When Trials Come (Part 3 of 3)

Music playing In any option, most of us would choose not to go through a trial. They often come when we least expect them. They bring pain and heartache.

Basically, they're tough. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg encourages us to see trials from a different perspective. To understand that there is something for us to gain as we go through hard times. We're in James chapter 1. Derek Prime on one occasion wrote, As follows, trouble, hardship, and various forms of suffering come to all of us at some time or another.

The natural tendency may be to feel that such things are a waste of human life, and to be avoided at all costs. Knowledge informs us otherwise. So, for example, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Now, James, the brother of Jesus, the writer of this letter, is a good pastor. And as a sensitive soul to what his people, his readers, are facing, he addresses very quickly and very practically the facts of life which are inescapable, unavoidable, and experienced by everyone—namely, that the Christian life is chock-full of tests and trials. And James, recognizing that the nature of his readership, particularly in the first century, buffeted by the insurgencies of persecution and by the peculiar difficulties that faced the dispersed church as a result of all that had taken place in Jerusalem, he recognizes that each of his readers will be going through difficult experiences— experiences that they wouldn't have chosen for themselves, but rather these things have, as we will see, fallen upon them. And he writes—and I think Philip's paraphrase has been very helpful—he writes to say, instead of resenting these things as intruders, we should learn to welcome them as friends.

Now, it's important to recognize what he is not saying. What he is not suggesting is that we can equate trials for their own sakes as a source of joy. To suggest that would be a sign of a disordered mind.

In fact, psychiatrists spend a great deal of time dealing with people who face masochistic tendencies. There is nothing of that in what James is saying here. James would have been prepared to acknowledge that trouble hurts, that trials are painful, that loss is difficult.

But what he is saying is this. They may become the occasions of unrestrained or unreserved rejoicing if we respond to them from the right perspective. Perspective is crucial. The line of approach, the angle of approach to the experience of trials and difficulties, is fundamental in the way in which we tackle it. Unless we think correctly, we cannot respond properly.

That's not unique to James, of course. Paul, you remember, when he makes his application of all that he said in the first eleven chapters of Romans, immediately says, I want you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, and I want you to be transformed by the renewing of your minds. And this takes some mind transformation to get to this, because it is a paradox, isn't it? Verse 2. Because the first part of the verse, counted pure joy, doesn't really seem to go with the second part of the verse when you face trials. Most of us, I think, if we think outwith the box of the Bible, are tempted to believe what is common notion— namely, that you don't have joy if you have trials. And therefore, the way to experience joy is to make sure that you don't have trials, that you don't have difficult circumstances, that you don't have any of these things to face. And if you can spend your energies making sure that all of that is removed from you, then you may be a joyful person, and you can tell people as you go up the high street just how joyful you are. Now, James, paradoxically, says no. He says, Consider it pure joy when you face trials of various kinds, so that the trials are directly related to the experience of joy. Makes you think, doesn't it? Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan responding to this, said, This is the hardest duty that ever was required of the distressed hearts of men, so that when our hearts are distressed, the word comes, Consider it pure joy.

Goodwin says, That's hard! And then he says, And yet God would not require it if it were unattainable. God is not asking from us what he is unable or willing to provide for us. Now, our study gathers under two headings, really, or two words. One word is perspective, and the other word is process. You will notice the verb that is used in the NIV, Consider it.

Consider it. When I was studying this in the week, I had a vivid recollection of a phrase that I had long since forgotten that was used by my father. When I would go to my dad as a youth making a particular request or offering him an opinion, it was not uncommon for him to say, I will give that due consideration. I will give that due consideration.

There's something sort of quaint about that, even as I reflect upon it. And he may simply have used it as a mechanism to buy some time. But in actual fact, I think in the instances when he employed it, he was being absolutely honest. And what he was saying was this. I will think about the issue that has been raised from a particular perspective and in a deliberate way. You have asked of this, you have suggested this. I will give it my due consideration. Now, what James is saying is this. When trials and difficulties and circumstances come into our lives, our first response is to be a considerable response, or the response of consideration. And that consideration will allow us to take whatever, whenever, as the basis for unreserved rejoicing. When you take this opening section, perhaps the most basic lesson that we learn from what James is saying is that the benefit that we receive from going through trials depends in large degree upon how we look at them and the spirit with which we handle them. When a child is punished, if they stiffen their necks, if they grow resilient and resistant to it, if they are not trained by the punishment, if they become inured to the punishment, then the benefit that is represented in the discipline is unknown by them.

