The Truth about Status and Wealth

If you'll turn with me to James chapter 1, we're looking at the opening of the book of James, this pastor writing a letter to his squat that's scattered because primarily a persecution, the pressures of life in the very early years of the church in Jerusalem, they've scattered other parts of the Roman Empire, and James writes to them a pastor or letter, the concerns he has to them, and he's talking about trials, and that's really the context in which we find this passage we're going to look at today, it's trials and testing, it's coming upon the believer, many styles and shapes and colors, James says they defaults, we fall into them, and there are various great variety, we went around the room this morning, we discovered that all of us, the trials that we face are quite unique to us, in one way or another way they're very common, we all go through them.

Today, we're going to look at an area that's so common to life that no one in this room is going to escape this area of trial, and that is the area of status and wealth, and you may think, well, that's not a problem with me because I have neither, well, that becomes the context of temptation, whether we have it or we don't have it, even in this first modern age, in the culture we live, materialism is very much at the center of things, people are convinced that having more things will make them happy, the worst is counter all dread when you win the lottery, if you don't win and play again, and James has told us in this passage, counter all dread when you face various trials, and we need to ask ourselves, what do we really value in our lives, do we value material things and fame and fortune and money, and those things are poverty and trials, which would be your choice.

There's a very bad gospel truth that we need to understand as we look at this passage today in James 1, and that Bible gospel truth is this, is that a life of devotion to God makes for a life of joy. That is the indispensable ingredient to a life of joy, the way the Bible describes it, deep profound joy, not getting us, not just laughing all the time, but a deep sense of joy that the Spirit gives. Listen to the Apostle Paul, a man who certainly knew about trials and suffering and poverty at times in his life, a man who had great status before he became a Christian, and he became infamous afterwards. He writes to the Philippians, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret, and it is a secret. I have learned the secret of being content. Content means that you are joyful in your circumstances. The secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in rot, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. In James chapter 1, what we have seen James talk about when he comes to trials in our life, is that he says we have a joyful attitude in the midst of trials. That right in the midst of them, we are to have a joyful attitude about them because we understand the purpose, not because they are enjoyable in themselves, but we understand the purpose of trials. And when we can evaluate trials the way James does, the way the word of God does, then it is going to have an effect on the outcome.

Outlook determines outcome. The way we look at the trials are going to determine the way that they affect us. Attitude determines action, what we do in response to the trials. Trials are profitable, James says. They are profitable because the way that God uses them in our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. George's reading said, quite aptly, a Christian is like a teabag. He is not worth much until he's been through the hot water. And that's the truth. In fact, it's one of the things that young people learned I came to Christ as a very small child. And it wasn't until some years later when my faith was tested that my faith actually became manifest as really believing, saving faith. Sometimes it's very difficult when a child professes faith in Christ very young since their faith is really untested to know whether that faith is genuine or not.

But the tests will come and the tests will reveal the true nature of our faith. And so it's not until we have some pressure that we find out, the real nature of faith and the value of it. I like you to consider this. If we value the material over the spiritual and comfort more than the forming of a Christ-like character, then we're always without exception going to be upset over trials when they come into our lives. This is the key to our evaluation of trials. We have to come to the place where we actually value the spiritual more than the material. And we evaluate the conforming of our character to Christ more than we value comfort. Until we come to that place, trials will always be bothersome and a distraction and something we hate.

And we look to the Bible for wisdom on how to get out of the trial instead of wisdom that seeks to glorify God in the midst of the trial. How could I bring glory to God in the midst of this trial, this pressure that I'm under? How can I respond to it in a way that God is truly glorified and my character has changed? That's the question that the leader asks who comes to understand the true value of trials, who values the spiritual over the material, who values a Christ-like character more than he values his comfort and entertainment. Listen to the text. James chapter 1 verses 9 through 12. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position. Quite literally, the brother who is very low, the brother who has no height, he can't get off the ground as really the wood picture.

The brother of humble circumstances is to glory in 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 withers the grass and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So to the rich man and the midst of this pursuits will fade away. Now notice, he doesn't say his riches will fade away necessarily. Sometimes that happens. Some of you experienced that, where you had wealth. I know some people who were rich a year and a half ago, two years ago, and now they're poor. It was all on paper, but they felt rich when the reports were coming in on their retirement program.

