Faithful in Trials

So you become a Christian … now what?

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Does it only mean that your vocabulary changes?

That you stop cussing?

That when you’re mad at someone, you say, “Bless her heart” before saying something really mean?

Does becoming a Christian mean that you now have to change your radio station, so that it only plays Christian music in the car?

There’s that moment you are converted and suddenly it makes sense.

God makes sense.

Jesus makes sense.

You believe.

You trust.

You have faith.

But what does any of that mean?

For some people they think they become a Christian nothing really changes.

It’s no different than changing your political party.

You’re the same person that you were yesterday, now just once a year you vote different.

For some people becoming a Christian is like changing which grocery store you go to.

You still buy the same things, you just change the brands of the items.

Becoming a Christian should be life changing.

It’s not just head knowledge.

It’s a different direction altogether.

That’s why Jesus said you must be born again.

Paul said the old man dies.

Today we begin the book of James.

James is written to help you understand what it means to be a Christian.

If you have faith, what does that look like in your life?

How does your faith present itself?

There’s a type of faith that acknowledges God, but it doesn’t surrender to God.

It’s not life changing.

That kind of faith is useless.

James compares it to the faith of demons.

Faith that doesn’t change your life is a Satanic faith.

If there’s anyone who understood the reality of faith and how life changing it is, James is the guy.

James is the author of James, I guess you knew that by looking at the top of your page.

James knew that to profess Christ as Lord, to have faith, that it better change every aspect of your life.

This might come as a surprise to some of you, especially if you come from a Roman Catholic background, but James, the author of James, is actually the half-brother of Jesus.

Half-brother, meaning they both had the same mother, Mary, just not the same dad.

Jesus was born of a virgin.

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and somehow, miraculously she became pregnant.

But Mary’s other children were born the natural way, with a mother and a father.

James is mentioned in as the brother of Jesus, along his other brothers Joseph, Simon and Judas.

Judas’ name would be shortened and he would write Jude.

even mentions that Jesus had sisters.

Sisters - plural.

He had more than 1 sister.

He had multiple sisters.

So Jesus came from a rather large family.

Many brothers.

Many sisters.

There were at least 7 kids in Jesus’ family.

Only all his siblings were half siblings.

They all shared the same mother, just different fathers.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ half brothers and sisters were conceived by Joseph and Mary.

I imagine it would have been hard to be Jesus’ brother growing up.

The other one that is mentioned in the New Testament is Jude.

I imagine it would have been hard to be Jesus’ brother growing up.

Jesus was always the good son.

He never got in trouble.

Jesus never broke the 5th commandment, to honor your father and mother.

He never was spanked for disobedience.

And yet, James … I’m sure he broke it.

Why?

Because he’s a child of Adam, just the rest of us.

Jesus was the only person, besides Adam, to never be born with a sin nature.

He had no inclination to sin.

James, along with his other brothers didn’t believe that Jesus was the Christ.

In , Jesus’ brothers basically, told Jesus to leave their hometown.

Jesus was kicked out of town by his own brothers.

says, “For not even his brothers believed in him.”

During the life of Jesus, his brothers, openly refused to believe in Jesus.

But at some point after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, his brothers, James and Jude believed.

I don’t know about the others, but James and Jude, I do know about, they believed.

They were born again.

When James started believing in Jesus, He wasn’t like a prince taking over the throne of his dead brother.

James didn’t speak so highly of himself.

He describes himself as a servant, as a slave of Jesus Christ.

Verse 1, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In the Greek the word order is different.

James puts God and Jesus Christ ahead of him being called a slave.

Meaning, that he is far beneath Christ.

There’s no pride in that statement.

He doesn’t identify himself as Jesus’ brother.

Instead, he identifies himself as a slave.

How many of you would introduce yourself as a slave of one of your family members?

That’s how much James adored Christ in his converted state.

He calls his brother Lord.

Master.

Jesus has authority over his life.

You think that being Jesus’ brother would be something to boast about.

