish what they promote that it does to a fish so quickly? I'm going to put it to the test. You know what? That's kind of the idea here. As a believer, you are promised these trials, and these trials bring out your heart, and then you put that to the test. These trials, as I said at the beginning, become mercies in your life. To prove what's genuine, and to prove what needs to be removed. I find it interesting that in verse 2, it's plural. But here in verse 12, it's singular. Blessed are those who persevere under trial. Now that can be trial as in a category of trial, and that would explain it being singular. And it could also mean that they come at you one at a time. You don't just face your trials and say, well, I'm just going to take them and clump them together and grip my teeth and go through them. No, each one is doing a special work because each one is regulated by the Lord who allowed it. You see, the daily presence of trials in your life is the norm. It's not rare. I call it the constancy of trials. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says they're common to man. 1 Peter 5.9, in talking about interacting and combating with Satan, says, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brothers in the world. 1 Peter 4.12, "'Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing were happening to you.'" Trials are part of something much bigger than us. Why get up in the morning? Because this whole drama that I've drawn out on the stage, listen, is really much bigger than just you. You see, God's doing this in the lives of every believer. He must be up to something big for His glory. in allowing his people to suffer. And it requires a constancy of trials. That's why you get up. A fourth reason to get up in the morning, the anticipation of heaven. The anticipation of heaven. Look at verse 12 again. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial, for once he has been approved, watch this, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. He will receive the crown of life." This is talking about the future. This is talking about not Friday, this is talking about heaven. Heaven is going to deliver two blessings to every believer who suffers. Blessing number one, it will be the consummation of your trials. The day is coming when we will no longer suffer, and that's not this Thursday. It's in the presence of Christ. This judging, this dokimas, this forming you into the image of Christ through your suffering will come to a completion as you enter heaven winded. Christ who is our life when He's revealed, Paul writes in Colossians 3, then will be revealed with Him in glory. You will enter heaven winded, but the trials, they'll be over. One of the best commentators on the epistle of James is Doug Moo. I heartily commend that book to you, his commentary. He writes this, The contemplation of heaven's rewards is found throughout the New Testament as a spur to our faithfulness in difficult circumstances here on earth. Keeping our eyes on the prize can help motivate us to maintain spiritual integrity when faced with the temptations and sufferings of this life on earth." End quote. It's a gift that heaven will give to us, the consummation of your trials. He says here, the crown of life, the Stephanos. This is a crown and you say, is it a literal crown? At the very least, it's the crowning culmination of eternal life in Christ. We look forward to being with Him. And from that standpoint, looking back and marveling at His preserving of us in the worst of physical pain, the most difficult relationships, the consequences of sinful choices, and the burden and responsibilities that our days require. First blessing of heaven is the consummation of your trials, but there's a second blessing that heaven will give to us. And it's being with the company of endurers. Or can I put it to you this way? The brotherhood of the bruised. The fellowship of the faithful. The parade of the perseverers. The crowd of the crowned. That's what was in Matthew 5 that we read earlier. So persecuted they the prophets who were before you. You'll be with those that the Lord was faithful in giving His persevering grace to. And my, we'll spend all eternity comparing notes." See, why wake up tomorrow? Only to face what I know is waiting for me? Let alone what's not waiting for me? What I don't know is waiting for me? Why wake up? Because there is a caboose. You can count on it. It's when our Lord brings us home. There's one more reason to get up tomorrow morning. I call it the demonstration of love. The demonstration of love. Look at verse 12 again, the middle of the verse. He will receive the crown of life, look at this, which the Lord has promised to who? To those who love Him. To those who love Him. This is a participle that has the presence felt of a noun. It's a trait of a certain person, a certain type of person that loves Christ. This isn't talking about, do you know the latest songs that are on rotation on Christian radio? Not talking about that. It's not talking about a love that is merely an emotion. It's talking about a life of obedience. You understand that the New Testament, over and over and over, refers to the true Christian as the one who loves Jesus. Romans 8.28, we know that all things work together for good to those who, what? Love God. 1 Corinthians 2.9, eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 2 Timothy 4.8, "...Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing." It's such a sure sign of a true disciple of Christ that Paul will use these words in 1 Corinthians 16.22. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be a curse. This isn't talking about how many songs you know, how many books you've read, and what feelings you have, and goosebumps you got. Love is lived out through obedience. John 14, 15, if you love Me, keep My commandments. You say, why should I wake up tomorrow morning so that in the worst of relationships and physical pain and consequences and burdens and responsibilities of life, I can get in there and obey God and demonstrate my love to Him? You say, you don't know how intense it is in these boxes up here, and I don't, in your life. But I know this, the greater the intensity, the greater the expression of love will be your obedience. Why get up in the morning? Because it's the sole reason you have to get out of bed, to love God and prove it by His grace. So why face the strained relationships and the pain and the consequences and the pressures? Why get up? Hey, I'm not saying you can roll out of bed. James is saying to his people who might face death on Monday from persecution, And therefore, he says to you as well, he says, you don't just need to roll out of bed, you can spring out of bed tomorrow morning. Why? Because of the blessings of God, the grace of perseverance, the constancy of trials, the anticipation of heaven, and the demonstration of love. You see, the reasons now that you have to get up tomorrow morning are also the very items on your prayer list as you went to bed the night before. and see this grace and this faith that is a gift from God to you. See it in action and it will be never more pronounced than during your tests, your trials. These same words would come yet again from John's pen as he writes to the churches in Revelation 2. The Lord says, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. You have every reason you need to wake up tomorrow morning, one morning at a time, and solely in God's grace.