But we're not talking about the fading away of your riches. Notice it's the fading away of the man, the rich man. Blessed was a man who perseveres under trial. But once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. In this passage today, James looks at three kinds of men. So to speak, he looks at a man of poverty, he looks at a man of prosperity, and he looks at a man of perseverance, which he appeals to both the poor and the rich to become people of perseverance. Something at all of a space is the effect of riches on our lives, the desire for it, the desire to keep it, the desire to get it, the fear of losing it. In our culture today, it's one of the greatest trials that we face is how to deal with riches.

If you listen carefully with the words of Jesus this morning, as Steve read them, this is why the kingdom of God is called that side down kingdom. Everything we value, God said, is really meaningless in itself. And the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of God, we are called a value that which has eternal value, not fleeting value. Well, first of all, he looks at the man of poverty, and notice he says, the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position, literally the one who cannot rise far above the ground. I think that's such a of vivid expression. He just can't get up off the bottom. He never felt like that, not off the whole bottom, but off the bottom. You just couldn't get, you couldn't rise up, you couldn't get beyond this level that you were at.

He says, that person, this person of humble circumstances is to glory in his height, his elevation, his high position. Now you have to understand, again, we've talked about the circumstances, these people, the James is writing through their people who are experiencing a kind of poverty because of their connection to Christ and believers. Because they have come to rest their faith in Christ, the persecution has come, and they've gone to the other place of the world, but they've settled in Jewish communities in Antioch and different places outside of Jerusalem. And in those places when those in the Jewish community that had influence and money and the ability to help them on their way found out they were followers of Jesus Christ.

They made it more difficult on them because they saw him as a false Messiah. And so they were experiencing poverty, some of them extreme poverty, losing everything they had and trying to eat out of living. James knew that they were going through this and he also knew that the test of poverty causes, sometimes causes a person to become bitter at life and bitter at other people who aren't going through the same thing. And most of James does not tell them to deny the reality of their poverty and just name it and claim it, just pray riches into existence as some teachers have been proclaiming over the last couple of decades in the church, that all you have to do if you need money is just claim it.

Just name it and claim it and believe and God will give you the riches and what they suggest is that you go ahead and make the purchases and trust God to come through when the bill comes deal. That's not what he tells him to do. He also does not tell him to rob from the rich and give to the poor. He doesn't suggest that this is the way we need the needs of believers as we offer our money in a common pot and everybody takes what they need. He doesn't say that. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 26, you will always have the poor with you. There will always be poor among us. It's a probably a human condition and all of us know this is that wherever this is tried where we simply divide up all the goods and let everybody start on a flat level plane, they'll end up in a generation being the rich in the poor for various reasons because we live in a fallen world.

There's not going to be capitalism in the kingdom of God, by the way. The millennium is not going to be a capitalistic system. There's going to be a king ruling and reigning overall things. In that state, in that condition, when our hearts are changing, we are conforming to the image of Christ. It's going to be a blessed kind of life on this earth and we're not going to have to worry about the sin that we experience all the time now in regards to possessions and riches. But notice what he commands to the poor. His instructions to the poor believer is, glory in your exaltation. I'm sure some of them were saying, what exaltation? Are you talking about? If you're down out of the wrong and somebody says, well, you should glory in the fact that you're so elevated, you would ask, well, what exaltation are you talking about, James?

Well, James is talking about, first of all, the exaltation that the believer experiences now, regardless of his bank account. In Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 2, it says that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Not we really bless with every spiritual blessing, but we already have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. In chapter 2, it says, we have been seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Now there is our position in this universe in regards to the God who controls all and owns everything in this universe is that we are seated in Christ that is right hand. And so we experience true riches and true wealth right now, no matter how poor we are.

And so we're the rejoice to glory in our riches now, our riches in Christ. Some of the happiest people I've ever met are people who had nothing except the riches of the kingdom of God. And it gave them great contentment. I had a grandmother. I've read to you some of her statements from her diary from time to time who was very poor, but all she was rich in God. And I never got around her when I didn't sense that, that this woman was rich in her relationship with the living God. But not only now, but in the future, in first chapter 1, Peter says that we have been born again to a living hope. That's the future. Hope is the earnest expectation that God's going to fulfill his promises concerning the future.

What does your future look like? You know, sometimes that's the greatest charm in regards to finances is that when you've made bad investments, bad moves, or things have just been following you and you've lost everything and you don't know how you're ever going to get out of this clip that you're in. And maybe you even have the conviction that you shouldn't file bankruptcy, that you should actually pay off your debts and then what's going to happen? Spend the rest of your life in poverty. What hope is there in that? And Peter says we have been born again onto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ has been raised in the dead. And so our hope is Christ and He's alive. And so this hope that we have, this earnest expectation of God's promises about the future, feels and controls our hearts.