And in the same way, what James is saying is this. When trials and difficulties come, as they inevitably will, the perspective with which we view them and the spirit in which we respond to them will determine the benefit of them. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of various kinds. Trials are inevitable. They are not unusual.

Right? I don't understand why it is that in the Christian life, we put our hands over our mouths and say, Oh, I can't believe this is happening. As if somehow or another, to live the Christian life is to be exempted from the class that involves trials and difficulties, when the whole Bible is replete with the emphasis upon the fact that we are not removed. In the world, Jesus says, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. He doesn't say, You won't have any tribulation, because you are mine, you are my children. And James, understanding his brother's words, now drives this home. Trials are not unusual, they're inevitable.

They frequently appear out of nowhere—this little phrase, whenever you face trials of various kinds. The verb that is used here is the same verb that is used in Luke chapter 10, in the story of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, the story of the good Samaritan. But the focus is on the man who's going down, and he fell among thieves. He fell among thieves.

He wasn't looking for thieves. He was just simply going down to Jericho, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, the clothes were ripped off him, and he received a dreadful beating. That's the verb that is used here. Consider it pure joy when you're going along nicely and all of a sudden. Consider it pure joy in the awareness of the fact that this is not unusual, this is inevitable. Consider it pure joy when you recognize that trials come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Isn't that the phrase? When you face trials of many kinds. Now, all of that by way of perspective. Let's move into verse 3 and verse 4, where he outlines, if you like, the process or the sequence that results in the finished product. First of all, there is faith. Because you know that the testing of your faith—faith—faith appears there without an object. It doesn't say faith in God or faith in Jesus. It just says, Your faith. Therefore, legitimately, rightly, it simply means being a Christian.

Being a Christian. Because you know that the testing of your faith, the testing of your Christian life, the testing of your Christian profession. James is writing here not to people who are interested in religion, but he is writing to people who have come to understand that Jesus is their Savior. They have been made aware of the fact that by their nature they are unfit for heaven, they are unable to rectify their circumstances, and they have discovered in Jesus the only one who can prepare them, save them, deliver them. And they are the people who have received him and who have believed in him. And all of that is represented in this notion of faith, thereby causing us all, as we take a second in passing, to say, Am I a man or woman of faith?

Have I come to a place in my life recognizing I am unfit for heaven, I am unable to make my own way there, and discovering that Jesus has provided for me, by his death on the cross, forgiveness for my sins, and has opened up a way of entry, so that I might come like a little child and trust unreservedly in him. That's where it all begins. Number one, faith.

Number two, in the process or the program. Faith, then faith put to the test. Faith put to the test. Because you know that the testing of your faith. Trials are the means by which our faith, our Christian life, is tested. What is being tested for?

Two things. The test is, number one, to see if that faith is genuine. Or if it's fake. And one of the ways that we discover whether we have genuine faith or fake faith is when our faith is up against it.

When the band plays, when everyone's marching, when everything's fine, it's pretty easy to say, Oh, yeah, I'm in this. Yes, I'm going along with this. But it's when the wheels fall off, when the difficulties come, when family life begins to disintegrate, when we lose our job, or whatever it might be, then in the testing, we begin to discover whether faith is genuine. The test is to look for the genuine nature of faith, and the test is to look for the growing nature of faith.

Is this a stagnant faith, or is this a growing faith? Back to James chapter 1. He chose to give us birth. He humbly plants the Word in us, verse 21. The Word which can save you. And then he says, Make sure you don't merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says. Thirdly, faith—faith put to the test—then perseverance. By means of the testing, James says, we develop staying power. The Christian life is not a few hundred-yard sprints.

It's a cross-country run that lasts for the totality of our lives. Faith—faith put to the test—tested, it produces staying power. And our heavenly Father knows how much we can take. And perseverance, you will notice, must finish its work. Must finish its work.

In other words, we're forced to learn in practice what we know in principle. Look at the life of an individual who has soft eyes, a tender heart, a caring granny, a sensitive youth—and I can guarantee you, they did not come to that without the experience of trials. And perseverance, when it finishes its work, renders as the product maturity, completion, and lacking nothing. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life. Most of us want a crown without any perseverance.

Most of us want to be able to go straight to the graduation class without doing the study. And God is so gracious and kind, he won't allow it. He brings us to maturity. He completes the good work that he has begun in us, Philippians 1.6, and the good work that he brings to completion is to make us like Jesus. Christlikeness. Christlikeness.

How does a person become mature? How is the work of grace completed? How is there that sense of being wrapped up in the provision of God?

Well, it's all here in this process. Let me just give you two quotes, one from the Puritan and another from Spurgeon. One of the Puritan writers puts it this way.