Imagine meeting someone for the first time.

“Hello, my names James, Jesus was my brother. Kiss my hand. Bow down before me.”

This would be something close to godly royalty.

Only James doesn’t identify himself that way.

James never exalts himself over the rest of the Christians.

In , he says, “Count it all joy, my brothers ...”

There’s no pride there.

He’s speaks to Christians as fellow servants of Christ, just like Him.

They needed a Savior, just like he needed a Savior.

There’s Christ at the top, and everyone else is beneath Him.

Sinners, are all on the same level.

You can see James’ love for Jesus in the content of this book.

Many of the same words and phrases in this book are the same ones found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

It’s almost like a sermon based on one of Jesus’ own sermons.

So in essence, James became a student of Christ.

He writes this letter to the young church.

James would never leave Jerusalem.

He would serve as one of the 3 pillars of the faith in Jerusalem, until he was martyred in about 62ad.

At this time the church is primarily Jewish.

So he writes to the 12 tribes of the dispersion.

He writes to the Jewish Christians that are scattered abroad.

And he writes a very practical book, some even think it’s a sermon.

He doesn’t waste any words.

It’s full of imperatives, these are commands.

You know exactly what he means.

He tells it like it is.

It’s meant to be obeyed, meant to be played out.

It’s being written to young Christians who need to know, “What do I do?”

If you are a Christian, this is how you live.

This is a book for Christians.

This is the now what instruction you’ve been looking for.

This book is about putting your faith on display.

You have become a Christian, and you ask, “Now what?”

How are you to display your faith?

This is a book about faith, and how your faith works.

How do you face trials?

How do you face temptations?

How do you speak?

How do you live in this world?

The first display of your faith is Joy.

The churches that James is writing to are in a difficult position.

They are not joyful.

There are

Things are bad.

There are being oppressed by rich people.

They are being given outrageous loans and then taken to prison, by so-called fellow Christians who are taking advantage of them.

There is lack of love within the church.

Christians are struggling in their repentance.

There are people desiring positions of power, and speaking error in the pulpit.

And people’s faith is wavering.

How are people to respond to these things?

How do you respond to these things?

Joy is a defining characteristic of Christians.

When life is hard, what do you do first?

Allow James to take you to the school of joy.

And as we go to the school of joy, we will ask those scientific questions that you probably learned in your first science fair experiment as a kid.

What is Joy?

When you find life hard what do you do?

Who has Joy

When to have Joy?

Why to have Joy?

And How to have Joy?

Let’s begin by defining joy, What is Joy?

Some might say you need to pray.

Remember the great theologian from the late 80’s and the early 90’s MC Hammer, he once said, “We’ve got to pray, just to make it today.”

He says “Count it all joy, my brothers ...”

James will talk about prayer, but not yet.

The Christian’s first response to crisis is joy.

This joy isn’t a giddy happiness

Let’s look at The Response of Joy in Trials.

James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

Before we talk about counting it all joy, let’s look at the circumstances.

He says, to be joyful, “when you meet trials of various kinds.”

Notice how that’s written.

What doesn’t it say, “Count it all joy, my brothers if you meet trials.

Don’t read this - Joy in Trials

It’s all about the evidence of your faith.

Later on he will say that faith without works is dead.

The trials are not the joy.

They are facing trials.

How do you know that you don’t have a dead faith?

How do you respond to trials?

Their faith is being tested.

It’s not fun.

, the apostles are arrested for preaching Jesus Christ.

They are brought before the Jewish leaders and questioned.

But they are to respond in joy.

They are told not to preach in Jesus’ name.

They then are beaten and released.

The apostles leave the counsel, and says, “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

How did they do that?

How did they suffer like that, how were they beaten, and then leave, rejoicing.

How do they think of being beaten as something that you must be worthy to receive?

Paul begins boasting of his weaknesses.

He talks about having a thorn in his side.

He had an opponent that was attacking him.

Day in, day out, this thorn, this person was not just a hindrance, he was harmful.

