How To Pass The Tests in Life
Stand and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name
Say, “Hello” to your brothers and sisters before you sit down.
Today we’re talking on this subject: “How do I Pass the Tests of Life.”
Open your Bibles to James Chapter 1 and say. “Amen” when you are there.
Let’s read the first 4 verses.: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations;”—now, this word temptations means, “tests,” or “trials”—“knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:1–4).
I heard of a young man who had taken one of his tests at college and he’d made a zero. He went in to see the professor, and he argued with the professor. He said, “Professor, I don’t think I deserved this zero.” And the professor said, “Neither do I, son, but it was the lowest grade I had.”
Now, maybe you are failing just that miserably in the tests of life. God does have some tests, some examinations, and we’re going to have to learn how to make a passing grade. And, I hope some of us today will learn how to make an A plus.
Several things I want to share about the tests of life. I would like you to notice the fact that there is temptation.
Notice in verse 1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting” (James 1:1). Just note that word scattered. And, here God is talking to people who have endured persecution. They were being hounded and hunted, and they were wanderers on the earth.
Now, when James says, “to the twelve tribes,” he’s not talking literally; he’s talking figuratively. He is comparing the New Testament saints to the Old Testament saints. He is comparing the Church to Israel and Judah. And, just as Israel and Judah had been dispersed, they’d been torn away from their friends and from their country. And, just as Israel and Judah had suffered indignities of a conquered people, starving and friendless under the heel of a cruel oppressor, he is using that as an example and as a figure of speech to describe the Church.
The Book of James is really a book that is written to Christians everywhere. When he says, “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” he’s just speaking to Christians everywhere. This is to the Christians wherever they may be who suffered trials and temptations and tribulation. This is God’s Word to us. You are thinking, “Well, I’m not scattered abroad.”
We are. This world is not our home; we’re just passing through.
Let’s read verse 2: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations” (James 1:2). Notice he doesn’t say, “If you fall into diverse temptations.” It’s not an if; it’s a when. And, if you’re a Christian, or if you’re not a Christian; If you’re saved, if you’re lost; I can tell you one thing you can expect in life: difficulty. How’d you like that? Just difficulty.
I don’t care who you are, there are going to be trials in life.
It does not matter if you’re a Christian. Christianity will not make you immune. All people fall into diverse trials and temptations, Christians included.
Persecution, and trials, and testing is a part of life. They are unavoidable. It is universal. And it is inevitable.
Verse 2: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations”
This word testing and trials may mean just simply a test like you test an automobile, or you test an airplane, or you test a new medicine. And so, that’s one kind of testing. This kind of testing is sent by God to cause you to stand.
But, there’s another kind of temptation—another kind of testing—and, that’s sent by the devil. And, the word temptation not only is used in the sense of a trial or a test. It’s also used as a solicitation to evil, as a tempting to sin.
Now, this is not sent by God. “God tempts no man with evil. Neither can He be tempted with evil” (James 1:13). This is sent by the devil. And, the difference between the two is this: Trials are sent by God to cause us to stand. Temptation to sin is sent by the devil to cause us to stumble.
You see, some of you are not paying a lot of attention right now, because you’re saying, “Well, David, you’re preaching to all of those folks who’ve got troubles; I don’t have any.” Living fine today, everything’s fine, blood pressure down, bank accounts up, everything is fine. Well, for the next 15 minutes, maybe. See, you don’t know what the next phone call’s going to bring, do you? You see, you don’t know what you’re going to meet, when you turn the next corner. You just don’t know.
Winston Churchill was speaking to the House of Commons and he gave this advice—he said, “We must always be ready to meet at our average moment anything that any possible enemy could hurl against us at his selected moment.”
Are you ready at your average moment to meet what the devil will throw at you at his selected moment?
Are you? I mean, right now, are you ready? Are you ready, if the devil, this afternoon, were to hurl against you some great force, some trial, some testing, some temptation?
The force of temptation, it comes suddenly, swiftly, surely, savagely.
Sometimes we have the idea, “Well, if I get saved, I won’t face those old temptations anymore.” Who are you kidding? You think, “Well, if I get saved, I won’t have any more problems.” Where did you learn that? Not from the Bible. They’re going to come. And you say, “Well, then, I don’t think I’ll get saved then.” They’re still going to come. It doesn’t matter whether you’re saved or whether you’re not. There’s just a difference in what the Christian has to do with his problems that the unsaved person doesn’t have to do with his.
We grow in our faith only the force of temptation, but the facing of temptation—the facing of temptation. Notice in verse 3: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works your patience” (James 1:3). And so, when temptation comes, it’s just like taking a test. It is the testing of your faith.
As you face your temptations—whether they be the trials of life or whether they may be the solicitation to do sin and to do evil—when you face the temptation, remember this lesson: It is not a sin to be tempted.
Temptation to sin is not a sin. If it is a sin, then Jesus is a sinner. For the Bible says Jesus was tempted “in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” Do you want the scripture for that? Hebrews 4:15:
Jesus felt what you feel; Jesus was human. He came as a man to feel what you feel. He faced in His manhood and in His humanity the temptations that you face. And, He is touched. He can sympathize with you. For He knows what you feel. He knows what you face. He knows. And, if being tempted is a sin, and Jesus was tempted, that means Jesus was a sinner. He never sinned even though He knew those temptations.
