Proving our Faith James 1:2-4

Buddy, one, two. So, if you would, take your Bibles
and turn to the epistle of James. I almost said the first epistle
of James, which is true. James, we discovered last Lord’s Day
that James The brother of the Lord was the human author of
this epistle. It does belong as we discovered
in the New Testament canon. It is divine revelation. And it is a book for us not just
for Jewish believers who were the primary initial recipients
of this epistle. In just a brief overview of this
great epistle of James as we began last week the epistle of
James as we saw is a book about faith and the proper exercise
of that faith. Faith is the one great theme
of this epistle the overarching theme And as I mentioned last
week, the word faith occurs 16 times in this very short letter.
And so, we are led to consider faith, we are led to consider
our own faith, which is sometimes a feeble faith, and sadly, sometimes
a false faith. And scripture, and not just the
epistle of James, encourages us to examine that faith, to
examine ourselves. Jesus himself warned of a false
profession. Paul issued the most clear call
to examine our faith of all, 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Test yourselves
to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless
indeed you fail the test. And that leads us to the question
of what is the test? Well, the epistle of James provides
for us a great test of our faith. As a shepherd of this great flock
there in Jerusalem in the first century of Christianity, James’
foremost desire would have been the growth of grace of those
saints committed to his care. He wanted them to become a beacon
of light. He wanted them to have a testimony.
He wanted it to emanate from Jerusalem so that all would come
to know Christ because of their testimony. But as James observed,
these many sheep that were entrusted into his care were untamed sheep. There were wild lambs. They had
many sinful tendencies. Thoughts and actions that displeased
God and James addresses them here in this epistle. Specifically. As one commentator highlighted
James is one great object in writing was to impress on his
readers the fact that Christianity is not a faith merely. But through the power of faith,
it’s a life. And James wants them to examine
their life. He’s not arguing, as we saw,
for a salvation by works when he addresses certain things.
He’s arguing that if faith is genuine, if a person is really
and truly saved, works will be evident. And their presence is
a fruit of faith. Their presence is a source of
great comfort and confidence, those evidence of works become
proof of life. And so James wants not only to
challenge the genuineness of their faith, he wants them to
be assured of their standing in Christ. Well, as I’m sure
you already know, nothing tests our faith, nothing proves our
faith more than trials. And as it turns out, that is
their God-ordained design. Trials are intended to test our
faith as we will see. God tests or proves our faith
by trials. As we begin to study this incredible
epistle, I have to add this personal note. We have been in a trial. Our church has been in a trial,
but I specifically have been in a trial over this past year. And as I pondered, sat back and
pondered, there were many different directions, 65 different books
to which I could have turned to preach, but I kept being led
back to the epistle of James, even specifically to the passage
before us this morning. Trials are God-ordained. Trials, in a very real way, are
a gift of God. They test our faith, but in that,
they prove our faith. And if you would, I wanna read
chapter one this morning. James, a bondservant of God and
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes who are dispersed
abroad, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without
reproach, and it will be given to him. but let him ask in faith
without any doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf
of the sea driven and tossed by the wind or let not that man
expect that he will receive anything from the Lord being a double
minded man unstable in all his ways but let the brother of humble
circumstances glory in his high position and let the rich man
glory in his humiliation because like flowering grass he will
pass away. But the sun rises with a scorching
wind and withers the grass and its flower falls off. And the
beauty of its appearance is destroyed. So too the rich man in the midst
of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres
under trial. For once he has been approved
he will receive the crown of life which the Lord 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 by
evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is
tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Then When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when
sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived,
my beloved brethren. Every good thing bestowed and
every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will,
He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be
a kind of first fruits among his creatures. This you know,
my beloved brethren, but let everyone be quick to hear, slow
to speak, and slow to anger. For the anger of man does not
achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside
all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, In humility, receive
the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But
prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers
who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of
the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural
face in a mirror. For once he has looked at himself
and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person
he was. but one who looks intently at
the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having
become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, this man shall
be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be
religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his
own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. This is pure and
undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father to visit
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained
by the world. James is concerned about the
exercise of faith. James is concerned about those
in his care And not just those in the first century, not just
those Jews that were in his purview, not just those Jewish believers
who had only recently come to Christ and were still trying
to shake off their Jewish tendencies. James is concerned about you.
