[Originally preached 23 May, 2004]
James 1.2-4
Our text is one that I am sure you have all encountered before. It is one of those familiar texts. But there is always more to learn and more to have applied to our hearts, even from familiar texts. So let’s see what our text has to say about how we are to live.
Let’s start with the word ‘trials’. I think that it’s fair to say that, to most people, a trial is when life gets hard for some reason. It could be anything. And the goal is simply to wait it out. Life is bound to get better again. That is, until the next time that something goes awry. That is not what James is talking about. For James, a trial is when something is being put to the test. Something is being evaluated. Think about those times when you see a trial size of some new soap. What’s the point? The manufacturer wants you to give the product a try. Put it to the test. That’s what James is referring to here. Trials are when something is being put to the test. Now, the next question, of course, is, ‘What?’ What is being put to the test? And James tells us. It’s your faith. He talks about ‘the testing of your faith’. Let’s go a little further. Who is it that is putting your faith to the test? James isn’t explicit here but from other Scriptures it is clear that it is God who is doing this. Listen to one example from Genesis. ‘After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."’ [Genesis 22:1] Abraham is then told to sacrifice his son. God tests His people. He evaluates their faith.
Now, what is God looking for when He tests your faith? For one thing, He is asking the question, ‘Is it genuine?’ One result of a trial is seeing whether a person has true saving faith. You need to remember that there are different kinds of faith. And not every kind of faith is a saving faith. James will remind us that the demons have faith. There are things that they sincerely believe about God. But that faith will not save them. This idea of testing the genuineness of faith shows up in the parable of the four soils. ‘And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.’ [Luke 8:13] The rocky soil responded to the message and received it with joy. There was evidence of faith. ‘They believe for a while.’ However, a time of testing revealed the truth. Their faith was not genuine saving faith.
Now, understand what God is doing. He is protecting His Church. How weak the Church would be if it were filled with people who are without true saving faith. It would be filled with false believers. But also see in this God’s mercy to these false believers. Their true state has been revealed to them. They do not have saving faith. But that’s not the end of the story. There is still time for them to truly repent and believe with a true faith. This is a mercy to them. Then consider those who do pass the test. What an encouragement! You’ve passed the test! Your faith is real! How that shores up a sense of assurance. The trial was faced and you came through it well. Again, we see God’s goodness. The test provides opportunity for a growing confidence.
Let’s proceed to the next question. How does God test faith? Knowing the answer to this will help in your preparation for the trials that are sure to come. It is important that you see that sometimes God tests faith by sending you good things. ‘The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.’ [Proverbs 27:21] The tests of faith are not always hardships. In this proverb it’s a matter of being praised for something that you’ve done. Now, that will make sense if you understand a key question that God poses at the time of testing. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ Remember that the Gospel, at heart, is a matter of two basic thoughts. First, I am weak. Because of my sin I am unable to survive. I am desperately needy. Then second, Jesus is strong. He will come to my aid as I cry out to Him in my weakness. He will rescue me from all the things from which I cannot rescue myself. These two points are behind God’s question, ‘Will you trust Me now?’ What can happen when someone is praised? Sadly, all too often, we hear what may be legitimate praise and let it go to our heads. We become proud. We become impressed with ourselves and forget all about our weakness because of sin. We forget that our only hope of success in this life is Jesus. So, by our actions, we answer God’s question with a ‘No, I don’t trust You now, because I don’t need to. I am strong enough. I am able. See, even these people think so. That’s why they have complimented me for what I have done.’ In that case, that person failed the test. That praise revealed his heart.
There are those other times when the trial does come in the form of something bad. Evil invades your life. Sometimes it’s a minor annoyance. Other times it’s much more significant than that. But the test is the same. Your faith is being evaluated. The question is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ I remember a fellow seminary student recounting a situation he found himself in. He had been asked to preach at a church and he was rather excited about the opportunity. So, he worked hard on his text. He did all his preparations. He was ready to preach. Sunday comes along and he is bustling about getting himself and his family ready for the trip to the church. It was at a little distance and time was getting a bit tight, but there should be no problem getting there in time. So, his wife gets in the car. The kids are settled in the back seat. He goes to put something in the trunk and then slams the lid shut. He goes to start the car only to find that there is a problem. The key has snapped in two with the important part securely lodged in the trunk lock. That was the only key to the car, and it works all the locks, including the ignition. He cannot start his car. How will he get to the church? The people are expecting a sermon. The question of the moment is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ And what made it all the more poignant was that his text for the sermon was, ‘And now we know that God works all things together for good.’ Consider another scenario. There you are at the job. You’ve been under a lot of pressure working on this big project for a very important customer. And then, something goes awry. You hit a snag. The project is going to be delayed, maybe for more than a while. So, your boss calls you in. Your company needs this customer. The long and the short of it is that he wants you to lie to the customer. Your boss has a story ready made for you. And since you are the contact person he wants you to make the phone call. Maybe you can buy a little time. Right then, your faith is being tried. You know the commandments, including that one about lying. And you also know that your future as an employee is at stake. What do you do? Again, the question of the moment is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ I could list more scenarios, but the key issues are the same. First, there is your weakness and your need. That is obvious in both cases. The problem comes with the second part. Where will you put your hope? Jesus says that He is strong and will meet all your needs. Do you trust Him to do that now? Or do you somehow justify a different choice? Should my student friend give in to panic and anxiety? Should the employee give in to the pressure, lie to the customer, and then justify it, at least to himself, by appeal to his need to provide for his family? ‘Will you trust Me now?’
