Proving Our Faith – Pt. 3

into the book of James. James
chapter one. We are in the same passage that
we’ve been in for several weeks. James is addressing our faith. It is a an epistle that is almost
all about faith. And he is desiring to ensure
among those to whom he’s writing, including us, that their faith
is genuine, that their faith is legitimate. And so James,
throughout the course of this epistle, will write about feeble
faith. He’ll write about even false faith. And he exhorts us to examine
ourselves, examine our faith and desires that we would do
so with diligence. James knows that nothing is going
to more test our faith than trials and so he leads off this grand
epistle in a consideration of trials as we’ve Been considering
for the last several weeks Trials are God-given Trials are God-ordained
they serve a God-given purpose and through those trials God
tests and proves our faith. When we announced this title
several weeks ago I reminded you that when we talk about proving
our faith it’s not us proving to others or certainly not proving
to God that our faith is legitimate. It’s God proving to us that our
faith is legitimate as we’ve seen over and over again throughout
this epistle if you would consider the passage just once again James
chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 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
we started out several weeks ago looking at the need as we
respond to James’s exhortations here the need of developing an
attitude that glorifies God when tested we don’t always do that
sometimes we react in Discussed that God would allow such things
sometimes we react in anger Sometimes we’re totally stunned and caught
completely off guard by trials God would have us to develop
an attitude that glorifies him in the process in the midst of
the trials and so first of all we saw that we needed to cultivate
a mindset that embraces God’s sovereignty of trials we got
that from verse 2 verse 2 says Consider it all joy my brethren
when you encounter various trials James graciously refers The to
those whom he’s writing as my brethren and he appeals to them
with a loving heart for that purpose Jane he begins by launching
into this really, what is the thesis of his entire epistle
and these trials that come as a proving ground of our faith.
When these trials come, they test our faith, and James used
that word we saw that just means to encounter or to come upon,
to fall into. These trials are seen as so many
pitfalls set before us, but they’re set before us by a loving God,
things into which we fall. We saw that these trials, they
are of all different kinds. They are various, variegated,
multicolored trials, as many different people painted a very
diverse picture of them. Our trials basically come in
all shapes and sizes, but they’re fitted for us. They’re designed
specifically for us by a loving God. God sees our weaknesses. He sees what needs to be addressed
in our life. What are the weaknesses? What
are the strengths? What needs to be shored up? What
needs to be repented of? And so these trials come in all
different shapes and sizes. Persecution, infirmity, poverty,
sickness, all kinds of different things as the testing of our
faith. And so James provides us right
at the start that help. And we recognize it as such now. The first time that people quote
this verse to us, we’re taken aback, aren’t we? Consider it
all joy. It’s not an easy verse to hear, it’s not an easy verse
to quote, but that’s the help that James provides. James says
that this is the conviction that a child of God needs to develop
if he’s going to glorify God in his trials. He needs to esteem
the trial, not as evil, not as something designed for ill, but
something that is designed for good, for his glory, God’s glory,
and our good. And so James just says, consider
it all joy. We need to evaluate them differently.
We need to judge them differently. We need to respond to them differently.
