"My brethren, count it all joy when
ye 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."—James 1:2-4.
James calls the converted among the
twelve tribes his brethren. Christianity has a great uniting power:
it both discovers and creates relationships among the sons of men.
It reminds us of the ties of nature, and binds us with the bonds of
grace. Every one that is born of the Spirit of God is brother to
every other that is born of the same Spirit. Well may we be called
brethren, for we are redeemed by one blood; we are partakers of the
same life; we feed upon the same heavenly food; we are united to the
same living head; we seek the same ends; we love the same Father: we
are heirs of the same promises; and we shall dwell for ever together
in the same heaven. Wherefore, let brotherly love continue; let us
love one another with a pure heart fervently, and manifest that
love, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. Whatever
brotherhood may be a sham, let the brotherhood of believers be the
most real thing beneath the stars.
Beginning with this word "brethren," James shows a true
brotherly sympathy with believers in their trials, and this is a
main part of Christian fellowship. "Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ." If we are not tempted ourselves at
this moment, others are: let us remember them in our prayers; for in
due time our turn will come, and we shall be put into the crucible.
As we would desire to receive sympathy and help in our hour of need,
let us render it freely to those who are now enduring trial. Let us
remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them, and those that
suffer affliction as being ourselves in the body. Remembering the
trials of his brethren, James tries to cheer them, and therefore he
says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
trials." It is a part of our high calling to rise ourselves into
confidence; and it is also our duty to see that none of our brethren
despond, much less despair. The whole tendency of our holy faith is
to elevate and to encourage. Grace breeds no sorrow, except the
healthy sorrow which comes with saving repentance and leads to the
joy of pardon: it comes not to make men miserable, but to wipe all
tears from their eyes. Our dream is not of devils descending a
dreary staircase to hell, but of angels ascending and descending
upon a ladder, the top of which leads to the shining throne of God.
The message of the gospel is one of joy and gladness, and were it
universally understood and received this world would be no longer a
wilderness, but it would rejoice and blossom as the rose. Let grace
reign in all hearts, and this earth will become a temple filled with
perpetual song; and even the trials of life will become causes of
the highest joy, so beautifully described by James as "all joy," as
if every possible delight were crowded into it. Blessed be God, it
is our work, not to upbraid, but to cheer all the brotherhood: we
walk in a light which glorifies everything upon which it falls, and
turns losses into gains. We are able in sober earnest to speak with
the afflicted, and bid them be patient under the chastening hand of
God; yea, to count it all joy when they fall into divers trials
because those trials will work out for them such signal, such
lasting good. They may be well content to sow in tears since they
are sure to reap in joy.
Without further preface we will come at once to the
text; and observe that in speaking about affliction, for that is the
subject of the text, the apostle notes, first, the essential
point which is assailed by temptation, namely, your faith. Your
faith is the target that all the arrows are shot at; the furnace is
kindled for the trial of your faith. Notice, secondly, the
invaluable blessing which is thus gained, namely, the proving of
your faith, discovering whether it be the right faith or no. This
proof of our faith is a blessing of which I cannot speak too highly.
Then, thirdly, we may not overlook the priceless virtue which is
produced by this process of testing, namely, patience; for the
proving of your faith produces patience, and this is the soul's
surest enrichment. Lastly, in connection with that patience we shall
note the spiritual completeness which is thus promoted:—"That
ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." Perhaps you have
noticed that little variations I have made in the text; but I am now
following the Revised Version, which gives an admirable rendering. I
will read it. "Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into
manifold temptations; knowing that the proof of your faith worketh
patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, lacking in nothing."
I. First, let us think a little upon THE ESSENTIAL
POINT WHICH IS ASSAILED by temptation or trial. It is your faith
which is tried. It is supposed that you have that faith. You are
not the people of God, you are not truly brethren unless you are
believers. It is this faith of yours which is peculiarly obnoxious
to Satan and to the world which lieth in the wicked one. If you had
not faith they would not be enemies of yours; but faith is the mark
of the chosen of God, and therefore his foes become the foes of all
the faithful, spitting their venom specially upon their faith. God
Himself hath put enmity between the serpent and the woman, between
the serpent's seed and the woman's seed; and that enmity must show
itself. The serpent bites at the heel of the true seed: hence
mockings, persecutions, temptations, and trials are sure to beset
the pathway to faith. The hand of faith is against all evil, and all
evil is against faith. Faith is that blessed grace which is most
pleasing to God, and hence it is the most displeasing to the devil.
