TREASURY OF SERMONS
Why Suffering? (The Purpose of Trials in Life)
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: James 1:1-8
Introduction
The psalmist says, "The days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be
fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow" (Ps
90:10). The wise man of Ecclesiastes likewise says that the days of
man "are sorrows, and his travail grief" (Eccl 2:23). The hymn
writer says, "Days are filled with sorrow and care."
Suffering is no respecter of persons. In life,
at one time or other, we are bound to go through patches of hard
times, of difficulties, of troubles, of sorrows, of grief, of pain.
And normally the first word that comes to our mind is "Why?" or "Why
me?" The question why is an important one. The unbeliever in answer
would probably say it is bad luck. When asked why? What is your
answer as a Christian, as a child of God?
Often we quote Rom 8:28, "And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them that
are called according to his purpose." That is a most wonderful verse
to help us see things in perspective. But again the question why
keeps nagging at us. I want to know why I am going through all these
trials in my life. God answers us, and He does so in Jas 1:1-12.
Historical Context
In verse 1, we are introduced to the writer who
is the Apostle James the son of Zebedee. James calls himself a
"servant" of God. The word "servant" here in the original has the
idea of bondage, of being bound. James says that he is a bound
servant. This indicates that James probably wrote this letter while
he was in prison.
So, when James wrote about trials and sufferings
here, he was not talking about things he knew nothing about. He was
not telling them to endure suffering while enjoying the comforts of
life. He was definitely not sitting on a cushioned chair in
air-conditioned comfort with his cup of nice hot tea or coffee. He
was writing about these things in a dirty and smelly dungeon waiting
to be executed. And indeed he was. James was the first Apostle to
die, killed by Herod Agrippa I (nephew of Herod Antipas who killed
John the baptiser, and grandson of Herod the Great who tried to kill
the baby Jesus) (Acts 12:1-2).
To whom what he writing? This letter was written
to "the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad." The 12 tribes refer
to Israel, to the Jews. These were the Jewish Christians. James was
writing to the Jewish Church which went through severe persecution
not only from the Romans, but from their own countrymen—the Scribes,
Pharisees and Sadducees. Because of this intense persecution, they
had to flee Jerusalem, and thus were dispersed or "scattered
abroad." The Jerusalem Church suffered no less than 5 persecutions
as recorded in Acts (see Acts 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12).
The Christian Jews were probably asking the
question: "Why?" Many were discouraged, dejected, and depressed.
Some may be thinking of giving up the faith. James had to write to
teach the people what it means to go through trials in life, and why
God allows trials to come into our life.
When we encounter trials in life, how should we
respond or react?
God Wants us to Respond to
Trials in Life Joyfully (v2)
The natural thing to do when trials come our way
is to weep, to be sorrowful. James, on the other hand, tells us that
we ought to rejoice. "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations." The word "temptation" here does not mean sinful
temptations, as commonly understood. It is not temptation as in the
motivation or desire to sin that comes from within the depraved
heart (see v13). The word "temptations" here means "testings" or
"trials." (I am glad to note that The Defined King James Bible in
the footnote defined the word "temptation" here as "testings or
trials of any kind.") These testings or trials are the difficult
situations or circumstances in life that afflict us from without.
When confronted with such trials and testings in
life, James commands us to be joyful. The word "count," or
"consider" here is written in the imperative. When faced with
difficulties or hardships in life, to be joyful is not an option.
James says we must rejoice. The joy expressed should not be partial,
but complete—"count it all joy," ie, "count it pure joy."
Now, when James calls us to be joyful when
facing trials in life, he is not saying that we should be seen
laughing or being jovial all the time. It is not a facade—not an
outward display. It is an attitude. It is a confidence we have in
our God that He knows all things, and He is in control of all
things. And so with that confidence in God, you praise Him all the
time despite the troubles, hardships, and sufferings. I see this in
our prayer meetings when our church members come up to give
testimony. Many go through very severe hardships, and yet in their
testimony, every sentence is in praise of God in difficult times. No
complaints, no murmurings, no swearings, no questionings. That is
exactly what James meant when he said, "Count it all joy."
Job is an excellent example. And it is no wonder
that James did not fail to mention him in his epistle in 5:10-11,
"Take, mty brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of
the Lord, for an example of suffering and of patience. Behold, we
count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job,
and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful,
and of tender mercy." You know how Job was so sorely afflicted. He
practically lost everything—health, wealth, his sons and daughters.
But when calamity after calamity hit him, what did he do and say? He
fell down to the ground and worshipped the Lord, and said, "Naked
came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:
the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of
the Lord." The Scripture commends Job, "In all this Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly. This is what it means to count it all
joy. But Job’s wife was the opposite. Instead of counting it all
joy, she count it all misery to go through these trials. She told
Job, "Curse God and die." Job rebuked her, "You are a foolish
woman—"Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What?
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil?" The Bible went on to say, "In all this did not Job sin with
his lips." Later Job said, "Though he (ie, God) slay me, yet will I
trust in him." This is counting it all joy. Do you respond to your
trials in life like this, like Job.
Some of us may say, I will only be joyful in
only certain types of trials. For instance, taking care of a baby
can be very trying, but it is ok—I can be happy about it; but don’t
give me cancer, I can’t take that, and I won’t be happy about that.
No; James says we must count it all joy when we "fall into divers
temptations." The word "divers" here means "of various kinds." There
are different kinds of trials or sufferings—bereavement, sickness,
poverty, failures, accidents, etc. We can’t say, I will rejoice only
over one type of suffering. We are told to rejoice in all types of
sufferings that this life presents us whether they be mental,
emotional, physical or spiritual.
Why should we as Christians count it all joy
when we fall into divers testings and trials? We should count it all
joy when facing trials in life because:
God Wants to Strengthen Us in
the Faith through Trials (vv3-4)
Why does God allow us to go through sufferings
in life? The answer is found right here in verses 3 and 4. "Knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." If we do not
know why we go through sufferings in life, James here tells us that
it is about time we start to know or to understand the reason or
purpose why God sends trials to our lives.
God sends trials to put our faith to the test:
"the trying of your faith worketh patience." The word "trying" here
in the original means "to prove." It means "to try to learn the
genuineness of something by examination and testing." So the word
"trying" can also be translated as "testing," "examining," or
"proving."
By way of illustration, FEBC students go through
constant testing throughout their student career. They are tested in
every area: not just how much they know the Scriptures, but how well
they apply the Scriptures in the way they relate to others, serve
the Lord in church, do their duties, etc. These tests are necessary
to ascertain whether a student is truly called to the ministry or
not. Usually this is the case: students who are called persevere
under the strain of much testing, and will keep on improving and
will succeed in their training. Students who are not called, on the
other hand, will break under pressure, and will keep failing, and
some may even resort to cheating. We had one student who cheated in
an exam. He had a little notebook with all the answers hidden
underneath his exam paper. He was expelled, but went to another
Bible College, and there was caught cheating again.
The trials of life are meant to test our faith.
Do we genuinely believe in Him? Are we truly born again? One of the
ways to know whether we are truly saved or not is to see how we
respond to trials and testings in life. Job’s wife evidently was not
saved. She told Job to "Curse God, and die." If you are saved, you
will respond like Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."
Another thing we see here is that the testing of
our faith will produce "patience." The word "patience" here is very
interesting in the original. It literally means "to remain under."
It has a picture of an object that is put under intense pressure,
and being under that kind of pressure, it remains intact, it does
not break up. The Lord thus sends trials in our lives not only to
prove our faith, but also to build up our endurance—to make us
stronger Christians.
In view of this, we should not shun the trials
of life. God tells us in verse 4 to allow this testing of our
endurance to achieve its goal. "But let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." The word
"perfect" is important. It has the idea of a process. To make
something perfect requires time. This verse can be rendered in this
way: "Let patience have her maturing work."
The virtue of endurance or fortitude cannot be
gained overnight. It involves a process. But in time, the trials God
sends in life’s way will cause us to be spiritually mature and whole
in every aspect of our lives, not lacking in anything: "that ye may
be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
God is in the diamond business. You know that
the diamond is the hardest rock on earth. Why? Because it has
undergone very intense heat and pressure for a very long period of
time. As such it is something very valuable and precious. Likewise,
the Lord puts us under pressure in order that we might become
diamonds. The more we are tested, the stronger we become, the more
beautiful we will be, and the more useful we can be for God’s
purposes.
Yes all this is well and good. But to swallow
this bitter pill is very difficult. You may be going through a
difficult patch right now, and you are wondering why this has
happened to you. Can I ask God why I am facing all these sufferings
in life, and can I ask God how I can deal with these hardships in
life? The answer is a clear and emphatic Yes.
God Wants to Help Us Go
through the Trials of Life (vv5-8)
In going through trials, we need the wisdom of
God. James says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God."
What is this wisdom? James has been speaking of the necessity of
trials and testings and the need to be thankful for them because of
the spiritual good that comes out of it. If you feel or think that
this is a difficult truth to understand or accept, and need the
wisdom of God to understand or accept it, then ask God for wisdom.
God alone is the Giver of wisdom. God assures us
that if we seek wisdom from Him, He will give it to us sincerely and
openly, without reproaching us. Sometimes we are reluctant or
hesitant about asking someone else for help. This may be because we
do not want to trouble the person, or because we are afraid of being
rejected or despised. I have had such experiences before. You have
no one else to turn to, and you go to this person who has the
ability to help you. He is a brother in Christ. He helps, but then
at the same time he does so with a black face. Man may treat you
like this, but not our Father in heaven. He assures us that when we
go to Him for help, He will help us "liberally," and "upbraideth
not" ("without heaping insults"). Verse 17 reassures us, "Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow or
turning." God will not turn away anyone who genuinely seeks His
favour. So the encouragement is: Don’t be afraid to ask God for
help. He knows our weaknesses, and is ever ready to help us.
However, when seeking help from the Lord, we
must do so with a proper attitude. Verse 6 says, "But let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering." We need to pray in faith truly believing
that our God is the one living and true God—able to help, able to
save. If we doubt God, we will not receive anything from Him. If you
pray to the Lord Jesus for help, but at the same time, pray also to
Kuan Yin for help, do you think you will be heard by the living and
true God? James answers, the double-hearted and double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways, "let not that man think that he shall
receive any thing from the Lord." God wants you to go to Him alone.
If He answers your prayers, He must receive all the glory. His glory
He will not share with others. If you go to both Christ and Kuan
Yin, and the Lord answers your prayers, you will think that it is
both Christ and Kuan Yin that helped you. 50% glory to Christ, and
50% glory to Kuan Yin. God will share His glory with no one. He
wants to you to trust in Him 100%, so that when He answers your
prayers, He receives 100% glory and honour from you.
Conclusion
Are you facing much hardship and suffering in
your life? Please know that God has a good purpose for all the
trials that He has allowed us to go through. Please know that God
wants us to face the trials of life joyfully. These trials will
strengthen us in our faith for God’s greater service. And finally
God assures us that we are not alone in facing trials. We have Him
to help us in time of need. Look to Jesus always, He is just a
prayer away.
Let us pray.
Top|Back
Click here for
Sermons by Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow
Click here for Audio Sermons
|
