How Do You Handle Trials?
Notes
Transcript
VBS: Rose, Lori, Joyce, Judy, Khristina, Riana
Twila, Dave, Belinda, John N, Jeslyn, Sandra, John, Pam
Intro:
A young evangelist once closed his sermon with a promise:
“Jesus will take away all of your problems.”
One man prayed with the preacher and then went on his way.
He rejoiced because he thought his problems would soon be over.
But the next day, his joy turned to discouragement.
His problems remained.
Have you ever felt that way?
The zealous evangelist misled those who heard his sermon.
God does not promise to remove all problems from the lives of His people.
Jesus promised,
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Did you catch that?
Our Lord has overcome the world, and He helps us overcome in times of trouble.
James wrote to Christians who face various kinds of trouble, and I want to go over SIX keys to overcome trials with you this morning.
Comfort, Purpose, Prayer, Focus, Perspective, Reward
Key 1: Comfort
Key 1: Comfort
Realize that everyone Faces Trials
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
The word “trials” here refers to the troubles that come upon people.
James wanted his readers to know that all Christians face trials.
He did not say: “IF you face trials”
He wrote: “WHEN you face trials
Peter wrote
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
Like Peter, James did not want Christians to be surprised when they faced trials.
Trials knock at the door of every home.
Troubles and trials are a part of life for all people.
Sin has damaged our world.
James wrote that we will face VARIOUS trials.
Trials come in many shapes and colors.
A weaver uses many colors of thread to weave a cloth or carpet.
Likewise, many kinds of trials become part of our lives.
We all face small trials and big trials.
We can expect trials at work, school, home and even church.
We cannot escape trials- they knock at the door of everyone.
Conflict in Literature and Video Games
Man Vs Self (moral choices)
Man vs Nature (survival Games, and Hatchet, or Survivor shows)
Man vs Man (Insert every war movie ever, or super hero movie)
Man vs Supernatural (principalities and powers, ghosts)
Man vs Technology (The God’s must be Crazy)
Man vs Society (Dystopian literature)
The first step to overcoming trials is to expect them.
Trials are not a sign that God has forgotten us.
They are a sign that we are alive on earth.
Trials are as normal as storms.
One thing that all people have in common is trials.
Key 2: Purpose
Key 2: Purpose
Recognize the reason for trials
James begins with a challenge:
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
Thes words are not a suggestion.
They are a command.
We might think such joy is impossible.
But this joy is possible through the help of the Holy Spirit in us.
He enables us to look past the trial and see benefit.
So with God’s help, we can discover joy in trials.
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
God allows our faith to be tested for a purpose-
to develop perseverance in us.
Endurance is the ability to continue in spite of adversity.
Calluses when learning guitar
Babies are born with muscles.
But to survive, a baby must develop and strengthen its muscles.
This happens through exercise.
Muscles develop as small children walk, run, sit, stand, pull, push, lift, fall, and get up.
Likewise, we grow spiritually as we exercise our faith.
When trials come, we learn to be patient, trust God, stand firm, and keep on believing.
Through this process of exercising faith, God shapes us into strong believers.
As the years of trials continue, we become more and more like Christ.
In time we become “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
As God allows our faith to be tested, our perseverance and endurance grow.
Knowing the purpose of trials helps us to rejoice and persevere
Key 3: Prayer
Key 3: Prayer
Ask our gracious Father for wisdom to overcome trials
When we lack wisdom in trials, temptations, and hard situations, James guides us to ASK God for help.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James gives us three reasons why all should come to God in prayer
1. Pray because God “gives generously”
Some people give so you will owe them a debt.
But God gives because giving is a part of His nature
God is Generous.
2. Pray because God gives “TO ALL”
His generosity is not just for special people
God does not show favoritism
Our Heavenly Father gives to all.
3. Pray because God gives “without reproach” or without finding fault
God wants us to come freely and boldly to Him
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
He does not remind us of our past mistakes
David Wilkerson Prayer
When we pray, we should pray for WISDOM.
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge
The ability to decide correctly.
Human Wisdom has its limits.
But with wisdom from God, we can overcome our trials and become mature.
Ask, seek, Knock- This is God’s great invitation to us all
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Key 4: Focus
Key 4: Focus
Turn from doubt to faith as you seek God’s help in trials
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Believing is the key to receiving.
James said, “He must believe and not doubt” or he must ask in faith without any doubting
Faith is more than a general belief in God.
We must also believe that God is personal
He is willing and eager to help us
The God who gave His Son to redeem us desires to help in daily life.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Jame describes a person who wavers.
One moment he prays
The next moment he worries
He is double-minded
Divided between faith and doubt
He trusts what he can see, instead of the character and Word of God
His doubt causes him to be unstable in all his ways
Coming to God with such doubt is an insult
James says,
For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
you shouldn’t think you will receive anything from the Lord if you doubt
Yet believing is possible
Errency in Faith only movement saying you aren’t healed because of your lack of faith.
mortality rate from 18% to 2.2% over a period of a year. Yet people still had babies.
Here are three ways to help you turn from doubt to faith
Focus on God
Feed your faith and starve your doubts
Defeat doubt with God’s Word
Focus on God
Put the Lord between you and your problems
Ten spies looked at giants, and stumbled over doubt
In contrast, Joshua and Caleb walked by faith
They saw giants, but the quickly turned from them toward God.
