CHAPTER 1 COUNT IT ALL JOY
Ja.1:2 says, "consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." The Greek word for "trials" used in that verse is peirasmos. Peter tells us in I Pe.1:7 that sufferings "have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." I had often heard those words before, and up until a short time ago they remained head knowledge, for they had not truly lodged in my spirit where they could then control, or renew my mind.
Ro. 5:3 tells us that we are to "... rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope." It slowly began to dawn on me that the trials or sufferings, which we face on a day to day basis, have as their purpose the testing of our faith, and that this continual testing develops perseverance. I then began to realize that perseverance must play an important part in God's plan of salvation for us. I wanted to be like the seed which was sown on the good soil as told to us in the parable of the sower in Matt.13:1-23. I wanted to be like the man in vs.23 who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop which yields a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what is sown. I wanted to produce a good crop. Then the Lord showed me the same set of verses in Luke chapter 8. We are told there that we will "... by persevering produce a crop" (Lk.8:15). That was one of those times when the Word seemed to just jump out and grab me. THE CROP IS PRODUCED BY PERSEVERANCE.
We know from that verse in Luke that perseverance produces the crop, and we know from the discussion in Matthew chapter 13 that the good soil is the man who hears the Word and understands it. II Pe.1:6 tells us that we should "... make every effort to add to your faith goodness; ...knowledge; ...self control; ...perseverance; ...godliness; ...brotherly kindness; ...and love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (emphasis added).
Perseverance then is one of the qualities which we are to seek in increasing measure in order to be effective and productive in our knowledge. I am not saying that we actively go out and seek suffering and tribulation. However, we do not hide from it either. Heb.12:1 tells us to "... run the race with perseverance the race marked out for us." In fact, we need to persevere so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised (Heb.10:36). Those who have persevered are considered blessed (Ja.5:11). Notice, that verse doesn't say those who have been tried, tested and lost, or have been defeated by the trials. We are told in Heb.5:14 that solid food is for the mature and in Ja.1:4 that "perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete" (emphasis added).
Perseverance is one of the things that will increase our effectiveness and keep us from being unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perseverance makes it possible for us to produce a crop. Perseverance is also one of the things which leads to maturity and completeness It is no wonder then that Paul says in II Thes.3:5 "may the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance" (emphasis added). In each one of the verses cited above the Greek word which is translated as perseverance" is hupomone. It means cheerful endurance or consistency." Endurance indicates that something is happening to us through which we must come, or a battle from which we are to emerge victorious. The King James Version often times uses the word "patiently"; however, it had a different meaning at that time. We are not to sit patiently, as one waiting for a train, while satan dumps on us. Rather, we are to be productive and effective in our knowledge of Jesus. We are striving to be complete in Jesus. At first we sit and listen to His words as they feed us. Then we begin our walk with Him, led by the Holy Spirit, guided by His Word. Finally, we emerge, to stand victorious with Him (Eph.6:13).
Returning for a moment to Lk.8:15 we see that we are productive by producing a crop. According to Ja.1:18 we are to be "... a first fruit of all He created." Similarly, we are told in Matt.7:20 that by our fruit we will be recognized. What is this crop of fruit that is produced by perseverance? Gal.5:22 tells us that the "... fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience (Greek word makrothumeo meaning "fortitude"), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control" (parenthesis added). The fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth (Eph.5:9). Indeed, we should not sit and do nothing, but we should put on the full armor of God, for we are in a struggle "against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph.6:12).
We know satan will cause us problems. Mk.10:30 says persecutions will come when the Lord blesses us in this age for following Him. Such persecutions must be from satan, for according to Prov.10:22 the Lord adds no trouble to the wealth He bestows. Read about Paul's sufferings in II Cor.6:3-10. Don't shrink back from them; rather, revel in them. We are told in Heb.10:39 that those who shrink back are destroyed. We should also not be afraid for we are told in II Tim.3:11 that "... the Lord rescued ... (Paul) from all them" (parenthesis added). We are not at satan's mercy. The power of the Lord will bring us through. Paul continues in verse 12 to tell us "... everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..."
There can be no doubt that the persecutions will come. However, II Pe.2:9 reassures us by saying that the Lord knows how to rescue godly men and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment. In Ps.37:17-20 we are shown that during times of disaster the Lord will protect His own; whereas, the wicked will vanish like smoke. If you will recall, the second verse of Scripture used in this study - I Pe.1:7 - clearly indicated that trials and tribulations come in order to test our faith. Our faith is to be refined. In Mal.3:2 we are shown that in the end times the priest will be purified, and that our God will sit as the refiner and purifier. The Lord our God has chosen us to be priests (I Pe.2:9, Rev.5:10 & Heb.7:11-12).
