James 1:2-4 | The Purpose of Trials
Notes
Transcript
SERMON TITLE: The Purpose of Trials
SCRIPTURE: James 1:2-4 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 1-11-26
TURN MIC ON / WELCOME
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
SERIES INTRO
And we’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. We’re in week two — as we just began our time in James. The start of a new year is a great time to start in a new book in the Bible.
And — as I mentioned last week — I have a personal fondness for this book because it was the first book of the Bible that I memorized from beginning to end. And James is a great first book — if you’re intrigued by the idea of memorizing an entire book because — as I mentioned last week — James is essentially a book of mini-sermons. It’s a book that focuses on a topic — then goes on to another topic — then another — and so on. Making it easy to memorize a section of James because you’re focused on this idea — get it memorized — before moving on to a new section that’s focused on a different idea. Our brains — or at least my brain — appreciated the kind of focus James offered me in a first attempt at memorizing an entire book of the Bible.
So give it a go — I dare you to try and memorize James. If I can do it — you can. You’ll be doing yourself a favor — and all of us, too — because I can’t think of a downside if more of us who put God’s heart to memory.
INTRODUCTION
Last week I gave us an overview of the book and its author. This week we’re going to dive into the text itself. So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to James chapter one. We’ll be in James chapter one today — looking at verses two through four. Here’s what we read in James chapter one — beginning in verse two.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
In these verses we find a call to joy, an explanation of the trials we face, and the purpose of the trials we experience. A call to joy. An explanation of what trials are. And the purpose of the trials we experience in life.
A CALL TO JOY
We’ll begin with a call to joy. We’re in verse two.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
James begins by calling us to joy in our trials — and this is a command. He commands us to have joy in the midst of our trials. We’ll get to the specific kinds of trials we face — but know that most trials include some form of suffering. So — again — James begins his letter by calling his readers — and us — to joy.
So — right away — we’re faced with a seemingly impossible scenario — at least impossible without faith in Christ. For the scenario we’re called to is one of joy in the midst of suffering. How is this possible? How is it possible to have joy when suffering? That’s the question we’ll be answering in this sermon but — before we get to our answer — I want to ask you: When you suffer — or if you’re in the midst of suffering right now — how’s your joy? James isn’t saying don’t grieve, don’t experience sorrow — he’s not negating those kinds of emotions — but he is saying that — for the person who follows and believes in Jesus — in the midst of trials, and sorrow, and suffering there will be joy.
So — I’ll ask again — if you’re suffering now — and to those who aren’t — think back on the last time you did experience sorrow — how was your joy?
You see — what James is challenging — is the false idea that God never wants you to face trials, moments of discomfort, challenges, and so on. Obviously — in being Jesus’ younger brother — James is well aware of what his brother went through. And if Jesus experienced trials and temptations in life — why would we think that we won’t?
And — even more than that — instead of just accepting that we’ll face trials and temptations — James takes us a step even further — a step that’s in the footsteps of Jesus our Savior. For we…
2 look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
And — in looking to him — the One who looked at — and past the cross — to the joy that was set before him — the eternal love and pleasure of his Heavenly Father — in looking to him we’re able to — imperfectly, yes — but we’re able to nonetheless — to look past the trials and temptations we face in this life to the joy that’s set before us — the eternal love and pleasure of One who created us and who died for us. Thus we can count it all joy when we face trials in this life.
THE TRIALS WE FACE
But what kinds of trials is James referring to? We’re back in verse two.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith…
A great question to begin with is: What would James have meant by the world “trials”? The word that James uses — that we translate as trial in English — has the sense of “being examined or an examination” in our verses. Where something — or in this case, someone — is examined closely for potential flaws or mistakes or opportunities for growth. The specific opportunities for growth — that James may have been thinking of — would fit a broad category that his readers would’ve experienced: the category of trials that come from persecution.
In history — the experience of persecution has had a variety of effects on Christians. Some Christians — due to persecution — find themselves faced with strong temptations. Maybe to deny Christ in order to not experience physical pain. Or give into the temptation to not speak out against something that goes against God’s Word and truth in order to keep their job. Christians have experienced these kinds of temptations for as long as they’ve faced persecution.
But there’s another response to persecution that results in a different kind of trial. One that John records for the church in Smyrna.
10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life. 11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.
Instead of giving into the trial — there’s the man who doesn’t deny Christ and is killed for his faith. He experiences the trial of facing death head on — while his wife and children experience the trial of no longer having a husband and father. There’s the follower of Jesus who chooses to speak up for truth and experiences the trial of losing their job for not giving in to the expectations of their employer or co-workers. They then may face a testing of their faith — because — there’s no guarantee that God will make sure you get another job just because you stood faithfully for him.
What are some other kinds — or categories — of trials that we face today?
We experience relational trials — whether it be parenting, in our marriages, a friendship, at work, or in the church. But as James will later warn us…
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
And what’s our response? Not when I’m the one in the conflict! I’m standing for truth. I’m standing for what’s right. I’m, I’m, I’m…It’s amazing how no one seems to fulfill what God had James write down here. That quarrels and fights among people — in the church, by the way — come from passions and desires that are at war within us. And — to make his point — these are not good desires even if what we hope for is a good thing. For we murder to get our desires — James says. We covet and fight with one another. We pray to God asking him to fulfill our passions and desires — essentially praying, “God, may you make my will be done regardless of what your will is.”
