Difficulties

Turn to the book of James, please, chapter 1. James and chapter 1. We'll read at verse 1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. That is a wish for their joy. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be forgiven him. The Lord will bless to us the reading from his word. I have a very joyful topic to take a little look at this morning.

It's the topic of difficulties in the believer's life. If you have never had any difficulties in your life, then maybe you can switch off, or maybe you can't because they're going to come. We've read here how James says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, different kinds of trials.

And the reason why we can count it all joy, just in summary, is this, that they have a work to do, these trials, these difficulties that are allowed into our lives. And James's point is that they will add something to our faith in God. But to obtain a benefit or a blessing from a trial, number one, there obviously has to be faith in God.

It requires the reality of faith. Paul says to the Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians 2 verse 3, that all men have not faith. So here's the first requirement, that there is faith in God.

We do live in a day of much profession, but the only thing that counts for eternity, of course, is possession of eternal life. It has always been the case that there have been those that would profess, even in the days of Lord Jesus, you remember that he taught in the parable of the sower, that there would be times when the seed would fall upon ground, where there would be rock underneath the little covering of ground, and that seed would spring up, but it would not produce fruit. Why? Because there was rock underneath and there was no root.

They on the rock are they which hear and receive the word with joy, but these have no root, which for a while believe, the Lord says they were they believed, and if he says they believe, I'm not going to question that, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation, trial, they fall away. What was the problem? They evidently had a faith, some kind of faith, at best it was a shallow faith, and even though they received the word, it says, they received the word with joy. There is a way in which, when a person hears the gospel, they are attracted to the message of the gospel and its underlying theme, that there is forgiveness of sins, there is the fact that you can know you're not going to hell, and that you're going to spend eternity in heaven and in the glory, and it will all be happy there.

And there are certain benefits that are presented in the gospel, and it says that they receive the word with joy. They like the idea of not having to go to hell, they like the idea of being in heaven for all eternity, and so they they want a part of this, it seems, but there's no root. There has never been any real depth of conviction.

The issue with them has never really been the problem of my personal sin before a holy God that deserves, rightly, the judgment of God. There's no root. That has implications about the kind of gospel that's presented.

If it's light and frivolous and full of fun and games, then that's likely to be the result. Those that say they believe, but there's no root, no depth of conviction. John chapter 2, again, the Lord Jesus in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, it's a feast day, and it says that many believed on him.

Oh, I believe in Jesus. Many believed on him when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not commit himself onto them because he knew all men. They believed on him.

It'd be a wonderful thing to have Jesus around who could turn water into wine, wouldn't have to go to the wine cellar, and to hear the wonderful things that he says. He speaks so well. They believed on him, but Jesus did not commit himself onto them because he knew what was in man.

So not all who claim to be believers have the real deal. John chapter 8, as he spake these words unto them, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

And they took issue with that. We've never been in bondage with any man. We have Abraham to our father.

We have such tradition. We have never been in bondage. They did not know what sin was in the character of being a bondage.

There was no depth of conviction. And it ended up, the Lord told them they were of their father the devil, and then they took off stones to try to kill him. No reality.

But says James to these true believers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of trials. Now how is that possible? I remember vividly, and some of you are still here, being a student, and the final exam comes around. We all milled around in the corridor outside the examination room.

Some had a blank stare on their face, looked like they were in shock. Some were giddy and in denial that they were going into the final exam. And when we did get into the room and sat down and turned over the paper, well then, I read the questions.

Some were smiling. They had studied that out. And others were not so happy.

But none of us at the time were counting it all joy. It's the final examination. This is yes or no to the fact that we have been in academic studies for three years.

This is yes or no to whether we're going to make it or not in the chosen profession. And it wasn't until the results were in that we could really know that it was positive. How can we count it all joy? Well, says James, you can count it all joy knowing, he says verse three, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

There will be a positive result to the trial that God allows in your experience. And so it will be possible to count it all joy. That would make life's trials and difficulties somewhat more bearable, would it not? If we hadn't focused the fact that God is doing a work here.

Some believers, and you're here this morning, you've gone through trials that I've never known. Sudden loss of a loved one, that sudden bereavement, that pain that will not go away, that loneliness that is still there, that unexplained difficulty, that disappointment, that rejection of friends. And it seems to go on and on and the cry goes out to the Lord, how long? Oh Lord, how long? Does God really know what he's doing? Well, the good thing in that is that the cry is Godward, that there is a simple confidence in God, that the turn of the soul is still to him.

And we must wait his time. The trial will pass. It is momentary, really, in view of eternity.

From the perspective of eternity, if God is doing a work that's going to be eternal within us, then anything that happens in this life, even if it is for our whole life through, it is by definition, in view of eternity, just a moment. And what it will produce, says James, is that continued dependence upon God will produce a patient, a patience, a waiting. And we will be learning what it is to wait.

Learning about God, learning of him, that endurance, that steadfastness, and then that courage to bear up under the pressure. The ability to withstand the pressure is the result of that soul that continues to wait upon God, even in the difficulty. Verse 4, he says, but let patience have her perfect work.

That ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. That ye may be perfect, mature, and entire, complete, in all parts, wanting nothing. There's no deficiency going to be left in your character when trials have been born in this fashion, and the lessons of life are learned.

So this is the goal of life's trials, that we might be complete as believers and mature in the faith, and accepting of the circumstances that come our way. All of that is easy to say, but you remember that the the Word of God does give us examples, doesn't it? In Hebrews chapter 11, we are given examples of saints from the Old Testament who went through different trials, and their faith was tested in many different ways, in many different circumstances, at different points in history. God allowed his people to go through difficulties, trials, that tested their faith, and some of them never saw in their lifetime the end result of what God was doing, but by faith they tenaciously held on to God, and they proved the faithfulness of God in it all.

The Lord Jesus himself knew trials in life, and he suffered the contradiction of sinners against himself. Indeed, in his own teaching, you remember in Matthew chapter 18, he says, Woe to the world because of offenses, occasions of stumbling. He says, It must be that offenses come, but woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh.

Subject of Matthew 18, as we looked at in other places recently, the subject of Matthew 18 is the children of the kingdom, the true believer, and he's in a world that's wrong, a wrong world, and says, The Lord Jesus, don't be offended, don't be surprised when the offense comes, when the occasion to stumble you comes. There's going to be much in this world that will be a discouragement to you, there's going to be much that will cause you to stumble in the natural reasoning of things. It must be that offenses come, and so they are to be expected.

You'll remember that Matthew 18 is the very chapter in which we are first introduced to the local assembly in our Bibles. Verse 17, the church, and it's introduced to us in this context in a world where offenses come, and we will see that as you will, our brother's been an ox, as you go into the book of Acts, you'll find that the book of Acts has many different difficulties that are recorded. It's not just all the positive spread of the gospel from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria on to the uttermost parts of the earth, there are other underlying themes in the book of Acts, and this is one of them, the difficulties that we're faced.

Chapter 15, you remember the assembly has been planted in Antioch, and the saints are being encouraged and taught, and they've even sent out workers from the assembly at Antioch. But now in chapter 15 we read that there are men that come up from Judea, and they come to Antioch, and they have this idea that the Gentiles have got to be circumcised in order to be saved. And there are men that come in from the outside of the assembly in Antioch, and they're bringing this difficulty, and it says that Paul and Barnabas, they had no small contention, and they disputed with them.

There's difficulties in the assembly, outside influences coming in. But then at the end of that chapter, Acts 15, you remember that Barnabas and Saul have a difficulty themselves, and it's about John Mark. Is he suitable to go to the work or not? Can he go on this latest enterprise with the Apostles or not? And it says that the contention became so sharp between them that they parted one from another.

Barnabas and Paul, good men? Yes, good men. Did they have difficulty? They had difficulties. Did they have disagreements between them? They had disagreements between them, and the problem arose from inside the assembly.

Matthew 18 goes on to deal with the problems that the children of the kingdom do encounter, and in verses 15 through 20 of that chapter, we see the difficulty will arise amongst the believers, and it's presented in this way. If your brother has sinned against you, then you have to go and see your brother privately, and if he hears you, you've gained your brother. So it's done in an atmosphere in which you're trying to gain him, win him.

It's not a hostile confrontation deal. It's congenial. It's done in a way that will be conducive to gaining your brother.

But what if he doesn't listen? I'll take two or three witnesses with you. And where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. There's business that's being done here that has the Lord's presence involved in handling a matter, a difficulty between brethren.

And if he doesn't listen to them, tell it on to the church, a wider company. Verse 17, and if he doesn't listen to the church, then he is to be put out. And there's no indication in that chapter that the original charges warranted excommunication.

But the man's attitude to the process has become entrenched and hardened. He has become implacable and says the word of God, he's to be treated as a heathen man and a publican. He's out of the assembly.

And when you have followed that procedure, what you have bound on earth has been already bound in heaven. And that's a righteous judgment. So there will be trials that will come from within.

Now listen, here's a big lesson. Here's a big lesson to my heart, and I hope it is to yours. We need to grasp this truth.

We're introduced to the New Testament assembly, the local assembly, in the context of difficulty. Have you got it? It's to be expected. We're not perfect yet.

And if the basis of your gathering to the Lord's name is on the ground of finding perfection in the saints, then you're going to be terribly, terribly disappointed, my imperfections amongst your brethren and sisters. Get over it. There's a way to deal with it.

But trials will come. And it's not the fact that they do come or they don't come that's important. It's the fact how do we handle them when they will come? How do we handle them? That's the test.

It's God's school. And the test is how do we react in that school when the difficulties come our way? Do we fall down under it? Do we give up the ghost, as it were? Do we throw up our hands in horror and say, I'm through with this. I'm all done.

Question for your heart. Is that endurance? Is that patience? Is that letting patience have her perfect work? Is that producing within me mature, complete, lacking nothing? Or am I resisting that process? This is Paul in Romans 5. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing, there it is again, knowing that tribulation works with patience, endurance, steadfastness, stickability, bearing up under the problem. And patience works experience as we hang in there.

Sorry, as we endure. That produces experience. It comes.

And experience then as we wait upon God, experience hope. It reinforces confidence in God. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us and keeps us close to God, keeps us close to the Lord, enjoying his love for us, even in the midst of trial and difficulty.

After all, God knows what he's doing, doesn't he? It's not our place to be getting angry with God and getting grumpy, grumpy with God, but rather to be submitting to him and seeking to learn from the lessons that he would have us to learn in this situation. And if we don't know what's going on, and so often we don't, what does James say then? He says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God which giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, and so on.

So here is a coming to God with a desire to know what the lesson is in the circumstance. I take it. And the thrust of the word ask is to keep on asking, to keep on coming.

And so there is that constant waiting upon God, even in the midst of trials that we don't understand, and as we keep on coming, day by day, maybe week after week, maybe months after month, maybe year after year, maybe our whole life through, as we come and keep on coming to God, asking. There is that direction of the heart Godward. There is that waiting upon God, and as we wait upon him to know how to deal with it, he will give the wisdom in the circumstances to know what to do, when to do it.

He says so. It shall be given him. So how to face trial and to face prosperity even, that would be the context that follows.

Bottom line is this. It is a coming to God with confidence. It is awaiting upon God.

It is awaiting God's time. It is keeping at it. It is enduring and burying up under it.

And says James, the Word of God, that will produce Christian character, you will be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. You will be mature and complete with no deficiency. Big lessons, the lessons of life, lessons in God's school.

May you and I be good students as we wait upon him. Lord bless us all.