You can turn with me in your Bibles to James chapter 1. As I've said, when I get back from holidays, we're going to start a study in the life of David. Tonight, we're going to look at the believer's response to trials. We went through the book of James probably a couple of years ago, and I'm sure I dealt with this on a Wednesday night, if it seems appropriate to the context of the local church, when we all face the various trials associated with living in a sin-cursed world.

So our focus will be on verses 2 to 8, but I want to begin reading in verse 1 and read the entirety of the chapter. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

The Pursuit of Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our Father, as we come now to consider the believer in trials, we pray for the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We know that living in this world, a sin-cursed world, a world in opposition to our God, and oftentimes opposition to God's people, we know there are trials. We know there are afflictions. We know there are difficulties associated, not only with the world, but with the devil and with our own remaining corruption.

Certainly, Lord God, we need constant dependence upon You. We need grace from on high, and we need the power of the Spirit indwelling us so that we may endure and we may persevere. Help us now with the Word of God to understand these things. Help us to understand how we are to conduct ourselves when under affliction.

And to that end, Father, we pray that you would be glorified, and that you would be honored, and that we would be good representatives of our God in the midst of a sin-cursed world, in the midst of a life of afflictions. Help us to nevertheless be full of joy and thanksgiving, always expressing itself unto our great God. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, it has been rightly recognized that the Epistle of James is most practical. It is a wonderful document in terms of Christian living. And it shouldn't surprise us that James deals with the issue of trial. Our Lord certainly dealt with it in His ministry.

In John's Gospel, He said, In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. in our studies in the book of Acts. We have certainly seen trial. We have seen affliction. We have seen persecution targeting the people of God at every step of the way, both from unbelieving Israel and increasingly from the Roman Empire.

So, affliction, trial, and difficulty was not a foreigner to the people of God in the first century, neither has it been from the centuries subsequent to that.

Sermon Overview and Structure

So I want to look first at the believer's response to trials in verses 2 to 4, and then secondly, the believer's request during trials in verses 5 to 8. But as we look at the believer's response, I have four sub-points. In the first place, the identification of the trials in view. Secondly, the expectation concerning trials.

Third, the disposition necessary during trials. And then fourthly, under that main heading, the recognition of God's purpose in our trials. In other words, it isn't for naught. There are reasons.

There is a rationale. There is a purpose for the trial that affects the people of God. God doesn't just inflict these things upon us in some sort of sick, twisted, sadistic way, but rather it is always redemptive. It is always remedial.

It is for our growth in grace. Remember we saw last week that Christ as Son learned obedience through suffering. And if we are the sons of God by adoption, then most likely there will be some suffering, there will be some affliction, there will be some trial along the way to further conform us onto the image of our beloved Savior. So under the believer's response to trials,

The Believer's Response to Trials

notice in the first place, the identification of the trials in view.

Identification of the Trials in View

The trials of verse two are different than what we see in verse 13. Verse two, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. It's the same Greek word, here in verse 2, and then again in verse 13. Verse 13 tells us, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone.

When you have words, there's often a range of meaning. And so the author here indicates to us, by way of context, how we're supposed to understand this particular Greek word. So in verse two, they are not a solicitation to do evil. God does not promote that.

God does not produce that. God does not give us that. He doesn't entice us onto evil or onto wickedness. That is the activity of the devil, at least in some sense, according to Matthew 4.

It was the devil that tempted our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness. the temptations as well that we have associated with our remaining corruption. That's not what's in view in verse 2. It's the trials, it's the afflictions, it's the difficulties, it's the hardships. Again, living in a sin-cursed world, having remaining corruption ourselves, not being in a state of perfection ourselves, there will be hardship in the lives of God's people.

So James recognizes that and James gives us this so that we'll know how to process it and how to deal with it. So the trials of verse 2 is not the solicitation to do evil in verse 13. John Gill says, not the temptations of Satan, verse 2, or temptations to sin, for these cannot be matter for joy, but grief. These are fiery darts and give a great deal of uneasiness and trouble, but afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the gospel, which are so called here and elsewhere because they are trials of the faith of God's people and of other graces of the Spirit of God." So it's important that we get that.