By faith God is greatly glorified, and hence by faith Satan is
greatly annoyed. He rages at faith because he sees therein his own
defeat and the victory of grace.
Because the trial of your faith brings honour to the
Lord, therefore the Lord Himself is sure to try it that out of its
trial praise may come to his grace by which faith is sustained. Our
chief end is to glorify God, and if our trials enable us more fully
to answer the end of our being it is well that they should happen
unto us. So early in our discourse we see reason to count it all joy
when we fall into manifold trials.
It is by our faith that we are saved, justified, and
brought near to God, and therefore it is no marvel that it is
attacked. It is by believing in Christ that we are delivered from
the reigning power of sin, and receive power to become the sons of
God. Faith is as vital to salvation as the heart is vital to the
body: hence the javelins of the enemy are mainly aimed at this
essential grace. Faith is the standard bearer, and the object of the
enemy is to strike him down that the battle may be gained. If the
foundations be removed what can the righteous do? If the cable can
be snapped whither will the vessel drift? All the powers of darkness
which are opposed to right and truth are sure to fight against our
faith, and manifold temptations will march in their legions against
our confidence in God.
It is by our faith that we live; we began to live by
it, and continue to live by it, for "the just shall live by faith."
Once let faith go and our life is gone; and hence it is that the
powers which war against us make their main assault upon this royal
castle, this key of the whole position. Faith is your jewel, your
joy, your glory; and the thieves who haunt the pilgrim way are all
in league to tear it from you. Hold fast, therefore, this your
choice treasure.
It is by faith, too, that Christians perform exploits.
If men of old wrought daring and heroic deeds it was by faith. Faith
is the fighting principle and the conquering principle: therefore it
is Satan's policy to slay it even as Pharaoh sought to kill the male
children when Israel dwelt in Egypt. Rob a Christian of his faith
and he will be like Samson when his locks were cut away: the
Philistines will be upon him and the Lord will have departed from
him. Marvel not if the full force of the current shall beat upon
your faith, for it is the foundation of your spiritual house. Oh
that your faith may abide steadfast and unmovable in all present
trials, that so it may be found true in the hour of death and in the
day of judgment. Woe unto that man whose faith fails him in this
land of peace, for what will he do in the swelling of Jordan?
Now, think of how faith is tried. According to
the text we are said to fall into "manifold temptations" or into
"divers temptations"—that is to say, we may expect very many and
very different troubles. In any case these trials will be most real.
The twelve tribes to whom this epistle was written were a specially
tried people, for in the first place they were, as Jews, greatly
persecuted by all other nations, and when they became Christians
they were cruelly persecuted by their own people. A Gentile convert
was somewhat less in peril than a Jewish Christian, for the latter
was crushed between the upper and nether millstones of Paganism and
Judaism. The Israelitish Christian was usually so persecuted by his
own kith and kin that he had to flee from them, and whither could he
go, for all other people abhorred the Jews? We are not in such a
plight, but God's people even to this day will find that trial is no
sham word. The rod in God's house is no toy to play with. The
furnace, believe me, is no mere place of extra warmth to which you
may soon accustom yourself: it is often heated seven times hotter,
like the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar and God's children are made to
know that the fire burns and devours. Our temptations are no
inventions of nervousness nor hobgoblins of dreamy fear. Ye have
heard of the patience of Job—his was real patience, for his
afflictions were real. Could each tried believer among us tell his
own story I do not doubt we would convince all who heard us that the
troubles and temptations which we have endured are no fictions of
romance, but must be ranked among the stern realities of actual
life.
