James 1:12 - Part 4

The Blessing of Testing

1. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial a. Blessed When God extends his benefits b. Taken from the root of becoming large i. A harvest is blessed when its large ii. A company is blessed when its large iii. A Kingdom is blessed when its large c. Gods purpose is for you is to have large blessings d. The word blessed means to be envied e. As we saw last week, the poor should boast in his humility f. James is redefining our concept of who to envy g. Dont envy someone who is not in the trial, envy someone who is persevering on the trial h. No one envys the ball player sitting on the bench. He is envied because he is out there on the court or the field persevering under trial i. Perseveres means to endure, to have stood your ground. I shared with the widows the other day about a priest at a city council meeting j. Endure also means to continue bearing the load k. This is an ironic verse Matt 11:28 - Come to me all you weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. l. The only way you can endure is through faith. Faith is the only thing that will get you through m. Trial means a test n. The teacher never gives you a test unless they want to make sure you have learned something. o. In business you are never given a test unless you are qualifying for a higher position p. When there is a test in your life, it is because God is about to place a higher anointing on you 2. Because when he has stood the test a. Having been proved i. When he has been found acceptable ii. When his faith has been qualified iii. Separate the men from the boys b. Dokimos was used as the testing of coins - to make sure they were genuine i. Russian soldier walks into a church meeting c. Means to emerge, a becoming. Not something that you already are, but something that God is birthing in you. God is birthing in you a faith that is unshakable, and the litmus test for us to see is time, tests, and trials. d. Some think you can lose salvation. But you cant lose something that you never had. e. This verse shows us that God has a method of determining the genuine converts from the false converts, and that is persecution. You see when the test comes along and that person does not endure, it is because they lack faith in the power of God to carry them through their circumstances, and it shows that they were never genuine in the first place.

3. He will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him a. This word means crown of Victory as opposed to a crown of glory b. Why? In order for Jesus to give you the crown of victory, it means he had to already win the crown first. He had to get it from somewhere. c. Jesus got the crown from calvary. You see the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head that pierced through the skin and caused blood to run down his face. In their mockery was found his majesty. In their transgression was found a transition of power. And the ruling authority passed from the devil who had been ruling mankind, into a King who was now becoming victorious over death. d. The word for life is Zoe, where our word Zoo comes from. It means life in a physical sense but also in a spiritual sense. Because before there was mans breath on the earth, there was life. e. That life was the spiritual heartbeat of Jesus that had existed before eternity. f. And lastly, the crown is a promise. Jesus never says you might get a crown, but he says you Will get a crown to those who have the genuine faith. OH LORD that our faith may be genuine tonight. God may we endure the tests of this life because of our faith.