We are to consider them as ordained by God, by a sovereign and loving
God who purposed these trials for our good. Secondly, we saw
last Lord’s Day that not only do we need to cultivate a mindset
that embraces God’s sovereignty in our trials, verse two, but
a reflection upon the divine blessing of trials. Verse 3,
where James just says, knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance. James is calling his readers
to adjust their thought life with regards to trials. And he
urges us to use our heads, first of all, with the mindset that
embraces God sovereignly, but Secondly, to reflect upon the
divine blessing of trials. And here again is yet another
mental activity. Knowing. And we spent no little
time looking at just the extent of that knowledge that James
is calling us to call upon, to remember. Knowing provides the
reason that we should consider it all joy when we encounter
these trials. So first of all, we saw that
the reflection, the looking upon the blessings of trials, looking
for the blessings of trials. James said, first of all, remember
the process. That these trials, these difficulties,
inexplicable from a human standpoint. These trials, when they come
upon us, when we fall into them, are a testing. They are designed
as such. They are a test. James says,
knowing that the testing of your faith. And we saw the multitudinous
different ways that that word is used but it always comes back
to the idea of proving or a proof. The trials are designed to prove
our faith. The trials are designed just
not to make life difficult for us but to prove us that in the
end we are true and faithful. James says that God is testing
the genuineness of our faith, and he wants us to come out the
other side approved, having been approved. James isn’t doubting
the faith of those to whom he writes, but he’s simply telling
them that God is going to prove or test our faith. God’s looking
for proof, and he’s looking to show us the proof. We also saw
that we need to remember, we need to reflect upon the fact
that the element tested is our faith. Just like Peter and Paul,
James holds to salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, but he
desires most deeply for his people, including us, to be absolutely
assured of the quality of our faith. And so he transitions
into a consideration of the element that is being tested, that is,
the believer’s faith. This testing of which James speaks
is used to refer, typically, to the purifying of precious
metals. And so God, through this process of testing, is burning
off the dross, burning off the impurities, and testing and purifying our
faith. The third thing that we considered,
just as we blitz through a quick review, the third thing that
we considered in that was the reflection upon the beneficial
effect of trials, that it’s productive. It’s not just trial for trial’s
sake. It’s not just that we’re supposed
to get our share of difficulty in this life, but these trials
through which God takes us, for which God ordained, they produce
something. In short, James says that these
trials produce. Paul says they bring about, they
accomplish perseverance, Romans 5.3. When it says that it brings
it about, it thoroughly brings it about. It makes it happen.
God is going to have His way in the trial with us. God’s going
to make something of it. God’s going to use it for our
good. And then lastly, we looked in
verse 3, we looked at the divine blessing that the testing of
our faith actually produces not just something, but it produces
something specific. Namely, it produces the spiritual
grace of endurance. God’s not just going to let us
wander and meander through the Christian life. He wants us to
be shored up. He wants us to be firmed up.
He wants us to be solid and mature Christian believers. And so not
only does James remind us that we’re in the process of having
our faith tested, and that it is for a God-ordained purpose.
But lastly, in the end, it will bear fruit. Trials are productive. They produce patience. But it’s
more than just patience. It’s endurance, and not just
a sullenness that kind of grits and bears it. That’s the world’s
version. For several weeks, I’ve sat on
a particular discussion, really, that one commentator provided
because what he’s doing is he’s wrestling with the way that the
world deals with trials and the way that the Christian deals
with trials. There are two completely different
approaches. And for several weeks I’ve kind of pushed this to the
side because it’s a back and forth lengthy discussion. Bear
with me. He said this. The doctrine of
joy in suffering, which at first sight seems to be almost superhuman,
is shown by experience to be less hard than the apparent more
human doctrine of resignation and fortitude. Did you hear what
he said? He said the world has a version
of this called resignation, fortitude, buck up, toughen up, buckle down,
deal with it, He goes on and he says, the effort to be resigned
and to suffer without complaining is not a very inspiring effort. What he says is that, look, you
talk to the average individual and you tell them just to buckle
down, that really doesn’t do anything for them. He goes on
to say its tendency is toward depression, right? does not lift
us out of ourselves or above our tribulations. On the contrary,
it leads rather to self-contemplation and a brooding over miseries. That’s how the world deals with
trials. They’re trying to tough it out.