Ay, and note too, that the trials of Christians are
such as would in themselves lead us into sin, for I take it that our
translators would not have placed the word "temptation" in the text,
and the Revisionists would not have retained it, if they had not
felt that there was a colouring of temptation in its meaning, and
that "trial" was hardly the word. The natural tendency of trouble is
not to sanctify, but to induce sin. A man is very apt to become
unbelieving under affliction: that is a sin. He is apt to murmur
against God under it: that is a sin. He is apt to put forth his hand
to some ill way of escaping from his difficulty: and that would be
sin. Hence we are taught to pray, "Lead us not into temptation;
because trial has in itself a measure of temptation"; and if it were
not neutralized by abundant grace it would bear us towards sin. I
suppose that every test must have in it a measure of temptation. The
Lord cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man; but
this is to be understood of his end and design. He entices no man to
do evil; but yet He tries the sincerity and faithfulness of men by
placing them where sin comes in their way, and does its best or its
worst to ensnare them: His design being that the uprightness of His
servants may thus be proved, both to themselves and others. We are
not taken out of this world of temptation, but we are kept in it for
our good. Because our nature is depraved it makes occasions for sin,
both out of our joys and our trials, but by grace we overcome the
tendency of nature, and so derive benefit from tribulation. Do I not
speak to many here who at times feel strong impulses towards evil,
especially in the darksome hour when the spirit of evil walks
abroad? Have you not been made to tremble for yourselves in season
of fierce trial, for your feet were almost gone, your steps had
well-nigh slipped. Is there any virtue that has not been
weather-beaten? Is there any love that has not at times been so
tried that it threatened to curdle into hate? Is there any good
thing this side heaven which has marched all the way in silver
slippers? Did ever a flower of grace blossom in this wretched clime
without being tried with frost or blight? Our way is up the river;
we have to stem the current, and struggle against a flood which
would readily bear us to destruction. Thus, not only trials, but
black temptations assail the Christian's faith.
As to what shape they take, we may say this much: the
trial or temptation of each man is distinct from that of every
other. When God did tempt Abraham he was bidden to take his son, his
only son, and offer him upon a mountain for a sacrifice. Nobody here
was ever tried in that way: nobody ever will be. We may have the
trial of losing our child, but certainly not the trial of having a
command to offer him in sacrifice. That was a trial peculiar to
Abraham: necessary and useful to him, though never proposed to us.
In the case of the young man in the gospels, our Lord Jesus tried
him with, "If thou wouldest be perfect, go and sell that thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." Some
have dreamed that it must therefore be the duty of everybody to part
with their possessions: but this is idle. It would not be the duty
of any man to offer up his only son; and it is not the duty of every
man to part with all his goods. These were tests to particular
persons; and others equally special and searching have been applied
in other cases. We are not to try ourselves, nor to desire other
men's trials; it will be well if we endure those which the Lord
appoints for us, for they will be wisely chosen. That which would
most severely test me would perhaps be no trial to you; and that
which tries you might be no temptation to me. This is one reason why
we often judge one another so severely, because feeling ourselves to
be strong in that particular point we argue that the fallen one must
have been strong in that point too, and therefore must have
willfully and earnestly have determined to do wrong. This may be a
cruel supposition. We hastily conclude that the temptation must have
been as feeble in his case as it would have been in our own; which
is a great mistake, for a temptation which to you or to me would be
no temptation at all, may be to another individual, of a peculiar
constitution and under singular circumstances, a most fierce and
terrible blast from the adversary, before which he falls mournfully,
but not with malice aforethought. Divers trials, says the apostle,
and he knew what he said.
And, dear friends, sometimes these divers trials derive
great force from their seemingly surrounding us, and cutting off
escape: James says,—"Ye fall into divers temptations": like
men who fall into a pit, and do not know how to get out; or like
soldiers who fall into an ambuscade; or travellers in the good old
times when two or three footpaths surrounded them and made them feel
that they had fallen into bad hands. The tempted see not which way
to turn; they appear to be hemmed in; they are as a bird that is
taken in the fowler's snare. This it is that makes calamity of our
manifold temptations, that they hedge up our way, and unless faith
finds the clue we wander in a thorny maze.
At times temptation comes suddenly upon us, and so we
fall into it. When we were at rest, and were quiet, suddenly the
evil came, like a lion leaping from the thicket. When Job's children
were eating and drinking in their elder brother's house, then
suddenly a wind came from the wilderness, and the patriarch was
bereaved: the cattle were ploughing, the sheep were grazing, the
camels were at their service, and in a moment, by fire from heaven,
and by robber bands, the whole of these possessions vanished. One
messenger had not told his story before another followed at his
heels; Job had no breathing time, the blows fell thick and fast. The
trial of our faith is most severe when divers trials happen to us
when we look not for them. It is not strange in the light of these
things that James should say, "Count it all joy when ye fall into
divers trials"?
Those were the days of tumults, imprisonment,
crucifixion, sword, and fire. Then the amphitheatre devoured
Christians by thousands. The general cry was "The Christians to the
lions!" Do you wonder if sometimes the bravest were made to say, Is
our faith really true? This faith which is abhorred of all mankind,
can it be divine? Has it come from God? Why, then, does He not
interpose and deliver His people? Shall we apostatise? Shall we deny
Christ and live, or shall we go on with our confession through
innumerable torments even to a bloody death? Will fidelity answer
after all? Is there a crown of glory? is there an eternity of bliss?
