Trinity Presbyterian Church North Bay — Sermons & Sunday School

Sermon preached on James 1:12-15 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/24/2021 in Novato, CA.

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James began his letter teaching that trials and temptations test our faith, which produces steadfastness. Such steadfastness, he taught, grows us – and our final outcome as Christians will be a state of perfection and maturity in glory. Today’s verses continue to develop that teaching. Here we find important contributions to our doctrine of God, and our doctrine of man, and our doctrine of salvation. I love how such a book about the practical outworking of our faith also includes various rich deposits of doctrine.

Let us begin first by seeing what this passage teaches us about our doctrine of God. Let us begin in verse 13. There we learn something about the character of God. It says that God cannot be tempted with evil. The Bible tells us elsewhere that God is good. He is morally upright and righteous. There is no stain of evil in him. God is light and him there is no darkness at all.

So then, this is why God is not tempted with evil. When it says that he “cannot” be tempted, it’s not because there is some external constraint that prevents anything from trying to tempt God. That’s not what this is getting at. Rather, this is a statement about God’s character. Because God is wholly good, there is no evil thing that could actually tempt him. There is nothing that would entice him of evil. There is no desire within him that would find such an evil thing appealing. So, even if one were to try to hold out some evil thing to God, it wouldn’t interest him in the least. In fact, it would disgust him. It would be abhorrent to him. It would solicit God’s righteous anger and wrath and hatred against it. God hates evil and every false way (Psalm 97:10, 119:128). Scripture even says God hates the wicked, Psalm 11:5, and stands ready to bring judgment upon them. God can’t be tempted by evil because there is nothing attractive to him about it. God loves the good and hates the evil. He’s never found anything good in evil and he never will.

So then, that point about God’s character leads to the main point James is making here about God. Verse 13 goes on to conclude that God does not tempt anyone with evil. Notice verse 13 begins by objecting to anyone who would say otherwise. Then he says that God himself is never personally tempted with evil, due to his goodness. And then James concludes that such is why God never tempts anyone with evil.

This is a significant point for our doctrine of God. Here we see that God is not the author of temptation to sin. I stated it that way because that is the most explicit point here, but by extension it also means that God is not the author of sin or evil. This passage will go on to say that temptation of evil leads to sin which leads to death. And this passage says God doesn’t tempt people to evil. So then, this passage by extension is one proof text in the Bible to affirm that God is not the author of evil. Scripturally, we rightly affirm the sovereignty of God, that he created all things and that he sustains all things and he even foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. But from there, when it comes to the authoring of evil, we must deny that he is the author of evil. He himself is good and not evil. He himself is not tempted of evil nor does he tempt anyone toward evil. Yes, he may permit others to do an evil as part of his larger good plans. We could even fairly say that he ordains such to come to pass. But he is not culpable for evil and his character never changes so that he somehow is pleased with evil in itself. Consequently, he won’t tempt you with evil. He won’t work sin within you. Yes, there is an element of mystery in this.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/24/2021 in Novato, CA. This week as an epilogue to our our series on biblical history, we continued a survey of church history, considering the Reformation era and the Modern Church.

Midweek study led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/20/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series on Lamentations, looking at 4:11-22.

Sermon preached on James 1:9-11 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/17/2021 in Novato, CA.

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Today’s passage in James commands how one ought to “boast” depending on your circumstances. Boasting is about speaking with pride about something. It’s about verbally glorying in something. Often boasting is a negative thing as when it expresses a sinful pride. But the Bible does teach us that there are some things that we ought to take pride in. Today’s passage is about such. It speaks to one’s physical and material circumstances and exhorts each on what they should be taking pride in. As we consider this, we realize that James is again educating us about how our faith should be put into action. In this case, it’s how our faith should think about our outward circumstances. Our faith should think a certain way about those circumstances in light of our relationship with Christ and in light of the future he has promised us. And so, it inherently calls us to think Christianly and not worldly about our outward estates.