And so James says to them, groy in your heart position, you have this inheritance waiting for you. And notice Peter says that it's being guarded. Isn't that wonderful? You see, everything that you have in this world is vulnerable, isn't it? All of your wealth is vulnerable. Things can turn so quickly. The things that you feel most secure about can lose all of value. It's an amazing thing. But what is in heaven, the inheritance that you have waiting for you in heaven, those of you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they can't rust, moth can't eat it, and thieves can't steal it because it's being guarded, protected. And not only that, he goes on to say that you are protected. You are garrisoned about by the power of God.

God is watching over you and protecting you because He is going to fulfill His promise to you. And so James says, you who are poor, rejoice in your riches, true riches. And then Paul and Romans chapter 5 verse 2 says that we are to exalt, we do exalt, we groy in. The idea of that is we see this as the chief, distinctive about the growing of our salvation, we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. What does that mean? It means that I exalt in my expectation that God is going to bring me into His presence and transport me into the image of His very son. And I'm going to live in glory with Christ. And so we exalt in that glory, we don't exalt in our present condition, we don't exalt in the fact that you can look at my life and see how great it is to be a Christian, look at all the many I have in the bank and all the possessions I have.

That's not our verse. Our verse is in the hope of the glory of God, that God has made promises to us through Christ Jesus. In Psalm 10, 22, Solomon says, the blessing of the Lord makes rich and He adds no sorrow with it. See, that's something that earthly riches cannot bring you. They can bring you. You can achieve riches in this world. This is a great time for people to get rich, but they're also going to be a lot of sorrows. They're going to be added with it, aren't they? The more you have, the more vulnerable you are to sorrows, sorrows in this life. But he says, the riches of God add no sorrows to it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 5, in everything we are enriched in him. We are made rich in Christ.

And so that James is saying to them is when you're feeling sorry for yourself because you don't have what other people have. And that's a problem in our culture. If you're not making $100,000 a year, like many of us aren't, and you look around and you wonder, how am I ever going to achieve this level of happiness? If I don't get to the place where I can make a large salary and possess many things, and James says to these believers in poverty, exalt in your exaltation. Glory and the fact that you have been lifted up in Christ, and he's made you rich without adding any sorrows to it. The poor saints can rejoice because of their high position in Christ. That's his point. We exalt because of who we are in Christ.

We've all heard stories about people who are very poor in poverty, and by a strike, a strike of good fortune for them, some are rich relatives with guys, and leave them a fortune. You read the Testament. That's what it's about. A man who leaves $11 billion to a young lady who's a missionary in South America, in poverty, serving the Lord, and all of a sudden a relative dies, and leaves her $11 billion. Well, guess what? God's got a plan just like that, according to the Apostle Paul. A kinsman redeemer has died. Some of his related to you has died, and he has given you riches through his death. That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.

In the context Paul's talking about the fact that not only did he become a man, not only was he born in an animal shelter, but he became sin for us, even aid from God. Everything he possessed was taken away from him, including his clothes. When Jesus went on the cross, stricken naked, beaten to a pulp, Isaiah says you couldn't recognize him as a man. Everything taken from him. They were even gambling over his robe. He became poor for us. He became sin for us. He went to the cross and our sin was placed upon him, and he died for us in, and Paul says he became poor for your sake so that you through his poverty, you through his death could become rich. That's what salvation is. It makes you rich.

Beyond imagination. In fact, it makes you so rich. There are people who are rich who come to faith, who have come to faith in Christ, who have been in their physical riches because they were so taken up in their spiritual riches. Every believer is Paul richer than any millionaire or billionaire. You probably have to say today on this earth, who does not know Christ, because he has unlimited resources, that is disposal, because of his union with Christ. We are rich beyond compare, and James is telling his readers that they must keep their eyes firmly fixed on their real dignity and their real riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so to you who are poor, James would say don't look at your poverty, look at your riches in Christ Jesus.

Get your eyes on them. God has never put anyone in a place too small to grow in. You can grow in poverty just like you can grow in riches. So James addresses the man of poverty, and now he addresses the man of prosperity. The man of prosperity to him, he says, notice verses 10-11, and let the rich man grow in his humiliation because like flowering grass, he will pass away, for the sun has us with a scorching wind and withers the grass, and we've all seen this, you've seen this process. The flowers are blooming and beautiful, but then the scorching wind comes, the heat comes, the lack of water, and it willers 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.