Is there in very deed a resurrection of the dead? These questions
came into men's minds then, and were fairly faced: the faith of
martyrs was not taken up at second hand, or borrowed from their
parents; they believed for themselves in downright earnest. Men and
women in those days believed in such a way that they never flinched
nor started aside from fear of death; indeed, they pressed forward
to confess their faith in Jesus in such crowds that at last the
heathen cried, "There must be something in it: it must be a religion
of God, or how could these men so gladly bear their troubles?" This
was the faith of God's elect, the work of the Holy Ghost.
You see, then, the main point of attack is our faith,
and happy is the man whose shield can catch and quench all the fiery
darts of the enemy.
II. That we may make the text more clear we shall next
notice THE INVALUABLE BLESSING WHICH IS GAINED BY THE TRIAL OF OUR
FAITH. The blessing gained is this, that our faith is tried and
proved. Two Sabbaths ago I addressed you upon the man whose bad
foundations led to the overthrow of his house; and I know that many
said after the sermon:—"God grant that we may not be like him: may
we have a firm foundation for our soul to rest on." Then you went
home, and you sat down and said, "Have I this sure foundation?" You
began to question, argue, reason, and so on, and your design was a
good one. But I do not reckon that much came of it; our own looking
within seldom yields solid comfort. Actual trial is far more
satisfactory; but you must not try yourself. The effectual proof is
by trials of God's sending. The way of trying whether you are a good
soldier is to go down to the battle: the way to try whether a ship
is well built is, not merely to order the surveyor to examine her,
but to send her to sea: a storm will be the best test of her
staunchness. They have built a new lighthouse upon the Eddystone:
how do we know that it will stand? We judge by certain laws and
principles, and feel tolerably safe about the structure; but, after
all, we shall know best if after-years when a thousand tempests have
beaten upon the lighthouse in vain. We need trials as a test as much
as we need divine truth as our food. Admire the ancient types placed
in the ark of the covenant of old: two things were laid close
together,—the pot of manna and the rod. See how heavenly food and
heavenly rule go together: how our sustenance and our chastening are
equally provided for! A Christian cannot live without the manna nor
without the rod. The two must go together. I mean this, that it is
as great a mercy to have your salvation proved to you under trial as
it is to have it sustained in you by the consolations of the Spirit
of God. Sanctified tribulations work the proof of our faith, and
this is more precious than that of gold which perisheth, though it
be tried by fire.
Now, when we are able to bear it without starting
aside, the trial proves our sincerity. Coming out of a
trouble the Christian says to himself, "Yes, I held fast mine
integrity, and did not let it go. Blessed be God, I was not afraid
of threatening; I was not crushed by losses; I was kept true to God
under pressure. Now, I am sure that my religion is not a mere
profession, but a real consecration to God. It has endured the fire,
being kept by the power of God."
Next, it proves the truthfulness of our doctrinal
belief. Oh, yes, you may say, "I have heard Mr. Spurgeon expound
the doctrines, and I have believed them." This is poor work; but if
you have been sick, and found a comfort in those doctrines, then you
are assured of their truth. If you have been on the borders of the
grave, and the gospel has given you joy and gladness, then you know
how true it is. Experimental knowledge is the best and surest. If
you have seen others pass through death itself triumphantly you have
said, "This is proof to me: my faith is no guess-work: I have seen
for myself." Is not this assurance cheaply purchased at any price?
May we not count it all joy when the Lord puts us in the way of
getting it? It seems to me that doubt is worse than trial. I had
sooner suffer any affliction than be left to question the gospel or
my own interest in it. Certainly it is a jewel worth purchasing even
with our heart's blood.
Next, your own faith in God is proved when you
can cling to Him under temptation. Not only your sincerity, but the
divinity of your faith is proved; for a faith that is never tried,
how can you depend upon it? But if in the darkest hour you have
still said, "I cast my burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain
me," and you find He does sustain you, then is your faith that of
God's elect. If in temptation you cry to God in prayer that you may
keep your garment unspotted, and He helps you to do so, then also
are you sure that yours is the faith which the Spirit begets in the
soul. After a great fight of affliction, when I come forth a
conqueror, I know that I do believe in God, and I know that this
faith makes me a partaker of covenant blessings; from this I may
fairly argue that my faith is of the right kind.