All this leads us to this next important question. How do you pass these tests? What do you do so that you can successfully face the trial? I have two thoughts here. The first comes out of the Lord’s Prayer. The last petition of the Lord's Prayer is ‘And lead us not into temptation.’ Now, that word ‘temptation’ is the same word in our text translated ‘trials’. And that helps us to understand what Jesus is teaching about how we are to pray. ‘Lord, I know that I am weak. If put to the test, if exposed to temptation, I know that I will fail. So, protect me, Lord. Give me the grace that I need to be able to stand when I face the trials You send my way.’ The first element in being able to pass these tests is prayer, prayer that comes out of a profound understanding of your weakness. Now, please don’t wait until you are in the midst of a trial to begin to pray like this. If you wait until then, you’ve waited too long. Pray now, before you face the trials. And be assured that your Father will grant your request. After all, aren’t you praying exactly what He wants you to pray? Will He ignore such a prayer? There will be grace to stand. My second thought comes from 1 Corinthians. ‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ [1 Corinthians 10:13] Again, the words ‘temptation’ and ‘tempted’ are our word ‘trial’. And the thought to take away from this is that when placed in some trial you need to look for the way of escape that God has provided. There is some way to deal with the trial so that you don’t fall into sin. Failure is not inevitable. So, when you are in the situation, pray that God would show it to you. Now, bear in mind that faithfully dealing with the test doesn’t necessarily mean that that student will somehow miraculously make it to the church in time to preach or even that the employee won’t lose his job. But the goal isn’t to have people think well of you. Nor is it even to keep your job. The goal is to serve Jesus faithfully. The goal is to answer, ‘Yes, Lord, I do trust You now.’ Then sit back and watch as He keeps His promises to you.
But now, we need to ask, ‘But what if I blow it? What if I fail the test?’ What if you choose to panic and become anxious? What if you opt for the lie? What if you sin? Does that mean that your faith is not genuine, that you don’t have true saving faith? Maybe it does. It all depends. It all depends on what happens next. What will you do if the Spirit nudges you and points out the sin you just fell into? He may not. He just might leave you in your blindness. But what if He does nudge you? Well, if you try to sidestep the Spirit’s prompting by minimizing your sin or even justifying it – if, one way or other, you ignore what He is pointing out to you, then it may well be that you actually are deceived about your standing before God. It may well be that you have fooled yourself into thinking that you have saving faith when you don’t. If that is your situation you may find out the truth when it is too late, on the last day when God will reveal the contents of your heart and give you over to hell. But bear in mind, if this is you, that it is not too late to repent even now.
Hopefully, that is not you. Hopefully, you will feel the Spirit’s nudge and you will acknowledge your sin. That’s a good sign that your faith is real. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you pass all the tests. You won’t. Being a Christian means that you sincerely repent when you see that you haven’t passed a test. And this repentance isn’t some going through the motions by reciting 1 John 1.9 and then muttering some formula prayer about forgiveness. Repentance is being honest before God. ‘Father, I have sinned. I chose not to trust Christ but to trust my own wisdom and my own strength. I have no excuse and I know that I deserve hell for what I have done. But the Gospel promises forgiveness to all who turn to Jesus. Forgive me, Father, for Jesus’ sake. Grant me the grace to do better next time.’ When you feel the Spirit’s nudge remember Psalm 130 ‘But there is forgiveness with You that you may be feared.’ It is the glory of the Gospel that God forgives all who come to Him in Jesus’ name. He will always hear this kind of prayer and He will always forgive and grant grace for the next time. Repent of your sins and believe the Gospel.
You are tested every day. Usually, the tests are on smaller issues. There are those times when you hit more significant tests. And then, once in a blue moon you life is flipped upside down by a trial. Expect them. Prepare for them. Next time that you’re hit with one, I hope that you see that it isn’t just some random event, a bit of hardship that will pass if you wait it out. God is doing something. He is doing it for your good. He is testing your faith. There is more to be seen in these few verses and we’ll look at them again next time. But this is enough for now. I would encourage you to meditate on what you have heard. It may make the difference the next time your faith is put to the test.