The church has always had rich people as well as poor. If you read the account of the New Testament, Joseph of Arimathea gave his tomb for Jesus to be buried in with a rich man. Zacchaeus was a rich man who wanted to give half of his grids to the poor because of his joy over coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Nicodemus was wealthy. Bonobus was wealthy and gave away his wealth to the people of God. The Bible doesn't condemn people for being rich. Never does. It condemns rich people who oppress the poor. It condemns rich people who get to gain their riches through crooked means. What the Bible is really interested in when it speaks to the rich is what they do with their riches, and where their riches are placed in the heart.

That's the issue. Where are your riches in your heart? Riches have certain things about them that we need to understand. The Bible says, first of all, that riches can be dangerous. Paul Paul's Timothy, the first one of these six. You have to understand that Timothy is a young man. He is an apostolic legate. He's an apostolic. He functions under the authority of Apostle Paul, a young man, called the 40 years old, and in that culture, a 40 year old man wasn't expected to speak with a authority to older men, and yet he was given the assignment to go and to establish churches, to establish elders in those churches to preach the gospel as Paul's representative. And so he gives him some instructions, and imagine this young man who had no welcome self, and here's the assignment to speak to the wealthy and to the leaders of communities inside of the local church and instruct them.

And he tells young Timothy, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And notice that. That's the proper translation. The working James says, the love of money is a root of all evil. It's not the root of all evil, is it? But it's the root of all kinds of evil. There are all kinds of evil that flow out of a love for money, valuing money over God. That's what the love of money is. It's treating money like a God. Jesus says that money is a God, that wealth is a God, because it demands certain things of you. All of us are always created by men so that they can control the God their worship. The reason that people, all of us are idolaters before we come to faith in Christ, is that we want a God that we can serve, that we can control.

But one of the problems of having idols is those idols can begin to exercise a theory over you that you don't want them to exercise. And Jesus says, that's the way wealth is. A theory of man and is. It acts in functions like a God. Jacque Ruul, French Theologian said that the only time you have true authority, riches, when you are a rich person, the only time you have true authority, exercise a theory over it is when you're giving it away. That's when you're the boss. When you're giving it away. And so Paul says to Timothy, the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it, tankering after it, desiring it more than anything else in life to become wealthy. Some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves.

I live long enough as a Christian and been in church all my life. I've seen all kinds of get rich schemes float through the church. It's amazing how this happens that people see the church begin to see the church, that they are a part of as a means to get rich, as a means to gain wealth. It happens all the time. Churches are often destroyed by this kind of thing because we are so vulnerable to it. I think one of the effects of the internet and having email, and once you get on somebody's list and you start getting all these appeals, isn't it amazing how many people want to make you rich? How many people have a shift, fire plan to make you rich? And you know what? The basis of approaches, your greed, your vulnerability to love wealth.

Paul tells Timothy, tell them that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. It can be very dangerous. So do the wealthy, James would say be careful, wealth can be dangerous. Secondly, riches can be deceitful. Jesus said in the context of the pebble of the soils, that the gospel, Jesus said the reason that the gospel has different effects in different hearts. Well, it is that Jesus preached the gospel to the multitudes, but there were some who received it and were changed by it others, but we received it and then faded away quickly and others rejected it out of hand. Why do these different responses? Jesus explains in the pebble of the soils. It's because of the condition of the heart.

And he can, he describes one heart like this, it's like a soil that is filled with weeds. And he says what happens is that the seed of the gospel is dropped into that heart, but then there is, he describes it this way, the world of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth, shout the word and it becomes unfuful. They hear the gospel, they hear the offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. They hear that they were created in the image of God to worship Him. Their whole purpose and existence is to live for the living God, the great joy of life is coming to have a relationship with Him and yet sin separates them from that relationship. And Jesus called to be reconciled with God and received forgiveness of sins and to receive it free by believing on Him.

They hear the call, they want what He offers and they make an initial response, but then He says, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth. Well is deceitful because it presents itself as a worthy life goal and it's not. It's not a worthy life goal to become rich. There's something far greater for you to pursue. And so the person with wealth needs to be aware of the fact that riches can be deceitful and then third, which is can be desirable, which nobody here probably would deny, that riches can be desirable. You cannot serve God in wealth, Jesus said, why would anybody want to serve wealth? Because it's so desirable. So desirable to be wealthy. There are so many gadgets to have, so many toys to acquire, so many good things in our culture that you can acquire through money.