I find it especially sweet to learn the great
strength of the Lord in my own weakness. We find out under trial
where we are most weak, and just then in answer to prayer strength
is given answerable to the need. The Lord suits the help to the
hindrance, and puts the plaster on the wound. In the very hour when
it is needed the needed grace is given. Does this not tend to breed
assurance of faith?
It is a splendid thing to be able to prove even to
Satan the purity of your motives. That was the great gain of
Job. There was no question about his outward conduct, but the
question was about his motive. "Ah," says the devil, "he serves God
for what he gets out of Him. Hast Thou not set a hedge about him and
all that he has? His is cupboard love: he cares nothing for God
Himself, he only cares for the reward of his virtue." Well, he is
tried, and everything is taken away, and when he cries, "Though He
slay me, yet will I trust in Him," when he blesses the taking as
well as the giving God, then the devil himself could not have the
prudence to accuse him again. As to Job's own conscience, it would
be quite settled and confirmed as to his pure love to God. My
brethren, I reckon that the endurance of every imaginable suffering
and trial would be a small price to pay for a settled assurance,
which would for ever prevent the possibility of doubt. Never mind
the waves if they wash you upon this rock. Therefore, when you are
tempted, "Count it all joy" that you are tried, because you will
thus receive a proof of your love, a proof of your faith, a proof of
your being the true-born children of God.
James says, "Count it." A man requires to be
trained to be a good accountant; it is an art which needs to be
learned. What muddles some of us would make if we had to settle
accounts and manage disbursements and incomings without the aid of a
clerk! How we should get entangled with balances and deficits! We
could much easier spend money than count it. But when a man once
knows the science of book-keeping, and gets into the way of it, he
readily arrives at the true position of affairs. He has learned to
count, and no error escapes his eye. James gives us a ready reckoner,
and teaches us in our troubles how to count. He sets before us a
different kind of measure from that which carnal reason would use:
the shekel of the sanctuary was very different from the shekel in
common commerce, and so is the counting of faith far other than that
of human judgment. He bids us take our pen and sit down quickly and
write at his correct dictation. You are going to write down,
"Manifold temptations;" that would be so much on the wrong side: but
instead thereof he bids you set down the proving of your faith, and
this one asset transforms the transaction into a substantial gain.
Trials are like a fire; they burn up nothing in us but the dross,
and they make the gold all the purer. Put down the testing process
as a clear gain, and, instead of being sorry about it, count it all
joy when ye fall into divers trials, for this bestows upon you a
proof of your faith. So far there is sufficient ground for counting
all trials joy. Now, let us go a little further.
III. Let us think of THE PRICELESS VIRTUE WHICH IS
PRODUCED BY TRIAL, namely, patience; for the proof of your "faith
worketh patience." Patience! We all have a large stock of it—until
we need it, and then we have none. The man who truly possesses
patience is the man that has been tried. What kind of patience does
he get by the grace of God? First, he obtains a patience that
accepts the trials as from God without a murmur. Calm
resignation does not come all at once; often long years of physical
pain, or mental depression, or disappointment in business, or
multiplied bereavements, are needed to bring the soul into full
submission to the will of the Lord. After much crying the child is
weaned; after much chastening the son is made obedient to his
Father's will. By degrees we learn to end our quarrel with God,m and
to desire that there may not be two wills between God and ourselves,
but that God's will may be our will. Oh, brother, if your troubles
work you to that, you are a gainer, I am sure, and you may count
them all joy.
The next kind of patience is when experience enables a
man to bear ill-treatment, slander, and injury without
resentment. He feels it keenly, but he bears it meekly. Like his
Master, he opens not his mouth to reply, and refuses to return
railing for railing. Contrariwise he gives blessing in return for
cursing; like the sandal-wood tree which perfumes the axe which cuts
it. Blessed is that holy charity which hopeth all things, endureth
all things, and is not easily provoked. Ah, friend, if the grace of
God by trial shall work in you the quiet patience which never grows
angry, and never ceases to love, you may have lost a trifle of
comfort, but you have gained a solid weight of character.
The patience which God works in us by tribulation also
takes another form, namely, that of acting without undue haste.