They’re trying to tolerate and to stand firm. And
so he says between, on the one hand, mere resignation. It’s the way life is, just the
way it happens. And on the other hand, between
thankful joy, there is all the difference that there is in between. On the one hand, mere obedience,
and on the other hand, affectionate trust. The one is mere submission,
the other is out of love. And so he says, he concludes
that in the long run it is easier to rejoice in tribulation and
be thankful for it than to merely be resigned and submit to it. What he implies here is that
there is grace that is supplied to the loving child of God who
is going through a trial that is looking to glorify God in
that trial. There’s a supply. There isn’t
that for the man of the world that hates the God and shakes
his fist at the one who sent such a trial. And so he draws
this conclusion. And therefore, this hard saying
is really a merciful one. For it teaches us to endure trials
in the spirit that will make us feel them least. He points
out to us that temptations, and especially external trials, are
really blessings if we but use them aright. And he teaches us
to meet them in that conviction. And it is manifest that the spirit
in which we welcome a blessing is the spirit of joy and thankfulness. Only the Christian can do that. And so he says it’s a mercy.
It’s a mercy when James says, consider it all joy. But remember,
we’re adjusting our mindset, and it’s a process. And I suggested
to you that there were three phases or three elements of this
continuing goal of developing an attitude that glorifies God
when we’re tested. James says that trials in and
of themselves do not necessarily accomplish anything. They can. But we develop the right attitude
in order for trials to be effective. And so James says that we need
to have, first of all, a mindset that embraces God’s sovereignty
in trials, verse two. Secondly, a reflection upon the
divine blessing of trials, verse three. And finally, here in verse
four, we must cultivate a commitment to spiritual maturity through
trials. Look at verse four. Let endurance
have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing. The divinely intended benefit
to trials will not just happen, especially if we don’t think
rightly. We need to use our heads, as I suggested the first week.
We need to cultivate a godly perspective. Trials will reveal
joy only as we begin to recognize God’s sovereignty and embrace
God’s blessing in that, and look to a maturing of our faith. Trials will reveal God’s joy
in time if we allow them. They will have the result for
which God gave them. Trials themselves will be messy
and painful and troubling Shaking our faith to the core at times,
but in the end they can be exactly right They can fulfill their
divine purpose in our life When James says here let a little
word let Let endurance have its perfect result it isn’t intended
to suggest that we simply grant permission to these trials we
sit back and and subject ourselves kind of passively, let it all
happen to us. The verb form here is in the
imperative. This is something that we do,
something that we think. He’s telling us once again to
finish the completion of this mindset. James isn’t just sitting
or saying that we sit here and let trials work, but that we
again need to adjust our thinking. There’s still an active part
that we play in ensuring trials are able to do their work in
our lives. James is telling his readers, James is telling us,
make sure that you endure to the end. Make sure that you see
to it that you finish this trial. See to it that you endure to
maturity. Don’t short circuit the process.
by complaining, by sinfully yielding, by quitting. These episodes are
never easy. We’ve already acknowledged that.
Trials are never easy. What’s easy is hindering the
process, right? We can mess it up really easy
by our faithlessness, by our lack of prayer, by our lack of
humility. What’s easy is hindering the
process derailing the purpose that God has for them. And we
do that by allowing our attitude in them to sour and to become
embittered toward God. One Puritan said here in this
regard, sore trouble is hard to bear unrepiningly. Did you
figure out that old word? To repine is to complain against
God himself. sore trouble is hard to bear
unrepentingly. It’s hard to be in a trial and
not to murmur against God. Very hard to bear, as James here
enjoins, joyously. You know, it’s one thing just
to sit and tough it out. It’s another thing to go through
the trial with a heart of joy. Satan and the depravity of our
hearts are always lying in wait, ready to make us murmur and break
away from our trust in God. Thomas Manton likewise speaks
of the frequency of this failure. In your own heart as you’re sitting
there you know, you know you’ve failed many times in these trials.