James is concerned about me because this is God’s eternal word. And
James is concerned about our faith and the exercise of our
faith. And so James begins, he jumps
immediately in and begins to deal with one of the greatest
means of testing, one of the greatest means of proving one’s
faith. And that is trial. As we begin
this morning, as we begin to look at this passage, We won’t
get too far today. I want to look at this idea of
developing an attitude, developing a mindset that glorifies God
when we’re tested. Not after, that’s the easy part. It’s easy to rejoice once the
trial is over, but developing an attitude that glorifies God
in the midst of those trials, that’s always the challenge,
isn’t it? First and foremost, we begin this morning with a
consideration of developing a mindset of embracing God’s sovereignty
in trials. Developing a mindset of embracing
God’s sovereignty in trials. As we come through this, there
will be three courses, if you will. Features of this passage
that we’ll consider in the next several weeks. This is just the
first a Mindset of embracing God’s sovereignty and trials
and for that we we find it in verse 2 Consider it all joy my
brethren when you encounter various trials As we began to note last
week James could have made a really big deal about who he was and
could have. Even if he wasn’t an apostle,
or at least not officially as we noted last week, he was after
all a sibling, a brother, even if a half-brother of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He could have dropped that name.
That relationship alone could have been used by James to undergird
his reputation. He didn’t do that. Last week
we saw that he just introduced himself as James, a bondservant.
Just a man. And he continues with this humble
exchange with God’s people in this passage. Here again he could
have pointedly reminded them, hey, I am a brother of Jesus. 104. Instead he graciously refers
to those to whom he’s writing as brethren. My brethren. This was a reference that would
have immediately communicated warmth and affection to those
to whom he was writing, just like it does in our day. One
of my favorite ways of referring to a Christian brother. When he says my brethren. He
strikes a special chord of humility there, doesn’t he? that he’s
not above them, but he’s among them. He’s one in the same. He is among them as so many brothers
in Christ. In its most basic use, the term
referred to male children born of the same mother. It’s a given. Even those adopted into a family
could be called brothers. But the term came to expand to
among the Jews especially referred to relatives of the same family. They were called brothers. A
member of the greater family could be called a brother of
the clan. Then a general people group like
the Jews could be called brothers or a brotherhood. For instance,
even friends might call themselves brothers. And so it was quickly
embraced, this term was, the Christian church to refer to
fellow believers to refer to one another as brothers. James
especially uses this reference plentifully throughout his epistle
often affirming to them when he says my brethren chapter 2
verse 1 verse 14 chapter 3 verse 1 10 and 12 my brethren and occasionally
He enhances it by referring to them as my beloved brethren. James 1.16, 1.19 and so on. Even an initial reading through
James’s epistle leaves us impressed with the frequency with which
he uses this reference. He’s constantly referring to
them by this affectionate term. He loves these brothers sincerely
and he communicates his heart to them. But look again at the
passage. Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials. So James launches immediately
into what is arguably the great thesis of this entire epistle.
Trials will come. And when they come, they come
as a test of our faith. More on that part in a moment.
But here, he curiously qualifies the crossing, the intersection
of these trials as an encounter. This word, like so many in James’s
vocabulary, is a fascinating word. And we tend to regard trials
in our lives as just kind of coming, arriving. Things happen. But James paints
a graphic picture of the arrival of trials. The word that he uses
means to fall into, to fall around, or to fall upon. It’s an interesting
word. And this word, in all three places,
only three, In all three places that it’s used in the New Testament,
all refer to, all are surrounded by context of difficulties or
trials. Let me explain that one second. One of the two times that this
word is used outside of James’ epistle is that of that poor
Samaritan, right? Traveling on the road, coming
down from Jerusalem, recorded there in Luke’s gospel of whom
Jesus says he fell among robbers that’s our word the only other
place where this word occurs is in Acts 27 if you’re thinking
through the you know the course of Acts 27 this is Paul’s transport
to Rome he’s under arrest he’s being transported by ship And
in Acts 27 41 it says, and in most translations, our word is
completely obscured. Listen to this. The American
Standard Version, 1901. This is when they were going
to correct, right? They’re going to fix the King James once and for
all here. Lighting upon a place where two seas met. Doesn’t really capture our word.