Before wisdom has balanced our zeal we are eager to serve God all in
a hurry, with a rush and a spurt, as if everything must be done
within the hour or nothing would ever be accomplished. We set about
holy service with somewhat more of preparedness of heart after we
have been drilled in the school of trial. We go steadily and
resolutely about work for Jesus, knowing what poor creatures we are,
and what a glorious Master we serve. The Lord our God is in no hurry
because He is strong and wise. In proportion as we grow like the
Lord Jesus we shall cast aside disturbance of mind and fury of
spirit. His was a grand life-work, but He never seemed to be
confused, excited, worried, or hurried, as certain of His people
are. He did not strive nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in
the streets. He knew His hour was not yet come, and there were so
many days in which He could work, and therefore He went steadily on
till He had finished the work which His Father had given Him to do.
That kind of patience is a jewel more to be desired than the gem
which glitters on the imperial brow. Sometimes we blunder into a
deal of mischief, making more haste than speed; and we are sure to
do so when we forget to pray, and fail to commit our matters into
the Divine hands. We may run with such vehemence that we may
stumble, or lose our breath: there may be in our random efforts as
much undoing as doing, for want of possessing our souls in patience.
That is a grand kind of patience, too, when we can
wait without unbelief. Two little words are good for every
Christian to learn and to practise—pray and stay. Waiting on the
Lord implies both praying and staying. What if the world is not
converted this year! What if the Lord Jesus does not come to-morrow!
What if still our tribulations are lengthened out! What if the
conflict is continued! He that has been tried and by grace has
obtained the true profit of his trials, both quietly waits and
joyfully hopes for the salvation of God. Patience, brother! Is this
high virtue scarce with thee? The Holy Spirit shall bestow it upon
thee through suffering.
This patience also takes the shape of believing
without wavering, in the very teeth of strange providences and
singular statements, and perhaps inward misgivings. The established
Christian says, "I believe my God, and therefore if the vision tarry
I will wait for it. My time is not yet come. I am to have my worst
things first and my best things afterwards, and so I sit me down at
Jesus' feet and tarry his leisure."
Brothers and sisters, if, in a word, we learn
endurance we have taken a high degree. You look at the
weather-beaten sailor, the man who is at home on the sea: he has a
bronzed face and mahogany-coloured flesh, he looks as tough as heart
of oak, and as hardy as if he were made of iron. How different from
us poor landsmen. How did the man become so inured to hardship, so
able to breast the storm, so that he does not care whether the wind
blows south-west or north-west? He can go out to sea in any kind of
weather; he has his sea legs on: how did he come to this strength?
By doing business in great waters. He could not have become a hardy
seaman by tarrying on shore. Now, trial works in the saints that
spiritual hardihood which cannot be learned in ease. You may go to
school for ever, but you cannot learn endurance there: you may
colour your cheek with paint, but you cannot give it that ingrained
brown which comes of stormy seas and howling winds. Strong faith and
brave patience come of trouble, and a few men in the church who have
thus been prepared are worth anything in times of tempest. To reach
that condition of firm endurance and sacred hardihood is worth all
the expense of all the heaped-up troubles that ever come upon us
from above or from beneath. When trial worketh patience we are
incalculably enriched. The Lord give us more of this choice grace.
As Peter's fish had the money in its mouth, so have sanctified
trials spiritual riches for those who endure them graciously.
IV. Lastly, all this works something better still, and
this is our fourth head: THE SPIRITUAL COMPLETENESS PROMOTED. "That
ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Brethren, the most
valuable thing a man can get in this world is that which has most to
do with his truest self. A man gets a good house; well, that is
something: but suppose he is in bad health, what is the good of his
fine mansion? A man is well clothed and well fed: that is something:
but suppose he shivers with ague, and has no appetite through
indigestion. That spoils it all. If a man is in robust health this
is a far more valuable boon. Health is far more to be prized than
wealth, or honour, or learning: we all allow that, but then suppose
that a man's innermost self is diseased while his body is healthy,
so that he is disgraced by vice or fevered with passion, he is in a
poor plight, notwithstanding that he has such a robust frame? The
very best thing is that which will make the man himself a better
man; make him right, and true, and pure, and holy. When the man
himself is better, he has made an unquestionable gain. So, if our
afflictions tend, by trying our faith, to breed patience, and that
patience tends to make us into perfect men in Christ Jesus, then we
may be glad of trials. Afflictions by God's grace make us all-around
men, developing every spiritual faculty, and therefore they are our
friends, our helpers, and should be welcomed with "all joy."