James 1.2-4
Our text is one that I am sure you have all encountered before. It is one of those familiar texts. But there is always more to learn and more to have applied to our hearts, even from familiar texts. So let’s see what our text has to say about how we are to live.
Let’s start with the word ‘trials’. I think that it’s fair to say that, to most people, a trial is when life gets hard for some reason. It could be anything. And the goal is simply to wait it out. Life is bound to get better again. That is, until the next time that something goes awry. That is not what James is talking about. For James, a trial is when something is being put to the test. Something is being evaluated. Think about those times when you see a trial size of some new soap. What’s the point? The manufacturer wants you to give the product a try. Put it to the test. That’s what James is referring to here. Trials are when something is being put to the test. Now, the next question, of course, is, ‘What?’ What is being put to the test? And James tells us. It’s your faith. He talks about ‘the testing of your faith’. Let’s go a little further. Who is it that is putting your faith to the test? James isn’t explicit here but from other Scriptures it is clear that it is God who is doing this. Listen to one example from Genesis. ‘After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."’ [Genesis 22:1] Abraham is then told to sacrifice his son. God tests His people. He evaluates their faith.
Now, what is God looking for when He tests your faith? For one thing, He is asking the question, ‘Is it genuine?’ One result of a trial is seeing whether a person has true saving faith. You need to remember that there are different kinds of faith. And not every kind of faith is a saving faith. James will remind us that the demons have faith. There are things that they sincerely believe about God. But that faith will not save them. This idea of testing the genuineness of faith shows up in the parable of the four soils. ‘And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.’ [Luke 8:13] The rocky soil responded to the message and received it with joy. There was evidence of faith. ‘They believe for a while.’ However, a time of testing revealed the truth. Their faith was not genuine saving faith.
Now, understand what God is doing. He is protecting His Church. How weak the Church would be if it were filled with people who are without true saving faith. It would be filled with false believers. But also see in this God’s mercy to these false believers. Their true state has been revealed to them. They do not have saving faith. But that’s not the end of the story. There is still time for them to truly repent and believe with a true faith. This is a mercy to them. Then consider those who do pass the test. What an encouragement! You’ve passed the test! Your faith is real! How that shores up a sense of assurance. The trial was faced and you came through it well. Again, we see God’s goodness. The test provides opportunity for a growing confidence.
Let’s proceed to the next question. How does God test faith? Knowing the answer to this will help in your preparation for the trials that are sure to come. It is important that you see that sometimes God tests faith by sending you good things. ‘The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.’ [Proverbs 27:21] The tests of faith are not always hardships. In this proverb it’s a matter of being praised for something that you’ve done. Now, that will make sense if you understand a key question that God poses at the time of testing. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ Remember that the Gospel, at heart, is a matter of two basic thoughts. First, I am weak. Because of my sin I am unable to survive. I am desperately needy. Then second, Jesus is strong. He will come to my aid as I cry out to Him in my weakness. He will rescue me from all the things from which I cannot rescue myself. These two points are behind God’s question, ‘Will you trust Me now?’ What can happen when someone is praised? Sadly, all too often, we hear what may be legitimate praise and let it go to our heads. We become proud. We become impressed with ourselves and forget all about our weakness because of sin. We forget that our only hope of success in this life is Jesus. So, by our actions, we answer God’s question with a ‘No, I don’t trust You now, because I don’t need to. I am strong enough. I am able. See, even these people think so. That’s why they have complimented me for what I have done.’ In that case, that person failed the test. That praise revealed his heart.
There are those other times when the trial does come in the form of something bad. Evil invades your life. Sometimes it’s a minor annoyance. Other times it’s much more significant than that. But the test is the same. Your faith is being evaluated. The question is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ I remember a fellow seminary student recounting a situation he found himself in. He had been asked to preach at a church and he was rather excited about the opportunity. So, he worked hard on his text. He did all his preparations. He was ready to preach. Sunday comes along and he is bustling about getting himself and his family ready for the trip to the church. It was at a little distance and time was getting a bit tight, but there should be no problem getting there in time. So, his wife gets in the car. The kids are settled in the back seat. He goes to put something in the trunk and then slams the lid shut. He goes to start the car only to find that there is a problem. The key has snapped in two with the important part securely lodged in the trunk lock. That was the only key to the car, and it works all the locks, including the ignition. He cannot start his car. How will he get to the church? The people are expecting a sermon. The question of the moment is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ And what made it all the more poignant was that his text for the sermon was, ‘And now we know that God works all things together for good.’ Consider another scenario. There you are at the job. You’ve been under a lot of pressure working on this big project for a very important customer. And then, something goes awry. You hit a snag. The project is going to be delayed, maybe for more than a while. So, your boss calls you in. Your company needs this customer. The long and the short of it is that he wants you to lie to the customer. Your boss has a story ready made for you. And since you are the contact person he wants you to make the phone call. Maybe you can buy a little time. Right then, your faith is being tried. You know the commandments, including that one about lying. And you also know that your future as an employee is at stake. What do you do? Again, the question of the moment is the same. ‘Will you trust Me now?’ I could list more scenarios, but the key issues are the same. First, there is your weakness and your need. That is obvious in both cases. The problem comes with the second part. Where will you put your hope? Jesus says that He is strong and will meet all your needs. Do you trust Him to do that now? Or do you somehow justify a different choice? Should my student friend give in to panic and anxiety? Should the employee give in to the pressure, lie to the customer, and then justify it, at least to himself, by appeal to his need to provide for his family? ‘Will you trust Me now?’