He says, The winds of tribulation blow away the chaff of error, hypocrisy, and doubt. You see, because hypocrites will never stand up under the trial. If you're a hypocrite, you'll be gone. You'll be running for the border. You'll be running for the hills. If it's skin deep, you're done. There's nothing there.

How do you find that out? Not in the sunshine. In the furnace. More progress is made in the Christian life through disappointment and tears than is ever made through success and laughter. The winds of tribulation blow away the chaff of error, hypocrisy, and doubt, leaving that which survives the test the genuine element of Christian character. The genuine element of Christian character. Spurgeon, in a far more colloquial way, addressing his congregation in February of 1883, picks up the picture from the sea and from sailors, and he says, You look at the weather-beaten sailor, the man who is at home on the sea.

He has a bronzed face and mahogany-colored skin. He looks tough as oak. He would not have become a hardy sailor by staying on the shore. Now he says, trials work in God's people, that spiritual hardiness, that spiritual hardiness, which cannot be learned in ease. Trials work in God's people, that spiritual hardiness, toughness, that cannot be learned in ease. He goes on, You may go to school forever, but you cannot learn endurance there.

You may color your face with paint, but you cannot give it that ingrained brown which comes of stormy seas and howling winds. Strong faith and perseverance come by trials. To reach that condition of firm endurance and sacred hardiness is worth all the expense of all the heaped-up troubles that ever come upon us from above or from beneath. It's quite a statement. The question is, do I believe it? Do you believe it?

Do we believe it? Because if we do, it will change dramatically the way we respond to our trials. Not that we will say, Oh, I love these trials in and of themselves. They fill me with joy. No, they don't. They fill us with pain. They fill us with fear. They fill us with uncertainty. They may fill us with panic. But we consider them pure joy, because endurance and sacred hardiness come down that road and not down the path of easiness. It's quite a thought, isn't it? It's no wonder that verse 5 then reads as it does. If any of you lack wisdom… In other words, if any of you are tempted to say, Oh, no, I don't get this.

If any of you are going, Oh, no, no, no, hey, wait, wait, wait a minute. Then you should ask God, and God will get you sorted out on this. Because we need to sort it out on this. I do.

I would imagine you do too. It is as we go through trials that we develop endurance or staying power. You've been listening to Alistair beg on Truth for Life with a message titled, When Trials Come.

Alistair will close with prayer in just a minute, so please keep listening. It's our passion at Truth for Life to teach the Bible in a way that is clear and relevant. We believe the scripture is God's word, and it has the power to change the hearts of all who hear its message.

When you donate today to Truth for Life, that's the mission you're supporting. Your gifts help bring God's word to listeners across the United States and all around the world. And as a way of saying thank you for your gift today, we'd love to send you a copy of a book called Surviving Religion 101. This is a crucial book for all of us as Christians to read. It addresses many of the common cultural objections people have to faith in Jesus. Now today is the final day I'll be mentioning the book Surviving Religion 101, so if you haven't already, you can request your copy today.

Visit our website, go to truthforlife.org slash donate, or give us a call at 888-588-7884. Now here's Alistair to close with prayer. God our Father, we thank you so much that when we gather in this way we have a Bible to which we can turn, that your word is fixed in the heavens, that all of your promises find their yes and their amen in the Lord Jesus, that in Christ you give to us one blessing after another. And although we may be tempted to see trials and difficulties as a waste, when our minds are schooled and trained by your truth, we come to recognize that the reverse is so. That actually helps many of us, because our lives have been marked by difficult days, some over a long period of time have been wrestling with illness or with family circumstances that just seem never, ever to quit—some with unrequited love, others with unfulfilled hopes and dreams, some buffeted by disappointment and by doubts and darkness. And loss is painful, and trials are difficult, and troubles hurt.

Hurt! So it is a supernatural response that James prescribes, and without your Spirit's power we cannot even approximate to it. We pray, Lord, that something of the joyfulness and the clarity of your truth may help us as we go about the business of this coming week, so that the distinctiveness of Christian living may be found not in the fact that we have been removed from the realm of trials and dangers and toils and snares, but that you have given to us an altogether different perspective. And we've begun to understand the program that you have in order to bring us to maturity and to completeness and to Christlikeness. And may we offer our lives to you so that our minds might be taught by you and our hearts might be filled by you, and our lips might declare you. For we ask all of this in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. The Bible says there is an essential element that is necessary for us to be able to endure trials and difficulties. Do you know what that element is and how to get it? We'll find out tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.