Paul was in agony over this person.

And Paul repeatedly prayed to the Lord to remove this thorn.

“Get this person out of my life.”

“I’m miserable with him.”

Perhaps, you’ve prayed something like that before, regarding a situation in your life.

A person.

Health.

A condition.

There is some trial in your life, and your prayers are consumed by this trial.

“Lord, please get rid of it for me.” is your prayer.

Well, at the end of the passage, Paul rejoices because through his trial he learned of God’s grace.

He said, in , “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Ultimately, he rejoiced, because in his weakness, he relied on Christ, and lived on the presence of God.

That suffering, drew him closer to the Lord.

A third example of joy in suffering, is outside of Scripture, it’s about Eric Liddel.

Eric Liddel is most famous for the movie, Chariots of Fire.

He ran the 400 meter dash in the 1924 Olympics, setting a world record that stood for 12 years.

The movie talks about his refusal to run on Sundays because it’s Sabbath.

It tells the drama of the stance that he took.

What most people don’t know about Eric is what happened after the Olympics.

He went to China and became a missionary.

When World War II broke out, Japan was an unstoppable military force moving into China, and conquering much of the main land.

The Japanese rounded up prisoners and put them in internment camps, concentration camps.

The prisoners there were slowly starved, and violently treated.

Eric Liddel was put in one of these concentration camps.

There he would end up dying.

He never let up.

He never complained about his situation.

He had a quiet spirit that found joy in the Lord, and it was demonstrated in his life.

Fellow prisoners described him as:

An unruffled spirit.

A constantly smiling face.

Always cheerful.

It was said that, “Every day to him was … precious. He threw himself into it to make others feel better about the situation all of us were in.”

What’s the common denominator in these examples?

Joy.

Facing hardship, facing trials, facing disappointment - the response was joy.

How do we get there?

Many Christians look joyful.

They look more like those in internment camps with Eric Liddel.

Many Christians live lives that are defeated, mopey, and lethargic.

Just look how fast we plummet into depression when things happen.

Starbucks forgets to put an extra shot in your coffee, and it’s as if you’ve been defeated already.

You missed the rapture.

The Great Tribulation has begun.

Woe is me, for I am undone!

How do we find joy?

Before we talk about finding joy, let’s look at the circumstances of life.

What is in store for you?

I like to know, what am I getting into?

James says, to be joyful, “when you meet trials of various kinds.”

Notice how that’s written.

Notice what doesn’t it say, “Count it all joy, my brothers if you meet trials.

It’s when you meet trials.

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation ...” -

So trials are coming.

When do they come?

When do they come?

We don’t know.

James says “when you meet trials”, meet trials is peripesete, and that means to encounter a hazard, or to fall into something.

You might even call it an accident.

So you hop in your car, and you go for a little drive.

How many of you say, “Today, I’m going to get into a car accident.”?

You never say that.

If you said that you’d lose your license.

A car accident is just that, an accident.

You don’t plan on getting in accidents.

You don’t plan on falling into a trial, or meeting a trial.

You don’t go looking for trials.

They happen when you are least expecting it.

And isn’t that the truth.

They never happen when you’d like them to happen.

The other thing about trials is they are varied.

Your trial will be different from my trial.

One person might be tested in health, while another is tested mentally.

One person is tested physically, and another is tested financially.

We may not know when, or how, but we know it’s coming.

That’s part of the dealing with trials and having joy, is you must know that it’s coming.

Expect them.

In , Peter says, “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.”

One of the reasons why we walk around so glum and sad, is because trials hit us by surprise.

We say, “It’ll never happen to me.”

We have this idea that if we are a Christian, life will be easy.

Or that if you are a Christian God will protect you from trials.

You put in your time at church and God will spare you from trouble.

You give on Sundays, and it’s like you’re purchasing a “Get out of Jail Free” card.

Some people live life like they’ve made a deal with God.

He’s the true Godfather, and you’ve made a deal you can’t refuse.

