The Fuel of Promised Blessedness to Keep on Keeping On
James 1:1-27
Promised blessedness fuels us to keep on keeping on in the midst of trials, confusions, temptations, lethargy, and deception.
#promises
#joy
#perseverence
Published December 1st, 2016
Notes
Main point summary
Discourse**
notes
Notes
"Blessed is the one who remains steadfast under trial." Full of joy is the person who keeps on keeping on in the midst of it all. This is a grand promise. This is a promise that surpasses circumstantial joy. It is a joy in the midst of all circumstances, even in spite of circumstances. It is this rock-solid promise which fuels all of James's exhortations.
Main point summary
It is blessed and joyful to keep on in the way. So count trials a joy, ask for wisdom in confusion, be humbled and exalted, and humbly receive and actually do the word.
Discourse**
editing
NT
James 1:1-27
esv
mine
a James, a servant 1 of God and b of the Lord Jesus Christ, To c the twelve tribes in d the Dispersion: Greetings.
James to the twelve tribes:
e Count it all joy, my brothers, 1 when you meet trials f of various kinds, for you know that g the testing of your faith h produces steadfastness.
See trials as a good and even joyful thing because they make you more steadfast
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be i perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
and embrace this steadfastness because it makes you more complete.
ground
j If any of you lacks wisdom, k let him ask God, l who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Ask our generous God for wisdom when needed.
But m let him ask in faith, n with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like o a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; p he is a double-minded man, q unstable in all his ways.
However, do not do it without faith . A person who asks without faith should not expect to receive anything--such as wisdom--from God since he is double minded and unstable.
negativepositive
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and r the rich in his humiliation, because s like a flower of the grass 1 he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and t withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Boast in your exaltation if you don't have much, and boast (meaning, accept and admit) in your humiliation if you have much. The riches will fade.
series
u Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,
It is blessed/happy/privileged to stand firm through all difficulties and temptations
for when he has stood the test he will receive v the crown of life, w which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire x when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and y sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
for there is a crown of life as a reward to those who persevere through temptation
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. z Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from a the Father of lights b with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 1
Know: 1) Every good gift comes from God
bilateral
c Of his own will he d brought us forth by the word of truth, e that we should be a kind of f firstfruits of his creatures.
He has raised us to be firstfruits, like him
g Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person h be quick to hear, i slow to speak, j slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Be slow to speech and anger, and quick to listen.
Therefore k put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with l meekness the implanted word, m which is able to save your souls.
Receive the word meekly
inference
But be n doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, o the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, p he will be blessed in his doing.
Do the word you hear, so that you'll be blessed in all your doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious q and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s r religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: s to visit t orphans and widows in their affliction, and u to keep oneself v unstained from the world.
Worthless religion is self deceived due to an unbridled tongue, while pure religion is full of compassion and holiness.
ideaexplanation
Count trials a joy; ask God for wisdom; boast and be humbled...
It is blessed to persevere through trials and temptations. All that is good comes from God...
As firstfruits, receive and do the word.
Count trials a joy; ask God for wisdom; boast and be humbled because it is blessed and happy to keep on in the faith
Therefore, keep on keeping on, humbly hearing, and actually doing the word.
discourse
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