The Good News Bible. The ship hit a sandbank and went
aground. And really many translations
begin to follow that course. The so-called God’s Word translation,
which is a rather bold claim. They struck a sandbar. Even our
beloved ESV Striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground.
And of course, the new American standard, which I have to acknowledge
here, striking a reef where two seas meet, they ran the vessel
aground. There’s only one little problem. If you’re in a group
Bible study and you’re going around the circle there trying
to figure out what really happened to Paul on the boat, there’s
bedlam, right? What happened? Which one is it?
The truth is there is no reef. There is no sandbar even mentioned
in the original. It’s a reasonable conjecture
that is in almost all likelihood what happened, but it’s interpretational
here. Literally, it would go like this. Having fallen around the meeting
of two seas, And so the older translation, the King James,
so I do this once or twice a year, you know, whether I have to or
not, they got it absolutely right here. Having fallen around the
meeting of two seas, they translate it this way, falling into a place
where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. All this to
say, we fall into these trials that come upon us. They’re placed
there by God Himself. They are as so many pitfalls
in our life. Often when this word is used,
it’s tied to things evil. Difficulties, trials, challenges,
hardships. A believer falls into these. They are substantial difficulties
that actually occur. They’re not just a figment of
the person’s imagination. They’re not just a temptation
of the mind. They’re actual trials that come
into the life. They’re palpable. They’re objective. They’re real. These are the occasions
that come to us, not from us. We didn’t necessarily bring it
on ourselves through our foolish or our sinful behavior. We fall
into it. God put it in our path and we
fell right in. It’s there for a purpose. We
didn’t see it coming. If we could have, we would have
avoided it. We didn’t go looking for this
difficulty, this trial, nor should we. It’s not like trials and
going through trials, seeking them out would make us more godly. Scottish pastor Robert Johnstone
said it this way, trials are not to be sought for or rushed
into. That would correct a lot of ways
that people live, right? On the contrary, he says, all
lawful means suggested by experience or the thought are to be brought
into action to avert or mitigate them. In other words, Johnstone
says, look, you’re not wrong to try to avoid a trial. You’re
not wrong to try to avoid one of these pitfalls. You’re not
wrong if you see one to halt and hold back. And then he finishes
by saying asceticism, which is, you know, a harsh depriving of
the body, asceticism, or a perverse ambition for martyrdom in any
form is wholly alien to the spirit of Scripture. These are things
that happen to us. These are things into which we
fall. As we saw several weeks ago,
this is not a crack in the sidewalk over which we trip. This is a
deep hole into which we fall. The very suggestion that we fall
into it is an indication of its depth. This is a severe trial. But here it is. And we’ve fallen
into it. And James begins to describe
these trials. Look again at verse 2. Consider
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. James says, let me interpret
for you, trouble’s coming. James says trouble’s coming and
he says you’re going to fall right into it. He doesn’t say
if. That’s one of the distressing things about this passage. He
doesn’t say if you might happen to fall into trials, but when. It’s a matter of time. Trials
are coming and one of the first things that we observe is that
he says it isn’t just a one-size-fits-all proposition There’s an adjective here translated
as various various trials and it actually falls at the end
of the sentence in Greek and that actually strengthens its
significance it gives it prominence and A more wooden translation
of the clause would be this. When trials fall about in variety, we fall into all kinds of trials,
various trials, what one called multicolored trials. Poikilas
is our word here and it speaks of variety. a plenteous variety,
poikilos parasmos. Peter uses the same exact description
of trials in chapter 1 verse 6 of his first epistle. He says
this, in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little
while if necessary, what great disclaimers Peter gives there
to trials. In this you greatly rejoice even
though now It’s temporary, for a little while, if necessary,
if God and His sovereignty saw fit, you have been distressed
by various trials. Poikilos parasmos. These trials,
can we just say it? Our trials, says James, says
Peter, come in all shapes, all sizes, according to their Divine
purpose God shapes these Paul likewise knew of the diversity
of trials When he was writing when he was speaking rather as
it’s recorded in Acts chapter 20 speaking there to the Ephesian
elders and in the book of Acts he says that you yourselves know
from the first time that I set foot in Asia how I was with you
the whole time serving the Lord with humility he’s standing before
them giving his testimony calling them to recall to recollect the
way that he had lived his life in front of them you recall how
I was with you serving the Lord with all humility and with tears
and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews.