I go to church - he keeps me from trouble.

James is telling us that they will happen.

You don’t know when trials will happen.

But expect them.

Anon’t be surprised.

And don’t be surprised.

Don’t be surprised.

But when you encounter trials, because you know they’re coming, how are you to respond?

You see the answer at the beginning of verse 2, “Count it all joy ...”

This is a command.

This isn’t a suggestion.

James isn’t giving us 10 tips to a happy life.

This is the Word of God, written to Christian.

It’s got the authority of God behind it.

This isn’t some article in vogue.

This is theopneustos, God breathed.

He says, “Count it all joy.”

You must count it joy.

Why do we need the command?

Because it’s not natural for us.

Our flesh says you rule the day.

Our flesh says you are your own master.

And when things don’t follow your plan, then there’s anger, resentment, disappointment.

That’s the natural response.

But God says, “Count it all joy ...”

Master your emotions.

And this is different from what your initial reaction may be.

says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind ...”

You need to be transformed.

Have your mind renewed.

That’s why this command is there.

If you have the Holy Spirit, then evidence of His presence in your life is that you are joyful.

Think of the fruit of the Spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love … joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness … and the list goes on.

Hamilton, Duncan. For the Glory (p. 257). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

If a Christian has faith, the first response to trials is that of joy.

It’s not that the trial is fun.

He’s talking about faith.

Joy

There is a need for Joy.

The joy is knowing that the Lord is sovereign over the trial.

Joy is the recognition

And so when you encounter trials, the first response must be joy.

Second, we look at The Purpose of Joy in Trials.

Some of you need a reason.

You’re very much like the kid, who when told to do something answers back - “Why?”

God says “Count it all joy” and you say, “Why?”

Verse 3, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

it’s good to know that there is a purpose behind trials.

There are 2 reasons for these tests.

Someone rear ends you and totals your car, that doesn’t mean you were sinning.

You get the flu, and feel miserable for a week, that doesn’t mean you did something wrong.

There are 2 reasons for these tests.

First, they test the quality of your faith.

They are not testing if you have faith.

The assumption you already have faith.

Remember, who is James writing to?

He’s is writing to Christians.

He said in verse 2, “Count it all joy, my brothers ...”

Fellow believers.

Fellow Christians.

If you are a believer you have faith.

You cannot be a believer and not have faith.

It doesn’t say that the test is to see if you have faith.

It says that it is a testing of faith.

Something you already possess.

This is testing the quality of your faith.

Think of a diamond.

There are 4 quality tests of a diamond.

Clarity - how clear is it.

Cut - The shape of it.

Carot - How big is it.

Color - Is it clear, or is it yellow or brown.

James is telling us here that trials test the quality of your faith.

How do you respond?

Do you quickly cave?

Do you lash out in anger?

Do you respond like Job’s wife?

Curse God and die.

That’s a lack of faith.

How you respond tests the quality of your faith.

The second reason for the testing is that it produces something.

It brings about something.

There is a purpose behind the trials.

This means that whatever you encounter in life, it is not haphazard, or random, but it is purposeful.

God, who is sovereign over your life, brings these tests into your life, so that they would produce something in you.

So that they would change you.

So that God would continue the good work that He began in you.

One commentator said, “The idea, then, is not that the trials determine whether a person has faith or not. Rather they strengthen the faith that is already present.”

You can start to see how we can find joy in trials.

Because whatever you are going through is for your benefit.

The Lord is bringing this into your life to change you, to shape you, to make you more and more into Christ’s image.

I find joy in that.

A whole lot more joy than if life is completely random.

If God is not sovereign over these events, then I’m worried.

Because it means God doesn’t really care.

And it means there’s no purpose to my suffering.

At the same time, if you don’t have joy, if you get angry at your situation, if you get angry at your trials, who are you really getting angry at?

God.

You’re getting frustrated at Him.

You’re questioning His plan for your life.

The proper response to trials and testing is to direct your focus to the Lord.