God is not giving us these trials of verse 2 in a solicitation for us to do evil. God does not tempt us that way, He is not tempted Himself, so He does not afflict us with that. So the trials of verse 2 are just that. They're to help promote our graces, they're help to promote our dependence upon God, and our prayerfulness and our faithfulness to the Lord.

Now

The Expectation of Trials

notice, secondly, in terms of the expectation of trials, James expects it. James assumes the presence of trials. James doesn't say to his audience, now, you've just become Christians, you're doing quite well, but somewhere along the way, you're going to have some hardship. No, he assumes that the people of God have already experienced that, again, because he was a student of his half-brother.

I take James being the half-brother of Jesus, the leader of the church in Jerusalem that wrote this particular epistle. But he expected that believers will have trials. Again, the teaching of Jesus. You can turn back to Matthew's Gospel.

Matthew chapter 10, just to get a few places where our Lord highlights the reality that there is trial for the people of God. Matthew chapter 10, verses 16 to 25. I won't read the whole section, but notice what he says. He's preparing them for mission.

He's preparing to send them out. Verse 16, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but beware of men for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You'll be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Notice as well in John's gospel in John chapter 15. John chapter 15, Jesus indicates the real reason why the people in the world hate the people of God. Notice in John 15 verse 18, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.

Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent me. So this is one type of trial that may affect the people of God. Persecution from the world. But that doesn't exhaust the trials.

We have suffering, we have pain, we have sorrow, we have loss. There's a whole host of things facing the people of God. And as I said, John 16, 33. He crowns the upper room discourse with this statement.

These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. When we turn to the book of Acts, as we have been surveying in our morning services, we have seen the experience of the early disciples.

Affliction, trial, hardship. James assumes the presence. Notice in 1 Peter chapter 4, that apostle as well highlights the reality that trial and affliction is part and parcel of the Christian life. Notice in 1 Peter 4 at verse 12, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.

In other words, do not be shocked when everything doesn't go like a Disney movie. Do not be shocked when there's actually hardship in this world. Do not be shocked because you follow the one who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Don't be so surprised that horrible things happen to be happening to you because you are you and you just shouldn't have such things affect you.

No, the biblical authors, following our Lord Jesus Christ, following the entirety of the Old Testament, understand this reality, that in this world you will have tribulation. What does Jacob say as he's blessing the sons of Joseph? He blesses God for having delivered him out of all evil. Jacob went through a great deal of hardship, a great deal of affliction, and a great deal of trial.

So the expectation in James 1 is that there will be difficulty for the people of God. In the experience of the people of God that James is writing to, they are exiles according to James 1.1. There was poverty affecting the people that James wrote to according to James 1.9, James 2.1-7, James 2.15-17. And then the people that James wrote to also suffered religious persecution.

So again, he is not shocking them. He is not calling upon them to prepare themselves for some future eventuality. These are people in the crucible of suffering right here and right now. And James is writing to them on how they are to process this and how they are to deal with this.

And

The Disposition Necessary During Trials

that brings us to the third point, the disposition necessary during trials. Notice what he says, and it's so counterintuitive, it is so contrary to everything that you and I might expect. He says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. If you're like me, joy is not your default disposition when you fall into various trials.

If you're like me, it's puzzlement, it's questioning, it's wondering, but it's not joy. It's not a response to thank God Almighty, but James orients us to that particular task. He tells us to count it all joy. Why?

Because we're sickly fascinated with pain and suffering? No, again, God has his remedial purposes, and that will be spelled out clearly in verses three and four. But this is, as I said, counterintuitive. We have affliction.

We have hardship. We have trial. We have a difficulty. And instead of joy, we oftentimes complain.

Instead of joy, we oftentimes murmur. Instead of joy, we oftentimes whine. Oftentimes we grumble. We oftentimes wonder, why in the world would God send something so bad to someone so awesome as me?

That's not supposed to be the response when we fall into various trials. The response is to be, count it all joy. There is a necessary reminder given by this brother in light of the rest of Scripture that when we face trials, we're not to lose it. We're to keep it together by the grace of God and in our keeping it together, we're to survey the particular issue and situation and find God's purposes in it and seek by God's grace to learn from it and to seek by God's grace to grow from it. not to whine, grumble, murmur, or complain.