You say what, you know, other than general fashion, what difficulties
did Paul have? If you look almost every one
of his epistles in the New Testament, almost every one of them mentions
really severe difficulties through which God took Paul. First Thessalonians. which book we just looked at
a couple of weeks ago we didn’t get as far as this verse he says
after we’d already been suffered already suffered and been mistreated
in Philippi well it records a jailing it records you know some great
difficulties that Paul went into all of which were used by the
Lord in his life and in the lives of others 2nd Timothy 4.10 he
likewise mentions a man named Demas Having loved this present
world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. I can tell you
that in ministry there is no greater difficulty than abandonment.”
1 Corinthians 4, a passage you’re likely familiar with. To this
present hour, Paul says, we are both Hungry and thirsty poorly
clothed roughly treated homeless We toil working with our own
hands when we revile when we are reviled we bless when we
are persecuted We endure when we are slandered we try to conciliate
we become as the scum of the world the dregs of all things
even until now Paul faced all kinds of difficulties and trials
2nd Corinthians 11 he mentions a veritable grocery list of heartache
and challenge and difficulty. Are they servants of Christ?
Paul says, verse 23 of chapter 11, I far more so, in far more
labors, far more imprisonments, beaten times without number,
often in dangers of death, five times I received from the Jews
39 lashes, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was
stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I’ve spent
in the deep. I’ve been on frequent journeys, dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from
the Gentiles, dangers from the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in
labor and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and
thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, just to name
a few. Last year, during our outside
work party, I was sent to the nursery, right? I was sent to
the nursery to buy some plants, but not just any plants. I was
sent to buy a species that was variegated. This ought to be
easy, I thought. And I thought of this verse when
I went. I’m going to the nursery to buy
a variegated plant because I realize that a variegated plant is a
leaf that is modeled and even multicolored on many occasions.
Variegated describes our trials. Every color of the rainbow and
then some right. One Puritan said of many different
kinds are the afflictions that God sends very disciplined according
to the requirements of different persons or of the different sides
of character in the same person. And so God has something lined
up for you that is specifically designed for you and not just
designed for you but for a particular character quality that God wants
to mold and shape in you. And God has infinite resources. An infinite measure of trials
that come in every imaginable form, and even some that are
beyond our imagination. Persecution, infirmity, sickness,
poverty, chastening, physical struggles and trials, spiritual
struggles and trials, social struggles and trials. And so
these trials are variegated, they’re varied, and we will inevitably
fall right into them. What is the point? What is the
point of these trials? What is their purpose? And what
do we do with them? How do we handle them? As I’ve
already said, these trials are really tests. A great variety
of tests. Tests of our faith. The Greek
word itself here is used for a great number of troubles. It’s the same word that is used
in the Lord’s Prayer. Lead us not into temptation the
same word and so it’s used for a serious trial one that can
have end up having serious ramifications serious consequences depending
on how we handle it but whereas Jesus uses it very broadly referring to almost any kind
of temptation including and especially temptation to sin there in Matthew
James here is referring more to the things that he will proceed
to address in this epistle. A lack of wisdom. Poverty. Persecution. The use of the tongue. It isn’t referring to the bothersome
insignificant little annoyances that we come across in life.
Mosquitoes. traffic, long lines, those kinds
of things, bothersome people. There are great challenges, he
says. These trials are great challenges,
major difficulties, overwhelming calamities that come into our
life. And in that sense, Jesus had these trials too, didn’t
he? Paul had these trials as we saw, and we’re all going to
have those kinds of trials. But these trials are not intended
as a temptation. It could become an occasion for
sin by a wrong response, but it’s more the sudden and unexpected
difficulty from without and not just an evil heart within. One called it the inner wrestling
with an evil inclination. That’s not what’s in view here.
All of those trials are temptations from without, not from within.
