Benefitting From Trials
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re starting a new series on a book of the bible that Jesus’ little brother wrote, it’s called James. James is one of my favorite books in the bible because it’s such a real, raw, practical book, and right away James starts with some practical teachings on trials, which made me a little nervous when I was planning this series, because a lot of times the Lord brings preachers through the text their preaching on which is a good thing. A pastor should live with the text they’re preaching on throughout the week and not just in their study time. But after planning this series I saw that much of ch. 1 was about trials and I was like, “Hey Zack you want to preach.” But he said no, so here I am! Pray for me...I’m just playing, Zack didn’t say no, he wouldn’t shy away from a tough text. But it is a text on trials, and James starts things off very practically, very realistically talking about how sometimes life’s hard, sometimes it’s full of trials. Some of you are like, “Amen to that!” In fact some of you might be going through a trail right now, some of you might be coming out of a trial, some of you don’t even know it yet but you’re about to go through a trial. Regardless of the season you’re in, we all know what it’s like to face trails, even those of you who aren’t Christians. Everybody knows what it’s like to go through trials, and today Jesus’ little brother James is gonna teach us that life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to our trials...He’s gonna teach us that life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to our trials. So let’s turn to James 1:1-4 and get into it. The title of today’s message is “There’s Benefits To Trials.” Life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to our trials.
Context:
Here’s your context. The book of James was written by James himself and I’ll give you more context on James as we get into the text. For now just know he’s writing this letter to “The 12 Tribes In The Dispersion,” which symbolically means Jewish Christians who have dispersed throughout the world due to persecution. The first people to become Christians were Jews that converted to Christianity after seeing Jesus rise from the dead, and as Christianity started spreading in Jerusalem the Romans and Jews started persecuting and killing Christians for their faith, the first being Stephen. Stephen was killed around 33/34 AD shortly after Jesus had risen, and after he was killed Christians started scattering, started dispersing throughout the Roman World which actually helped to spread Christianity even further, because wherever Christians went the gospel went with them. But there’s a lot of persecution, a lot of hardships, a lot of trials these Christians are facing right now, so in the early 40’s James writes this letter to The Dispersion, to the dispersed Christians to encourage them in their faith, and to teach them the importance of living out their faith even under persecution. Let’s hear what James has to say.
The Word:
James 1:1-4 states, “James, a servant...” Notice the humility in James, notice he calls himself a “servant.” I mean he’s the brother of Jesus, a very prominent leader in the early church, such a prominent leader that in Galatians 2:9 Paul calls him “a pillar” in the church, which coming from Paul that’s a massive compliment that reflects just how great of a leader James was. James had every right to say “This is James, Jesus’ little brother, a pillar in the church,” but instead he calls himself a servant. He’s doing what his older brother taught him to do, he’s doing what Jesus taught us to do which to be a servant of God and others. He calls himself a servant.
Again vs. 1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ...” Okay now this is where it gets interesting because not only does James call himself a servant of Jesus, he also calls Jesus his “Lord.” James calls Jesus his Lord, and the Greek word for “Lord” is kurios which is very interesting. It’s interesting because at one point in history the Jews translated the Old Testament part of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek, because many of the Jews became Greek speaking...and every time they translated the Old Testament Hebrew word for God into Greek, every time they translated Yahweh into Greek, they used the exact same word James uses here to describe Jesus. They used the word kurios...They used the word kurios...It’s actually one of the reasons why so many Christians were persecuted and killed under the Roman Empire. It’s because they wouldn’t call Caesar what he wanted to be called which is Kaiser Kurios, meaning “Caesar is Lord.” Many Christians were persecuted and killed because they wouldn’t call Caesar kurios, it was a title they only reserved for God, they only reserved for Jesus. But James calls Jesus kurios, which means he believes his older brother Jesus is God. He calls himself a servant of Jesus, but he’s also calling Jesus God, and for a Jew to say that is huge! It’s huge because if a Jew called Jesus God it’d be considered blasphemy, they’d treated poorly by their family and society, and they’d be worthy of severe punishment and eternal hell. So for James to call Jesus kurios, he had to be certain Jesus was God, which he was after seeing Jesus rise from the dead.