In Luke chapter 18, Jesus said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle and that's not a doorway in the walls of Jerusalem. That is the eye of a needle like you use when you serve a garment. That's what he's talking about. He is saying that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And what does he mean by that? He goes on to say, they said, well, then who can be saved? And Jesus said, with God things, all things are possible. God saves rich people. But the point is, the point is, in order to come to Christ, you have to humble yourself. In order to come to Christ, you have to loosen your grip on everything that you have.

This is why Jesus said in Luke 14, you cannot be my disciple if you don't hate your father, mother, sister, brother in your own life, and take it your cross and follow me. He doesn't, he's not teaching that you want to turn on your parents and your children and your family. What you're saying is that you have to come to love Christ so much that in comparison, you despise everything else in life. Because if you don't, those competing gods in your life will keep you from following Christ. Well, it's dangerous and it's desirable, and then finally, riches can be deceptive. James tells us that the rich man can be compared to the flowering grass that passes away. It looks so beautiful in its glory.

And yet, there's coming a day when it's going to pass away. The rich man in the midst of this proceeds while he's doing business is the idea. As he's going about his business, he will fade away. In other words, we're all going to die. We're all going to die, and you can't take your riches with you. There was some instanding run, an open grave of a friend that had just been buried, man named John, and this is an apocryphal story. And as they stood there and talked about him and reminisce, one of them said, you know, I wonder how much old John left. And the friend said, you know, old John left it all because there's no pockets in that suit he's wearing. As they say, you'll never see a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse.

When you die, you're going to leave it all. That's how much Bill Gates is going to leave. He's going to leave it all. I've heard he's only going to leave his children. Kidney and dollars each because he doesn't want to spoil him. You know what? He's going to leave every bit of it. And what James is saying is that riches are dangerous because they're always offering themselves on the things that wealth can buy as an alternative God. They're deceitful because they're fleeting. It comes and goes. They're desirable, and yet they're deceptive. And these riches will fade away. In James 1-11, when James makes this statement, for the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass, and his flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed.

So too is rich man. He's describing all these accoutrements, all these things that rich people can have in their glory. And yet he says that glory is going to fade so very quickly. James instruction to the rich believer is glory in your humiliation. Glory in your holiness. The poor person is the glory in his exaltation in Christ, and the rich man is the glory in his familiarity. What does he mean by that? Well now, at this present point as a believer in Jesus Christ, you're the glory and the fact that you've recognized and confessed your spiritual poverty. The reason that there are so many people who are not Christians is because those people are not yet sinners in their own eyes. They're not yet aware of their need of the Savior.

They're not yet aware of their spiritual poverty and their need for spiritual riches. But the rich man who follows Christ can bear in the fact that he has experienced a humiliation, a humbling of his heart, and he's come to see riches for what they're really worth. And in the future, and this is to me such a wonderful truth, when you leave all earthly riches, when you fade away in the eyes of the world. Wow, he was a wealthy man, but he died and he left it all. What they don't know is you're leaving the worthless riches of this life to enter into the riches that will never fade. The inheritance that Peter says that are being guided for us and kept and cannot fade away, they don't rot, they don't lose their luster, and no one can take them from us.

So he says, grow up in that humiliation. Humber Christians who have riches, rich Christians who are humble, that is they've come to believe on Christ, and they know that their wealth is truly their spiritual wealth in Christ. They know that they've been so blessed by the hand of God. And so their focus is not on money, it is on the riches that the salvation brings in Christ. They understand that as quickly as they've gained these riches, those riches could fade away. They could be gone, and they realize that they've been brought to this low position so that they could experience true riches. But the reverse poverty is temporary and prosperity is temporary, in comparison to this eternal glory that we are going to enter into, so it cannot be the defining thing about our lives.

It's one of the most wonderful things about the church is that rich and poor people sit together and worship the same God. In the early church you had rich people who are enslaved, and the slaves they all set next to them in the congregation, and some of the slaves were elders over their own owners. That's the nature of the church of Jesus Christ, because we recognize that neither wealth nor poverty is permanent. It's just this phrase of life before we enter into his presence. So the poor man who in the eyes of the world is not with very much glory, and his relationship with the Lord has exalted position in Christ, that he's seen it in the Heavilys in Christ, and the rich Christian, the prosperous Christian, grows in the fact that the Lord has brought him low, has revealed to him, his only lasting security is found in Jesus Christ, and it can't be taken away.

