A battle tested faith: James 1:2-4
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pray for Keith and chris and our church
pray for Keith and chris and our church
fall fest maybe
Intro
Intro
I want you to think of some of the moments in your life that were what you would call pure joy
If you asked me that question I would say
The moment my wife walked down the isle
The birth of my child probabaly my first child
It was the first time I had that feeling
When I come home and I touch the lock pad at our house and I hear my kids all yell dad’s home
The story I told you all last time I was here about recovering the onside kick my senior year against our rival school
When we are asked about these moments of pure joy in our life we probably think back on them and a smile comes to our face and maybe a sense of nostalgia sets in as we think about how great those moments were
These moments of pure joy are probably something we see most often in sports
There is always some team winning some sort of championship
One of these moments I remember and many of you probably remember as well
The giants winning the world series and Pablo Sandoval catches the final out and just falls over in the 2014 world series
The joy and excitement so evident on his face and in his reaction
These moments of joy however are not usually things that came easy
The come usually after much travail
Many hard times usually precede our most joyful moments in life
In sports the saying is that champions are born through adversity
Joy doesnt usually come without hard times
Those championship teams understand this fact
They work hard
Preserver through difficulties
In order that they may some time get to that joy of winning the championship
This is not just a sports principle but its also a biblical principle
As we will see in our passage today Christians should understand that joy and trials are interconnected they will always come in pairs
Read James 1:2-4
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.
A little background
A little background
This is a passage I’m sure anyone who has been a christian for three minutes has heard
Probably not a new idea for most Christians
But I think its something that bears repeating and something we all need to be reminded of frequently
Before we jump into the text I think we should have some context
James is writing this to the “twleve tribes in the dispersion”
The Jewish Christians who are scattered among the nations
I would say something that is very important for us to note is that James is writing this to believers
His letter is being written to christians
This letter is filled with imperatives for the believer
This doesnt mean his commands arent for the unbeliever just that believers should have an understanding about how and why they must obey these commands
This is a book that some may say is without much theological value because it has so many imperatives
BUT I would say that these imperatives all rest on some theological truth that believers should know or already understand
Hence why even this is verse and concept is something that most believers are familiar with
So let me give you three take aways then we will get in and look at each of these
So let me give you three take aways then we will get in and look at each of these
Trials are inevitable
Trials should bring us joy (Or at least we should consider them joy)
Trials will grow and mature us
Trials are inevitable
Trials are inevitable
Look at James 1:2
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
When you meet trials
James purposely uses this language of WHEN as opposed to other words such as “if you” or “Should you” meet trials.
As believer we are guaranteed of one thing and that is that we will face trials
And various ones at that or many different ones
We will face many trials that will serve many purposes in the life of the believer
We will face trials that will...
Test the strength of our faith
Humble us; remind us not to let our trust in the Lord turn into presumption or spirtiual self satisfaction
Wean us from dependence on the world
Call us to eternal heavenly hope
Reveal what we really love
teach us to value God’s blessing
Develop in us as Christians an enduring strength for greater kingdom use
Enable us to better help others in trials
We will face many of these trials in fact the picture that James is painting for us here is a Christian surrounded by these different trials
We will face these trials and the fact is that God will allow us to face these trial
This is such a key for us a Christians to remember
This is one of the many problems with prosperity gospel
The Bible is very clear its not just put your faith in Jesus and all things will go right with you
It’s no true to just say oh if you have enough faith you will be prosperous in this life
No God will allow us to be tested
Think about Job
An entire book about a man who God explicitly allows to be tested
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
God allowed the Israelites to be tested time and time again but look at
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
Even the kings of Isreal are not exempted from this testing of faith
31 And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
Then Jesus says this
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Believers and unbelievers alike will be tested they will walk through trials in this world
Because this world is broken
The thing that will separate the believer from the unbeliever
The genuine faith from the un-genuine faith will be how they respond to trials
Its not a question of if but when trials come and the proof of their faith will be how they respond to those trials
Which brings us to number 2
Trials should bring us joy
Trials should bring us joy
In fact as believers James is commanding us to count them all joy
The purest of joy
Look at James 1:2
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Believers will count it all joy when they meet trials
Now I want to put a caution here
I dont think James is saying you should through a trials party when bad things happen to you
Thats odd and different and probably not the good kind of odd and different
It ok to feel and says
this is terrible
this is really hard
I wish I wasnt going though this
“take this cup from me”
Its ok to not ENjoy trials
But you should be able to consider them joy
The question isnt about whether or not the trials are fun but rather what is your response to them
Do you fall into hopelessness and despair
wallowing in self pity
OR
Do you stand firm in God’s promises and his faithfulness????