Do you ever find that your times of deepest sorrow, and struggle are the times that you are closest to God.

Your times of deepest sorrow, and struggle are the times that you are closest to God.

You pray all the time.

The Reason for Joy

When to have Joy?

And those prayers are real.

Your walk suddenly becomes 10 times stronger, because everything you’ve read in Scripture has to be faithfully applied.

That’s God’s plan.

James says that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, or endurance.

Steadfastness is the ability to stand under something and not be crushed by the weight of it.

It’s the ability to endure tough times.

When metal is tempered, it’s heated to a high temperature.

Not too high, but just to the point, where it begins to break down a bit, and almost crystallize.

That crystallization, hardens the metal, making it stronger, and less brittle.

But the tempering can only happen, if the temperature is heated up.

The work that God is doing in your life is like the tempering of steel.

He heats it up.

It’s painful.

It’s a trial.

But it is producing steadfastness, the strength to endure.

Think of Peter, and the night that he betrayed Jesus.

Peter denied Jesus 3 times.

Three times he failed.

Before any of that happened, Jesus told Peter, “... I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter was tested.

He went through a trial.

But the Lord was using this trial for a reason.

After the test, Peter was tempered, he would be stronger.

And he would be used by God to strengthen his brothers, to minister to the disciples.

He became a strong influence in the church.

That strength came from this experience.

And in your life, you have gone through trials, the Lord has let them happen to make you stronger, so that you can minister to others.

Think of your experiences.

These things have happened to you for a reason.

Being strengthened by the Lord, you can now support other Christians.

My parents divorced my senior year of high school.

It was a painful experience.

I hated that time.

The plan for my life was shattered.

At the same time, there was a boy in middle school here at church, who’s parents were going through a divorce.

The trial of my parents divorce, allowed me to minister to this young boy in our church, who was hurting, in a personal way.

The reason for testing is to strengthen you.

And you endure it because you know the Lord is using it for your benefit and His glory.

If God is sovereign over your trials, and if He is using them for your benefit, then you can experience joy because you have contentment.

Joy is being content in every situation, in an unnatural way, because of a thankful trust in God, who is sovereign over all things.

Joy is knowing that God is on His throne, even over your painful circumstances.

Trials then become an opportunity to trust in God, and find God even more pleasing.

It’s not that the trials are fun.

I don’t find joy in the actual trial.

Amanda broke her foot back in November.

I didn’t shout on the mountain tops, “Yes a broken foot!”

But we find joy, knowing that the Lord is using these trials for a reason.

And the joy is asking God, “I can’t wait to see how this works for your glory.”

Joy is looking for God’s plan in action.

So right now, I imagine there is something going on.

How are you responding?

Look for the will of God behind it.

Look for His purpose in your trials.

They’re not meant to destroy you.

God’s using it for your good.

Knowing that and seeking that, brings with it a joy that God is working in your life.

Lastly, there is a need to Persevere Trials for Joy.

How to have Joy?

What’s the worst part of exercising … it hurts.

Sometimes people talk about the burn.

You run, and soon, your lungs are on fire, and they hurt.

You lift weights and your arms feel like jelly, and they burn.

You don’t want to go a step further, because lactic acid is flooding your muscles, and makes it feel as if burning hot coals are literally eating away your body.

And yet, as much as it hurts, you have to keep going.

That tearing down of muscle is what makes you stronger.

No pain, no gain.

James gives us a final command in these opening verses, verse 4, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

That statement is a little too passive in our Bibles.

“Let steadfastness …?”

It should read, “You must have steadfastness have its full effect.”

It’s not optional.

I see people at the gym who have a personal trainer.

The person gets tired.

He’s doing curls, and wants to quit.

He says, “I can’t do any more.”

And the trainer, says, “3 more, let’s go. Don’t stop, keep going.”

When things get hard, there is a temptation to quit.

Your kids have been getting on your nerves all day, and you’re about to blow a gasket.

Your patience is low.