We might call them circumstantial trials. You’ve had them. You’re
probably having them now. Even as I’ve spoken already this
morning, you’re probably mulling over your particular trial, if
it can even be limited to just one. They come in waves, don’t
they, sometimes? They almost would overwhelm us.
without the grace of God, wouldn’t they? One commentator described them,
these worldly troubles which test our faith, loyalty, and
obedience, tempt us to abandon our trust in God, cease to strive
to please him. The trials by which Satan was
allowed to tempt Job are the kind of temptations to be understood
here. Well, sometimes we feel like
Job, don’t we? Sometimes we do. These are the kinds of trials,
all kinds of trials, a great variety of trials, multi-variegated
trials that come upon us, and when they do, we fall in. James
says this. How do we begin to handle it?
We’ve got to cultivate, we’ve got to have an approach, we’ve
got to know how to deal with it. James says we’ve got to cultivate
a mindset embracing God’s sovereignty in these trials. And so James
just offers this simple little advice, verse two, consider it
all joy. I don’t mean to be harsh or crass
here, but when he says when, not if, we fall into these trials,
basically what James says here, use your head. Use your head. Because here his overarching
advice is just that we would consider. Think about this. Consider it all joy. I know that this is a trial,
James would say, but consider it elsewise. Consider it differently. Don’t think about the trial.
Think about the joy at the other end. This is the conviction at
which a person arrives after serious deliberation, after he
seriously ponders the situation he’s in, the situation that has
fallen to him, that he cannot extract himself from. He’s there. He didn’t want it, but he’s there and he’s in it.
And so James says urges us to esteem it not to be evil. To not be for ill. Don’t look
at it that way. Don’t esteem it as ill. Don’t
esteem it as an occasion for gloom. Don’t esteem it as a cause
for despair. Don’t consider it in those terms. Use your head. Consider it. Consider it all joy. Evaluate it differently. Judge
it differently. Make a conscious mental effort
to think of these things, these trials, differently than you
may be inclined to think of them. May I point out to you that this
is not just self-help kind of counsel here. This is a strong,
Holy Spirit-inspired command. It is an imperative. It isn’t
just advice, not just friendly wisdom. It’s a command, and there’s
a particular urgency here in his directive. If you want to
honor God in your trials, your multitudinous, variegated trials,
use your head. Think of them differently. Consider
it all joy. Think of these trials in a radically
different way. We have this same word, consider. It occurs in the book of Philippians
over and over and over again. If you would, please turn there.
Philippians chapter two, we’ll start. In Philippians chapter two, just
glide down to verse three. another of my favorite passages
of scripture Philippians 2 3 do nothing from selfishness or empty
conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more
important than yourselves it doesn’t necessarily mean that
they are we treat them as such we consider them as such we look
at them we evaluate them and we consider that they are more
valuable in God’s eyes than we and really we have as a pattern
here None other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Glide down to verse
6. He did not regard equality with
God a thing to be grasped. It was a mindset. One commentator said, esteem,
regard, is from a word referring to a belief that rests not on
one’s inner feelings or sentiment. In fact, it usually runs directly
counter to that. How do we feel? Not on one’s
inner feelings or sentiment, but on the due consideration
of external grounds, weighing and comparing of facts. One faithful commentator said
about this process of considering. He said, this does not at all
imply that there should be a blindness to one’s own abilities and attainments. or to the deficiency of others,
it doesn’t mean that, you know, we begin to actually objectively
measure, okay, now let me think, God, who really is better? He
goes on and he says, we are bound to struggle earnestly against
our natural tendencies to undervalue our neighbors and to think more
highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Am I the only one with
that trouble? Luther had the same concern he
spoke to it when he said my humility is not so foolish as to make
me desirous of concealing the gifts that God has bestowed upon
me. He just says consider those about
you as more important than yourselves. You want to see another graphic
example just glide down to chapter 3 verse 7. You know this passage, Paul’s
taking inventory of his life, right? Looking at all the glorious
things that he had the opportunity to do as a faithful Jew. Look
at verse seven, whatever things were gained to me, those things
I have counted as loss. In my mind, as I’ve evaluated
them, as I’ve stacked them up against Christ, I consider them
as loss, worthless. Paul isn’t saying there in that
section that those Jewish blessings that he had experienced, he isn’t
saying that they didn’t exist. In other words, it’s a mindset,
this considering. Back to James, if you would.