Also, tests, and trials, and tribulations are not necessarily because of your sin. Sometimes something bad will happen to you and you say, “Oh my, what did I do—what did I do? I must have done something terrible. I wouldn’t have lost my job; I wouldn’t have had to go to the hospital. Or, what did I do? Why these trials?” And then, we go through what we call personal inspection. We take ourselves apart by little pieces, and we examine ourselves, and we put ourselves back together, trying to figure out what we did. It may be that you have done absolutely nothing wrong, but God is just simply testing your faith.
If we don’t understand this, we may get discouraged, because the seeds of doubt and discouragements sprout in the soil of ignorance. Jesus was tested, and tempted, and tried in all points like as we are and yet without sin. So, as you face your temptation, I want you to face it with a wholesome attitude. It doesn’t mean that you have done something wrong, or that you are doing something wrong, if you’re tempted.
Now, how are you going to face your temptation? Well, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 10:13 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
You want to say, “Why am I going through this? And, why do I face this? And, why has this calamity come to me? Four reasons. The first one is a wonderful one: for your enjoyment. You say, “You mean I’m supposed to enjoy this?” Look at verse 2: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,”
Now, I didn’t say that. James said it through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”
The second fruit of this temptation is endurance—endurance.
You see, the Lord wants to teach you how to endure, and so, we read here in verse 3: “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:3). NThat’s not what He’s talking about. It’s a much stronger word than that. And, it does not just mean being calm in a jittery situation. But, it means the ability to bear up under the testing.
And knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. God is going to give you some tests, some trials, some temptations. And, the reason that those things will come will be to make you endure, to keep you from being on again, off again—on again, off again. Endurance—endurance.
The first fruit, enjoyment; the second fruit, endurance. You see, it’s that constant pressure that keeps us close to God.
A man had a grandfather clock, and he felt sorry for the grandfather clock because it had a weight on it. And, that weight there in the box was always pulling. The man said, “Oh, Clock, you’ve held this weight so long, I’m going to remove it and let you rest.” And, he took it off, and the grandfather clock said, “Don’t take that weight from me. That’s what keeps me going.”
Now the first fruit is enjoyment. The second fruit is endurance. The third fruit is enlargement. I want you to notice as He goes on to say, “Knowing this, that 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” (James 1:3–4).
You see God always has a plan.
Take a look at a mighty oak tree and then look on the ground underneath and you will probably see a little acorn. So, when you’re feeling discouraged and feeling a little blue, take a look at a mighty oak and see what a nut can do.
That’s what we’re talking about. Just coming to the maturity that God wants you to come to. And so, you see God’s plan. God says to, “Enjoy it, because I have a plan.” Listen to it. Trials and tribulations lead to endurance, and endurance leads to maturity. You see, that’s what makes you strong. You grow, when you work against pressure.
A man watched a butterfly one time trying to emerge from a cocoon. And, he saw this beautiful butterfly trying to emerge, and he saw the cocoon as the transformation was taking place and the emergence. And, this man, thinking that he would help, took his razor-sharp penknife and he slit the side of that silk cocoon, and the butterfly just sort of flopped out. And, when it did, it lay there for a while, and feebly beat its wings a couple of times, and then fell to the ground, collapsed, and died. Because, you see, God had a plan for that butterfly in that cocoon. And, it was meant to swell against that cocoon, and to swell against it, and to push, and to push, and to push, until those muscles were developed so it could fly.
So many times, we’re saying, “O God, let me out of this thing,” when God wants to keep you right in that thing until you grow, until you mature, until you’re strong. God doesn’t want you to live weakly and to die feebly, but He wants you to grow and He wants you to be mature.
And so, what are the fruits of temptation? First, enjoyment. Why enjoyment? Because of endurance. Why endurance? Because of enlargement. And, why enlargement? Because of enrichment. Look at it. Look: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect” and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:3–4). How would you like to be there, “wanting nothing”? Enriched in everything.
You see, God has a plan. God’s not working against you. If someone wants to make you rich, then you ought to say, “Wonderful!” That’s the reason you count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.
God has a wonderful plan for you.
You see, the Lord wants to bless you. You say, “There’s a dark cloud over my head right now.” Well, maybe that’s better for you than the sunshine.
William Cowper was another hymn writer, and William Cowper was so discouraged. He wasn’t a Christian. He got so discouraged he believed that he would commit suicide. And so, he tried many ways to commit suicide. It’s almost humorous, though there really, there’s nothing to funny about it. William Cowper decided he would kill himself with a gun. And, he got the gun and pointed it to his temple, and when he pulled the trigger, the gun wouldn’t fire. And so, Cowper decided that wasn’t the way, and he got a rope, and tied himself to the chandelier, and tried to hang himself. And, the rope broke. Then, William Cowper decided that he would take poison, and he took poison and got well. He was getting more discouraged. He couldn’t even kill himself.
He went down to the Thames River and he hired a carriage, at least to take him to the Thames. And, he said, “Ride me to the Thames.” It was not a taxi in that day, but a horse and buggy. And, in the thick London fog—well, you know, anybody could find the Thames River—but this cabby couldn’t. He drove around for an hour-and-a-half and finally brought William Cowper back to his apartment, said, “I can’t find it.” Cowper went upstairs so discouraged till he found a Bible, and he began to read the Bible. And, God spoke to him out of the Bible, and he was born again.
God wants to bless you. Some way, somehow, standing in the shadows you will find Jesus, I promise. But, what really counts is, He promises.
Sometimes, we tend not to take God at His word and count it all joy. Sometimes, we complain, don’t we?
Sometimes, rather than being humbly grateful, we get grumbly hateful, and we just complain against the Lord.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! (Frances J. Crosby)
The fruits of temptations: Your enjoyment, your endurance, your enlargement, your enrichment. God has a great plan for you today.
Let’s pray.