So often these kinds of church fights and disagreements happen over practices and ideas that are not clearly laid out in Scripture. God’s Word is truth — but how that truth applies to life can vary in many different ways. For example, God’s people are called to be generous — something we value in all who follow Jesus here at Gateway. But the application of what it means to be generous is vastly different for someone who’s retired and on a fixed income versus someone who’s working a minimum wage job while in college versus someone who’s in an executive position in a fortune five hundred company. And the college student making minimum wage may end up giving a lot less away yet still be significantly more generous than people making six or seven figure incomes.
We also face physical trials — often these are medical situations. The number of people on my prayer list who are facing physical trials usually hovers just over twenty — at least those are the situations I’m aware of. And physical trials can’t help but influence our walk with God. Waking up in pain every day — is painful! Yet some of the most joyful and joy-filled people among us face physical trials every day. Deb Oman and Lyn Loewen come to mind.
For others of us — it’s the physical trials of those we love that are faced every day. Where you long one day for news like what Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi about their friend who was ill.
25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
Oh what joy — did you see it — joy! — when someone we love finds healing from the physical trial they’ve been facing. Yet what joy that can be experienced in and during the trial.
There are emotional trials that we experience. The violence we see in the news — the comparison trap of social media that we’re all strangely addicted to. In many ways we’re all addicted to the emotional rollercoaster that’s characteristic of our day and age. We love to be outraged. To be shocked. To be angry. And every now and then we need a break and something pretty stupid to laugh at — my personal favorite has anything to do with people tripping and falling.
And both the news and social media have figured out how to control us all like puppets on a string. I know — you’re the exception to the rule. The algo(rithm) hasn’t gotten its claws in you — the pastor said facetiously.
Which leads to trials of temptation. For example, the apostle Paul writes…
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
There’s a temptation — the same word translated as trial in our verses — when one’s desire to be rich ensnares them. It leads to ruin and destruction. Of course — the danger of this kind of trial is that we never think we’ll be ensnared by it, right? Only those kinds of people get trapped by it — not people — well — like me. I’m above being trapped by money, or porn, or power, or — fill in the blank. This kind of thinking is the first step in the many “senseless and harmful desires” that lead to ruin and destruction.
The age of information in which we live and consume ideas — good ideas and bad ideas — godly ideas and ungodly ideas — teaching that honors Christ and teaching that’s promoted as Christianity which dishonors Christ. It may not seem like a trial but every day people are — instead of having their faith tested — are having their faith destroyed by lies that seem so clever that they sound like the truth. Paul warns us of this when explaining the importance of the local church when he writes…
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
The challenge in all of these various sorts of trials that we face is that — in Paul’s words — we’re not to be “tossed and blown about” by them. Don’t be like a wave of the ocean that keeps going back and forth — into the shore, back out to the ocean. No — we’re to be steady — anchored — built on a firm foundation that’s a solid rock and not soft sand.
And this steadiness — this “not being prone to be tossed to and fro by the trials of life” — only comes by rooting oneself deeply in one’s faith. Knowing what you believe, why you believe, and — most importantly — living as if you actually believe it.
Many of us would be taking big steps to focusing on what you should believe as someone who follows Jesus. If you don’t know where to begin — I’d suggest starting with the Essentials of our Faith statement. You can find it on our church website — gatewayepc.org — on the “who we are” page.
But I’ll do you a favor and read them to you now — it’s always good for us to be reminded of the Essentials of our Faith.
All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks. On this sure foundation, we affirm these additional Essentials of our faith:
1. We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To him be all honor, glory and praise forever!
2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and his virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day, he arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, he gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.
4. Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God's free grace. God credits his righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifying them in his sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
5. The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her Lord.
6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth-personally, visibly, and bodily-to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. 22:20)
7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us." He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10)
If you’ve got the Essentials down and want to dive deeper into what you believe — I’d suggest studying the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Catechisms — also available on our “who we are” page. If it interests you — we did a whole series on the Westminster Confession of Faith on our church podcast.
Know what you believe and know why you believe it. It’s not enough to know the “Bible answer” — you’ve got know why you believe there’s only one God or why only those who put their faith in Christ alone are saved or why we’re to proclaim the gospel until Christ returns.
And — finally — we must live like we believe what we say we believe. Think about it — when it comes to politics — what you believe dictates how you behave. You vote for a certain candidate — or don’t vote for another candidate — or don’t vote altogether — because of something you believe about politics. What you believe leads to certain behaviors.
If you’re a parent — your beliefs about education — whether it be public school, private school, or home school — influences what your family does.
If you believe that Pepsi tastes better than Coke — or vice versa — you probably prefer to drink the one you think is better. Or you believe that Nike makes a better shoe than Reebok. What you believe affects what you do.