Look even from a practical standpoint James had to be certain Jesus had risen. I mean for a little brother to worship their older brother as God you’d have to be certain they’re God because siblings don’t worship siblings. One of my own sisters threw a spoon of peanut butter at my head. I’m not worshiping her, I’m not worshiping somebody who throws a spoon of peanut butter at my head. I love her, but I’m not worshiping her. Siblings don’t worship siblings. It’s because they know what their siblings are like and have the scars to prove it. In fact we know historically James didn’t worship Jesus at first either. John 7:5 states, “Not even his brothers believed in him.” That includes James. At first James didn’t believe in Jesus, at first he didn’t believe he was God, but after seeing Jesus rise form the dead calls himself a servant of Jesus and calls Jesus “Lord.” It’s a powerful piece of historical evidence in favor of the resurrection of Jesus AND of the perfect life Jesus lived. I mean if anybody knows your sins it’s your family. If you stood up and said, “Hey everybody I’m God, I’m perfect.” Your family would be like, “No you’re not! You threw a spoon of peanut butter at my head...You took my toothbrush and scrubbed the toilet with it. I can assure you, you’re not God!” If anybody knows your sins it’s your family, and James never once mentions a time when Jesus sinned, instead he calls him Lord. It’s because Jesus is God, he lived a perfect life, which means his death on the cross really is the perfect atonement for our sins. If you don’t believe that then the burden of proof is on you, because why else would a devout Jew all of a sudden start worshiping their older brother? Why would they be willing to die for the sake of telling others to worship him, which James did?
Historians tell us: “In A.D. 62 enemies of Christianity took James to the top of the temple and said “There’s too many people becoming Christians, so we want you to tell people to turn away from Jesus!” But James looked down and called out, “Why do you ask me about the son of man, he dwells in heaven and will come again in clouds of heaven.” Then in anger they threw him off the temple, he fell to the ground, became severely injured, but he didn’t die. James all beat up from the fall, having multiple broken bones, managed to twist himself on his knees...and he started praying for the forgiveness of his enemies...But his enemies came down, stoned him, and beat him over the head with a club until he died...This being the one who’s letter we’re reading...” This being the one who’s gonna teach us about trials...and for James to be willing to go through all that, he must have been certain his older brother was God. He calls himself a servant of Jesus, and calls his brother kurios. He calls Jesus Lord! Our hearts should be PRIMED, to hear James talk about trials, because he’s speaking as someone who’s faced them himself.
Again vs. 1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy...” He’s talking about our trials here. He says we should “count it all joy,” and the Greek word for “count” can also be translated as “consider.” So James is saying we need to consider it all joy, we need to consider all the trials we go through in life as joy. It’s the first thing he’s teaching us about trials. He teaching us:
#1 Consider It, Don’t Fake It = When you’re facing trials consider it all joy, but don’t fake it, don’t fake your joy. We have to look very carefully at what James is saying. He doesn’t say you should “enjoy your trials,” he doesn’t say you should be like “Yes! Trials! I love trials! I hope the next one’s worse than the last one!” Some Christians are like that, they think we need to be cheerleaders. If you ever watch cheerleaders they’re always cheering, even when the teams losing by 30 points. They’re like, “We’re losing!” Yay! “We’re losing even worse.” Yay!..Some Christians think we need to be like that when facing trials. “I lost my job, yay! I can’t pay my bills, yay! I got hit by a truck...at least it wasn’t a train. Yay!” No it’s not yay because trials hurt, they’re painful. James doesn’t say to fake it, he doesn’t say to enjoy your trials, and just because you’re not cheering in a trial doesn’t mean you have weak faith or that you don’t trust God. Jesus didn’t have weak faith, he had strong faith, and he didn’t fake his joy or pain on the cross, so you don’t have to fake yours when you feel like you’re carrying a cross. James doesn’t say to fake it, he says to consider it. A lot of times when we go through trials we don’t think clearly, we don’t think biblically, but James is telling us to think, to consider, to consider it all joy, meaning to think about the benefits that can come from our trials. He’s not saying think happy thoughts, he’s saying consider the benefits that can come from our trials. You need to look at the bigger picture of your trials, what you can learn and gain from your trials because there’s benefits to your trials. Your trials aren’t an obstacle, they’re an opportunity to learn and grow. James’ first point is to consider it, not fake it. Life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to your trials.
