January 13, 2008 – Testing our Faith
We’re going to start a new series on the book of James today. Great topics are covered in this book: Trials & Temptations, Faith & Deeds, Taming the Tongue, Wisdom, Submission, Knowing the Future, Patience, and Prayer. We start in chapter one, where James, the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, writes TO CHRISTIANS, about how we as believers should live our lives for God. He does not write in this letter any convincing arguments for the gospel message. He is addressing those who already have put their faith and trust in Christ.
How many of like to be tested? We face all kinds of tests in life, don’t we? But the ones we remember the most seem to be the tests from when we were in school. We got tested on the things that the teacher tries to get us to learn. We’re tested to see what we have retained in our brain. The teacher or professor wants to find out how much knowledge has passed through the outer layers of our skull and found a good home in our head. Do we remember what we heard in class, what we read in our text books, what we saw on a video, what we experienced on a field trip? We are tested to see if our answers to the questions on a subject are correct or not. And then we’re graded based on our answers. A passing grade means we can move on and learn something new. A failing grade means we need to go back and do some more studying on the subject, and then come back and re-write the test until you pass, and hopefully with a grade higher than 51%. Our goal should be 100%. It would be great if we could get it all right, all the time.
Think about a doctor. If you were to need surgery, would you want to be told that the person who is going to be cutting you open and digging around in your body had a 51% passing grade on their exams? How about an airline pilot? Would you get onto a 747 if you knew the pilot had a D- on their flight tests? What about a pharmacist? Would you take heart medicine from someone who didn’t know exactly how medicines should be compounded? And would you trust your life-savings with an investor who puts all their eggs into one basket?
I want the doctor who got 100% on their final. I want the pilot who can fly in any weather scenario. I want a pharmacist who knows which medicines should not be taken together. And I want an investment advisor who will make better decisions than I because of their knowledge of the market.
I want the people who I trust in my life to have passed the tests. I’d like to know that they know everything when it comes to their area of expertise. These are people I can trust. These are people in whom I could trust my very life. Tonight we’re going to look at a different kind of test, the testing of our FAITH.
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (NIV)
It never ceases to amaze me how God’s Word is fresh and new every time I read it. I may have read this passage a dozen times or more, and yet something new always seems to jump out at me. I want to share some of that with you tonight.
We all face trials and tests of some kind. And we all face different kinds of things in our walk through this life. Some will face relationship difficulties, others health issues, physical challenges, mental challenges, job problems, church problems. One thing that jumped out at me this week though was that we are to FACE these trials and FACE these tests. When a problem or trial or test comes into my life, I need to face it head-on. I shouldn’t turn my back on the problem and pretend that it doesn’t exist, that won’t solve anything! Think of soldiers in battle. If they turn their backs on their enemies, then they will be vulnerable to all sorts of attack and will not be able to defend themselves. Likewise we, if we turn our backs to our problems, trials and tests, will be unable to defend ourselves from the issues that might arise from them. If we ignore a disease, it will only get worse. If we ignore a relationship problem, it will just get worse. If we turn and run from our problems, we will never be able to handle anything that comes our way; we won’t get strong enough to handle more difficult issues.
The story is told of a Scottish discus thrower from the 19th century. He lived in the days before professional trainers, and developed his skills alone in the highlands. He made his own discus from the description he read in a book. What he didn’t know was that the competition discus was made of wood with an outer rim of iron. His discus was made of pure metal, four times heavier than the ones used by his would-be challengers. This committed Scotsman trained day after day, labouring under the burden of extra weight. He marked the record distance and kept working until he could throw that far. Of course, when he arrived at the competition, he was handed the official wooden discus. He threw it like a tea saucer. He set new records and for many years, none of his competitors could touch him.
And that is what God is trying to do in us as we go through different and more difficult problems in life. He is trying to MATURE & COMPLETE US. It’s like a body builder, who works to lift heavy weights. They don’t work with the heaviest weight they can lift in order to build muscle. They work with lighter weights, doing many reps, saving the heavy weights for only a few of their work outs. Muscle build gradually so that, in time, they can lift extremely heavy weights.
God develops perseverance in us the same way; by testing our faith little by little, in increasing increments and perhaps even frequency. Faith is trust in God, His Word, and His promises. Have you ever played the trust game? It’s when you fall backward into the arms of a person behind you. You can’t see them; you just trust that they are not going to let you hit the ground when you fall. We used to do this from the stage at school, falling backward into the arms of a group of people 5 feet below you…eek! The fear that goes through your mind as you contemplate the fall, the feeling of falling for even just a second grips your heart. Then the peace that overwhelms you as you are caught in the arms of friends.
That’s what trusting God is like. We may tremble with fear; not knowing what life will be like if we put our trust in Him completely. Everything we know is what we see around us and the ground we’re standing on right now. God seems like an unknown, and the thought of trusting someone we can’t see is hard; perhaps very hard. But once we overcome that fear, and place our lives in the hands of a loving, caring, just, and holy God, we suddenly realize that without Him, we were incomplete. There was something missing. A lack of purpose, a feeling of emptiness, a need for something more. And only by putting our trust in God are those things satisfied, so that we are lacking nothing. God completes us. We were designed for God, by God.
And the more we know about God, the more Bible knowledge we have, and the more deep our faith and trust in Him, the more effective we will be as His witnesses in the world. The more God is able to trust US as His witnesses, the more He can do THROUGH us. We may come across a person with a very strong ability to refute the word of God and make our faith seem weak. If we’re a spiritual light-weight, than our testimony won’t have much affect on that person’s life. But if we have exercised our faith, built up our spiritual muscles, and put all our trust in God’s ability to work through us, our faith will stand up against anything.
Genesis 22 – God tested Abraham and promised to bless him and his descendants because of Abraham’s obedience in willing to offer his only son to God.
Likewise, James states that we have to believe and not doubt God when we ask for wisdom in our lives. When we go through struggles and tests, we should ask God for the wisdom to be able to deal with the situation, and then we have to BELIEVE that God will answer. He says God will give generously to all, no questions asked. When it comes to wisdom and help in dealing with our problems, God is more than willing to help. But we NEED TO ASK, we need to believe and we must not doubt God. If we doubt Him, we are double-minded, says James. We might trust in some areas, but not in others. ‘God, I trust you are here when I’m at church, but when I go to work, I leave you out of it. Lord my life is all yours, but I won’t ask you about how I should spend my money. God I respect your morals, but please turn away while I look at this site on the internet.’ It can go on and on.
We need God’s wisdom in ALL AREAS of life. We make decisions every day that can potentially have eternal effects on our lives, and the lives of others. Opportunities to share our testimony, chances to reach out to someone in need, choices to love the unlovable or turn away in disgust; these are all things we will face. Do we take a stand for God, or do we collapse under the peer pressure of the world?
Perhaps we should start our days like the Psalmist when he prayed in Psalm 139:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NIV)
And after all this testing, after this life is over, what is the reward? If we have persevered under trial, if we have stood up for God in this life, if we have trusted Him for our salvation and not our own wisdom, then the result is a crown of life, eternal life. That’s a promise from God for those who love Him. And if God says it, we must believe it. Do we? That means that for those who do not believe, for those who do not trust Him, for those who fail the test of faith, the prize of eternal life will not be awarded.
Testing referring to precious metal: Gold test – acid test – taking nitric acid to find out if gold plated or filled on base metal or silver depending on colour. The purer the gold, reaction will be less. 10K gold turns dark brown, 14K gold will have no reaction.
Zechariah 13:8-9 (New International Version)
8 In the whole land," declares the LORD,
"two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.
9 This third I will bring into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ’They are my people,’
and they will say, ’The LORD is our God.’ "
If we were to be tested like this, would God say that of us? Are we His people? Is the Lord our God? Is He yours?
