Sermon Tone Analysis

*James 1:12*

*Wimps Need Not Apply*

 

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”[1]

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f you have followed the message of James to this point in our studies, you will have undoubtedly drawn the conclusion that unlike much of modern religious activity, Christianity as practised by the earliest disciples was a vigorous Faith.

The Faith of the first believers was virile in its conduct and they were valiant in pursuit of truth.

There was no place for wimps in the first blush of the Faith; rather, the Faith called for stamina and courage.

Surely these first believers were bold for the cause of Christ.

Contemporary Christianity differs significantly from biblical Christianity.

Modern Christendom suffers from an unbiblical feminisation of the Faith once delivered to the saints.

To a disquieting degree, males appear to have concluded that church is no place for a man.

Contemporary Christian music is composed essentially of love songs that compel a man to sing of his love for another man.

Theology is sacrificed for repetition in the music, and contemporary preaching is judged by how it makes us feel rather than whether it equips us for a righteous life.

Churches appear to have concluded that since men will not fulfil their God-appointed role as leaders, women will assume oversight of the churches, with disastrous consequences.

Few people are actually happy with the state of contemporary Christendom, but fewer people still are willing to return to the teaching of the Word in order to become all that God intended His people to be.

The first disciples were men—men of action and courage.

Though there were occasional failures when they faced the foe, following the Resurrection of the Master, there were no further major retreats.

Any fair assessment of the account provided in Acts leads to the conclusion that Christianity is a dynamic Faith, calling for noble ideals of courage, consistency and compassion—all manly qualities.

James, in this earliest of Christian literature, addresses the need for manly Faith.

In the churches James addressed, wimps would not need to apply as the Faith required stamina and steadfastness, qualities that are increasingly rare among the faithful today.

*The Call to Stand Firm in Trials* — “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.”

James began his letter by encouraging believers who were even then undergoing severe trials.

Now, in the portion of the Word under consideration today, James pronounces a benediction on those who withstood those same trials.

We do not often use the term “benediction” in our everyday language; it is literally a “good word,” the pronunciation of happiness for those who are recipients of the statement of approval.

James says that those who remain steadfast despite trials are happy.

In previous studies, we have reviewed the types of trials the first Christians endured.

Certainly, their trials were physical—they paid an awful price to be followers of the Master.

However, we saw that an even greater trial for these suffering saints were the challenges to their faith.

Today, we could summarise such challenges by listing the plaints that are commonly voiced when believers face reversals or disappointments.

“Why is this happening to me?” is one complaint frequently heard.

Focused on himself or herself, the weeping saint complains about the unfairness of his or her situation.

Another complaint leads down the dead end of supposed intellectual philosophical musings as the disappointed individual questions whether God is omnipotent or whether He is good.

“God cannot be good, or He would not let me experience disappointment,” is one aspect of this sanctified grousing.

Another aspect is the cry that God must not be all-powerful or the one experiencing setbacks would not be rocked by frustration.

Other saints turn to introspection as they wonder what sin they must have committed to experience disappointment.

What is important for those who would honour God is to realise that trials are common to the life of a follower of the Son of God.

Peter wrote in a similar vein to encourage believers who were called to endure trials.

Listen to the opening words of his first letter.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” [*1 Peter 1:3-9*].

The saint enduring trials rejoices in the knowledge that he possesses salvation, and possessing salvation, the child of God has an inheritance reserved in Heaven itself.

The follower of Christ, immersed in trials, should be consoled in the knowledge that his faith is being proved to be genuine.

God is permitting the testing for purposes that His child cannot even imagine at the moment.

However, when the testing is finished, He will be glorified and the child of God will be honoured because he has stood firm.

Peter also wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And

 

“‘If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” [*1 Peter **4:12**-19*].

Sharing in the suffering of Christ is a common theme throughout the New Testament, though it is virtually foreign to modern theology.

Listen, as one example, to the Apostle Paul as he writes from a cell in the Tullianum—the Mamertine Prison in Rome.

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” [*Philippians 3:8-11*].

Notice in particular Paul’s willingness—nay, eagerness—to share in Christ’s sufferings.

Paul testified that Christians “share abundantly in Christ’s suffering” [*2 Corinthians 1:5*].

One must be struck by the “encouragement” Paul and Barnabas delivered to the new Christians of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.

They taught these tyro Christians that “through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God” [*Acts **14:22*].

These were not mere words delivered as dry sermonising, but rather Paul punctuated his teaching through suffering because of his faith.

Paul was stoned and assumed to be dead in Lystra [*Acts **14:19*].

Paul and Barnabas were threatened and run out of Iconium [*Acts 14:5, 6*].

The apostles were persecuted in Antioch of Pisidia [*Acts **13:50*].

Writing the Corinthian Christians, Paul concluded the first letter with a series of admonitions that sound positively courageous in the face of what was faced as a saint.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” [*1 Corinthians **16:13*].

Paul urged the Philippian saints to stand united in the Faith.

He wrote, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” [*Philippians 1:27*].

Such sentiments sound foreign to the ears of modern Christians living in western comfort.

We seem to have convinced ourselves that if we are followers of Christ, all our problems will be in the past.

We have bought into the lie that only those who are awful sinners ever experience difficulties.

There is an entire movement built around the concept that one need but have sufficient faith to get all that is required for an easy life.

However, such teaching is an utter distortion of reality.

So determined are modern Christians to enjoy ease of life that they are prepared to destroy anyone who dares call them to account before the Lord, or even to remind them of the teaching of the Word.

Paul spoke of the days that would be coming when he wrote the young theologue, Timothy.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” [*1 Timothy 4:1-5*].

By no means have I exhausted the biblical call to steadfastness in the face of difficulties, and especially have I not exhausted the encouragement to remain steadfast during trials of the soul.

God has given to His people His salvation to set them free from the fear of death, His Holy Spirit to provide strength in the day of testing, and His promise that we shall overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.

Just as we are forewarned that trials will come, so we are encouraged to stand firm, not permitting ourselves to be stampeded by fear.

Permit me to be practical for a moment.

Some of us have witnessed professing Christians who are easily stampeded by the mere threat of trials.

Not only do such individuals timidly imagine that those who are exploring the Faith may be turned away by hearing the truth, but they are personally offended by the preaching of the Word.

Sound words intimidate them; they can tolerate neither reproof, rebuke nor exhortation.

Rather than examining their own soul and bringing themselves into line with the Word of God, they resist the instruction of the Word and thus destroy whatever advantage they may have otherwise enjoyed through obedience.

The consequence when such individuals gain ascendancy among the churches is that the Faith is enervated, and that the flock of God becomes spiritually anaemic.

Recognising that they are not living vibrant lives consistent with the Word of God, these impoverished souls attempt to drum up excitement through lively songs and physical activity, much as did the prophets of Baal in the days of Elijah [*1 Kings 18:26-29*].

Do not permit that to happen in your life as a Body.

Instead, determine that we will entrust our souls to the care of the Father, depending on the power of His indwelling Spirit to advance the cause of the Saviour throughout our world.

*The Consolation During Trials* — “When he has stood the test …”  Trials are not a blessing.

Never let yourself fall into the delusion that it is a blessing to be tested.

However, there is a blessing that will result when you stand firm during trials; and there is blessedness during the trial because we discover the power of Christ enabling us to be godly at precisely that time when we surrender our lives to His care.