Again vs. 2, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials...” Notice he doesn’t say IF you meet trials, but WHEN you meet trials...He doesn’t say IF you meet trials, but WHEN you meet trials, it’s the 2nd thing he teaches us about trials. He teaches us:
#2 Trials Will Come = Trials will come. So what’s the over/under that you’ll face a trial, what are the odds? 100%. I love how relevant and true the bible is. The odds are 100%. You’re gonna face trials in life, including those of us who are Christians. So don’t be shocked when trials come your way. Don’t be like, “Well I guess this Christianity thing isn’t working.” No it’s working, you’re just facing a trial. Everybody faces trials, but deep down inside we all have this little prosperity gospel in our hearts where we think God owes us a life free of trials or at least free from any major trials, and because that’s how we think, when trials come it blindsides us. Trials are like a sucker punch to the soul. You don’t see them coming but when they hit, it knocks the wind out of you. It devastates you. James is teaching us to expect it. He says not IF trials come, but WHEN trials come. Life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to your trials.
Again vs. 2 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...” There’s a 3rd thing he teaches us about trials. He teaches us:
#3 Trials Will Vary = Our trials will vary. He says there’s “various kinds” of trials. They will vary in type, some being emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, financial, relational. They’ll vary in duration, some being short trials, long trials, some feeling like an eternity but won’t last an eternity. They’ll vary in hardship, some being harder than others. You don’t know when they’ll come, but they’ll come. They’ll come from various directions and in various ways.
Again vs. 2 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” There’s one benefit to your trials, it’s that they produce “steadfastness.” Your trials produce steadfastness, and the Greek word for steadfastness can also be translated as “endurance.” Other parts of the Bible translate it as “to stand firm,” like a solider being told to stand firm or to hold their ground in a war. James is telling us our trials are like a boot camp, a training ground, an education at the school of hard knocks, and once we go through it, we’ll come out better, stronger, sharper, more able to stand firm in our faith than ever before. Pastor John Piper states, “Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable. Faith is like muscle tissue: if you stress it to the limit, it gets stronger, not weaker. That’s what James means here. When your faith is threatened, tested, stretched to its breaking point, the result is a greater capacity to endure.” Your faith’s like a muscle, and when it’s stretched, it only gets stronger, and that’s what James is telling us in the text. He’s telling us our trials will stretch us, but they’ll produce steadfastness, endurance in us that wouldn’t be there if we didn’t go through that trial to begin with, so count it all joy. Life’s full of trials, but there’s benefits to your trials.
Again vs. 3, “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect...” Meaning don’t quit, don’t give up, don’t give in when trials come. Instead weather the storm, be steadfast, stand firm in your faith so steadfastness can have “its full effect” in growing you. Do you stand or do you run?..When facing trials do you stand or do you run?..Do you stand and press deeper into the Lord, or do you run from the Lord?..Tim Keller states, “Trials are God’s way of saying, ‘Are you ready to bolt?..Are you ready to bolt?..Did you get into Christianity for me to serve you, or did you get into Christianity for you to serve me?’” James is saying stand, don’t run, and let steadfastness have its full effect.