You're not even going to have to check the stock market in heaven. You'll never have to look at the Wall Street Journal. It's not going to be a great relief. You can grow in the riches that can't fade away. Out in Montier, in his book, Test of Faith says, the poor man is able to go on with God in spite of his adverse circumstances and poverty, because wisdom is open to him, the growers of heaven. He sees who he is in Christ, and the rich man is unable to go on with God in spite of the snares and enticements of wealth, because wisdom from on high has opened his eyes to the real state of earthly things. He sees things that they really are. The gospel has this reveling effect on the both foreign rich.

Interesting in the life of Jesus, one day he was going to Jericho, on the same day he met two men, and if you leave the account, you have to look at two gospels, Mark and Luke, to get both accounts, but they happen on the very same day. He first is encountered by blind biomass. Now blind biomass, because of his blindness, was a poor man. There was no welfare system. There was no public assistance. He sought beside the road in a place that they gave him the beg. And if he heard the commotion of this group group going by, he asked what was happening. They said, Jesus of Navi is passing by, and he begins to call out to him, this poor better. And the disciples of Jesus said, pardon us, because Jesus told them telling them to come to me, and his disciples said to him, get up, get up, and come to the master.

On that very same day, Zacchaeus climbed up in a tree, a wealthy rich man attacks together, who was very wealthy, because he was so climbed up in a tree, up above Jesus, so that he could see what was happening. And when Jesus walked by, he said, Zacchaeus, come down. You want to go to your house, and with great joy, you'll be seated. They want to picture that is. To the poor, Jesus says, come up, and to the rich, he says, come down, because true wealth, true riches is in him. Mighty Saul, when he went down the road of Damascus to persecute Christians to destroy the church, he was confronted by Jesus Christ, and his whole life was changed. He was a man of great status, he was highly regarded, he was accomplished, he was a brilliant man, one of the most brilliant men has ever lived, and that's not just Christians' evaluation.

Anybody who reads the literature that he wrote, whether you are a believer or not, knows that this was a brilliant man. And yet on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus Christ's face to face. When he met him, it was such a bright light that it blinded Saul, and he fell in his face. Sometime later, he wrote to the Philippians, because of that encounter. Because of his encounter with Jesus Christ, this prosperous, accomplished man said, I count all things to be lost in the view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ, Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish. The word rubbish here is the stuff you throw out to the dogs that's not fit for human consumption.

I count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and they be found in him. In other words, he came to understand the true nature of true riches. Listen to this, I counted all my money while God counted crosses. I counted gains while he counted losses. I counted my worth by the things gained in store, but he sized me up by the scars that I wore. I counted honors and software degrees. He wrapped as he counted the hours on my knees. I never knew to wonder by a grave how vain are the things that we spend life to save. I did not know to offend one above that richest is he who is rich in God's love. You see, when you come to Christ, your eyes are open to the true nature of things, and you begin to see both poverty and riches or what they really are in comparison to the riches of being in Christ Jesus.

Paul says to Timothy, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches that on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Whatever you have that you enjoy, it's a gift from God that don't put your confidence in it, and don't be deceived by it. In Colossians chapter 2, Paul wrote for him, all the forms of deity dwells in bodily form and in him you have been made complete. You hear that? Think about those words, you have been made complete. We are complete in Christ. That is true of every single believer. It doesn't matter if you have a doctor's degree or you haven't, you dropped out of high school. It doesn't matter if you are wealthy or poor.

If you're in Christ Jesus, you are complete in Christ. You're complete in the one in whom all deity dwells. Whatever your assets or liabilities, Jesus is the determiner of what is truly valuable. Now he's going to talk about a man of perseverance. Blessed is a man who perseveres on the trial, but once he has been approved, and this is what he's appealing to both the poor and the rich, persevere in the trial. In other words, the idea of endurance or perseverance is keep on trusting and obeying. Live a life of obedience to Christ in the midst of the hard times. Stop your complaining and belly aching about your circumstances and just trust him and obey him and let him change you through the circumstances.