Afflictions find out our weak points, and this makes us
attend to them. Being tried, we discover our failures, and then
going to God about those failures we are helped to be perfect and
entire, wanting nothing.
Moreover, our trials, when blessed of God to make us
patient, ripen us. I do not know how to explain what I mean by
ripening, but there is a sort of mellowness about believers who have
endured a great deal of affliction that you never meet in other
people. It cannot be mistaken or imitated. A certain measure of
sunlight is wanted to bring out the real flavour of fruits, and when
a fruit has felt its measure of burning sun it develops a
lusciousness which we all delight in. So is it in men and women: a
certain amount of trouble appears to be needful to create a certain
sugar of graciousness in them, so that they may contain the rich,
ripe juice of a gracious character. You must have known such men and
such women, and have said to yourselves, "I wish I could be like
them, so calm, so quiet, so self-contained, so happy, and when not
happy, yet so content not to be happy; so mature in judgment, so
spiritual in conversation, so truly ripe." This only comes to those
in whom the proof of their faith works experience, and then
experience brings forth the fruits of the Spirit. Dear brothers and
sisters, there is a certain all-roundness of spiritual manhood which
never comes to us except by manifold temptations. Let me attempt to
show you what I mean. Sanctified trials produce a chastened
spirit. Some of us by nature are rough and untender; but after
awhile friends notice that the roughness is departing, and they are
quite glad to be more gently handled. Ah, that sick chamber did the
polishing; under God's grace, that depression of spirit, that loss,
that cross, that bereavement,—these softened the natural ruggedness,
and made the man meek and lowly, like his Lord. Sanctified trouble
has a great tendency to breed sympathy, and sympathy is to
the church as oil to machinery. A man that has never suffered feels
very awkward when he tries to sympathize with a tried child of God.
He kindly does his best, but he does not know how to go to work at
it; but those repeated blows from the rod make us feel for others
who are smarting, and by degrees we are recognized as being the
Lord's anointed comforters, made meet by temptation to succour those
who are tempted.
Have you never noticed how tried men, too, when
their trouble is thoroughly sanctified, become cautious and
humble? They cannot speak quite so fast as they used to do: they
do not talk of being absolutely perfect, though thy are the very men
who are Scripturally perfect; they say little about their doings,
and much about the tender mercy of the Lord. They recollect the
whipping they had behind the door from their Father's hands, and
they speak gently to other erring ones. Affliction is the stone
which our Lord Jesus throws at the brow of our giant pride, and
patience is the sword which cuts off its head.
Those, too, are the kind of people who are most
grateful. I have known what it is to praise God for the power to
move one leg in bed. It may not seem much to you, but it was a great
blessing to me. They that are heavily afflicted come to bless God
for everything. I am sure that woman who took a piece of bread and a
cup of water for her breakfast, and said, "What, all this, and
Christ too!" must have been a tried woman, or she would not have
exhibited so much gratitude. And that old Puritan minister was
surely a tried man, for when his family had only a herring and a few
potatoes for dinner, he said, "Lord, we bless Thee that Thou hast
ransacked sea and land to find food for us this day." If he had not
been a tried man, he might have turned up his nose at the meal, as
many do at much more sumptuous fare. Troubled men get to be grateful
men, and that is no small thing.
As a rule, where God's grace works, these come to be
hopeful men. Where others think the storm will destroy the
vessel, they can remember storms equally fierce which did not
destroy it, and so they are so calm that their courage keeps others
from despair.
These men, too, become unworldly men. They have
had too much trouble to think that they can ever build their nest in
this black forest. There are too many thorns in their nest for them
to reckon that this can be their home. These birds of paradise take
to their wings, and are ready to fly away to the land of unfading
flowers.
And these much-tempted ones are frequently the most
spiritual men, and out of this spirituality comes usefulness.
Mr. Greatheart, who led the band of pilgrims up to the celestial
city, was a man of many trials, or he would not have been fit to
lead so many to their heavenly rest; and you, dear brother, if ever
you are to be a leader and a helper, as you would wish to be, in the
church of God, it must be by such means as this that you must be
prepared for it. Do you not wish to have every virtue developed? Do
you not wish to become a perfect man in Christ Jesus? If so, welcome
with all joy divers trials and temptations; fly to God with them;
bless Him for having sent them: ask Him to help you to bear them
with patience, and then let that patience have its perfect work, and
so by the Spirit of God you shall become "perfect and entire,
lacking in nothing." May the Comforter bless this word to your
hearts, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. |