Let us consider first about the exhortation to the lowly. This is verse 9. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation. The words “lowly” and “exaltation” in the Greek are literally words about elevation. The idea of “lowly” is literally about being low to the ground. And the word for “exaltation” is literally about height, being high off the ground. Given the comparison in the next verse with the rich, we are quite appropriate to consider this lowliness in terms of a financial application – i.e. the “poor”. But the word “lowly” itself isn’t constrained to only a financial application, so we could certainly imagine people are in various lowly, humble, meager estates in this life.

You can imagine how such a lowly person is naturally inclined to think of their circumstances. They can feel depressed; weak; powerless; hopeless. They can feel unimportant, of no value, or disregarded. They might wonder if they can ever improve their situation. There can be a range of negative emotional inclinations for someone in such lowly circumstances. Such inclinations are understandable for a person to feel that way. In fact, the world really tells us to think that way.

But see the hope of Christ in verse 9. James calls the lowly brother to have a different perspective than how the world would have them to think. Notice James is telling this to the lowly brother, not just lowly people in general. The brother language is referring to Christians. James isn’t trying to change the perspective of a lowly non-Christian. If you are a lowly non-Christian who is feeling down and out, the sad reality is that things will ultimately get worse for you. But to the lowly brother in Christ, James calls them to see that he is “high”. He is to boast in his exaltation! That is to be the perspective of a Christian of lowly circumstances in this life. Realize that for what it is – it is a perspective of faith.

What do I mean that it is a perspective of faith? To say that a lowly Christian is high is a perspective of our spiritual reality and our future eternal hope. But it is not a description of what such a person possesses in the moment here and now. Here and now the lowly Christian is not high from a material or financial or social standpoint. That’s why they are “lowly”. They are lowly in the world’s eyes. But the eyes of faith see a way in which they are high and exalted. Let’s spell out some of those ways. From a spiritual reality, James will next chapter, in 2:5, say that such lowly brothers are rich in faith and that they are heirs of the kingdom of God. Likewise, Paul says that right now our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20) and that we possess every spiritual blessing in ...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/17/2021 in Novato, CA. This week as an epilogue to our our series on biblical history, we continued a survey of church history, considering the Reformation era.

Midweek study led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/13/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series on Lamentations, looking at 4:1-10.

Sermon preached on James 1:5-8 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/10/2021 in Novato, CA.

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As Christians we often speak of how God gives us forgiveness of sins in Jesus. We highlight that fact in our teaching on justification. But we also reminded in passages like this that God’s gifts for us in Christ are not only in matters of our justification, but also in our sanctification. God’s gracious gifts to us in Jesus Christ include not only forgiveness of sins, but also include what we need to grow in holiness and righteousness. Here then, our passage speaks of God’s sincere offer of wisdom through the means of prayer.

Let’s begin in our first point in verse 5 and consider this call to ask for wisdom. James begins by writing, “If any of you lacks wisdom.” I remind you that the word “lacks” connects us with the previous verse. In last week’s passage we learned how God uses trial and tribulation to grow our faith. The final result will be a state of perfection and completeness in which we won’t lack anything, spiritually speaking. Last week, we acknowledge that such a state of perfection won’t be reached in this life, but it is the trajectory of God’s sanctification in our lives. So then, while in glory we will not lack anything, right now we will find ourselves lacking in things we need for our spiritual growth. One of those things is wisdom.

When you hear this language of “if” any of you lacks wisdom, I hope you will be wise enough to see that surely includes you! Generally speaking, it’s the wise who recognize the value of wisdom and who seek to get more of it. And it is the foolish who are wise in their own eyes and don’t think they are the ones who need more wisdom. Like Proverbs 1:7 says, it’s the fool who despises wisdom. And Proverbs 8:11 says that wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Wisdom is often defined as the right use of knowledge. It’s knowing how to take what you know to be truth and apply it in a good way to your circumstances. Truth can be misused and misapplied, like how Proverbs 26:7 says that a proverb in the mouth of a fool is like the legs of a lame man – like the legs, a proverb won’t do anything for a fool! The Bible greatly exalts the value of wisdom. Because of this, some define wisdom in an even more exalted way as to find it as something in our hearts from whereby we inwardly know and practice righteousness. Certainly, as we think in the book of James of the connection of orthodoxy and orthopraxy, wisdom is a large part of how our faith will be put into practice.