But once he has been approved, he will receive the kind of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. The rich and poor life face trials. And where James is pressed upon us, when we come under stress like this, that we need to understand that the obedience of faith under pressure purifies and strengthens us. And so instead of despising the trials, he said evaluate them as coming from the hand of a father who loves you. The poor man can come under pressure. When he comes under pressure because of his poverty, he's tempted in one way and the rich man because of his wealth is tempted in another. The poor will be tempted to doubt God, that God is even interested in him. Why? Why has God allowing you to be in this state?

Why doesn't he meet your needs on a grander scale? The prosperous will be tempted to desert God. He has everything he needs. That's why it's a work of God, the humble, the rich for them to come to understand that their wealth doesn't supply what they need. But the persevering will trust God and be rewarded with character, transform character and a crown. That's his promise. The risen Lord said to the church in Smirna, listen to these words, do not fear. Smirna was a church that's separate, greatly. He says to them, do not fear what you are about to separate. The whole of the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful.

Until what? Until I deliver you? Until death. That's how he delivered them. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. You know, the promise of God is this. It is not that he will deliver you out of every trial the way you want to be delivered out of every trial. His promise is if you remain faithful in suffering. One of these days when you look back on it, you are going to kick your heels and you're going to realize that what he had laid up in store for you cannot be compared. You will say what Paul says, the present light of friction cannot be compared with the eternal weight of glory in Christ Jesus. The trials both of the poor and the prosperous are purposeful and they're profitable.

God has purposes in your suffering. He's going to conquer something and if there's perseverance, every believer is going to receive the crown of life. He's going to bless you through these trials. He's going to strengthen your faith. He's going to refine it. He's going to change you in a way that you're going to rejoice over. To him that overcomes God gives the crown to faith. We will conquer the often cast down. He who is our Savior, our strength will renew. Look ever to Jesus. He will kill you through. That's the truth. Sometimes those little things that we sing and recite seem so tried, but they're so true. He's faithful. And he's working in your life. And whether your trial is shaped by your wealth or poverty or something else, the God who saved you is going to use your trials to accomplish his great purposes in you and through you.

Because you see his agenda is this and I can tell you whether you like it or not. His agenda for every believer is to conform you and continue to conform you and to equip you to be a servant, to be a representative, to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. And you'll never get up on that. You'll never stop working towards that. That's what his agenda is. And the quicker you line up with his agenda, the more you're going to enjoy this and enjoy the trials. Let's pray. I thought that we are grateful not for trials, but for what they accomplish. Father, I know that there are some who are going through deep waters right now in difficult times and it seems so tried to tell them enjoy it. And I know that's not what this text is saying.

It is saying you can rejoice in the midst of your pain because God has a purpose. God is going to accomplish something wonderful in your life. And I pray that you help each one of us who know Jesus Christ to come to believe that truth and experience the reality of it in our daily life. I pray for those who are here today and have never come to know the joy of salvation Christ Jesus that the gospel, the good news that there is salvation in Christ, the one who can turn the deepest waters of trials into times of great blessing is able to save and to forgive and to restore and reconcile to bring them into the family of God and make them children of God. I pray that the spirit of God would work in every heart in a way that would glorify your son.

We ask you blessing on your word that it would penetrate produced divine effects in Jesus' name. Today is the last Sunday that the fleshers are here. It's been a great trial in my life that they've been leading for so long. It would have been better not to tell me. Just go and then call me from Atlanta and say we left. And I wouldn't have to go through all this agony. But the clingshimes have a song they want to sing to the fleshers. And after they've got them climbed, I want to say something to them too. We'll have them come up. We have a cake in the back of going away cake. And in case they don't get back there to read the inscription, it says, the Lord bless you on your journey but don't forget where home is.

And so we will continue to pray that somehow the Lord will bring them back here to be with us and to be a part of this part of God's team and that work of the kingdom. But the clingshimes are going to come to you guys coming now and we're going to sing. We like family to come up and read. I just want to do. The reason this is such a high lost place is that God's business and his provenance and swallowing about this family to us about two and a half years ago when I was very young in the faith and he's made him such an integral part of my church. I actually never so good a family who was more involved and committed to the work of Christ than this family and even in times of great difficulties and great trials.

We've seen God's hand upon them, seen him deliver them and just miraculous wise. And it's really like losing a right arm. So I've losing my son and it's been a hard, I don't even really want to be around him. I'm going to go visit him at a learning and we have a good time because it's been a very difficult thing that God has decided to move away from us. It's just a wonderful group. This isn't even a whole family. Steve here has been such a servant in his church. He's been the hardest work I've ever seen and it's been a real joy to see a young man that's been so willing and ready to put out and to exert himself and sacrifice and certainly rise for this body of believers and appreciate him. Sandia is a bold witness for Christ.

She's been a joy to watch grow in the faith and come to learn truth and ask very difficult questions and I've been a joy. And of course, Natalie's not here but she knows Jesus. I know if he was asked about it and she'll tell you. And of course, Justin is a great blessing to the church because we saw God's hand in just a supernatural way, being into this world, deliver his mother from death and it's been an amazing thing to watch God working their lives. And Dina has been such a great joy. They've had an impact on all of us and their neighborhood. I will have everybody in the church stand up because they've had a great impact on their life but I don't want you all to stand. You stay seated but they just have affected so many lives and we've almost done everybody in their neighborhood because of their witness there.

And Steve has been such a delight to watch grow and have his desire to serve Christ. And I don't doubt that one of these days he's going to leave the merchandising business and give himself to ministry. I just feel like that's what Brad's going to do with him because he just when you give a guy who can't stand to read Matthew 6 about money and break down and reap over it, that's how his heart is towards Christ and it's been a great wonderful thing to watch him grow. I buy him just a little shop so they can put on the wall, you don't open it now but so that when you look at this, we're going to give you a good picture of us all and you can put that in your pocket. We decided that by looking at your car.

We do have a little carving we like you to hang up and every time you see us think about us and pray for us and we'll pray for you. They've got to continue the issue and we'll let you say anything you want to say. Here, any one of you. Here you go. Thank you very much. All right, when do you go? Think about our family. I sure want to come here. I'd like for you to go. Thank you, Wes. There's a bunch of private. I'd like for those here and thank you too, ladies and gentlemen in the mentioned sinners. We didn't deserve the great God's name. I want you to think of people who were guiding me. Who died in praise. He poured it out of the darkness. And he continued to the day that it could pour us through them.

Just remember that time. It's got to be safe. Because we didn't see God through him. He saw it on it. And he pulled us out of the darkness and I was in such a situation. I think about what we've gone through in this. And the two you've turned out to be earlier, I've gone through here. Almost three through me. What we've gone through, and I said it before, I could not have made it through. If it wasn't through, the people in this, this body, who have been dispensers of God's grace and love to us. And I just thank you all so much. You'll never know how much we've met to meet my family to be a part of this fellowship. And to know this guy, you know, such a wonderful teacher and a friend who teaches the word of God.

And I'm just sort of grateful that I've been able to, well, I've been able to sit under his leadership and to be part of this fellowship. And I just thank you all for the love that you've shown my family and me. We're going to be distinguished together. We're going to talk to you as well. You want to say anything? I'd like to thank the patient there to see that we're important for us. Thank you. And thank you all for loving us and being there for us. We're fine. We've been able to give you a thank you. I'm sorry to say that thanks to anybody who's not on the same time as the church or pastors, as good as family and helpful with this one, I think. I think all we're going to do is answer that. But let's not say anything.

They said that I was going to say that I was going to say it. I was going to say, thank you guys all for this. Again, I'm going to do very good things. I'm going to say, thank you very much. We're gonna have a few stories. Like in 이번에 gig, Ichi, you never hit them. Dio, you never hit something. You're getting so fine with it. OK. I don't know if you will. I'll just do anything. This is the difficult part about this marvelous truth of you making a creating a family when you bring people into the Salvation and baptize them in the body of Christ and make the members of one body and one family really so difficult for us to let go. So difficult for us when you move part of our family somewhere else.

Thank you for the way you work in the fleshers' home and their life for the land stand that they have done here in this community and I know you're going to use them. I pray that you would guide them to the right church, the right fellowship, where they would grow and continue to burn brightly for Christ. I pray that you would be with each one of them, Father, but the Holy Spirit would produce growth and maturity and wholeness. I know your hands are upon them. I know you're going to use them and I pray as you guide them and direct their lives that you can participate somewhere in the joy of that. We ask you, Father, as a local church, as a church family that we would continue to be affected by the infectious love for people and their outreaching attitude.

They do manifest so clearly that we have a welcoming God where the God was open arms and calls and years for and calls to the whole world to come and we see forgiveness and the riches of heaven. I pray that we'd be that we would have that kind of attitude as a family. We just thank you for there and we ask you to keep your hand upon them, bless them virtually as they go, Father. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay. Maybe we greet people back then, unis missed.