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Intro: talk about school ending, tests, and my success in high school vs college and how God tests us the same way
This morning we’re going to be looking at verses 2-8.
These verses are the first part of James’ introduction which runs all the way through verse 18.
In his introduction, James tells us that his letter is going to be about taking tests.
Taking the kind of tests that show whether our faith is real or not.
In the first part of his introduction… the part we’re looking at this morning… he explains why we’re tested.
He tells us the purpose for the tests we have to go through.
The experts say that when you develop teaching curriculum, you write the test questions before you write lesson plans.
That’s kind of like how God does it.
God builds tests into every part of our lives.
Faithfully passing those tests is what God wants of us.
Failing those tests is Satan’s desire for us.
By God’s grace, He gives us everything we need to pass the tests He places before us.
We just have to choose whether we’re going to listen to Him, or whether we’re going to listen to Satan’s lies.
This morning, I want each of us to see God’s tests for what they really are—an opportunity for joy.
And when we see their real joyful purposes, I want each of us to rejoice in passing the tests God has in store for us.
So, in verse 2, when James writes “My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.”
What he is telling us is to take joy in the fact that your faith is going to be examined.
Take joy in the fact that God cares enough about you that He is going to test your faith.
He’s going to test your faith so you can know that it is really real.
He’s telling us to take joy in the pop quizzes of life.
He’s telling us to rejoice in passing the tests God has in store for us.
Now back to our purposes.
The first joyful purpose for testing is that testing produces patience.
Testing Produces Patience
Look at verse 3:
Testing produces patience
We all know what the purpose of tests in school is, don’t we? It’s because the teachers are mean, right?
Well, that might be the case, but what is the purpose of God’s tests?
Is it because He’s mean?
No! His purpose is to grow us.
You know, when God saves us, He’s not finished with us.
As a matter of fact, in many ways He’s just starting with us.
He says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
In so many ways, salvation is just the starting point.
That’s one of the reasons Jesus compared salvation to being born again.
I’ve never known anyone to be born all grown-up, have you?
I’ve known some kids who thought they were all grown up, but never knew any who were born that way.
The same thing happens when Jesus saves us.
We’re babies in Him.
But babies grow.
They grow fast, don’t they?
Before you know it, they grow up, go off to college and get married.
Just how fast it seems that our kids grow up is how fast we’re supposed to be growing in the Lord.
That’s what James says that testing is for.
The purpose of testing is to “work” things in us—to make us grow.
Our bodies grow naturally.
It doesn’t take any effort to physically grow.
But spiritual growth only comes with effort.
You know, a lot of times we’re like I was in high school.
We don’t want to put forth the effort.
That’s why God puts the tests in there.
He puts them there because He knows that, if they weren’t there, we would just sit back and be spiritual babies forever.
We would never grow the way He wants us to.
But He won’t let us do that.
He won’t let us be babies forever.
Because He says that if He starts something, He’s going to finish it.
So the purpose of testing is to work things in us—to make us grow.
What does that growth look like?
It looks like patience.
As it’s used here in verse 2, patience means perseverance.
It means endurance.
When I think of endurance, I automatically think about a long-distance runner.
I don’t know if any of you are long-distance runners or not.
You can look at me and tell I’m not.
So what would happen if we all decided to go run a marathon after church together?
By the way, a marathon is a little over 26 miles long.
So, after church we’re all going to run to Macon, OK? What do you think would happen?
I know I probably wouldn’t make it to the interstate, much less to Macon.
Why wouldn’t I? Because I don’t have the endurance it takes.
Now, think about what it takes for long-distance runners to build up that kind of endurance.
They have to really train hard.
Train—that’s another word for purposely afflicting pain on yourself.
For a runner to be able to endure the race, they have to continually test their body to its limits.
That’s the same reason that God tests us.
He tests us to build our endurance.
To increase our spiritual fitness so we can endure to the end.
So we can persevere.
There’s a fruit of the Spirit that covers that, isn’t there?
Remember the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace”…what?
Patience, KJV calls it longsuffering.
Longsuffering is endurance.
It’s perseverance.
It’s patience.
It’s the kind of patience and perseverance and endurance that comes from being tested.
So growth from testing looks like patience.
The first joyful purpose of testing is that it produces patience.
The second joyful purpose is that
Testing Produces Perfection
it promotes perfection.
Look at verse 4:
Testing promotes perfection.
Perfection, not in the sense of sinless perfection.
He’s talking about perfection in the sense of completeness, fullness.
Being complete and full and growing closer to the Lord everyday.
But how do we do that?
We do that through testing and trials.
Let’s use the example of Gold.
Gold is one of the more precious metals in existence, which is why we use it in wedding rings, it is precious.
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