GERLEYS DAVID CAUSIL CASTRO 76

76. Provide notes on the following:

(a) James 1.3: List the different ways in which the test of faith produces patience
(ie: perseverance / endurance).

Perseverance
Endurance
Serenity
Resignation
Accordance
Temper
Stoicism
Meekness
Perseverance
Quiet
Tolerance
Tranquillity
Calm
Integrity

(b) James 1.4: The Christian life has a number of sanctification goals, and none
should be omitted. What are these goals?

I. T Odos can achieve a certain amount of competition in most of the things we try; but
there are few who have patience to reach perfection (maturity). In almost everyone's life
there has at some point been an attempt to do good. It may have been like the morning
cloud and like the early dew, but at least there was a desire to do good, and good
resolutions were made. What was wanted? Staying power. "The gift of continuity" is what
many of us want. If genius can be described as prolonged patience or the art of striving,
so too those who have done God's will for a time need patience to receive the blessings
promised to those who know how to wait. The saints are those who let patience have its
perfect work, who with perseverance in the good seek eternal life.

II. As a general rule, the time required to produce an effect measures the value of that
effect. Things that can be developed quickly are worth less than those that take more
time. He can weed a garden or build a house in a much shorter time than he can educate
a mind or build a soul. Training our reasoning faculties requires much more time than
training our hands. And moral qualities, being superior to intellectual ones, demand even
more the patience of their cultivator.

III. Let us remember where we must be patient in the face of temptations and pain. We
must go in prayer, as our Master did in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the source of all
strength. If you did not go to His judgment unprepared, it certainly would not be safe for
us to do so. With a swipe of the sword, the warrior was made a knight, little if the
monarch's hand was heavy. Still, God gives his servants testing strokes when he wants
to advance them to a higher stage of spiritual life . The Jacobs become prevailing
princes, but not until they have fought the temptations and prevail.

(c) James 1.5: This verse can legitimately be taken out of a strict context and
applied to whatever wisdom is needed, but its main reference is the need for
wisdom to understand and endure a trial. List the divine purposes behind the
tests.
I. WHO SHOULD ASK? 'If any of you are missing', evidently the missing man. A man
who is full does not feel the need to ask: he has no need to search. Now, we know in fact
and from experience, that as long as we live a prosperous and balanced life, even though
we are Christians, there is great danger that we do not imagine that we are not
lacking. There is a great danger that we will not be satisfied with our faith, with our
Christian position, with our conduct in the world, and with our general behavior. "You
say: I am rich and enriched in goods, and I need nothing." But now comes the test, and
we know that the test very soon seeks us and makes us feel that there is something in
our faith that is missing, that in our love that is missing, that in our obedience that is
missing,

II. WHAT FOR? "If any of you are missing", what are we going to ask for now? The
alleged case is that of a Christian on trial. You will notice that the apostle does not lead
us to pray for deliverance from trial; it does not instruct us to ask for the evidence to be
removed; This is a very common prayer; but it is seldom a wise or safe prayer; and it is
not usually a successful prayer. Saint Paul, when the thorn in the flesh was sent to him,
sought the Lord three times to have it removed; but it was not taken away; his prayer
was not answered as he had offered it. As you will see, the apostle does not direct us to
pray for patience, for stronger faith, for complete submission; all that is the most
important thing. But what we want when the test comes is first and foremost divine
wisdom, so that we can first correctly understand the true meaning of God in discipline,
so that we can see what his purpose is in dealing with us. Then, having that wisdom, we
will receive the submissive judgment and with resignation. I think that one of the reasons
why men murmur so much against God's discipline is because they don't understand
it. And so we will use it correctly; We will use it for our sanctification and perfecting of
God's work in the soul.

III. FROM WHOM should this wisdom be sought? Obviously from God; and very
emphatically the generous character of God is made manifest in this verse, "If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask" - literally it is "from the generous God"; "Of the giving God,
who gives to all men." Our Lord has taught us that it is "more blessed to give than to
receive," and it is one of the attributes of Divine character that He delights to give: He is
God, the Giver. But the Christian under test, feeling the impenitence and hardness of his
own heart, feeling how he has rebelled against God, feeling how little he deserves God's
blessing, may ask, “Is this for me? Do I have the right to search for it? Notice how broad
are the terms of the promise - "which gives to all men" - there are no exceptions
there. God gives and gives "simply". There is no complexity in His offering. When a man
gives, he gives for a variety of reasons, and very often he makes the recipient feel that
he is receiving a favor, and that he receives what is given with very unpleasant
feelings; but there is nothing of this kind in the gifts of God. When you give, you simply
give; as the word is explained in more detail in what follows, "And not reproach." There
are things for which God rebukes us. He rebukes us for our sins and shortcomings, so
that we don't just come and ask, as He is willing to simply give; but God never rebukes
us for asking for wisdom; He never criticizes us for seeking this great blessing and gift in
his hands. and receive what is given with very unpleasant feelings; but there is nothing
of this kind in the gifts of God. When you give, you simply give; as the word is explained
in more detail in what follows, "And not reproach." There are things for which God
rebukes us. He rebukes us for our sins and our shortcomings, so that we do not come
and simply ask, as He is willing to simply give; but God never rebukes us for asking for
wisdom; He never criticizes us for seeking this great blessing and gift in His hands. and
receive what is given with very unpleasant feelings; but there is nothing of this kind in
the gifts of God.

(d) James 1.6-8: Explain the meaning of a double-minded man and the nature of
his instability.
He is fickle; it is changeable; you intend to serve God and be saved, but at the same
time you also intend to fulfill your desires; He would be eternally happy in the other world,
but he would not renounce the sensual pleasures of this one; He is pious at times and at
intervals, but he is not so uniform and uninterrupted; their religion has its ebbs and flows,
its ups and downs; now it grows and then falls again. To give us a more vivid image of
this instability, which is the distinctive mark of a double-minded man, our apostle
describes it for us with a familiar but elegant comparison: “He who moves is like a wave
of the sea, driven by the wind. and thrown ".

The foundation of this instability is the diversity of the principles on which it acts; his heart
is not pure and free from mixing, and therefore his actions are disgusting. He has a
double mind, and therefore nothing he does can be simple and uniform. In order to
eliminate this inconsistency and incongruity, which is between what he does on various
occasions, his heart must purify itself of all secular and low goals, and he must
completely fixate on the choice of a single end, and constantly apply himself to the use
of such. means, since all conspire together to achieve that end.

When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last and foremost
goal; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all our actions
are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and everyone
agrees with each other in agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (He has a double mind and therefore nothing he
does can be simple and uniform. To eliminate this incoherence and incongruity, which
exists between what he does on various occasions, his heart must be purified of all
secular goals and low, and you must focus entirely on the choice of a single end, and
constantly apply yourself to the use of such means, since they all conspire together for
the attainment of that end.

When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last and foremost
goal; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all our actions
are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and everyone
agrees with each other in agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (He has a double mind and therefore nothing he
does can be simple and uniform. To eliminate this incoherence and incongruity, which
exists between what he does on various occasions, his heart must be purified of all
secular goals and He must focus entirely on the choice of a single end, and constantly
apply himself to the use of such means, since all conspire together for the attainment of
that end.When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our own. last
and foremost end; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when
all our actions are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end,
and all agree with each other by agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the
purity of heart that our apostle commands here. (To eliminate this incoherence and
incongruity, which exists between what he does on various occasions, his heart must be
purified of all the objectives s ecular and low, and he must be fully fixated on the choice
of a single end, and constantly apply himself to the use of such means, since they all
conspire together for that end.

When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last and foremost
goal; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all our actions
are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and everyone
agrees with each other in agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (To eliminate this incoherence and incongruity,
which is between what he does on various occasions, his heart must purify himself of all
secular and low goals, and he must completely fixate on the choice of a single end, and
constantly apply himself to the use of such means, since all conspire together to achieve
that end.

When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last and foremost
goal; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all our actions
are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and everyone
agrees with each other in agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (And he will be fixated entirely on the choice of a
single end, and will firmly apply himself to the use of such means, since they all conspire
together to achieve that end.

When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last and foremost
goal; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all our actions
are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and everyone
agrees with each other in agreeing together on this tendency, then we have the purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (And he will fix entirely on the choice of a single
end, and will apply himself firmly to the use of such means, as all conspire together to
achieve that end. When we make the glory of God and the salvation of our souls our last
and main end; when we do not form other designs that compete with this one; when all
our actions are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and
all agree with each other by agreeing together on this tendency, then we have purity of
heart that our apostle commands here. (when all our actions are ordered in such a way
that they have a suitable tendency to this end, and all agree with each other in agreeing
together on this tendency, then we have the purity of heart that our apostle orders here.
(when all our actions are ordered in such a way that they have a suitable tendency to
this end, and all agree with each other by agreeing together on is This tendency, then
we have the purity of heart that our apostle commands here.