This Joy we are being called to have in the midst of trials is not so much a feeling rather its a choice that we make
A conscious decision or commitment to being joyful
I go through this with my kids at times especially my oldest
They are in a bad mood they think something is unfair or people are treating them poorly
I encourage them that sometimes we just have to choose to be joyful through those hard things
Here is the key to what James is saying here
We can choose Joy in the midst of our trials because we know that God is faithful
Look at the beginning of Verse 3
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
FOR YOU KNOW...
As believers we should know what the result of these trials are and that should enable us to walk through them with Joy
A genuine faith walks through trials with joy because we know what fruit will be born from them
Look at perhaps the greatest example of a man who will walk through a trial because he understands whats on the other side of it
This is what the writer of Hebrews tells us about Jesus
2 looking 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.
Look at Jesus the one who our faith rest on
He endured the trial of the cross for the joy that was set before him
He endured the cross because what the cross was going to do would bring him great joy
He endured the cross because he knew what was on the other side
A right relationship between the creator and his creation that had fallen away
Jesus walked through this trial that his father allowed him to do so that we could have joy when we walk through our trials that pale in importance when compared to the cross
We can have joy in our trial because Jesus Christ has overcome the world and all the trials and strife that are in it
We can walk through our trials with Joy because we know what God has promised and what Jesus has said
As we preserver in our trials; as we endure our trials our steadfastness increases
Or faith and dependence on God increases
I think of David going to fight Goliath
He says this in 1 Samuel 17:37
37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
He will endure this trial of Goliath because he has seen God deliver him before
A Believer that chooses joy through their trials know exactly who the God of the universe is and is one who has placed their entire faith in him
This is a believer that is growing and maturing in their faith
Trials will grow and mature us if we stand firm
Trials will grow and mature us if we stand firm
Our trials and tests of our faith we walk through will have a profound effect on our spiritual lives
Champions are born through adversity
Champion of the faith are born through adversity
The way in which we respond to our trials will show us exactly how strong our faith is and how much stronger it can be
Look at James 1:3-4
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.
As we saw earlier a believer should know what the outcome of our trials should be
They should know what the testing of their faith will bring about
it brings about steadfastness
a firmness in our standing
One that isnt easily swayed
It brings an endurance to our faith
A believer with a genuine faith who preservers through trials and test with joy will find their faith strengthened
A faith that will be proved un-genuine will be left tattered and in shambles on the other side
I think of this picture of replica jerseys vs. authentic jerseys
Replica jersey look like the real thing but are cheaper version
versions that would never hold up in the real game they would be destroyed and tattered by the end
Authentic jerseys cost more but are authentic the real thing that the players wear in the game
these are jerseys that can hold up throughout the game
They serve their purpose all the way to the final whistle or final out
The same can be said of our faith as we walk through trials
Our genuine faith will carry us through all our trials in and will still be intact when we come to the end of our life
If our faith is not genuine then our trials and tests in this life will prove that fact and when we reach the end of our race we will have no jersey to speak of and that would be the saddest story of all.
A genuine faith can stand firm in trials because it has been battle tested through trials and tests and each trial has served one purpose and that is to show God’s faithfulness to us
Each trial will mold and shape us but in the end of each one we can say look what God has done
I will trust him all the more
A faith that is not genuine will walk through those very same trials and have their faith in God shaken or even destroyed because they dont understand God’s purpose in them
Ultimatley its not a faith grounded in God’s faithfulness but a faith grounded in something else
Maybe feelings
self righteousness
what other say or expect of them
a false promise of some magical success
A battle tested faith that has grown steadfast will be rewarded
Look at verse 4
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
The full effect of this battle tested faith is that it will be perfect
Or maybe more clearly mature and strong
This doesnt mean the person will be perfect but more mature
one who is a better reflection of Jesus
One whose mirror is a little more clear than others
A faith that endures trials is a faith that becomes stronger with each trial it walks through
Conclusion
Conclusion
James wants to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ of this truth they should already know
That trials will come and when they do we can count them joy not because of what they are but because of what the produce in the life of the believer namely a more mature and genuine faith
For true believers we understand that our great example in Jesus Christ enduring his own trials for the joy that was set before him
Should be an encouragement to us to endure our own trials for the joy that they produce
Jesus endured the trial of the cross for the joy of reconciling the relationship between sinful and the perfect holy God of the universe
The believer should know that by enduring their trial and test they can be joyful through it because those trials and test will only build our faith and make us more into the image of the one who endured the greatest of all trials