Again vs. 4, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” There’s another benefit to trials, it’s that our trials will make us more “perfect and complete,” meaning more perfect and complete in faith, life, and relationship with Jesus. The implication is that we’re incomplete people, which you and I both know is true. There’s things in your life you want to overcome, you want to grow in, you want to mature in, and if your life was already complete, you wouldn’t feel that tension to grow and mature. So the implication is that we’re incomplete, and God graciously allows us to go through trials to make us more complete. I mean think about it for a second. You can’t learn compassion and empathy until you go through situations where you need compassion and empathy. You can’t learn to be appreciative until you go through situations where you realize you weren’t appreciative. Funerals have a way of doing that to us. They sober us up, make us more appreciative, cause us to reset so we don’t take things for granted. Trials can teach us compassion, empathy, appreciation, even dependency on God. You can’t learn dependency on God until you go through situations where you need to be dependent on God. I mean we already show a lack of dependency on God by how we treat God like an afterthought in our day, imagine how much worse it’d be if we never faced a single trial. Trials have this way of humbling us, of waking us up to the reality that we’re not as in control of our lives as we think, we need God’s help. You learn real quick just how much you need God, when you face trials that leave you powerless without God. Trials can humble you, teach you to be more dependent on God, and make you more complete. There’s so many things we can learn, so many benefits to our trials, which is exactly why James says to count it all joy. It’s because right now we’re incomplete, but our trials are making us more complete. For Christians it’s making us more complete in our faith, life, and relationship with Jesus.
But some Christians are like, “I want to grow in my faith, but I don’t want trials.” That’s like saying, “I want to become fit, but I don’t want to eat healthy or workout.” You can’t become fit without eating healthy and working out, and you can’t grow in your faith without going through trials. So do you want to be comfortable or complete?..Do you want to be comfortable or complete?..I don’t like that question, because I know the churchy answer is to say I want to be complete, but deep down inside I really want to be comfortable and you know how I know? Because my prayers reflect that. Most of my prayers are comfort related not completion related. It’s okay to ask God for seasons of comfort, but we also should ask to see the joyful work He’s doing in our season of trial. But most of my prayers are focused on asking God to make me comfortable not complete. You can’t have it both ways, either you want comfort and not growth in Jesus, or you want growth in Jesus which requires seasons of discomfort, which is it for you? Do you want comfort or do you want completion?.. Do you want comfort, or do you want completion?..City Awakening God’s way more concerned about your completion than your comfort. He’s way more concerned about making you complete than making you comfortable. There’s things in our lives that are missing, and idols we need to let go of that are hindering our life. How gracious God is to allow us to go through trials so we can learn things, let go of things, and be made more complete. He’s gracious to allow us seasons of comfort, and He’s just as gracious to allows us seasons of trials. So as hard as it is, count it all joy even as you weep, because your trials are making you complete. This coming from Jesus’ little brother who was thrown off a building, and beaten with a club for his faith. He said count..it..all..joy.
Communion:
So how’s your season?..How’s the season you’re in right now?..Is it a season of comfort, or a season of trial?..Regardless of the season, look to Jesus and count it all joy. Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...” Jesus endured the pains of the cross by considering the joy set before him, by considering the joy that would come out of the cross, by considering the joy of our salvation. Communion is a reminder of this. It’s a reminder that Jesus endured the trial of the cross so we could enjoy the benefits of that trial. It’s a reminder that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins so we can enjoy the benefits of having an eternal relationship with him. It’s a reminder that his trial, became our benefit...His trial, became our benefit, and if you’re not a Christian you don’t have any assurance it’ll all turn out okay at the end of your life. But Jesus offers you that assurance and proved it’ll all be okay when he rose from the dead. James confirmed it’s true and you can have the benefits of that truth if you repent of your sins and believe Jesus died for your sins. So receive him as your Lord and Savior, and you’ll have a hope that’s greater than your greatest trials...Let’s go ahead and pass the communion plates at this time, and as the plates are being passed take a piece of bread, take a cup, and hold it until I’m finished explaining communion...
On the night Jesus was betrayed he was sharing a meal with his disciples, and while at the table he took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and said “This is my body which is broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat of it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” Then when supper was ended he took the cup, gave thanks for it and said “This cup is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” City Awakening let’s eat, let’s drink, and let’s take a few minutes to look to Jesus in our trials considering all the joys that are ahead, the greatest of those joys being face to face with Jesus....and having him wipe away every tear from our eyes, making not him an afterthought, but our trials an afterthought.