Paul in Romans 5.3 highlights the same sort of thing. 1 Peter 1.6-9, same sort of thing. Calvin says, he means in short, that there is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy. This is the proper perspective that one has as he or she goes through the trials and the afflictions that we face. Now, it's not some sick, twisted, laughing fit.

It's not, wow, I lost this person in my life. What a joyful day. That's not it at all. It's that we don't get shaken from our confidence in God.

It's so that we don't be overcome by grief in such a way that we despond and that we no longer serve the Lord as we ought.

The Purpose of God in Trial

And that brings us, fourthly, under this first point, the believer's response to trials, to consider the purpose of God in trial. Notice, verse 2, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. And then he says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. In other words, there's supposed to be understanding.

We should have already reviewed this passage at some point in our lives. We should have reviewed the Bible's teaching about trial and about affliction at some point in our lives. James says, knowing this. In other words, you're to have a theological appreciation of what God is doing in the midst of affliction.

He doesn't do this because he's sick and he's twisted and he's sadistic. He does this because, in the purpose of God, he is conforming us unto the image of his beloved Son. In fact, turn to Romans chapter 8 to get a good glimpse of that. Romans chapter 8, that ordo salutis, that golden chain of salvation.

We see in verse 28, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be what? To be conformed to the image of His Son. If the Son learned obedience through suffering, do you think that you and I are going to learn obedience through not suffering?

Do you think we're going to go sit on a beach somewhere and sip cold iced tea or whatever it is that we like and learn obedience? No, it's going to come through suffering like the Son of God. He goes on to say, for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called.

Whom He called, these He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified. God is forming Christ in us. or rather God is conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. And afflictions and trials and persecutions are one of the ways in which he does that.

And so we need to know that. That's what James says in verse three, knowing that the testing of your faith produces, probably better here, is endurance or perseverance. You see that in the margin. That's not a translation call.

It's not a version call. It's simply, again, the range that Greek words possess And in this particular context, the idea is that it produces perseverance. It produces endurance. It produces a going forward in the fear of God.

One man says, the emphasis is not on passivity, but being bravely patient with suffering until it dissipates. So it's not just when these trials come, lay down on your couch and smile. And then you've satisfied all of the requirements on how to deal with it. My brethren, count it all joy, hence the smile.

We just lay on the couch and have patience. That's not what's in view. It's persevering and enduring in the midst of that affliction. See, God doesn't say, well, when afflictions hit, go ahead and book your vacation and just leave and get out of town.

I'm not suggesting it's never okay to just leave and get out of town. Jesus does this with his disciples. Jesus does this in his own earthly ministry. But with reference to our trials, we need to bear up, we need to persevere, and we need to count it all joy when we go through these particular things.

So he says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance or endurance, but then notice he doesn't stop there, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Now the idea here with reference to perfection, it's probably, well, it's not perfectionism, it could be maturity, it could be blamelessness. The perfection will not ultimately be realized until the eternal state, according to verse 12. but you see that theological context. God doesn't just afflict you so that you'll be a sufferer.

God afflicts. God brings trial. God brings hardship. God brings persecution at times, so that you will indeed have this perseverance, so that you will indeed have this endurance, and that that will mature and it will grow.

But let patience have its perfect word, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Sort of like a forging process, you take the old steel or you take untempered steel, you put it into the fire, not to mess it up, but to harden it, to make it better, to make it stronger. And that is the effect that trials produce in the lives of God's people. We come out the other side, not weaker, typically, we come out the other side harder, forged, tempered, ready to do battle even more so than when we went into the fire.

In fact, the old writers sort of used that mindset. Well, this is a modern writer. He says, tempered metal is more precious than the raw material. Thomas Manton, an older writer, says, God's aim in your afflictions is not destruction, but trial.

As gold is put into the furnace to be refined, not consumed. All of you parents understand this. All of you parents, you may not actively afflict and try your kids, but you don't make their lives completely without obstacle. If you do that, you're going to ruin them.

You need to make sure that they eat dirt. You need to make sure that they breathe the air. You need to make sure that they're exposed to the various things so that their immune system will be robust and strong and able to repel the various things that may come their way. The Wuhan being the most obvious.

Brethren, God does this for His glory and for our good. It's because of that we can count it all joy when we fall into various trials, because we know that God is not making sport of us, but God is tempering us. God is strengthening us. God is putting us through the fire so that we'll come out on the other side able to serve and glorify and honor Him even more so.