All this leads us to this next important question. How do you pass these tests? What do you do so that you can successfully face the trial? I have two thoughts here. The first comes out of the Lord’s Prayer. The last petition of the Lord's Prayer is ‘And lead us not into temptation.’ Now, that word ‘temptation’ is the same word in our text translated ‘trials’. And that helps us to understand what Jesus is teaching about how we are to pray. ‘Lord, I know that I am weak. If put to the test, if exposed to temptation, I know that I will fail. So, protect me, Lord. Give me the grace that I need to be able to stand when I face the trials You send my way.’ The first element in being able to pass these tests is prayer, prayer that comes out of a profound understanding of your weakness. Now, please don’t wait until you are in the midst of a trial to begin to pray like this. If you wait until then, you’ve waited too long. Pray now, before you face the trials. And be assured that your Father will grant your request. After all, aren’t you praying exactly what He wants you to pray? Will He ignore such a prayer? There will be grace to stand. My second thought comes from 1 Corinthians. ‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ [1 Corinthians 10:13] Again, the words ‘temptation’ and ‘tempted’ are our word ‘trial’. And the thought to take away from this is that when placed in some trial you need to look for the way of escape that God has provided. There is some way to deal with the trial so that you don’t fall into sin. Failure is not inevitable. So, when you are in the situation, pray that God would show it to you. Now, bear in mind that faithfully dealing with the test doesn’t necessarily mean that that student will somehow miraculously make it to the church in time to preach or even that the employee won’t lose his job. But the goal isn’t to have people think well of you. Nor is it even to keep your job. The goal is to serve Jesus faithfully. The goal is to answer, ‘Yes, Lord, I do trust You now.’ Then sit back and watch as He keeps His promises to you.
But now, we need to ask, ‘But what if I blow it? What if I fail the test?’ What if you choose to panic and become anxious? What if you opt for the lie? What if you sin? Does that mean that your faith is not genuine, that you don’t have true saving faith? Maybe it does. It all depends. It all depends on what happens next. What will you do if the Spirit nudges you and points out the sin you just fell into? He may not. He just might leave you in your blindness. But what if He does nudge you? Well, if you try to sidestep the Spirit’s prompting by minimizing your sin or even justifying it – if, one way or other, you ignore what He is pointing out to you, then it may well be that you actually are deceived about your standing before God. It may well be that you have fooled yourself into thinking that you have saving faith when you don’t. If that is your situation you may find out the truth when it is too late, on the last day when God will reveal the contents of your heart and give you over to hell. But bear in mind, if this is you, that it is not too late to repent even now.
Hopefully, that is not you. Hopefully, you will feel the Spirit’s nudge and you will acknowledge your sin. That’s a good sign that your faith is real. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you pass all the tests. You won’t. Being a Christian means that you sincerely repent when you see that you haven’t passed a test. And this repentance isn’t some going through the motions by reciting 1 John 1.9 and then muttering some formula prayer about forgiveness. Repentance is being honest before God. ‘Father, I have sinned. I chose not to trust Christ but to trust my own wisdom and my own strength. I have no excuse and I know that I deserve hell for what I have done. But the Gospel promises forgiveness to all who turn to Jesus. Forgive me, Father, for Jesus’ sake. Grant me the grace to do better next time.’ When you feel the Spirit’s nudge remember Psalm 130 ‘But there is forgiveness with You that you may be feared.’ It is the glory of the Gospel that God forgives all who come to Him in Jesus’ name. He will always hear this kind of prayer and He will always forgive and grant grace for the next time. Repent of your sins and believe the Gospel.
You are tested every day. Usually, the tests are on smaller issues. There are those times when you hit more significant tests. And then, once in a blue moon you life is flipped upside down by a trial. Expect them. Prepare for them. Next time that you’re hit with one, I hope that you see that it isn’t just some random event, a bit of hardship that will pass if you wait it out. God is doing something. He is doing it for your good. He is testing your faith. There is more to be seen in these few verses and we’ll look at them again next time. But this is enough for now. I would encourage you to meditate on what you have heard. It may make the difference the next time your faith is put to the test.
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