2019-02-03 James 1: 2-4 TRIED AND TRUE (1): INTRODUCTION TO TRIALS

TRIED AND TRUE (1): INTRODUCTION TO TRIALS (James 1:2-4) February 3, 2019 Read James 1:2-4 – Introduction to trials. Some of you are thinking, “Introduction? Who needs an introduction? I’ve got a Ph.D already!” And many of you do. Yet, there is much for us to learn. Trials are part of every life. But if we are going to be tried and true, we have to answer one basic question – Is God a sadist? Does He take joy in inflicting pain? Unconsciously, many of us have developed that attitude and we can’t grow until that changes. Linus says to Snoopy, “I think you showed the spirit of Xmas, offering to shake hands with that cat next door.” Snoopy says, “I agree.” Linus adds, “But now I think you should offer to shake, but without the hockey glove.” Snoopy starts to walk off and Linus asks, “What are you doing?” Snoopy: “I’ve having a farewell dinner for my hand.” Unfortunately, that’s how many of us look at God. He keeps allowing these trials, and we’re afraid to trust Him. Jas wants to get us over that so instead of being tried and troubled we can be tried and true., “Count it all joy … when you meet trials.” Outrageous at first glance. Why in the world would I do that? Here’s James’ answer. I. The Predictability of Trials Many come to faith in Christ expecting a bed of roses. But while some false teachers foster that idea, it isn’t biblical. James says, “when you meet [lit, fall into] trials,” not “if you meet trials.” There’s no “if” about it. You are going to have trials. James’ audience had largely been displaced from their homes. James himself would be martyred 15 years later. Trials are predictable. Job 5:20, “But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Like death and taxes, trials are unavoidable. Jesus promised as much. Jn 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” And Jn 15:20: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Paul adds in II Tim 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” And Peter weighs in: I Pet 4:12: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Trials aren’t strange; they’re expected. Every one of these writers had more than their share. The idea we should be trouble free never came from the Bible. It’s not “if” trials will come; it’s “when”. II. The Permutations of Trials 1 “Various trials” – many colored, diverse. Trials come in all shapes and sizes. Some are internal; some external. Some are self-inflicted; some from the outside. Some are due to our failure; others just are. They range from lost keys to a cancer diagnosis. Trials come in the form of illness, criticism, unmet expectations, persecution, disappointment, depression, financial setbacks, unfair treatment, unexpected loss (money, people, job) and a thousand more NT scholar, F. J. A. Hort says, “There will be the test of sorrows and the disappointments which seek to take our faith away. There will the test of seductions which seek to lure us from the right way. There will be the tests of the dangers, sacrifices and unpopularity which are part of the Xn way. They are not meant to defeat us; they are meant to be defeated. They are not meant to make us weaker; they are meant to make us stronger.” This is the intent of every trial -- small to big; trivial to life-threatening. Why various kinds? Because our needs vary. Mostly we do not even know our needs; or our weaknesses; are blissfully unaware of most of our failures. So, trials vary to attack what needs fixing! We’re like the guy who got on the scale, couldn’t see the numbers, got off, grabbed his glasses, got back on and said, “What do you know! These glasses weigh 50 pounds.” We’re often the last ones to see the sinkholes of selfishness, intolerance, judgmentalism, and pig-headedness that lurks in our subconsciousness. Various trials attack those weaknesses – like the military uses a variety of tools to ferret out threats to national security. So a diversity of trials addresses the diversity of our brokenness. Samuel Johnson said, “Adversity is the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free from admirers then.” And particularly dependent on God, then. So when you see a new trial, know God’s working on yet another weak spot you haven’t seen yet. III. The Participants in Trials Listen carefully. This could change your whole outlook on trials. The word trial is πειροσμος (πειροζω), which has 2 basic NT meanings. First, it can mean to test something with the idea proving it right or even improving it. “Test” is a good translation when it is used in this sense. As John 6:5 when Jesus, faced with 5,000 hungry people and no food, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread?” knowing Philip had no money and no fast food. So why’d He ask? John 6:5: “He said this to test him.” Jesus wants to prove, even improve, the faith of His disciples. In this sense, God is involved