Be Resistant

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 22nd of October, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, we have two more general apostolic letters to examine.  Now, I’m not including all the letters Paul wrote, nor the letter to the Hebrews that may or may not have also been authored by Paul.  We’ve looked at the two letters written by Peter and the three by John, and that leaves those by James and Jude in our New Testament.

Now James and Jude were both half-brothers of Jesus – same mother, different Father – so they knew Him quite well, even as a child.  James writes primarily about the practical aspects of Christian conduct.  He provides concrete, ethical instructions on how faith works in everyday life, with less focus on theology and more on practicality.  Jude was more concerned with defending the apostolic faith against false teachings that were springing up and beginning to spread through the early church.

Since we can always use more help in how to act and cope in our day-to-day travels through this life, we’ll begin with James’ letter.  Please listen and follow along to the first 15 verses of the 1st chapter of the letter written by James to the early church, and I’ll be reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.

2 My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

5  If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. 7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.

9 Any of God's people who are poor should be glad He thinks so highly of them. 10  But any who are rich should be glad when God makes them humble. Rich people will disappear like wild flowers 11 scorched by the burning heat of the sun. The flowers lose their blossoms, and their beauty is destroyed. This is how the rich will disappear, as they go about their business.

12  God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as He rewards everyone who loves Him.

13  Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and He doesn't use evil to tempt others. 14 We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. 15 Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.

--James 1:1-15 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we are blessed to have these letters written by Your Son’s apostles to study and learn from.  They provide us with tips and instructions on how we should live and act as followers of Christ Jesus.  And they warn us of what to avoid.  Thank You, Father, for making sure we would have these letters available even today.  Sadly, though, Father, we don’t always spend as much time in our bibles as we should, reading these letters and all about Jesus.  We get too caught up in the demands of the world on our lives.  Please help us see the wealth of good information contained in the Apostolic letters.  And please help us heed their warnings and instructions.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Please protect us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil deeds.  And Father, please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

During a Monday night football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, one of the announcers observed that Walter Payton, the Bears' running back, had accumulated over nine miles in career rushing yardage.  The other announcer remarked, "Yeah, and that's with somebody knocking him down every 4.6 yards!"  Walter Payton, the most successful running back of his day, knew that everyone - even the very best among us – everyone gets knocked down from time to time.  The key to success is to get up and run again just as hard.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this:  It's not how many times you get knocked down in life that matters.  It's how many times you get back up again that makes all the difference in the end.

None of us quit trying to ride a bicycle when we fell off the first time, did we?  No, we got right back up and tried again.  Eventually, after a few scrapes and scratches and bruises, we got the hang of it – not to say that we still didn’t fall once in a while.  We kept trying until we succeeded riding a bike.  We resisted the urge to quit because we knew the reward that awaited us – the freedom only a bike can bring.  Sometimes we just have to be resistant in order to reach a goal, to reap a desired reward.

In our scripture reading this morning, James tells us to be resistant to the ways of the world.  We should resist feeling sorry for ourselves when we are faced with trials.  We must resist the devil's attempts to destroy our faith; resist the lure of wealth, for riches will disappear; resist temptations to do evil, for these do not come from God but from Satan.

If we are resistant and don’t give up when our faith is being tested, God will bless us and reward us with a glorious life.  And we know the most glorious life of all will begin after this one ends.

Resist and endure.  This is the message James brings: resist and endure.  Jesus gave His twelve disciples a warning before sending them out to spread the Gospel message throughout the region.  Hear the words Jesus spoke as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in verse 22 of the 10th chapter of his Gospel account…

22 “Everyone will hate you because of Me. But if you remain faithful until the end, you will be saved.”

--Matthew 10:22 (CEV)

Resist and endure, remain faithful until the end.  Since we have also been sent out by our Lord to share the Good News and make more disciples, we would do well to heed this warning too.  Because of our belief in Jesus as the Truth, the Christ, the Son of God, and the only way to salvation, the world will hate us.  It will try to keep us from carrying out our mission.  We must be resistant to what the world says to us and about us, and keep on serving our Lord, being faithful and enduring to the very end.  And the promised blessings will be ours.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews agrees with Jesus and His brother James.  Listen to what he wrote to those early Jewish converts to the Christian faith, in the 10th chapter of his letter, verses 32 through 37…

32 Don't forget all the hard times you went through when you first received the light. 33 Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others. 34 You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever.

35 Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards. 36 Learn to be patient, so you will please God and be given what He has promised. 37  As the Scriptures say, 

“God is coming soon!

It won't be very long."

--Hebrews 10:32-37 (CEV)

Resist, endure, and be brave.  Our author speaks of the hard times we may have gone through, of abuse and mistreatment we may have suffered, because of our faith.

Now all of this isn’t really a given, although Jesus assured us that in this life we will have trials.  We’ve all suffered through trials of one sort or another, but they haven’t necessarily been a result of our faith and belief, of our work for Jesus.  But there are people in this world – good Christian people – who are physically and emotionally suffering, even dying, because of their service to our Lord.

And family, persecution of the church is not only occurring but growing here in the United States.  We must resist the attempts to crush the church, and endure all that comes our way.  We must keep on being brave and patient, and our reward will be great.  For God is coming soon.  Jesus is coming again soon.  It won’t be very long.  And God will be with us, and we will be with God.

Resist, endure, and be brave.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who showed us how to live.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for the warnings in these letters in our bible of what is to come, of what we can expect to happen.  But thank You most of all for the words of encouragement that strengthen our resolve to carry on.  Too often, Father, we become weary from the beatings of this life.  Too many times we are shown all the wonderful things the world has to offer if we would just let go of our silly beliefs and enjoy ourselves to the fullest.  Forgive us those times, please Father, when our faith begins to weaken and we falter in our service.  Please help us understand the warnings You’ve provided.  Help us take strength from Your promises.  Keep reminding us that our only hope is in You.  And please help us to not be afraid to share our Lord Jesus with others, sharing Your love, so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  And Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith and tries to pull us away from You.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You warned us that we will suffer in this life.  You warned us that the world will hate us, just as it hated You.  But Lord, You also reminded us of the great reward that awaits us if we remain faithful to the end.  Thank You, Lord, for paying for our salvation with Your own precious blood.  We pray, O Lord, that we will resist the world and endure whatever befalls us as we move forward in this life.  Please, Jesus, help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing Your story, the Gospel message, with the lost.  Help us show them Your love, for this is the ultimate good.  Shield our minds and our hearts from the world’s lies and empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.

And Jesus, please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.