Now there are some beliefs we have that we violate — or really — what happens is a stronger belief wins out. For example, it’s not earth shattering news to hear that eating a salad is a healthier option than eating Krispy Kreme donuts. That’s a belief that’s not up for debate. But we live in a country where what’s healthy isn’t the strongest drive for what we do when it comes to our diet. I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else. So another belief — something other than our belief about what’s healthier — comes into play. Like our belief about what food will make us happy, or is fun to eat, or will meet this craving we have. All sorts of beliefs that drive what food choices we make.
And then we come to the beliefs of the Christian faith which — unfortunately — often have less impact than what we believe about politics, and education, or even Pepsi versus Coke. For example, to be a Christians means you believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way a person will spend eternity in Heaven — and those who die without faith in Jesus will spend eternity in Hell. Which means you can’t be a Christian and be apathetic about sharing the gospel. For sure — you may not be the next Billy Graham — but neither can you ignore Christ’s command to go and make disciples of all nations. But according to a Barna Group study — sharing faith is increasingly optional to Christians — because more and more of us aren’t sharing the gospel.
We’re giving into trials instead of allow their purpose to be fulfilled in our lives.
THE PURPOSE OF TRIALS
Which leads us to the purpose of trials. Now — if we’re honest — most of us wish this wasn’t in the Bible. Trials are never fun — but that doesn’t mean they’re not for our good. This is what James is telling us. We’ll start in verse two one last time.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
At this point — I want to read our verses in another Bible translation — as you may know — we have the privilege of having many different versions of the Bible in the English language. Some versions are written for different reading abilities, other versions want to express what the original text says rather than translating word for word. The New Living Translation
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
So trials — or troubles of any kind — come into our lives — and this is specifically for those of us who follow Jesus — so that our faith is tested. For when your faith is tested its ability to endure has an opportunity to grow. Like muscles — who only grow and get stronger through the enduring activity of regular exercise — so to our faith must be tested so that it grows stronger and stronger in its ability to endure the trials of life. And this continues throughout our life until our faith reaches its God intended goal: perfection and completion — which doesn’t happen in this life — but in the life that is to come.
So — some not so great news: Throughout this life here on earth you will continually experience trials. But — in knowing this — you can now view them as opportunities for your faith to grow. For the only other alternative — which many people unfortunately choose to take — is to allow trials in this life to destroy your faith instead of strengthen it.
James isn’t the only way who tells us this by the way. Notice how similar Paul’s words are on this topic. Paul writes…
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Like James — Paul says, “Have joy — rejoice! — when you find yourself facing problems and trials in life — for they help you develop endurance. And endurance develops your character. And character strengthens the hope of your salvation which will never lead to disappointment because we know that God loves us — and as Paul says elsewhere — is working out everything for the good of those who know God and are called according to his purpose.
But — again — these trials — their goal — their purpose — is to lead us on the pathway whose destination is our perfection. And here’s some encouragement from God’s Word that — I hope — will even ignite a greater desire in your heart to endure whatever trials you are — or may face. Elsewhere in the Bible we read…
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The good work that God began in you — a good work that began the moment you responded to the gospel by believing in Jesus Christ — God has guaranteed that he will bring his good work to completion — or perfection — in your life. And what is that good work? Your eternal salvation. Which means: For those who truly believe in Jesus Christ — you will endure. You will pass the test — for God has guaranteed your success with the blood of his Son.
In the book of Genesis — we find the life story of Joseph. He’s his dad’s favorite — and his brothers hate him for it — so much that they — instead of killing him, which they consider — they sell him into slavery to a group of people who were headed to the faraway land of Egypt. And for years Joseph experiences trials, after trials, after trials. Betrayals. False accusations. Imprisonment. Nothing good. Nothing fun. Nothing pleasurable.
Bug God — being in control of all things — was actually orchestrating all of these events in Joseph’s life to prepare him to be the one who saves Egypt — and many other bordering peoples — from starvation during a devastating famine. Joseph rises to become second-in-command in Egypt. This former slave and prisoner — because he endured many trials — was ready for the responsibility that would be entrusted to him.
Some of the people he saved were his family members — his father, his brothers, and their children. And at the end — here’s how Joseph summarized his years of enduring trials, tribulations, and suffering. He said…
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
And what was meant to harm Christ — the cross and all of its evil and brutality — God intended it all for good. For he brought his Son to the cross — the trial of all trials — so that he would be the Savior of many people. And — as we saw earlier — Jesus endured the cross and he did so with joy.
CONCLUSION
Early on in this sermon I told you that we’d answer the question of how it’s possible to have joy in the midst of trials and suffering. The answer is this: By believing that God is sovereign — that he really is in control of all things. For that’s the only way that our trials can lead to steadfastness which lead to our perfection and completion. For only a sovereign — and in control of all things — God can take what is meant for our demise to lead to our perfection. And believing that our God is our sovereign — knowing in the depth of your soul that the God you believe in is in control of all things — will mean that even in the midst of trials — you will have joy. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
A
BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)
No matter the trials you are facing — or will face — may you endure them with joy — knowing that your loving God has guaranteed your eternity with him. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