And according to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1, those tried, those afflicted, those affected by life in this world who have tried and proven the graciousness of God in the midst of it are now able to encourage others. So you go through your fire and you come out on the other end and you'll be well calculated to encourage and promote in others the ability to do likewise and to count it all joy when they fall into various trials. Now, that's the believer's response.

The Believer's Request During Trials

Notice in verses 5 to 8, the believer's request during trials. And there's two things we need to consider here. First, the pursuit of wisdom in verse 5, and then secondly, the necessity of faith in verses 6 to 8. But notice the assumption that James has.

If any of you lacks wisdom, The end of verse four, he says, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That's at the end of the process. That's after going through the fire. That's after being quenched in the oil.

That's after being prepared for battle on the field. But with reference to the process, as we go through this, notice the wisdom of God. He calls on us not to ask for deliverance, He calls on us not to ask for no trial. He calls on us to ask for wisdom so that we can navigate through the trial and count it all joy.

In other words, he prescribes that thing that we most desperately need. And again, I'm not sure that when I've fallen into various trials, my first response was joy, and my second was pray to God for wisdom. We pray for deliverance. We pray for ease.

We pray for comfort. We pray, take this cup from me, if it is possible. We need to pray for the wisdom to persevere through the midst of it so that we can understand what God has said. Now, in the context, if any of you lacks wisdom, that's always true for every one of us.

But I think it's contextual here. If any of you lacks wisdom as he or she is going through these various trials. If any of you lacks wisdom when you fall into various trials. So there's a general need for wisdom that we all bear every single day of our lives.

But with reference to trials, we need that wisdom, don't we? We need that wisdom so we don't devolve into atheistic thoughts, so that we don't begin to develop harsh thoughts of God. We don't begin to wonder, well, why is he afflicting me like this? I'm such a faithful attender at church.

I do such and such. No, we need wisdom not to question God. We need wisdom to observe the purposes of God in the midst of the affliction. Manton again says, wisdom is to be restrained to the circumstances of the text, not taken generally.

He intends wisdom or skill to bear afflictions. Do we ever consider that? I need wisdom or skill to bear afflictions. I think we need wisdom and skill to bear children, raise children.

We need wisdom and skill to live in the world. We need wisdom and skill to deal with our fellows. But do we ever consider we need wisdom or skill to deal with the trials that affect us? John Gill emphasizes this as well.

It intends wisdom to behave aright under temptations and afflictions. So by all means, pray for wisdom each and every day. but specifically when you fall into trials, count it all joy and pray to God Almighty for wisdom. I'm just going to assume you're going to need it. When he says, if any of you lacks wisdom, I'm going to assume that all of us do.

So I'm going to ask you not to tune out. If you're so wonderfully wise that you could say, well, you know, I've got my share of wisdom. I have navigated through many a trial. Good on you, but I think you should still pay attention because this is absolutely crucial with reference to navigating through trial.

Notice his exhortation. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Look at James 5. James 5, 13 to 18.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. We'll just stop there. The whole idea is prayer in this paragraph.

James starts and ends with prayer. James starts and ends with prayer in this very practical epistle. Again, we all recognize the practicality of the epistle of James. Well, if James emphasizes prayer during a fledgehead and prayer during the various challenges in our Christian life, at the end of the book, then certainly prayer ought to be something in our minds and hearts.

So with reference to this, let him ask of God. Jesus teaches the same lesson in Matthew chapter 7. Ask, seek, not. As well, we have Solomon in that wonderful example in 2 Kings chapter 3.

Solomon was asked by God, what do you want? Have you ever thought about that? Not because you've been thinking about Solomon, because you'll always say, I'd ask for wisdom too. But if God said, what one thing do you want?

Would it be wisdom? Again, I don't want a show of hands or everybody say, yeah, of course, that's exactly what I want. Well, I've had my eye on this house or had my eye on this car or had my eye on this particular. No, no, no.

Solomon asked for wisdom. He knew to administer the kingdom of God on earth, because Solomon sat on Yahweh's throne, is what we're told, he needed wisdom to be able to navigate. And the proof of that wisdom is when the two harlots brought the baby, and Solomon says, let's cut it in half and give half to either one of you. Of course, the true mother said, no, no, no, don't do that.

She can have the whole thing. So Solomon knew the wisdom of God that had been imparted to him made him able to administer in that particular situation. And so James says the same thing. When you fall into various trials, you may think deliverance.

You may think the execution of anybody who's trying you, you may pray the imprecatory psalms on the enemies that are afflicting you, but you need wisdom to navigate through these particular things. And of course, God is the source and giver of wisdom. Job 9.4, God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Job 12.13, with Him are wisdom and strength.

He has counsel and understanding. Psalm 147.5, great is our Lord and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. Isaiah 40, 28, his understanding is unsearchable.

Romans 16, 27, to God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever, amen. Colossians 2, 3, in whom Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So it makes sense, doesn't it? We acknowledge God doesn't solicit us or entice us to do evil.

That's a James 1, 13 thing. But with James 1, 2, God does bring that. God does produce in us those things, again, in a context of remedy and redemption, in a context of maturity and growth, in a context of conformity unto Jesus Christ our Lord. So God knows, and He has His inspired apostle, or His inspired little apostle, write this section that we are to seek wisdom at the hand of the infinitely wise God so that we can navigate through these trials without becoming apostates, without abandoning our faith, or without compromising and engaging in things that are not godly and not righteous in the midst of such things.

So not only does James exhort us, but he encourages us. Notice what he says in verse 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Now notice the threefold encouragement.

In the first place, he gives to all who ask. If we're not wise, it's our fault. Sorry, but if we're not wise, it's our fault, because he gives to all who ask. Perhaps we're just not asking, and that's why we're not wise.

Perhaps we need sermons like this more frequently so that we'll be reminded to ask. Perhaps we need to read James and we need to read the rest of the Bible. We need to read the Genesis account of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. See the necessity of wisdom and the various things that those men faced.

Brethren, he gives to all who ask. Proverbs 2, 6 and 7, for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.

He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. But a second encouragement is that he gives liberally. Again, he's not a miser. He's not Ebenezer Scrooge.

He's not just doling out a tiny portion. But look at what James says. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally. There's a profuseness about God's grace.

There is a super abundance about God's grace. Bible commentators have understood and have recognized that at times the apostle Paul would make up words. Not brand new gobbledygook kind of words, but he would take an existing word and attach prepositions on them to make them even more glorious. Because the vocabulary of the Greek language, as rich as it was, doesn't get at the glory of God Almighty.

So the apostle would do that sort of thing to emphasize just how great our God is. So he not only gives to all who ask, but he gives to all who ask liberally. So if you need liberal amounts of wisdom to go through your profuse suffering, then ask of God. And then the third encouragement, he does so, or he does not reproach those who ask.

Notice the end of verse five, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. This is a beautiful statement. It means to rebuke, to reproach, to insult. God doesn't do that.

Have any of you parents, now don't raise your hands, but have you ever had the situation where your son or daughter has come to you and asked you the same thing over and over and over again? You just say, okay, here it is, over and over and over again. Or do you say, you're coming to me again? Now, I'm probably highlighting my terribleness as a father because I know I did that.

What do you mean? You're coming again? Well, that can affect the people of God. I don't want to go back to God because He may upbraid me.

He may reproach me. He may say, what did you do with all that wisdom I gave you last week? But the apostle tells us that's not our God. Our God doesn't do it with reproach.

He doesn't insult us. He doesn't say, what'd you do with that portion of wisdom? It was a great big portion. I doled it out last week and you're already coming back to me.

He doesn't do that. This is a gracious God, a God who super abounds in his love for his people. And he gives us liberally and without reproach. Again, Calvin says, this is added, lest anyone should fear to come too often to God.

We should never fear to come too often to God. We should fear not coming often enough to God, but we should never fear coming too often to God. You see the distinction there? If we're not coming often to God, that is indicative of not good things.

But if we're coming too often to God, then we're gonna be in the 1%. Because I don't know that that's everybody's problem either. But with reference to this request for wisdom,

Three Encouragements to Ask God

he gives to all, he gives to all liberally, and he does so without reproach, and it will be given to him. It's a blessed promise of assurance to the afflicted, suffering people of God. We will be given wisdom, enabling us to deal with the various challenges that we face. Now, James doesn't answer the question, why do we need this wisdom?

I'm going to give you a couple of suggestions. In the first place, we need this wisdom to see the hand of God in our afflictions. We need this wisdom in order to see the hand of God in our afflictions. We don't see or ascribe it necessarily to the devil or to our own remaining corruption.

Solicitation to evil? We certainly do. But trials, afflictions, difficulties, hardships? We need to see the hand of God in those afflictions.

Secondly, we need to be able to appreciate the sovereignty of God in the midst of these afflictions. Whenever things go wrong for us, that's not as if God left the throne for a little while and walked down the hallway to grab a coat. That is not the way the divine operates. He's always there for his people, and we need to have that wisdom so that we always reckon with the sovereignty of God, even in the midst of our hardships.

Thirdly, we need wisdom to understand the good end of God in our afflictions. We may not see it in the midst of it. We may not see how this conformity to Christ is all gonna come to fruition, but we trust in God. We acknowledge God.

Again, the parent-child relationship, the general rule with reference to parents and their children. I know there are exceptions, horrific and vile ones to be sure, but parents by and large want to do good for their children. If you ever just wanted to say to, trust me, you can really actually trust me. Same with the grandkids.

I will never hurt you. That's not going to happen. God is that way for his people and we need to understand that in the midst of afflictions, God has his purposes and there is going to be good as a result. And then finally, with reference to wisdom and affliction, to help regulate our response to our afflictions. to help regulate our response to our afflictions.

In other words, we're not supposed to lose it. We're not supposed to flip out. There is sorrow, there is despair, there is the Psalm 42 and 43 experience in our lives. There is the crying out to God, oh my God.

Why are you far from me? And the psalmist encourages his heart to know that God is for him ultimately. Brethren, that is a reality where there are those severe times in the Christian faith where we are under that dark cloud and it is difficult. But brethren, with reference to this, we need to regulate our response.

Being sorrowful, being despondent, being despairing puts us in good company with King David in Psalms 42 and 43. But when we freak out, when we lose it, when we flip out, when we start to rail against God or rage against God, we have missed the point of this whole blessed exercise on our behalf. Manton says, to moderate the violences of our own passions. He that lives by sense, will, and passion is not wise.

Skill is required of us to apply apt counsels and comforts that our hearts may be above the misery that our flesh is under. That's gold. If you want that, email me tonight, because I'm going to be gone in two weeks. Well, I could probably email you in two weeks, too.

But this is gold. To moderate the violences of our own passions. See, when we go through these things, we're not to act like unbelievers. We're not to engage in that sort of therapy that says it's okay to rage and to scream and to yell and to call into question the goodness of God.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. God is good. That is a settled axiom of Holy Scripture. In fact, that's how Asaph starts Psalm 73.

God is good. And then Asaph traces his issues, and Asaph says, but as for me, my foot nearly slipped. I saw the wicked prosper, I saw the righteous suffer, and it really vexed my soul. Asaph is candid and open in that 73rd Psalm.

Everything didn't make sense until he says, I went into the sanctuary. Then I understood that you have put them in slippery places, the wicked, and they would ultimately fall. He needed God's wisdom, God's perspective, God's sort of bird's eye view, so that he himself would not depart down this path and end up like a senseless beast. So moderate the violences of our own passions.

He that lives by sense, will, and passion is not wise. Skill is required of us to apply at counsels and comforts that our hearts may be above the misery that our flesh is under. So if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.

The Necessity of Faith

Now notice secondly, the necessity of faith in verses six to eight. The emphasis in verse 5 is theological. We are to ask of God. The emphasis in verse 3 is theological.

God has his purposes in our trial and affliction. But in verses 6 to 8, the emphasis is upon man. He is telling us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to ask in faith. Ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

So we have this command, and the emphasis is upon faith. Again, Gill says, not only in the faith of the divine being that God is, but in the faith of the promises He has made, and in the faith of His power and faithfulness to perform them, and in the faith of this, that whatever is asked according to the will of God and is for His glory, had as His people's good, shall be given. In other words, it's not just faith that God is, but it's faith, as Gil says, in the promises of God, in the rescuing ability of God, in the deliverer that is God. It's faith in that one who loves us.

It's faith in that one who sent his son to die for us. It's faith in that one to see us through the various trials and afflictions that we are facing in this world. And the danger of doubting is highlighted by James and illustrated by him in a very vivid way. Notice what he says in verses 6 and 7.

He says, That was a very common metaphor and it still is today. Paul highlights that in Ephesians chapter 4. The purpose for good faithful teaching in the church is so that we will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. That we won't be like a ship on the sea that is just being blown about.

And James uses that. A faithless man is going to be that sort of man. The faithless man is going to be an unsettled man. He is going to be blown about like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

As well, if he has no faith, he will be an unanswered man. This is what he says in verse 7, for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. In other words, when we come to God and we believe that he is, we also believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11, 6.

So if we don't have faith, we will be an unanswered man. An unstable man, if we don't have faith, will be an unanswered man. And thirdly, will be an, I'm sorry, an unsettled man, an unanswered man, and then thirdly, an unstable man. Notice in verse 8, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James uses that same word in chapter 4 at verse 8. draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." The word used is literally double-souled or double-minded. It is a departure from what God calls His people to, and it's used three times of Israel in the Old Testament. They were unstable.

They had defected. They had departed. They had turned away from. And they were looking now to idols instead of the true and living God.

So James tells us, as the people of God, we need to ask for wisdom. But when we ask for wisdom, we need to do so believing. Not only that God is, but that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That He will supply that which we ask so that we don't fall prey to losing it in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our afflictions, and throwing off our allegiance to the Lord God Almighty.

Application

Well, in conclusion, first of all, the believer's preparation for trials. I would suggest we need to be in passages like these. If you get a whiff of a trial or an affliction on the horizon, turn to James 1. I really think you should know how many cubits the south wall of the tabernacle was, but that's probably not going to help you navigate through trial and affliction.

So, with reference to trial and affliction, study the passages that deal with trial and affliction. Go to the Scripture and ask the question, how did the men of God make it through the various trials that came their way? Study Abraham. Study Isaac.

Study Jacob. Study the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Study the prophets, study Jeremiah. Those who are reading the McShane calendar are in the prophet Jeremiah right now.

Did Jeremiah have a rosy, nice, happy little life? Absolutely, positively not. How does he navigate through the various things that affect him? He seeks and fetches wisdom from God to deal with the various afflictions and trials that come upon him.

Manton comments, Christ's eyesalve must clear your sight or else you cannot make a right judgment. There is no proper and fit apprehension of things till you get within the veil and see by the light of the sanctuary lamp. A man that has no other light but reason and nature cannot judge of those things. God's riddles are only open to those that plow with God's heifer.

And it is by God's Spirit that we come to discern and esteem the things that are of God. We need to study passages like these. We need to ask God for wisdom when we go through these things. And on the other side, we need to look back and reflect.

We need to muse, we need to meditate, we need to contemplate and consider. Because those who have tried and proven their God will be equipped for the next round. Because usually, and again I hate to pop anybody's bubble here, it doesn't just happen at one point in your Christian life. If you're a new believer, I don't want to make this sound too nasty or horrific, but very often the road to Zion is paved with a lot of obstacles along the way.

Conformity to Christ doesn't typically come when we're relaxing on the beach with our feet up. Conformity to Christ typically comes when we're going through the crucible of suffering. We are learning obedience through suffering the way that the Savior did. Again, God is good.

It's not constant. It's not 24 hours and 7 days a week and, you know, 365 days out of the year. But there are many seasons in the lives of God's people where there will be these trials and these afflictions. Secondly, the believer's disposition.

We must remember God's purposes and not rage against God. I think that's probably one of the biggest takeaways from this. I know that when our children were younger and we would administer corporal punishment, we would tell them, you can't lose it. You can't flip out.

That's just not acceptable. Why? Because we're mean, vicious, and horrific? No, we're trying to prepare them for life in God's world.

There are hardships that you will face. And because you face a hardship, you can't check out. You can't stop living. You can't say, I'm done.

There is no I'm done until God calls you home. We must be able to recognize God's purposes in these things so that we don't rage against Him. It is a sad and pathetic character that professes faith in Jesus Christ that has such a sick and distorted view of God where they rage against Him, they get upset with Him, they get vile in terms of their response in the midst of trial and affliction. As well, we must recognize His purposes so that we don't panic.

It may not be rage, but it may be panic. Panic is when it feels like everything is coming down around us. We have no control, we have no power. Maybe that's the lesson God is teaching us, so we'll acknowledge our dependence upon Him who has all control and all power. so rage and panic are not good things.

As well, we must count it all joy when various trials come. Manton again says, a Christian is a bird that can sing in winter as well as in spring. He can live in the fire like Moses' bush, burn and not be consumed. Nay, leap in the fire.

So count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Fourth, we must endure during the trial so that God's purpose is realized in our lives. If He is conforming us onto the image of His Son, this is a good thing. This is a beneficial thing.

This is ultimately going to be for my good. It may not be good in terms of feeling now, but in terms of the end result, God is working this out for His glory and for my good. Romans 8.28 should temper us in this regard. Fifth, we must consider the conduct of other saints who went through trials.

Again, be familiar with the Psalter. Be familiar with King David in 1 and 2 Samuel. Be familiar with the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. Do you ever realize that with Paul, he wasn't the sort of guy that was tough to figure out?

He wasn't the sort of guy that you kind of wonder, he was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve. He says when he came to Corinth, I didn't come with this great oratory skill. I didn't come with all this pomp and show. I came among you with fear and trembling and much weakness.

He talks about his despondency with the Corinthians in both 1st and 2nd Corinthians. He gives us that litany of things that he suffered for the cause of God and truth in 2 Corinthians 11. He rehearses these things. We would be fools not to study the life and ministry of the apostle Paul to see how one deals with hardship, with affliction, and with trial in the Christian life.

And then finally, in terms of our disposition, we must seek wisdom so that we can successfully navigate through trials. It is the word of God written wherein the Lord imparts wisdom to us. It is the Spirit of God wherein the Lord God imparts wisdom to us. We need to be dependent upon that Word.

We need to be dependent upon that Spirit. And we need to remember, finally, the believer's Savior who endured trials. Our Savior who endured afflictions, Isaiah 53, 3. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. I've already quoted Hebrews 5, 8. Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

And then Hebrews 12, verse 1, we're told to run the race that is set before us with endurance. We're to lay aside every obstacle, we're to lay aside everything that would hinder us in this pursuit. And we are to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of God. In sum, because our Savior did what our Savior did, and we are saved as a result of His accomplishments on our behalf, we are now called to undergo affliction, to undergo trial, to count it a joy when it comes upon us, because knowing in the midst of it, God is working in us good things.

He is further conforming us unto our Lord Jesus, and He is having His purposes realized in the lives of His people. Well, let us pray. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the Word of God, that it deals with every jot and tittle of our life, all matters of faith and practice, theology and practical religion. And Lord, I pray that you would give us a good sense of this passage, that you would give us help, to navigate through the various things we go through, to count it all joy, to call upon You for wisdom, to know that You have it, You give it, and You promise to do so. As well, increase our faith. We would say with the apostles, Lord, increase our faith.

They're like that man who said, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lord God, we pray. that we would be a faithful people bearing up under the smiting rod, that we would be conformed unto the image of our Savior, and that we would be faithful witnesses in this world to others that are going through these things, but as well to the non-Christian to show, to demonstrate that our God is good. He remains good even though we're trying, because we know ultimately He is doing these things because He loves us and because He is conforming us unto His Son.

I thank you for this church. I thank you for my brothers and sisters here. I pray for your rich blessings upon each one. I pray for our brother Ryan, that you would grant him grace next Sabbath day.

Give him the power of the Holy Spirit. Give him the ability to accurately expound the word of truth. God, please bless it. Save sinners, sanctify your saints, and God, bless this local church with growth in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Job 9:4; 12:13
• Psalms 42-43; 73; 147:5
• Proverbs 2:6-7
• Isaiah 40:28; 53:3
• Matthew 4; 7; 10:16-25
• John 15:18; 16:33
• Romans 5:3; 8:28; 16:27
• 2 Corinthians 1; 11
• Ephesians 4
• Colossians 2:3
• Hebrews 5:8; 11:6; 12:1
• James 1:1; 1:2; 1:3-4; 1:5; 1:6-8; 1:9; 1:12; 1:13; 2:1-7; 2:15-17; 4:8; 5:13-18
• 1 Peter 1:6-9; 4:12
• 2 Kings 3