in every single trial. He allows adversity – but always to advance faith. Thus trials are 2 intended by God as a test, to reveal deficiencies and lead to growth. God tests with good intentions. You must get that or trials will always overwhelm you. The 2nd use of πειροσμος is when it speaks of a trial with evil intent. A “temptation”. Like Jas 1:13: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God.” It’s the same word – but here it means to tempt someone with evil intent – to get them to fall, to drag them into sin. God would never πειροζω with bad intent. So –the same Greek word has decidedly different meanings which the context must determine. There is trial in the sense of test to improve – and there is trial in the sense of temptation. V. 2 doesn’t contradict v. 13; just two angles looking at the same event. So, here’s the key to trials. Every trial has 3 participants – every trial. God is allowing it to test us to make us better – like Job 23:10: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried [tested] me, I shall come out as gold.” But Satan’s using it as a temptation to bring us down. Same event – two vastly different potential outcomes. And what determines the outcome? ME! By how I handle the trial, it will be a test that betters me or a temptation that beats me. Do you see this? Every trial, intended by God for my good; intended by Satan for my downfall. And my reaction determines the outcome. But know this. God controls every trial scenario. Satan is bounded by God. Job 1-2 makes that crystal clear. And I Cor 10:13 promises, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Whatever trial you’re going through today – maybe have for a long time, know two things. God intends it for your good; and He won’t allow you in over your head. Jesus is a prime example. Right after His baptism, Mt 4:1: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” This is Satan’s attempt to destroy the 2nd Adam just like he did the first. Do you see? But who put Jesus there? “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” God tests by allowing Satan to tempt – all intended to build Jesus in His ability to obey. And who determined the outcome? The 3rd participant. Jesus, who chose for God every time. That is the pattern in every trial. God pulling one way; Satan pulling the other, and we determining which way we will go. IV. The Perspective Toward Trials 3 Here’s the heart of James’ instruction: “Count it all joy . . . when you meet trials.” Trials elicit a lot of reactions: rebellion, defiance, complaining, selfpity, giving up. Every trial naturally causes one or more of those. But “Count it all joy” is not natural! That’s completely unnatural. Thus, it takes some planning – and a lot of faith, right? Imagine putting that on a bumper sticker – “Count it all joy when you meet trials.” You’d be considered certifiable! A world that cannot see beyond this life would never understand that advice. Unfortunately, this is also the way most of us Xns think as well. So Jas gives us a wrenching look at reality from God’s perspective. This is God’s wisdom, not the world’s. It is driven by two great truths: God is good; and God is in charge. Those truths must penetrate our existence if we are to be joyful when we run into a brick wall. But when we embrace those realities – God is good and God is involved – everything changes. These truths mean trials can make us more like Jesus and help us know God experientially. Apart from trials, these things do not happen. We say we want to experience God – but we really don’t want to pay the price. Trials are the price. Now, it’s revealing to know what James is not saying. He’s not saying, “Enjoy your trials.” Trials are not inherently enjoyable. It’s not a case of “Praise the Lord, I’ve got cancer”. It’s not, joy in the trial. It’s be joyful we’ve encountered a trial. Trials are not the end; they are the means to an end. We don’t joy in the trial, but in the opportunity it represents! Trials hurt! It’s not the trial itself we rejoice in, but the fruit it will yield. James isn’t saying, “Hey, you should rejoice that you lost that promotion, or that your child got leukemia or that your spouse left you.” I don’t think Paul said, “Oh, great. I get to be beaten and jailed again in Philippi,” do you?” He wasn’t crazy. But he was rejoicing! Acts 16:25: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” He trusted God to bring good out of the bad; that’s why rejoicing. Jesus never said, “Great news. I get to die on a Roman cross?” He agonized in over that trial: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Mark 14:34). That’s serious suffering from which He begged relief (Mk 14:36). It wasn’t the cross that gave Him joy. So what was it? Heb 12:2: Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” There’s the idea. It wasn’t the cross that gave Him joy, but the anticipation of what God would do with that cross. He is the perfect example of how to apply Jas’ instruction. Rejoice that any test a good and involved God allows has an eternally worthwhile goal in view. 4 We rejoice in trials because God is good and God is involved! Great example. Pastor James M. Boice, in May, 2000, told his church he’d been diagnosed with cancer. Listen: “Should you pray miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles – and He certainly can – is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So above all, pray for the glory of God. Where in history has God most glorified Himself? He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have.