You’ve short-circuited many that have come to you with a God-ordained
end. And through our own sinfulness,
we short circuit the process. Manton said it this way. There
were many that with a great deal of zeal bore out the first brunt. You know, when it first hits
you, it’s like, okay, all right. And then it continues, and it
continues, and it continues. And he says, but being tired,
either with the diversity or the length of evils, they yielded
and fainted. That’s us. And isn’t that lesson
at least part of the lesson of Job’s ordeal? You know, you finish
chapter one and we’re on the Job bandwagon, right? Look at
what he dealt with so faithfully. And then it continues, chapter
two, chapter three, and on and on it goes until finally Job
breaks, right? That’s us. Sooner or later, we’re
gonna fail in our trials. That’s the tendency. If we want
trials to have their intended effect, however, to develop in
us a godly endurance, we need to embrace them. We need to allow
them, encourage them, let them, foster them in accomplishing
their end. The end goal in the development is a development in us of godly
character. That attribute, like all character
traits, seems to come to us, doesn’t it, in fits and starts. Peaks and valleys. We have a
good day, and it’s followed by six bad days. Moments of great
success, followed by lengthy seasons of drought, spiritual
drought. And it’s not as if we can just
sit back and tally up our trials and say that once we’ve endured
a certain measure of them that we magically achieve success,
that now I’m a mature Christian. Because it’s not how many trials
we’ve been through, but how we’ve handled the ones that have come
our way. the ones into which we’ve fallen.
It’s the way that we allow trials to be welcomed in, embraced,
used in our lives that works godly change. These trials season
us, and they ripen us, and they mature us by God’s grace. As we saw last week, there are
several echo passages. I called them parallel passages
to James 1. One of them is 1 Peter 1. The
other was Romans 5. And here again, Paul’s words
in Romans 5 mirror those of James. James says, let endurance have
its perfect result. Paul says, Romans 5, tribulation
brings about perseverance. Perseverance, proven character,
proven character, hope. Both writers tell us that Christian
maturity is the end result, the proof that comes from trials.
No wonder James effectively says Let them do their job. See to it that they accomplish
their God-given goal. As one pastor said, it’s doing
these trials. It is doing a great work. It
is refining and ennobling your whole character. It is building
up a stately temple of holy character to the glory of God. It is the
instrument employed by God to keep you unto salvation. So God is building into us a
maturity of character. Godliness that is palpable. What does it look like? James
tells us, in three what I would call well-aimed arrows of truth. Look at the passage again if
you would. let endurance have its perfect result, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James tells us, first of all,
that in the end, if properly embraced and we endured, the
result itself will be perfect. Perfect. Does that word make
you feel a little bit funny? Immediately we know that this
word has to be clarified, has to be explained, and I can say
this much at this point, the word does not mean literally
perfect. So if you had hoped to walk out
of here perfect this morning, it’s not going to happen. As
if we can arrive at a level where there is no sin in our life,
Not perfect in that sense. James uses this word twice in
this little sentence, four times in this little epistle. This
word is a frequently used word, not only by James, but it has
a very strong presence in the New Testament. The meaning is
difficult to pin down a lot of times, exactly. And that’s because
the meaning depends largely on the context in which it’s used.
Let me show you some of that. The word is teleos, perfect.
It’s used in about four or five different ways. First of all,
it’s used in the sense of completeness or the superlative quality of
a thing. Hebrews 9-11 uses it this way. When Christ appeared as a high
priest of the good things to come, he entered through the
greater and more perfect tabernacle. In other words, it’s used in
its most superlative sense there of complete, perfect, in a literal
sense. There is no other tabernacle
that will ever need to be built. Secondly, it refers to, it’s
used in the sense of maturity, physical or mental maturity,
and it’s used in a number of different passages. It’s a favorite
word of Paul in this regard. Listen to this one, 1 Corinthians
2.6. Yet we do not speak wisdom among those who are mature. Perfect. A wisdom, however, not
of this age. Pardon me, I think I said we
do not. He says we do speak wisdom among those who are mature. A
wisdom, however, not of this age or of the rulers of this
age who are passing away. So in other words, it speaks
of a maturity here, a maturity of stature, a maturity of understanding. First Corinthians 14, at the
end of the book, it uses it again. In your thinking be mature, brethren. Ephesians 4, a passage we’re
very familiar with, having just read through it. Ephesians 4,
that those in the church are being equipped for the work of
service to the building up of the body of Christ. That’s the
whole work of the pastors and shepherds of the body. How long? Until we all attain to the unity
of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature
man. So God is pressing us towards
maturity. He’s using others in our life
toward that end. He will go on to say in that
same context, we’re no longer to be children. We’re no longer
to act like a bunch of little babies. In Hebrews 5, He reminds
us that solid food is for the mature. And so it’s used in that
sense, mature, spiritually mature even. It’s also used in the sense
of kind of a general perfection, but with a specific reference
to a character quality. And it’s used this way a couple
of different times. One of the ones you’ll be most frequently
aware of is Matthew 5. Matthew 5.48, be perfect, right? As your father in heaven is perfect.
But in the context, it clearly is pressing God’s people towards
love, a perfection of love. To return good for good, that’s
just expected of us as humans, really. To return good for evil,
that is the Christian goal, that is loving as God loves, and so
he calls us to a perfect kind of love, a godly love. And then
the fourth way that it’s used is a spiritual maturity, a completeness
in knowledge and morals, similar to the one that we used before,
but now even here, more laser focused. It comes as our church
theme verse, right? From the moment we planted this
church, Colossians 128, we proclaim him admonishing every man and
teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every
man complete, perfect, fully mature in Christ. Philippians 3. Paul uses it there
as well. Let us therefore as many as are
perfect. Now can you imagine the first
reading of the epistle of Philippians. People sitting in the pews, elbowing
one another, listening with their elbows. This isn’t for you. You’re not perfect. Far from
it. Paul isn’t talking there about
literal perfection. Paul is talking there about what
we could even call relative perfection. Spiritual maturity. Neither Paul
nor James in his very similar use of this word is suggesting
that a person has achieved some kind of peak of godliness. No
sin in his life. Perfect in that sense. They’re
not saying that at all. We strive to be like Christ. We want to be like Christ. Even
to be glorified one day, perfect. We desire to be completely sanctified
But we do, or at least we can in the course of this life, we
can arrive at a position of relative maturity, a position of relative
perfection. In the physical realm, we speak
of maturity all the time, full grown, fully developed, adulthood,
right? And so there is likewise a spiritual
equivalent of that. Spiritual adulthood, I suppose
we could call it, Our Scottish pastor and friend, Robert Johnstone,
described it this way. The term perfect is sometimes
used in the New Testament to the ultimate holiness and blessedness
of the saints in heaven. Now they’re perfect, right? By
the time we get to glory, what a great thing that will be. Frequently
also employed in speaking of Christians in this life, that
we have been perfected in the sense that we now stand before
God justified. in Christ. But there’s a third
way that it’s used, and it says, the word describes a maturity,
a ripeness, and richness of knowledge and character such as might be
supposed to mark the full-grown man, as contrasted with the babe
in Christ. What he says is that we can come
to the place as Christians where it can be justly said of us that
we are spiritually mature. as Christians. Of course, we’re
not perfect, strictly speaking, but we can come to a place where
it can be reasonably said of us that we possess a mature,
godly character, where we’re no longer spiritual babies, spiritual
children, spiritually immature, vacillating, troubled, untrained,
undisciplined, fraught with self-inflicted hindrances. When our patience is tried and
tested, ultimately, It brings about a maturing in the believer,
described by one as a ripeness and richness of knowledge and
character or both. This place, this position to
which God Himself brings us, This standing, if you will, of
spiritual maturity is what we have long sought because frankly,
we learned a long time ago, it’s what God desires in us and from
us, a wholehearted devotion to our God and Savior. Loving Him
with our heart and soul and mind and strength. I love the description. of this level of maturity provided
by James. The trials ultimately work in
us an endurance of perfecting quality. I am not a master craftsman,
but I’ve learned one lesson that I learn over and over again.
You can never sand a project too much. You can start with
60, and if you quit with 60, the scratches and scars will
be evident almost immediately in the project, as soon as you
stain it. If you go to 80, it’s better. But if you look closely,
you can still see the rings from the sanding. If you go to 100,
it’s better yet, but better still to go to 150, and then 220. and
to finish the project and to buff it and to make it so that
you would swear that you could not sand another inch. That’s what God’s doing in our
lives. He’s so working in us that by the time, if you will,
the stain is applied, perfect. It’s perfect. I love the way my friend, one
day I hope to meet in heaven, John Eady said it. Here’s how
he described spiritual perfection, spiritual maturity. John Eady
said, the perfect ones are those who have burst the fetters of
intellectual and spiritual bondage. We think right. Who have made
some advancement in the divine life. They’ve grown in grace.
who are acquainted with the higher forms of truth. They know the
doctrines of the church and are no strangers to the impulses
and powers of divine grace. It’s palpable to the Christian
to see how God functions in the world. Who by the Spirit worship
God, who are conscious of union with Christ, possessing righteousness
through faith in Him. and some measure of conformity
to Him. And who cherish through Him the
hope of a happy resurrection. That’s what we desire. We want
to be mature. We want to be perfect in that
sense. But James is still describing
this end result. Let endurance, verse 4, have
its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete. So James speaks of spiritual
maturity, perfection in that sense, and he builds on this
image of the Christian with the word complete, entire, unblemished. This word would have been very
familiar to Jewish converts to Christianity because it was the
word that was often applied to the proper sacrificial victim. One that was complete, without
deformity or blemish, whole, complete in all its parts. But
the word was also used in the world of industry, where a person
could be spoken of one who had fulfilled his calling. He was
complete in that sense. He had lived up to his lot or
his destiny. His task was complete. He was
exactly what he was quite obviously called to do. He was complete
in that sense. He filled it up, filled it out.
He did just exactly what He was asked to do. He became what God designed Him,
gifted Him to be. The word could even be used in
the marketplace of an order. Say, a measure of grain. The vessel in which it was carried,
carried the whole order. Nothing was spilled. Nothing
drained out. The order was complete. When all was said and done, the
basket contained everything that was allotted to it, that was
placed in it. And that’s the Christian’s desire, isn’t it? The desire is to be fully furnished. to live according to our calling,
to accomplish what God designed for us, to be who God wants us
to be, to have burned away all the imperfections of our life
and heart, and to embrace and emulate the character of Christ.
None other than our dear friend Spurgeon said it this way, believers
who have endured a great deal of affliction exhibit a sort
of mellowness, don’t they? mellowness that you never see
in other people. It cannot be mistaken or imitated. A certain amount of trouble appears
to be necessary to create a graciousness in them so that they may contain
a gracious character. They’re complete. That doesn’t
mean that God won’t continue to work in them, but this is
in good measure a mature man that God can stand before others
and they can see in him a completeness. Then lastly, look again at verse
four, let endurance have its perfect result that you may be
perfect and complete. And then he almost lavishes on
this unnecessary phrase, but he’s doing it for a purpose,
lacking in nothing. James here describes the end
of Christian maturity as lacking in nothing. He’s acknowledged
the real possibility of suffering and the effects of a faulty outlook
on trials, one of hopelessness and despair. We can lose heart
in the course of our Christian battle. We can give up and we
can give in. And were we to do so, there would
still remain whatever dross, whatever imperfection, whatever
yet undeveloped character quality that our trials were designed
to produce. One faithful shepherd spoke of
the minuteness of the imperfections in our life. It’s never gonna
end this side of glory. God’s desiring to purge these.
He said that we might be so perfect or entire that no necessary grace
might be lacking. Now if you were to take even
a brief spiritual inventory of your lives, you know that there
are many things that you know need to grow in your life. He
says that we might be so perfect or entire that no necessary grace
might be lacking. that having other gifts, they
might also have the gift of patience and the whole image of Christ
might be completed in them, that nothing might be wanting which
is necessary to make up a Christian. That’s a pretty tall standard,
isn’t it? We would be lacking, he says.
The word basically means something that is left behind. We just
haven’t gotten to that one yet. Paul gives us a helpful picture
in this rare word. You’ll be familiar with the occasion
for which he wrote to Titus, remember? He left Titus on this
island where Paul had begun a certain degree of work on this island
for the sake of the gospel. And he gave marching orders to
Titus, who he left behind, to shepherd this entire island,
several churches. And he uses this word to appeal
to this trustworthy servant. He simply tells Titus that he
left him there on the island of Crete for a certain specific
purpose, to set in order what remains. Literally, to set in order that
which is lacking, to address that which is lacking. I learned that when I first began
to do ministry. that there’s always things to
do in church. I hear people speak of reformed churches. No, we’re
not, we’re reforming. There’s always something that
needs to be set in order. I remember when I candidated
in a church one time, this little old lady sitting in pew number
three said, are you coming here just to change us? I said, of course I am. And I’ll be changing too. You
see, there’s this general command that’s given to Titus. But if
you look at the book of Titus over and over again, there are
other commands that were given to Titus, things that he was
supposed to say, reprove, speak, urge, exhort, remind. And then there were things that
he was supposed to do, model and exert his authority and reject
false teaching and to come and to help. In other words, there
are a whole lot of things that we’re lacking in this little
church. And there are a whole lot of things that are lacking
in our lives. You just need to look closely.
There’s typically much in the Christian’s life that’s lacking,
much that needs to be done yet by the Holy Spirit and the grace
of God and the word of God and trials that are sent by God. The failure to grow and develop
in the physical realm by a small child is considered
to be a horrible disease, such a malady would be much worse
in the spiritual realm, wouldn’t it? Where a Christian never advances,
a Christian never grows, never allows trial to form and shape
his character, where there’s always something lacking, unbalanced,
out of order, incomplete, unfinished, deficient. That’s not what we
want, is it? We want to grow in grace. We
want trials to have their place. We want to embrace God’s sovereignty
in them. We want to see the blessing of
God in them. We want to cultivate that spiritual
maturity for which they’re designed. The admonition of one faithful
preacher said, the most valuable thing A person can obtain in
this world is that which has to do with his most true self.
A man can acquire a good house, but suppose he is in bad health.
What good is the use of his fine mansion? The best thing is that
which will make him a better man, make him right and true
and pure and holy. If our affections tend by trying
our faith to breed endurance, and that endurance tends to make
us mature and complete people in Christ Jesus, then we must
be glad of trials. Would you humble yourself before
the giver of trials? O merciful God, we do humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. We do desire to be mature people
of God, solid Christians that have a witness and a testimony
and a usefulness here on earth. We want to fill it up. We want
to be complete. And in a very real way, we want
to be perfect, mature. Lord, we know that that will
not just happen. It won’t occur just by osmosis. And we can’t speed up the process. And so it’s up to us to embrace
Your beloved sovereignty in these trials and to acknowledge the
very obvious blessing that is in them and to look forward to Your grace at work in our
lives bringing ultimately a maturity to us. Lord, we don’t love the
trials. but we do love what they do.
We love the grace that comes with them. We love the fact that
we draw nearer to You. We love the fact that they make
us more and more like Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
if there are any who do not know Christ, we are hopeless to glorify
God in any trial. We are in desperate need not
just of character improvement. The world offers this in great
plenty. We have need of conversion to
Christ. We have need to begin on this
walk of faith with Christ Himself. We plead with you to do your
work in the lives of every person in this room, believer and non.
You would be glorified in each. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen.