Good morning, everyone. Open
your Bibles, if you would, to the book of James. We'll continue
our study in the book of James, James chapter 1. The name of
the message today is Trying of Faith, and we'll continue our
study here, our journey through James. We'll be reading the first
eight verses again to see the context of the verses which were
look at today will be looking at verses three and four today
together Lord willing we're finished looking at those today and the
reason being is a tie-in together and we'll see that as we read
the text so let's read verses 1 to 8 and James chapter 1 James
a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes
which are scattered abroad greeting So we see the salutation of James
there. Now in our next verses here,
right after the salutation, James will bring forth that the believer's
faith will be tested by divers or various trials and temptations. And temptations there in verse
2 in the Greek is trials. My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect
work, that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and abrideth
not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. Now the first three verses of
this book set the tone for the entire theme of this book. We see the church in general,
the twelve tribes of Israel, is undergoing a great time of
trial. A great time of trial. And this
epistle, we will see as we study it, addresses numerous trials. But more, it addresses the believer's
proper response to the trials that come in our lives. It's
instruction in righteousness for us. And we will see that
manifested as we study this book. And being sinful human beings,
our first response to discomfort is to strike out against it.
That's our natural response. Or we murmur about it. That's
our natural response. That's our fleshly response.
And remember, we still have this body of flesh that we're dealing
with. We're saved sinners, but we still
have this body of flesh, which Paul wrote, O wretched man that
I am, who can deliver me from this body of sin? So our dear
brother struggled just like we do. And this epistle, while comforting
us in trial, warns us to guard against our natural and carnal
responses. to the trials that we go through.
And each of us can see it is written to we who believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Who are those who believe who
this letter is written to? Well, those who are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Those who have been given God-given
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to believe in
the finished, complete, sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's who this letter is written to. It's written to believers.
Who are those who believe who this letter is written to? Well,
those who have been purchased by the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ and have been shown our need for Christ. It's
written to those who see themselves as sinners. Do you see yourself
as a sinner before God? Do you see yourself as each day
even, even though the Lord saved us, do you see yourself each
day as needing Christ more and more? Oh, we do, don't we? We once served the idol of self. We once served the idols religion
some some serve the idols of false religion now we serve the
true and living God don't we and that's who this letter is
written to that's who this letter is written to those who now see
our need for Christ and see our need for his perfect righteousness
do you know that the missing note in today's preaching is
the righteousness of Christ it's totally missing in today's preaching
and you've heard me say this before and I'm going to say it
again because it's it's worth repeating The missing note in
today's preaching is the righteousness of Christ, because they're trying
to go about, men and women are trying to go about, to establish
their own righteousness. And that'll never make them fit
for heaven. Never. Anything we do will never
make us fit for heaven. We need the perfect, spotless
righteousness of Christ. So we look outside ourselves,
don't we, and upward to Christ. Used to be we used to look inward
and the world tells you to do that No, we look outside ourselves
and up to Christ and look to his complete perfect sin atoning
work It's perfect and he did it all by himself and that's
who this book is written to people who believe that and again Let
us remember that this book is written for our learning all
scriptures for our learning for our learning. It corrects us.
It instructs us. It rebukes us. It teaches us. All those things. All those things. And this letter again is for
our learning to help us during our journey through this world
on our way as John Bunyan says in the Pilgrim's Progress to
the Celestial City. We're on a journey beloved to
the Celestial City. And who's at the Celestial City?
The Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now there's other saints
there, and it'll be wonderful to see them, but we're there
to see Christ, aren't we? Heaven will be heaven because
Christ is there, and we're going to rejoice and look to Him and worship
Him forever, beloved. Forever. All because of His mercy
and His grace. And the reason we'll be there
is all according to the riches of His grace and mercy, which
has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus. So that's who this
letter's written to. This letter's also written to
those who believe that God is in absolute control. because
how else would we go through the trials that we go through
in life? And we always say, Lord, help our unbelief, don't we?
But we believe totally that God's in control, 100%. He's in control. He's in absolute control of all
things. And we've been taught this by God the Holy Spirit.
And we heartily embrace that truth, don't we? We embrace that
truth. Think about this, the confidence
that we have as believers, the confidence that we have as believers
is in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in Him
alone. He is our hope. He is our confidence,
isn't he? And think of this, too. That
is unshakable, no matter what events come towards us. Now,
we struggle in the flesh, but we have an unshakable belief
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him alone. And
this is all a result of God's sovereign grace and mercy. And
that ties right in with this morning's message about sovereign
grace. So the confidence that we have
is in Christ, in His work, that it's finished, that it's complete,
that He saved our souls. And think about this, every disapproving
response to what might be called a bad circumstance, and there's
never a circumstance that doesn't come our way according to God's
will and providence. And we're being taught that,
aren't we? I need to be taught again and again, because I don't
learn that fast. So every disapproving response
to what may be called bad circumstances is evidence of unbelief. You
know, in religion, I remember being in religion and, oh, look
what that person's doing. Oh, look what that person's doing.
Oh, how can that person be like that and be a Christian? I used
to say stuff like that, beloved. It was awful. Now I look at myself
and go, Lord, when a circumstance comes up and I start murmuring
about it, that's unbelief in me. Lord, help my unbelief. Now
I know what Peter meant, personally. And I know you do too. Every
single believer is plagued with unbelief. If you find a person
who says, I'm not plagued with that, they're lying to you. Just
straight out, they're lying to you. I remember we met someone
in Oregon one time and they said, well I never get depressed. Well,
some circumstances came up in their lives shortly after that
that made them pretty depressed. See, we ought to be careful,
beloved. We ought to be careful. So every
single believer is plagued with unbelief. And though we are unbendable
in the matter of the finished work of Christ, providence often
calls into question our faith because of our reaction to trials
and temptations that come our way. And remember, these are
ordained for us. Do you know what they do? I find
with my reaction sometimes to certain things that come my way,
they show me unbelief in me. But you know what else they show
me? That I need Christ so much. I need Him so much. I am so frail
and so weak. These trials and these situations,
we come out on the other side of them trusting Christ more. Trust in Him more. It strengthens
our faith in Him, doesn't it? It strengthens our reliance upon
Him, because we see our utter need for Him. And remember, these
things that come our way are not isolated events. They are
sent our way by God. And we see that it's been so
for believers of all ages. Because I guarantee you they're
struggling with the same things we struggle with. Now we have
modern gadgets as I've said before and all these things, but sin
is sin. Struggles are struggles. And
let us remember that our salvation is by grace alone. And again,
these trials are not trials of salvation, but of faith. We're
already saved in Christ. These are the trying of our faith,
which it says here. Look at verse 3. Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. That's what
these situations are. They're the trying of our faith. And the trial of our faith is
designed to bring forth, to bring us to an end of depending upon
ourselves, and to bring us to have an utter dependence upon
Christ. That's the goal of these trials
and temptations that we go through. And He alone who rules the world
has designed these trials for us. and he ever watches over
us until they come to their expected end. And then another one comes
by. And then another one. so that the believer is constantly,
now let's go back to that, constantly being shown their utter need
for Christ. So when we do murmur sometimes,
let us remember, Lord, you are teaching me to depend upon you. As I said, I'm a slow learner.
I think we all are, aren't we, in this case. And remember, too,
we're being conformed to the image of Christ. We're being
conformed to the image of our Savior. And these trials are
painful. You cannot deny that trials are
painful. But pain is not the intent of
these trials. It's not the intent of the trials.
And the anguish and pain that sometimes accompany our trials
are but tools in the benevolent hand of our great God. Remember,
we're being stones, being made ready. He's just chipping stuff
off of us. Remember, the hands that are
doing that are the hands of our everlasting God. Oh my, you get
a master diamond cutter, right? And they're going to cut that
diamond in a perfect way. We're gems of the Lord. He's
polishing us, cutting a little bit off here, polishing us up
through the trials of this world. Isn't it wonderful to think that?
They're painful, but again, we're in the hand of the benevolent
sovereign to bring us to the very best place. His glory and
our good is intended in these trials and things we go through.
And where's the very best place for us to be? Sitting at the
feet of Jesus. Looking to Him. That's the very
best place we can be, beloved. The best place we can be. Jeremiah
writes this. Turn to actually, if you would,
Jeremiah chapter 29. This truth is actually bought
forth in Jeremiah 29. That our God, His thoughts are
towards us. And they're not thoughts of evil.
They're thoughts of peace. And again, They have an expected
end. Jeremiah chapter 29, verses 11
to 13. Look at this. Look at this. For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, saith
Jehovah. Thoughts of peace. We have peace
with God now in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. In not of
evil. To give you an expected end.
then shall you call upon me and you should go and pray unto me
and I will hearken unto you and you shall seek me and find me
when you shall search for me with all your heart look at that
in verse 11 for I know the thoughts that I think towards you sayeth
the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected
and what's the expected end of our lives we'll be in glory with
the Lord forever, conformed to the image of Christ. Isn't that
wonderful? We have peace with God, like
I said, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back to James.
So that'll give us a better understanding now of the words of James in
this verse. So keep that verse in Jeremiah
in your minds, for I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give
you an expected end. So let's read now James chapter
one, verses three and four, with that in our minds. Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience
have her perfect work, that she may be perfect in the entire
wanting So the trial of your faith written in verse three
is exclusive to the brethren, isn't it? Because the world doesn't
have faith. And the only reason we have faith
is it's being given to us. So it's speaking here exclusive
to the brethren, to believers, to those who have God-given faith. Natural carnal men cannot rejoice
in trials. They just can't. They can't rejoice
in trials. or any other situations for that
matter. Their rejoicing is fleeting.
Beloved, since we see here that our trials are called trials
of the faith, they cannot be separated from He who is the
object of our faith, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. So again,
it's even more evidence that this is written to believers.
The trials come to the believer because we believe the gospel.
and these are trials of faith, they're a testimony to God's
faithfulness to us. Because in the midst of the trials
that we go through, and we don't always see it when we're going
through it, but from beginning to end, the faithfulness of God
is on display, even if we don't see it. A lot of times afterwards
we look back and go, oh my goodness, look what the Lord did. Look
at how faithful he was to us. My oh my. He's so good to us. So these trials come to the believer
because we believe the gospel. And these trials are testimony
to God's faithfulness to us, to his people, as he always,
by his almighty power, brings us to the other side of them.
He always does. He always does. And what do we
end up doing when we come out the other side of that trial?
We're just clinging to Christ, aren't we? We're just clinging
to him. I got no hope for you, Lord!
You are my everything. Now see the word trying in verse
3? Let's read verse 3 again. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. The Greek word for trying there
is defined as approved, tried, genuine. In New Testament times
it was used to speak of metals that were without alloy, that
were perfect. they were approved to be used,
meaning they were true or genuine medals. This Greek word is only
used twice in the whole New Testament. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter
1. It's used here in James 1, verse
3, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
So, trials prove that our faith is genuine. And this same Greek
word again is used over in 1st Peter. We'll read the context
of verses 6 to 9, but it's used in verse 7 for trial. Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye
are in heaviness through manifold temptations. Again, trials. That the trial, there's the same
Greek word, genuine. Of your faith being much more
precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen your love, in whom though
now you see him not, yet believe in, you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. Also we see here that James brings
forth that the testing of our faith will next bring forth patience. So the testing of our faith is
to prove its genuineness. And what's the result of that?
Patience. You know what that means? Waiting on God. Another
hard thing for us to do, isn't it? Just wait on God. Just wait
on God. And again, patience is something
we humans do not have a lot of. We just don't. Whether one's
saved or lost. I guarantee you, you see someone
who's so patient, there's times when they're shaken too. When
they're shaken too. Some people have more grace that
way. Some believers have more grace that way than others, but
in everything, some are strong in one situation, and some are
weaker in other situations. Same fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Some have more peace than others. Some have more patience than
others. Some have more joy than others. All comes from the same
source when you're a born-again believer. Oh my! Two things that
are hard for us to do as believers. One is to rejoice in the midst
of trials, and the other is just to have patience and wait on
God. Those are two things that's hard for us to do. Just to rest
in Christ. Wait on Him and rest. But Lord,
I want to fix this. Boom, we go right in our face,
don't we? Oh, we know, we know. No, James is dealing with the
first one here in verse two, when he says about rejoicing,
my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations
or trials. And now he's going to deal with
the second thing that we struggle with is just waiting on God,
having patience in verses three and four. And think of this,
this is written to the saints 2000 plus years ago, right? And
it's for our learning, right now. It's relevant for you and
I, right now. Right now. Why? Again, because there's nothing
new under the sun. Same trials and temptations they
went through, the same ones we go through. And God's grace is
amazing, isn't it? It's amazing. James here is writing
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. He's given instructions
to those he's writing to, and here we are in 2021, and we're
reading and studying this book that he wrote, and it's instruction
for us today. It's just as relevant for us
as it was for them. My, well that's because the author
is God, and this book is timeless. This book is timeless. So we
see in verse 3 that the trying of our faith works patience,
and we've been taught that this is waiting on god in the greek
word for patients in our taxes to find is cheerful or hopeful
endurance just waiting hopefully waiting hopefully enduring consistency
also consistency so let's read verse three with that in our
mind knowing this that the trying or genuineness of your faith
worketh patience worketh endurance cheerful endurance And we see
in verse 4 the results of the trials of our faith, which we
go through. While we wait on God, God will work patience in
us, which again is hopeful endurance. See, we have a hope that the
world doesn't have, and our hope is in Christ. So let's consider
this. Here are three reasons why we
should regard our trials as blessings. Number one, we are providentially
bought under these trials by the hand of our Heavenly Father,
who will work all things as difficult as they may seem to be for us,
together for our good and for His glory. And thus we should
rejoice in the prospect of the future good we will receive from
the trials that we go through. It just gives us a different
perspective of them, doesn't it? They're for our good, even
though they're painful. But remember, God's thoughts
are not evil against us. They're for our good. His thoughts
towards us are peace. And again, when we go through
these situations, we cling closer and closer to Christ. The second
point is faith must be tried. It can only be proved by trial.
How often faith is counterfeited. We see the trials are given that
we may determine if we are leaning on the flesh leaning on the Lord. How many people have we seen
who've made professions and then a trial comes along and they're
gone? But how come you and I keep clinging to the Lord? Well, number
one, it's His grace and His mercy and His keeping power, isn't
it? And the faith He's given us is genuine. I could sit with
each of you and you could sit with me and we could just mention
the things we've went through and we'd probably go, God's amazing.
Look at what He's done. It's incredible. We would have
been crushed under that if it had not been for the grace of
God and the mercy of God in keeping us through all those situations.
So our faith must be proved. It must go through trials. If
I would know the genuineness of my faith, if I would know
that I have not run in vain, if I would know that I'm not
stony ground here, my faith must be tried. The third thing is
trials not only reveal our faith, but they work in bringing out
and encouraging patience, as Paul writes. He said, and not
only so, but we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, same thing as what James is bringing forth here,
and patience experience, and experience what? Hope, hope,
that's the end, right? And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us, Romans chapter five, verses three
to five. Were God not to try us, leaving
us free from trouble, we would never learn patience, pity, compassion,
or perseverance, knowing that He's the one who keeps us. And
untried faith is doubtful faith too, isn't it? It's doubtful
faith. Afflictions produce fruit. Patience. And this all comes
by the power and might of God the Holy Spirit working in us.
Let's look at verse 4 quickly. But let patience have her perfect
work, that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Note two things here in verse 4. There's no given specific
time for the temptation or trial as to its duration. There's no
given time as to when it will end. If a timeline were given,
well, you know what man would do? Well, man would invent ways
to shorten it, right? But we clearly see here in the
wording of our text concerning temptations or trials in the
Greek, that the believer is simply to expect them, or to expect
them, and to realize that when one has done its job another
will soon follow until we shed this mortal tent and enter into
glory to be in the presence of our King and the Lord Jesus Christ
who purchased us with his precious precious blood. And the second
thing to note in our text in verse 4 begins with the conjunction
but which suggests that the temptations we have fallen into have not
yet worked in us the patience that it's designed to do. They're
coming, they're coming. So what does this teach us? Well,
this teaches us that this experience of life is governed to bring
us to this place of understanding that living in this world as
a believer is a guarantee of trials, is a guarantee of the
trying of our faith. If you're a believer and you
live in this world, guaranteed that our faith is going to be
tried and we are to endure trials without seeking a quick deliverance
so that the full work may be done and the lesson learned in
the lesson learned we must not grow weary and seek a premature
relief we must not resign from the race but we must endure to
the end that we might be fully developed and mature in grace
we see in our text wanting nothing that is lacking nothing essential
to a strong mature believer in Christ. These trials and temptations
in the trying of our faith make us grow in grace and they will
come until that day when all things are made new and we will
look at the world and the events of our life as our dear brother
Solomon the wisest of all men wrote, I returned and saw under
the sun that the race is not just the swift but nor the battle
to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to
the men of understanding, nor yet favor to the men of skill. But time and chance happeneth
to them all." Our dear brother James penned these words. Let
patience have her perfect work. Let us just rest and trust in
our almighty Savior. May God give us grace to do so.