It’s a mindset that we must adopt during the course of trials,
regarding trials, that we are to esteem them and welcome them
as occasions of rejoicing. And that’s right, he says it,
rejoicing. Believe me, this is as hard for
me to swallow and process as it is for you, maybe even harder.
Here’s how the verse initially strikes me, bear with me. Here you are in the midst of
this severe challenge, right? Vexing, overwhelming, heartbreaking,
and suddenly the doorbell rings. and your wife answers and calls
out to you in her musical voice, honey, Job’s friends are here. They walk in and the first thing
they begin to chant in harmony is this verse. Consider it all
joy. It’s a hard passage to quote,
isn’t it? It’s a hard passage to lay on
people. It’s a hard passage to read.
It’s tough to swallow at first, We’re human. And in a very real
sense, that response, considering it all joy, is a paradox. It
doesn’t make sense, humanly speaking. One commentator said, one pastor
said to the worldly man, this is an utter paradox, but Christians
understand it. It is not meant that we are to
look on afflictions considered simply by themselves as a ground
of joy. This is impossible. It is opposed
to the very constitution of our nature. And so when we go through
a trial, the very last thing that we’re inclined to do is
to say, oh, what a great thing. This is such a happy occasion.
We’re not gonna naturally esteem trials to be joyful. And you
know what? I’m not the only one that finds this difficult. One pastor said it this way.
Salutation sounds like a mockery to those who are suffering under
various trials, but James proceeds to show that these very trials
are a ground for joy. These trials themselves sure
don’t seem to be an occasion for joy. It’s difficult to make
that transition. It doesn’t mean you’re unsaved
or unspiritual. Remember, James is writing to
Christians. He’s writing to instruct and
shepherd these Christians, and so he tells them there’s another
way. There’s another way to go about
it. There’s another way to look at these difficulties. There’s
another way to esteem these trials. You have to look at them from
a spiritual perspective. You have to consider them as
ultimately being a source of joy. Ultimately, they serve a
divine purpose. A friend gave me a special annotated
Bible, the Reformation Study Bible, and it captures this thought.
It says this, this is a call to understand suffering from
the vantage point of confidence in God’s sovereignty. That’s
it, isn’t it? Is God in control or not? Is
God watching over your life? If so, he adds this note, careful
thinking from a theological perspective. That’s what he means when he
says, Consider it all joy And that means that ultimately this
trial whatever it is it has been sifted through God’s loving fingers
for me for you According to his purpose in our lives And once
we consider our trial whatever it is I Once we consider our
trial from that perspective, joy must follow. It’s axiomatic. And note, I didn’t
say that you must supply the joy. Get happy, be happy. That’s
what many people mean when they fire away that verse that you
consider it all joy, happy up. We don’t supply the joy. It’s
the perspective of Romans 8, 28, right? We know that God causes
all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose. Think of this,
as soon as we recollect that God is sovereign, that He is
in complete control, and that everything that falls out to
us or into which we fall everything is by his design everything is
for his glory for our good how can we not rejoice as we see
that as the end goal consider it all joy not joyful yet but
we see joy at the end of the tunnel it’s the same point that
Paul makes in the magnificent chapter five of Romans. Romans chapter 5 says this, verse
3, not only this, but we exalt in our tribulations. We don’t
exalt in the tribulations themselves. We don’t exalt thanking God for
the privilege that we have to go through this particular trial.
As difficult as it is, we exalt though in the midst of our tribulations. We know that they’re by God’s
design. We know that our loving and sovereign God is in absolute
and complete control. Likewise, Peter says the same
thing. In this, you greatly rejoice, even though now, for a little
while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. You rejoice. So the trial really
is like so much putty in our hands, isn’t it? Clay. Thomas Manton, The Puritan said
of these trials, miseries are sweet or bitter according as
we will reckon them. Our grief lies in our own opinion
and apprehension of miseries. Is it by God’s design? If so,
then I can embrace it as being lovingly sifted through God’s
fingers for me, just for me. They will be what we make of
them. Whatever we think of them, so they are. If we esteem them
as hurtful and vexing, so they will be, unless we consider it
all joy. But it’s not like we have to
pretend. The trials themselves are truly difficult. They’re
not in themselves pleasant. It’s exactly what Hebrews 12,
11 says, right? All discipline for the moment
seems not to be joyful. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re
not Super happy at the privilege of facing some vexing trial. Natural. You’re a child of God. It’s supposed to hurt, right?