… God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It’s not as if something slipped by. God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything He does is good.… If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you’d change it, you’d make it worse. It wouldn’t be as good.” Eight weeks later, having taught his people first how to live and die, Pastor Boice departed this world to “be with Christ, which is far better” (Phil 1:23). This is why we should count it all – note all – joy when we meet trials! It’s an opportunity for God to do something great. So rejoice! It’s what Paul did; it’s what Jesus did; it’s what Pastor Boice did; it’s what we can do if we cling to this: God is good; God is involved. V. The Productivity of Trials Now, Jas lists one of the great things God does through trials. He produces steadfastness – steadiness in faith, which eventually perfects us – making us like Christ. That end is not finally achieved until we see Him. Phil 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” I Jn 3:2b: “but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The end game is Christlikeness in every believer. But the means is testing. Just like we advance in school thru testing, so we advance in Xn living thru tests – every test bringing us a little closer to that end goal – or setting us back a step, depending on our reaction to the test. We’ve come full circle. Trials are intended by God to be productive in our lives; by Satan to be destructive. We choose which by the decision we make – by our obedience or disobedience. Conc – Let me close with this. Joni Eareckson Tada was a beautiful, vivacious 16-year-old when a diving accident in Chesapeake Bay nearly 50 years ago almost killed her and left her a quadriplegic. She went thru all the normal reactions of questioning, hating God, desiring suicide, seeking healing. Eventually God gave her a wonderful ministry thru art and radio. At a conference a couple of years ago, she told of being in Jerusalem with hus, 5 Ken. Unexpectedly one morning, they turned and arrived at the ancient pool of Bethesda – the healing place of John 5 – empty now, but largely intact. Joni’s breath was taken away. She said, “Oh, Ken, you would not believe how many times I used to pix myself here, waiting for healing.” Shortly, Ken left Joni alone to explore the old cisterns. With tear-filled eyes, Joni began to pray: “O Jesus, thank You, thank You for a no answer to a request for physical healing. You really knew what You were doing so many years ago because a no answer to a request for physical healing has purged so much sin out of my life, so much selfishness and bitterness. I know I’ve got a long way to go, but every day I want to wake up and be a different Joni than I was yesterday, I want to be a Joni that You created, that You’ve destined me to be. [Your No to physical healing] is increasing my compassion for others who are hurt and disabled, it’s helping me put complaining behind me; it has increased my faith. It has strengthened my hope of heaven and it’s made me love You so much more…so much more. It is such a safe wonderful thing to be back in the inner sanctum of the fellowship of sharing in Your sufferings. And I would not trade it for any amount of walking.” There is God’s purpose in tests, Beloved. We’re all in kindergarten. We all desperately need changes we don’t even know about. When anyone asks to pray for Joni’s healing these days, she says this: “If you want to pray for my healing, bring it on. But may I tell you some specifics about which I really, really need prayer for healing. Would you please ask God to get rid of my peevish attitude in the morning when I wake up, and please, I have such a sour disposition when there’s too much work on my desk. And, you know, I really am a workaholic so I wish you would pray about that and all the other things in my heart that need to be uprooted, confessed, repented of and healed.” What perspective! Do you realize how many tests it takes to get to that point? We’re not there yet, are we? But let’s aim for it. That’s where God is taking us, and as we get there all the Devil can do is walk way defeated. Is God a sadist? Never! What’s your trial today? Give it up to Him. Let’s pray. 6