So then, in the larger context of this section in James, we can especially appreciate why wisdom is mentioned here. Remember, last week’s passage in verses 2-4 spoke of trial and temptation. Trial and temptation is again brought up in verses 12-15. The verses in between are given in the context of dealing with trial and temptation. When we are going through some difficult trial that is testing our faith, we will need wisdom. Think about it. Think of what typically goes through your mind when you are really struggling under some trial or temptation. You probably are wrestling with questions like, “Why am I going through this?” Or, “How can I get out of this?” Or, “What is God trying to teach me through this?” You might be trying to figure out how to act or think or respond biblically in the trial you are going through. So then, when trials and temptations come, we need wisdom.

Likewise, we need to pray when such troubles comes. That’s what it’s saying with this need for wisdom. It says we need to ask for such wisdom. That’s talking about prayer. We need to pray to God when trial and temptation c...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/10/2021 in Novato, CA. This week as an epilogue to our our series on biblical history, we continued a survey of church history, considering the Reformation era.

Midweek study led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/06/2021 in Novato, CA. This week we continued a series on Lamentations, looking at 3:49-66.

Sermon preached on James 1:1-4 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 01/03/2021 in Novato, CA.

Sermon Manuscript

We rightly say that the Christian life is a life of faith. And yet what does that really look like? How does it affect your worldview and perspectives in life? How does it affect how you handle hard times in life – and even good times? How you does it affect how you view your circumstances, whatever they may be? How does it affect what you think about others? How does affect how you spend your time and money? How does it affect how you make your plans and set your life goals? What role does God’s Word actually play in your everyday life? I could go on and on.

What I’m talking about is how your faith is related to what we call your practice. How does your faith affect how we think and act? It’s the difference yet connection between doctrine and living. Or to say it with some big words, it’s the relationship between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Orthodoxy means “right doctrine” and is about what truths we are confessing in our Christian faith. Orthopraxy means “right practice” and it’s about how our faith is lived out in thought, word, and deed. We in the OPC really get excited about orthodoxy – it’s even in the name of our denomination! But our right doctrine says we should also get excited about how we live. Right faith should inevitably lead to right practice.

I hope you will appreciate why I am starting off our new series today going through this connection between doctrine and living. The book of James is especially concerned with orthopraxy; about right living. But James recognizes and teaches that this flows out of our faith. James doesn’t delve into the depth of doctrine in the same way that people like Paul or John do in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe that doctrine. We do find doctrine here, in James, both stated and referenced. But it’s largely a book about the working out of that doctrine in our practical living. Let us be excited then to be able to wrestle through the kinds of questions I put at the start. Our Christian life is a life of faith – what all does that really look like? Our study through the book of James will give us many opportunities to consider that question.

By way of introduction, let’s begin our study of this book with some biographical details. That will be our first point for today. First, it is an epistle, a letter. Verse 1 tells us who it is to and from. It says it is from James. James is a common name of the time, so the fact that there is no other identifying note about this James suggests that it was a very well-known James. That really leaves us only three options for the early church. There were two apostles named James from Jesus’ twelve disciples: James, son of Zebedee, and James son of Alphaeus. Since James son of Zebedee was martyred by Herod Agrippa I pretty quickly, see Acts 12, he’s not a commonly held candidate. James, son of Alphaeus, being the lesser known of the two, is generally assumed the epistle would have noted it was him writing. The other option, and the best option, and the traditionally held option, is that this is the James who was also the brother of Jesus. That James took on a prominent role in the church at Jerusalem, as we see in the book of Acts. He is especially highlighted in Acts 15 in his role of presiding over the Jerusalem Council. That council was convened to address matters concerning Gentiles being included in the church. Early church writings complement what we have in Acts, recording that James was appointed by the apostles to serve as a bishop at Jerusalem until his martyrdom for the faith in approximately AD 62. So then, this traditional view of authorship is how I will be approaching the book....