They affirmed that God was bigger than their problem.
Beside a man, the warriors of Canaan looked like giants,
But beside God, these same Canaanites looked like grasshoppers
Measure your problems by God, not man.
Fix your eyes on Jesus
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Feed your faith and starve your doubts
An old Cherokee is teaching goes like this:
“A fight is going on inside of us all”
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The same fight is going on inside of us all.”
“Which wolf will win?”
“The one you feed.”
Faith is the victory that overcomes the world
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
But we must feed our faith so it will be strong
Doubts often come when what we see conflicts with what we believe
John the Baptist became discouraged in prison.
His faith wavered.
It flickered like a candle in the wind.
John asked Jesus,
and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”
Jesus did not condemn John for his doubt and questions.
Rather, the Lord answered,
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
In other words, think on the good things God has done and is doing.
Turn away from your doubts and anxiety.
Think on the things that build your faith.
David practiced this when he faced Goliath.
He strengthened his faith by remembering the lion and bear God helped him defeat
But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”
We too overcome the giants we face, as we recall, recite, and
re-live our past victories of faith.
Review your victories, not your problems.
Also, as you feed your faith, avoid things that war against your soul and your faith
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
Avoid books, friends, and entertainment that feed the flesh and defeat the Spirit in you.
Feed your faith by having uplifting friends and inspiring activities.
If you want to live on a higher level, avoid the stairs that go down, and climb the stairs that go up
Defeat doubt with God’s Word
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
God’s Word gave us birth, and His Word gives us victory.
The Word of God is powerful -
Sharper than any two-edged sword
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The word of God is “the sword of the Spirit
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Word is a weapon the Spirit uses to defeat the devil
Jesus quoted scripture when tempted, and the devil fled. (this mornings reading)
Resist doubt and the devil by quoting the Word of God, and they will both flee from you
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Reflecting on Scripture emphasizes God’s promises and faithfulness.
As light chases darkness from a room,
Scripture chases doubt from your mind
The entrance of His Word gives light
The unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
As the Word enters, doubt leaves.
This biblical thinking exalts God above our trials.
Turn from your doubts to the Word of God.
Replace negative thoughts with Scripture
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Read the Scriptures.
Quote the scriptures
pray the scriptures
meditate on the word
live in the word
sing scriptural songs to the lord
The word of God defeats doubt, and inspires faith.
For faith comes through the Word of God
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
You can count on the Word.
It is always true, and will never disappoint you.
Kingdoms, wold rulers, and nations come and go
But the Word of the Lord endures forever
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you.
Cherish it
Value it
Cling to it
Drown doubt with it, like pouring a bucket of water on a candle
The Bible is the certain Word of God Almighty
Alpha and Omega
first and last
beginning and end
The famous Evangelist Smith Wigglesworth is known in church history for the hundreds of healings and miracles God gave through his ministry
He used to say that his secret was prayer, and the only book that he ever read was the Bible, and he read it often
Key 5: Perspective
Key 5: Perspective
Rejoice in our spiritual position, not our earthly status
how small things look outside the plane window
But 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 too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
As Christians, we must find joy in our place in God’s kingdom, rather than in earthly circumstances
FIRST, James speaks to the brothers in humble circumstances.
Poverty discourages many.
But James tells poor brothers to rejoice in their HIGH POSITION in God’s kingdom
For the poorest believer has a wealthy spiritual inheritance
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
To poor believers at Smyrna, Jesus said
‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Our sonship in Christ is a fountain of joy even in the trial of poverty
NEXT James speaks to the rich
Notice that James calls the poor “borthers,” but he does not refer to the rich as brothers.
Some rich people are brothers and sisters in God’s family, and are a blessing to the church
Joseph of Aramethea who provided the tomb for Jesus
Mary who took a pound of costly perfume of pure nard to annoint the feet of Jesus
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
But when James wrote, the rich were cheating the poor.
So James often refers to the rich as unbelievers- sinners oppressing the poor.
But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
James tells the rich to take pride in their low position
and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
What does this mean?
The wise remember that riches are like a plant that withers and dies.
Being rich on earth is a low position, because earth is a low position
Blessed are the rich who walk in humility on earth with a proper attitude toward the God of Heaven
A tourist once visited the shop of a rug maker.
Rugs were hanging from the ceiling.
On the front of the rugs there were beautiful pictures.
But the backs of the rugs were less attractive.
The owner noticed the tourist looking at the back of a rug and said
“Don’t judge the rug by looking at the wrong side,”
Likewise when we focus on problems, we look at the wrong side of life.
Let us trust the one who is using trials to transform us into the image of Christ.
God sees what our lives will look like when completed.
Paul claimed to know the secret to contentment when he wrote:
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Like Paul let us rejoice in God, not things.
Let us relate to Job when he said
“But He knows the way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Key 6: Reward
Key 6: Reward
Remember the crown of life at the end of the road of trials
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Those who persevere through trials will “receive the crown of life”
The winner in a Greek race wins a wreath to wear
a temporary crown woven from olive branches and leaves
It soon fades and dries.
However, our crown is eternal
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Jesus wore a crown of Death so we can wear a crown of eternal Life.