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yet, for those who have been
trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness. The Bible doesn’t present an
unrealistic picture of trials. They’re hard, painful, truly
challenging. The most difficult seasons a
person ever endures. Jesus himself in the midst of
his own season of difficulty said, my soul is deeply grieved. It’s exceedingly sorrowful. So
we don’t have to receive the pain or the trials in and of
themselves as good and joyful. But we do trust the sovereign
God that bestowed them. Look further. James does not
say consider some joys to be trial, nor does he say consider
trials to be somewhat joyful. Rather he says consider it, all
of it, all of the trials to be joy. All joy. The phrase all joy offsets the
various trials, the multitudinous trials at the other end of the
verse. He isn’t saying that there is
no joy no other joy beyond this trial. There will be many joys
in life but that this trial should be embraced as certain eventual
joy in the highest degree. In fact I would suggest to you
that the worse the suffering the worse the trial the greater
the joy at the other end isn’t it? He isn’t saying that there is
no other joy beyond this trial. This is to be an unblended assessment. It’s not a little bit of joy
with a little bit of angst. Mix them together and we’ll get
through it. All joy, only joy. Make your
trials, as one seasoned pastor said, to be your chief joy. Or as another said, pure joy,
the highest joy. Or as the Apostle Paul put it,
or rather the Apostle Peter, to the degree that you share
the sufferings of Christ. What a privilege we have. Keep
on rejoicing. So that at the revelation of
his glory you may rejoice with exultation. There is our attitude. That we
are to embrace these trials that fall to us as coming from a loving
and all sovereign God If we know that the peaceful fruit of righteousness
waits at the other end, how can we not rejoice God as at work? As one said, when God in his
wisdom has permitted such things to come to us, the right course
is not to be cast down and sorrowful as though some quite intolerable
thing has overtaken us, but to rejoice that God has thought
us capable of enduring something for his sake. and has given us
the opportunity of strengthening our patience and our trust in
Him. Many of you know I love the old
confessions. I love the London Baptist Confession. One of my favorite paragraphs
is chapter five of Divine Providence. Paragraph five reads like this,
and I’m gonna ask you to bear with me for a moment. The most
wise, righteous, and gracious God oftentimes leaves. Now, if that doesn’t get your
attention, nothing will. The most wise, righteous, and
gracious God oftentimes leaves for a season his own children. He doesn’t abandon them. He doesn’t forsake them. Listen
carefully. The most wise, righteous, and
gracious God oftentimes leaves for a season his own children
to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts
to chastise them for their former sins, to reveal to them the hidden
strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their own hearts so that they
may be humbled and to raise them to a more close and constant
dependent for their support upon himself. and to make them more
watchful against all future occasions of sin and for any other just
and holy ends so that whatever befalls any of his elect is by
his appointment for his glory and their good. Is that not one
of the most comfortable chapters? It makes sense of everything
that falls to us, doesn’t it? One faithful pastor I close said,
Christians would be glad if the affliction could be gained otherwise.
I mean, if there was a class that we could take or sign up,
something we could pay for. But seeing that according to
God’s infinite wisdom, this bitter medicine is needed to conquer
the disease of sin, we are enabled by his grace to accept it meekly
and thankfully, and amid the natural suffering to have, according
to the measure of our faith, composure of Spirit, or even
great joy in contemplating the blessed results of tribulation. In the degree in which we are
enabled by the Spirit to apprehend the truth that nothing but love
sends the troubles that comes to God’s children, will our feeling
under them be one of nothing but joy. Would you humble yourself
before Him? Our merciful King, we thank you
that you have gotten us off on a right foot to adjusting our
mind and our heart according to this passage utilized by your
own Holy Spirit in our lives to challenge our thinking, to
get us to use our heads, to get us to back up and consider your
loving sovereignty in all things. Father, we humble ourselves before
you. We pray that you would continue
your work in us. We plead with you to do a work
in us. Come what may. Whatever you design,
whatever you lay out for us is good. Because it comes from a
good God, a giver, who has our best in view. Lord, we pray that
you would grant us the grace to consider it all joy when we
encounter various trials. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen.