Well, good morning. It has been a while since my wife, Paul, and I have had opportunity to be here. But we were just thrilled to be here and to greet some of you already. And my, it's been quite a treat to be able to have fellowship with you already, sing those hymns, see that wonderful video of the back story of that hymn, and this wonderful passage that I am going to preach today being set to music. And that was just such a wonderful preparation. And we praise God. And we thank him for what he will do as we study God's word together. So we have prayed, but let's just pray one more time to ask God's blessing. Father, we thank you for your love for us. And we are thrilled, Lord, to be able to hear your word read, to be able to hear it sung. And now, Father, by your grace, to be able to hear it preached and expounded. Father, thank you for your promise that you said that when your Word goes forth, it's like the snow and rain. And just like the snow and rain accomplish their purpose, certainly your Word will accomplish its purpose. And so, Father, we pray that as we open your Word, as we study, as we ponder upon it, that your Holy Spirit will convict and comfort and teach us. And Father, by your grace, that we would not just be hearers of the word, but we would be doers, so that we may magnify and glorify you, we may grow, and we may have a testimony to a lost world, that they may come to know you and your Son, our precious Savior, in whose name we pray, amen. when my brother Mark had told me a little while ago that he was going to have opportunity to preach here. And as I came in, some of you said, Oh, I had a chance to meet your brother Mark. And we are so glad for that little family connection. Somebody asked me, how many more brothers do you have? Well, I actually have three more brothers. So in our household, there was four brothers and one sister. And so I guess she kind of got the short end of the stick a lot of the times, but I was mentioned to someone today. how amazing God works. As my sister grew up in a house of four brothers, when she got married, one of their first ministries was to work in a boy's home. needy boys. And I thought to myself, as you got that ministry, isn't it amazing how God works? Allowing her to be pretty much right in the middle of five boys, to be able then to be put into a boy's home, just to kind of feel at home and know what it is to be in a household full of boys. Well, we do rejoice in an opportunity to preach. We were to be here on January 7th, but do you remember what happened on January 7th? we had a little bit of a snowstorm, and church was canceled. So when I reached out to Brother Bob, and sent him the outline, I sent him the same thing that I sent him earlier that week, because I was going to preach this passage. Well, then when I verified it, I said, oh, I forgot to change the date. So don't worry. You have not gone back in time. Yes, we are in February. But isn't it great that the truths of God are timeless? And so whether it's January or February, we praise God for an opportunity to go through this passage. And still being here in the beginning part of the year, I believe it is good and very beneficial for us to try to set our eyes on the rest of the year to realize what's going to happen. Oh, maybe not specifically, but we can say generally what's going to happen, because brother James tells us what's going to happen. To see what I mean, if you take your Bibles please to James chapter 1, as we just had it beautifully sung for us. We do want to take time to read it, just so we have it on our minds as a frame of reference. James chapter 1, And I want to read verses 1 through 8. And we want to talk about the question today, what to do in trials. Perhaps you've seen that commercial or that kind of little comical situation where something blows up in the house, and the house is kind of a disaster, and the question is, what is a mother to do? Right? Well, I think that we can ask ourselves the own question. When we reach trials and we fall into trials, what are we supposed to do? And James helps us answer that question. James chapter 1, and I'll be reading verses 1 through 8. James 1, 1. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. Consider all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect. and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, for that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." The very first verse is by way of introduction, but I do want to mention there's a precious truth just in this introduction that James gives us in James 1.1. He identifies himself as a bondservant of God. But do you know who James is? James is the half-brother of none other than Jesus Christ. But that's not his credentials. Oh, his place in life is not that he's the half-brother of Jesus. What makes James outstanding is that he is a servant. He is a slave. He's a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning that no man, as John MacArthur rightly points out, can have two masters, as the Bible says. And so James is saying his master is God and the Lord Jesus Christ, pointing out the precious truth that Jesus is God's. Wow! How the Holy Spirit packs in just an introductory phrase. So much precious truth. But as we move on to verse 2, James quickly gets to this first theme of his letter. And he tells us what we are to do in trials. And if you have your notes there, Number one in our outline, when you are in a trial, you must consider, you must think, you must have a perspective. As a matter of fact, in my translation, that's the very first word, consider it all joy. And this word consider has the idea of evaluating. We need to have a proper evaluation of our trials. And James says, when you fall in trials, that is whenever you fall in the trials, And as I may have mentioned here before, when we're in 1 Peter, again John MacArthur says this also. We are either coming out of a trial, We are in a trial. Are we about ready to go into another trial? This is the way of life. This is life. This will be our coming year. And the idea of these trials, the idea is multicolored or various kinds. We have big trials and small trials and medium-sized trials. We have trials with our families, with our finances, with our workplace, with our health. And so trials come in many different areas and many different sizes. And James says, whenever you fall into these trials, this is what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to have the proper perspective. You're supposed to evaluate these trials in the truth of God's words. We need to consider our trials as all joy. Does that mean we say, God, thank you so much for this pain. Just keep it coming. Well, not in that perspective. Oh, we should be thankful in everything, and we should be thankful for everything. But why are we saying, God, thank you for this trial? It's because we just love the pain. No. We see what the trial is doing in our life. The trial is actually moving us closer to God. The trial is actually putting us in a situation where we find ourselves more time on our knees in prayer, more times in the scripture. We're actually becoming conformed to the very image of Christ. The next time you drink coffee or tea, that's fine. Notice your ceramic cup. Your ceramic cup has a history, and if it could speak, it would explain all the pain that it had to go through, especially those of you who like ceramic class, or maybe ceramic clubs. Here or there where we live in Lancaster, there's actually a place you can go, downtown Lancaster, you can actually go, pay a price, and you can actually make something, and they will put it in the kiln. What's the kiln? It's that hot oven. And so this piece of ceramic, if it could speak, it would say, why all this heat? Why all this pain? Let me out. And so finally, after that ceramic has been cured and all the process of the heat has taken its place, then you take it out. And if that little ceramic coffee or tea cup could speak, it might say, oh, finally, the trial's over. But wait, what's this? There's being paint put all over it. And you think, well, that was good. It was just paint, but now back in the kiln. Because if you know anything about ceramics, you just can't paint it. You have to put that cup back in the kiln, back in the heat, so that paint gets cured properly. But then it's a beautiful piece of art, and it serves. You see, that's just a mini illustration of what Jesus is doing for us through our trials, and we need to evaluate our trials in that light. Jesus is using these trials for our good so that we actually become more like Jesus Christ for his glory. We need to evaluate the trials as being something good that God has allowed in our lives for his good and for his glory. But it's not only that we need to consider this evaluation that this trial was working for our good, we also need to comprehend some things. If you look again at James chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4, James says in verse 3, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. We've already been touching on this, and all these aspects kind of mold together. But James says that when you're a trial, you must comprehend some things. You must know some things. You must comprehend God's method in the trials in your life. You see, our going through trials, that's the method that God uses to make us like Jesus Christ, to mature us. And if you see there in your outline, we have several things that we need to look at. Not only God's method, but God's motive. What is God working towards? And we find it in verse four. Why is God allowing us to go through hard times? And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. We had the illustration of the coffee cup. We have illustrations in nature. I have heard that if you try to help a monarch butterfly out of its little cocoon there, it's not gonna help it because it needs to fight to get out of that because in the fight, the fluids are produced and pushed out into its wings so that it may fly. You see, even nature gives us illustrations of how God uses difficulties. Even the oyster. Do you know how a pearl is formed? A little piece of irritation of sand gets inside and irritates the oyster. And so the oyster will begin producing a substance around that little piece, little grain of sand. And it keeps producing more and more and more until eventually somebody opens up that oyster and has a beautiful pearl. All taking place how? All taking place through irritation. And again, I'm quoting John MacArthur often in this message, but he has a message in Revelation. And he says something very interesting about those gates made of pearls. How interesting that God would use that analogy. Is he actually making that connection back into nature that we actually enjoy heaven because of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. You see, the motive for God in trials is for our perfection, for our maturity, for us becoming more like Jesus. The motive concerning also the proving of our faith, and thank you, brother and whoever organized the showing of that video. Do you believe the brother who wrote that song? It is well with my soul. Do you believe that through that trial, He showed proof that he was a true believer. You see, those who love God will not fall, will not run away during the trials. Those who love God will prove they are children of God by enduring through the trials. And then the motive concerning our patience, our endurance. Trials strengthen us to be able to endure and press on in life's hard and difficult circumstances. It's amazing how, as James is dealing with this whole area of trials, that he refers to certain people later on in his book. Turn, please, to James chapter 5. James chapter 5. And let's notice, when James wants to reach back into the Old Testament for examples, who does he choose? Notice with me, please, James chapter 5, and I want to look at verses 10 and 11. James chapter 5, verse 10. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James says, you want some practical examples? We had a practical example here with the hymn writer. James actually goes back to the Old Testament. He says, just think about the prophets and think about Job. Well, because James mentions Job, let's think briefly about Job. What did he suffer? Job suffered bitterness, the bitterness of loss. Job lost his fortune because of disaster. You remember the story. Satan challenged God, and God said, first, well, you can take from Job. You can do what you want, but don't touch his health. So Satan arranged that Job lost his fortune. And then if you remember, Job lost his family. He lost his sons and his daughters because of death. And also, in an interesting way of thinking, I believe, Job lost his wife. Oh, not to death. How did Job lose his wife? He lost his wife because of doubt. That one individual, closest in Job's life, that could have been the encouragement, that could have been the one to point him to God, actually gave bad counsel and said to Job, curse God and die. And by the way, for those of you who are married, sometimes, just as it goes, It's the couple, it's the husband and wife that are going through the exact same trial. But sometimes how life falls, it's particularly the wife that's going through a particular individual trial, or it's particularly the husband that's going through the trial. And I believe Job's life, kind of the negative way, teaches us a good lesson. If her husband or wife or even somebody in her family is going through a trial, we need to be the ones that encourage them to look to God. Because you see, prayer and Bible study is good counsel. Oh, it doesn't mean that we don't care about the particular circumstances and that we don't give them practical life advice, obviously. But let's not forget, prayer and Bible study are good counsel. And so Job lost his fortune. He lost his family. He even lost his fitness because of discomfort, covered with boils. And you remember also, Job lost his friends because of their discouragement. And Job suffered this bitterness of life. But how did Job get through the trial? Turn, please, to Job chapter 23, and we'll just dip in a little bit to the book of Job. Job 23, and notice these wonderful words. Job 23, and we just want to read these verses 10 through 12. What was one of the significant reasons why Job was able to endure these trials? Job chapter 23, And I'm starting at verse 10. Job is speaking, but he, that is God. But he knows the way I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to his path. I have kept his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the command of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Where was Job going to go in his trial? He was going to look beyond the trial, what God was doing through the trial. He would come forth as gold, but in the meantime, he would trust in God, and he would treasure the words from God's mouth. Prayer and Bible study are good counsel for ourselves when we're going through a trial, and it's good counsel as we're helping other people as they also are going through a trial. The hymn writer says, I must tell Jesus all my trials. I cannot bear these burdens alone. In my distress, he kindly will help me. He ever loves and cares for his own. Tempted and tried, I need a great savior, one who can help my burdens to bear. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. He all my cares and sorrows will share. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me. Jesus alone. And so as we go through trials, we realize that God is using these trials to make us more like Jesus, but he is getting us closer to Jesus. Because one of the motives that God has is for God's praise. And you can look at that passage, we don't have time now, but John 15, what is Jesus teaching his disciples? That God is going to prune, he's going to cut away in the vineyard. He's actually going to take things out of our lives. He's going to do some cutting. Why? So that produces fruit. Why? So God gets praised. Do we not want to have the fruit of Spirit manifested in our life? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Is that not what we want? To be more like Jesus Christ? Yes. So Jesus Christ is going to prune and cut away at our life so that all that dead wood can be taken away so the fruit can come forth for God's glory. Some of you are familiar with Philip Keller. Philip Keller was a shepherd. I don't know if he's still living, but he's written several books. One of them, probably the most famous one, is A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. And he refers to this verse, Psalm 23, for, And his perspective as a shepherd is that, what is the shepherd doing? The shepherd is taking the sheep through the winding valleys so that they can get up on the plateaus where there's grassy land. I would love to take sheep in a helicopter, right? And just go up on the grassy land. Wouldn't that be the quick way? It doesn't work that way. The shepherd must take the sheep through those narrow valleys. But here's the point that Philip Keller points out. By virtue of the fact that the valleys are very narrow, there's not a whole lot of space for the shepherd and all the sheep, and because of that, the sheep must be, they're forced to be close to the shepherd. And have we not found that true in our lives? When God takes us through a trial, if we respond correctly, We sense the presence of Jesus and God and his help and his grace in ways that we didn't when everything was going fine. Oh, God has a motive concerning our proximity to Christ and also the motive of our passing the comfort on to others. Paul gives us that wonderful instruction in 2 Corinthians. The comfort that God has given you, what are you supposed to do with it? Pass it on to somebody else. Again, a hymn, make me a blessing. Out of my life, may Jesus shine. Make me a blessing to someone today. Oh, we want to be a channel of blessing. We want to be able to have God flow through us to others. I have a question. Do you know how channels are formed? Oh, in those great ocean bodies, in the seas, in the bays, do you know how they make channels or widen them or make them deeper so the ocean vessel can go through? Do you know how they do it? They have to dredge. That means they have to cut into the bottom of the sea and bring all of that out. And then it opens up to be a channel. That's exactly what God is doing in trials in our life. He is cutting into us, as so to speak, cutting inside our hearts, as so to speak, so that there can be a wide channel so His blessing can go from us to others. Do we still want to be a blessing when this is what it costs? And I trust that the answer is yes. Do we still want to have fruit manifest in our life if that result is because of trials? I hope that the answer is yes. And that's what James is trying to help us understand. What should we do in trials? Well, through all of this, there has to be a cooperation. And I can almost think that the Holy Spirit, and I say this respectfully, when we're going through a trial, the Holy Spirit is saying, can you just work with me here? This is all planned. I designed this trial so that you would become more like Jesus. We need to cooperate with God. So if you go back here to James, as we move towards our conclusion, if you look at James chapter one in verse four again, and let endurance, let endurance have its perfect work. Let it happen. God's working your life. Let it happen. Go to him. Work through the trial. There was a time in Jesus' ministry where Jesus gave his disciples difficult words. And sometimes we get difficult words or we get difficult situations. But do you remember the apostle Peter? As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the 12, you don't want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Where are you gonna go on a trial? You're gonna cooperate with Jesus and say, Jesus, I have nowhere else to go. I'm gonna cooperate with you in what you're doing in my life. And James wonderfully adds that addition in verse five, because when we're going through trials, we have way more questions than answers. And it's almost as if James anticipates our thought process through the Holy Spirit. Look at verse five. But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously without approach, and it will be given him. If you don't know what in the world to do, Practically, in your trial, ask God, and He will give you wisdom. No matter what happens to us in our life, we must continue on to serve and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. A contemporary psalm, written maybe 10, 15 years ago, has this phrase, The way is rough and steep, but it's the path to the one I seek, and I must Go on. When you have a situation in sports, who do you want to have the ball? Do you want the rookie or do you want the one who's been in several of these kind of games? When you have a hot battle, who do you want? The fresh soldiers or the ones who are hardened? You want the farmers that know what it is to wake at four o'clock in the morning to milk the cows or get up early to plow the fields. That's what Jesus is doing to us. He is using these difficulties to make us strong soldiers, farmers, and athletes for him. We must steadfastly determine to follow Jesus because only he has the words of life. Job is someone that James turns to, that we should follow his example. The prophets is someone that James turns to, that we should follow. And that's all good. And God does give us the Old Testament for our example, for learning. But do you know who the writer of Hebrews turns to for our example? Turn a couple pages back, please, and notice Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Who is the ultimate example that we should follow when we're going through trials? Hebrews chapter 12 and verses 1 and 2. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance in the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." How are we going to consider our trials as something good? How are we going to comprehend God's methods and His motives for the trials in our life? How are we going to make sure that God gets praise through our suffering? How are we going to get closer to God and help others? Verse two of Hebrews 12 gives us the answer. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. How did Job get through his trial? He knew that when God tries me, I shall come forth as gold. How does James encourage us? James says, go through trial because God is making you more like Jesus. How did Jesus get through the trial? The one that we are to look to. Jesus saw that through the pain on the cross, he was going to bring many sons and daughters to his father in salvation for his father's glory. And If our aim for our life is God's aim, and God's aim is our aim, then we will accept the trials. Because what is God's aim for our life? That our lives would be for his glory. And so, so be it, God. If these trials are gonna give you glory, yes, I will go through. And isn't that what Jesus said? Not my will, but yours be done. Father, I will go to the cross. if it gives you glory. And Jesus is our ultimate example of how to go through trials so that we may grow to be like Jesus, produce fruit, be a blessing to others, all for the name of Jesus Christ and for the Father's glory. Father, we thank you so much for James and how he so quickly starts into this theme. He knew that those saints scattered abroad were having difficulties, and so he wanted to encourage them Father, we pray that by your grace, it's not easy, but may we have the proper response to trials so that we may grow and give you glory and be a blessing to others. In Jesus' name and for his glory, amen.