In this short book of James, 108 verses, James the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Pastor of the first church at Jerusalem address the subject of Christianity from a very practical view. He does not try to debate philosophy and teach doctrinal theology. He simply states in chapter one what a Christian has: Real Christians have real faith that can stand under pressure.
In a pandemic marked by the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, people don’t need COVID-19 preying on their state of mind as well as their body, one psychiatrist said. Loss of job, loss of insurance, loss of housing, loss of access to health care – all of that plays into the patient’s mental health. In fact, growing numbers of people are saying that worry and stress related to coronavirus have negatively impacted their mental health. The Body of Christ has not been able to avoid the effects. Regardless of where you think you are going; regardless of how you are feeling, James has a word for all those who find themselves in the midst of great trials.
James could not be considered as a modern evangelist because his message is too confrontational. The power of God in the Christian’s life equips them to give evidence of their Christianity. Real Christianity is more than talk. Talk is cheap. James did not want the Christians to be guilty of making great claims, professing to be people of God, and not living up to the standard of Christ. Christianity must not only be believed, but it must also be lived. The proof of our faith is a changed life. Genuine faith will always produce good works. Any faith that does not produce good works is dead. And there is no salvation in a dead faith. James is writing to people on the run, people that had been scattered by severe persecution, affected by economic downturn, and a host of other challenges. I am sure they would have love to hear someone preach that these present trials will soon be over, don’t worry be happy.” But instead, he writes, in times like these, “my brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” In other words, you must allow your faith in God to the source of your joy. Learn to be joyful in the midst of pressure and persecution. As the songwriter put it, “Turn your pressure into praise”. James uses “divers temptations” which means manifold or many temptations. Somehow, the apostle is convinced that real faith can stand under pressure. This message really does not sound so good, be happy when you go through a lot of problems, a lot of pressures. He suggests that we should develop an attitude of joy in the midst of suffering. Real faith in God can rejoice in the face of difficulty. Now I don’t know about you, but I love to rejoice on the mountaintop, but James says, call on us rejoice in the midst of the valley. A Christian must learn stand under pressure because Temptation and trial cannot be avoided.
1. Temptations and Trials Cannot Be Avoided -James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
James does not say if you go through trials, but when you go through trials and difficulties, because your faith is going to be tried. Since we all must go through, it is good to hear a strong word on endurance that staying the course and keeping the faith will pay off. James gives us some instructions on how to endure trials, how to go through hard situations. If we are going to find joy in the difficult times, we must know what’s being accomplished through the trials of life. James message is not that it is all going to get better, not that everything is going to work out as you had planned, but let joy be developed in your life through difficult times.
James is leading the Jerusalem church– his members are Jewish Christians–they are hated by the Gentiles for being Jews, they are hated by the Jews for being Christian, basically nobody likes them and everyone is against them. They were forced to lead Jerusalem, their homes, their families, their jobs and wander in isolation. But in all this, James stresses, keep your attitude right, don’t give up, let the joy of the Lord be your strength. Christian can stand under pressure if they keep the right attitude and don’t give up. Temptations and trials cannot be avoided because Satan, our chief adversary uses them to try to stop us and cause us give up and distrust God. At the same, God our Father uses the same trials to mature us and develop our faith. The trying of your faith tests the realness and quality of our faith. Tests and Trials are the proving ground for true religion. The man that stands in such trials gives proof that his religion is sound, and the evidence afforded to his own mind and heart causes him to take courage, bear trials patiently, and persevere. Christians must endure temptations and trials because they cannot be avoided, secondly, they are God’s school of Spiritual Development.
2. Temptations and Trials Are God’s Tool for Spiritual Development - Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Affliction is one of the instrument God uses to polish and refine us. Therefore, through the work of the Holy Spirit and effect of afflictions, we are perfected in Christ. Christians can endure temptation when there (1) is found within us an entire trust and dependency upon God's power and promises, and (2) when there is a cheerful submission, and quiet resignation which says not my will but thy be done! When we surrender to God’s will under the sharpest trials and heaviest afflictions that can befall us; then patience has its perfect work, and the suffering Christian, in a gospel qualified sense, may be said to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. C.S Lewis says, Pain is the megaphone of God to get the world’s attention.” I believe that the tests and trials of life are God’s tools for spiritual development. It has been said, “Christians are like tea bags for best results, put them in hot water.” The world has an expression, “No pain, no gain!” In a gym, all the equipment is designed to put muscles under pressure. The pressure is not designed to break the athlete, its designed to help develop the athlete. When we let patience have her perfect work, we will be perfect or mature and complete lacking nothing. Temptations and trials cannot be avoided and they are tools God allows for our spiritual development. Also, temptations and trials are personal and individual.
3. Temptations and Trials Are Personal and Individual - Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6) 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. 7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8) A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9) Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10) But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11) For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Temptations and trials are personal and individual. In order to go through successfully, we will need the wisdom of God. God alone can help you understand the “what and whys” of your temptations, and how you are to be improved by them. Patience is already in every godly person. We must exercise that patience and ask God for wisdom. The same wisdom is needed by all in the midst of trials, both in the rich and the poor. Temptations and trials are tailor made for each of us. Some of us face trials within the context of marriage, others are tempted with loneliness and being alone. God alone knows the exact test needed for our spiritual development. James uses opposing situations to explain this. The man of low degree should rejoice because future exaltation, the rich should rejoice of his blessing today and not become frustrated if his riches fade away. He tries the rich, to see if they will open their hands to the poor. He tries the poor, to see if they will receive affliction and not murmur. If, therefore, the rich stand in his temptation, and give alms to the poor, he shall enjoy his riches in this world, and his horn shall be exalted in the world to come, and God shall deliver him from the punishment of hell. If the poor stand in his temptation, and do not complain, (kick back,) he shall have double in the world to come." Temptations and Trials Can not be avoid, they are allowed for our spiritual development, they are individual and personal, tailormade for each of us, yet those who overcome them will be rewarded.
4. Temptations and Trials Overcome Will Be Rewarded- James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
James insists that happy is the man that endureth temptation. Here the writer changes the word for temptation to trials of various kinds. These trials may include temptation to sin, persecutions from without and within, economic pressures, enduring a pandemic and mental anxiety as Satan would attempt to convince the Christian that God does not care and that his labor is in vain.
The man or woman who endures with a proper attitude of faith and endurance shall receive the crown of life that fadeth not away, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. His faithful endurance proves his love for God. For it is love that "endureth all things." When the motivation is love towards God, we can endure all things. Remember the story of Jacob who worked seven years for Rachel the daughter of Laban in Genesis 29:18-20 “And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”
Jacob’s faith was tested with disappointment and trickery. He founded himself married to the wrong woman and facing the conditions of a new contract. Yet because of his love for Rachel, he willingly served another seven years. The only thing that causes the believer to faithfully endure trials is his great love for God. God is not like Laban. He will not use deception or trickery, he has promised a full reward. The man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive……a full reward.
Long before I came to know the Lord, I would hear the older saints, sang, “If we live right, heaven belongs to you!” They had few earthly possessions, little influence in this world, but a rich faith in God. They would sing, “some glad morning, when this life is over, I’ll fly away…They believe God’s promise of a full reward. There is a full reward for who endure the temptations of life with an unshakable faith in God. Even though (1) temptations and trials cannot be avoided, they can be endured and God has a purpose in allowing them. (2) Temptations and trials are one of God’s tool for our spiritual development. All these things may not be good, yet they are all working for our good. (3) My temptations and trials are personal and individual. They are tailor-made for me, just as yours are for you. They are not too big or too great, God himself knows what we can bear. 1Co 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” The Child of God has the assurance that if we overcome these temptations and trials, we will receive a full Reward. Serving the Lord will pay off after while!