The marriage is hard, it’s lost that easy romantic feeling.

Life has become like one long workout at the gym, and the lactic acid is spilling over, and you want to stop.

James says, you must endure.

Let the trial and the test have its full effect.

I’m sure you’ve been prescribed antibiotics before.

The doctor gives you a little container with enough antibiotics for 7 days.

How much of it are you supposed to take?

All of it.

What if you feel better?

You take all of it.

That’s the idea that James is getting across here.

You don’t quit the process early.

You take all of it.

Why?

The idea is that currently you aren’t perfect or complete.

You’ve got weaknesses.

And the Lord wants to bring you to completion.

Think of a butterfly.

It goes through a metamorphosis called chrysalis.

It goes from a larvae to a worm into a cocoon and escapes a butterfly.

Suppose you found the butterfly still in its cocoon and you tried to free it early.

What would happen?

You’d kill it.

It’s not done changing yet.

And this is what the Lord is doing to you.

He wants to make you complete, but you must go through the whole process.

The idea behind perfect and complete is maturity.

The Lord is maturing you.

He’s taking you as a child, and he’s bringing you into maturity.

As a child you went to school.

You began in kindergarten, and you continued through 12th grade.

But you don’t want to stop this process.

If you stop in the 3rd grade, you won’t be as mature or prepared as if you went through it all.

You endure to the end.

How do we do this?

First, understand it takes time.

As a child you went to school.

You began in kindergarten.

And at the end of that first year of kindergarten were you done with school?

No.

That was just the beginning, because next was 1st grade, then second grade.

You then moved up to middle school.

After a couple years, you were promoted to high school.

Then after 4 years, you graduated.

It was a process.

It takes a long time to graduate from school.

If you stop in the 3rd grade, you won’t be as mature or prepared as if you went through it all.

It takes years of studying and being developed.

It’d be nice if you could just instantly become Christlike wouldn’t it?

It’d be nice if you just instantly knew all of God’s Word.

It’d be nice if you were instantly mature.

I’ve often prayed for God to change me, but to do it instantly.

“God take this from me, just don’t let it hurt too bad.”

But it doesn’t happen that way though.

You endure to the end.

You began in kindergarten.

And at the end of that first year in kindergarten were you done with school?

No.

That was just the beginning, because next was 1st grade, then second grade.

But you don’t want to stop this process.

You then moved up to middle school.

After a couple years, you were promoted to high school.

Then after 4 years, you graduate.

It was a process.

It takes a long time to graduate from school.

If you stop in the 3rd grade, you won’t be as mature or prepared as if you went through it all.

You endure to the end.

It doesn’t happen that way though.

It takes time.

It takes patience.

Sometimes it takes years.

This means it requires endurance.

It takes perseverance.

Second, it means surrendering to God’s will.

To stop resisting.

To resist is to resist what God wants for you.

Instead, embrace the process.

You are not the final product.

There are weaknesses in your life that need to be addressed.

Seek to know your weaknesses.

Find them out.

Ask someone to point them out to you.

Talk to a more mature believer and ask them to diagnose you.

And then joyfully embrace the process, knowing that God will finish what He starts.

says, “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.”

If you know your weaknesses it gives you a heads up on where the Lord is working in your life.

Look how this shapes your prayers.

You know there’s trials.

You know the Lord is sovereign behind those trials.

And your prayer is to endure those trials.

The Valley of Vision Prayer

I don’t want this sermon to be theoretical.

Because you are either in a trial right now, or you will be.

So give a deep look at your life.

What is it you are going through?

The response should be joy.

As things get hard, always remember that there is a purpose behind it.

The Lord is strategically shaping you.

And lastly, it’s going to require perseverance.

What is the Lord teaching you?

All of this assumes that Jesus is actually Lord of your life.

And endure.

This is different from pop psychology.

Pop psychology says it’s your life, and have your own way.

This is the reality of seeing your life as belonging to Christ.

You are His.

He is Lord.

And I want to be the best tool in His tool chest.