We are priests, we are to be refined, we are tested, and this testing comes about by trial (Ps.66:10). But this should not bring us sorrow, for we are protected and rescued. I do not wish to get into a discussion of "rapture" or the timing of that event. That topic was covered in Chapter 14 of Needful Things. However, I do not wish to ignore those Scriptures which discuss this refining process. Prov.25:4 says "remove the dross from the silver and out comes a vessel from the silversmith, remove the wicked from the king's presence and His throne will be established through righteousness." According to Ps.119:119 God will discard the wicked of the earth like dross. Prov.10:25&30 clearly shows that a storm takes place, and that during this storm it is the wicked that are removed - the righteous stand firm. Prov.12:3 shows us that righteous shall not be uprooted. This is reaffirmed in Prov.2:21 wherein we are told "... the upright will live in the land and the blameless will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
We will see the punishment of the wicked (Ps.37:34). According to Ps.3:6 we are not to fear even though ten thousands are drawn up against us on every side. According to Ps.91:7 thousands of the wicked will fall at our sides but that punishment will not come near us, though we will see it. Paul shows us in II Cor.1:9-10 that the hardships and suffering which he endured came about so that he might learn to rely not upon himself, but on God. Remember, we are also shown that God delivered him from each one of those deadly perils.
We cannot shrink from this. In fact, according to Titus 2:2 we should teach among other things, that endurance will be necessary. Acts 14:22 tells us very clearly that we must go through many hardships before entering the kingdom of God. According to I Pe.2:20 if we suffer from doing good and endure, it is commendable before God. The Greek word for "if" used there is ei. It is not used to denote a situation which may occur; rather, one in which the reality of the situation is taken for granted (see Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Walter Bauer, 2nd edition, University of Chicago Press and Thayer's Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, Joseph Henry Thayer, Zondervan Publishing House).
We know that there will be suffering, and we know that we must persevere in order to be mature and complete. We are told in Ro.15:4 "for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Again let us look back to the very beginning of this chapter. Ro.5:3 told us that we were to rejoice in our sufferings because those sufferings produced perseverance, and from perseverance came character, and from character - hope. Hope comes about after persevering through times of trouble. We do not hope for our initial salvation, for we have that. We do not hope for healing, for we have that. These and many of God's other promises found in His Word are already ours. All we need do is stay in the Word and realize who we are in Jesus.
But what do we hope for? Ro.8:23 has the answer. "(W)e ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved ... we hope for what we do not yet have ..." (emphasis added) . I Cor.15:51 says that "we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed ... when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory." The redemption of our bodies will no longer be a hope, but a reality for those in the last generation who have endured, for then they will be mature and complete (Ja.4:14).
Don't shrink from the battle, we have the armor and the victory is ours. As was said before, to receive the promise we need to persevere (Heb.10:36). Vs. 37-38 tell us that "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous will live by faith. And if he shrinks back I will not be pleased with him." We know that we must endure in the struggle, however we have a Champion, we have the One who has gone before. We are told in Heb.4:15 "... we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have One who has been tempted in every way as we are - yet was without sin." "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted" (Heb.2:18). We must not forget that while Jesus was God on earth, He was also man. Perfect yes, but He was still a man.
At times this might be a hard concept for us to grasp, but Jesus suffered just as we do when He was tempted. The difference of course is that He did not yield to that temptation. However. He still knows what it is like to go through it. It was the fact that He did not yield to that temptation that kept Him perfect, for "in bringing many sons to glory it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering" (Heb.2:10).
Suffering is not from God. While it is used by Him, it is not directly from Him. Simply because God uses it doesn't mean that I must keep it. God uses all things for our good, even the evil that befalls us (Ro.8:28). According to Ja.1:2, our faith is tested by temptation. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our limits to endure (I Cor. 10:13), and we know that God does not tempt us. Therefore, as for suffering, we are able to overcome it. Suffering is only the process.
Perseverance or endurance is the thing which produces maturity. It is going through the fire victoriously that brings the reward, not staying in the fire and being burned up (I Cor.3:13). We don't count the temptation as joy, we count the fact that we face it and persevere. Jesus' suffering was produced from temptation (Heb.2:18) and God cannot tempt (Ja.1:13). Temptation brings suffering. Going through suffering, battling it, and emerging victoriously is what brings about maturity. The process of going through it is endurance. We do not sit by and allow it to destroy us. Through God's Word we use His power, thereby gaining victory over suffering. Jesus suffered when He was tempted (Heb.2:18) and He used the Word to overcome it (Matt.4:1-11). He endured.
God doesn't discipline us by making us suffer. The Greek word in Heb.12:7 which is interpreted many times as "discipline" also means "instruct." We know from II Tim.3:16 that God uses Scripture to instruct (see also Prov.19:20&27). He doesn't punish us anymore. Return for a moment to Heb.12:7.The King James Version says, "If ye endure chastening, God dealt with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" If we look at vs. 5-6 we see that that was a quote from Prov.3:11-12. If you will turn to that portion of Scripture you will notice that the word "chasteneth" is used and yet, that same Hebrew word is translated "instruction" in Prov.15:32 & Prov.19:20. It would appear that the word "chasteneth" does not necessarily mean to physically punish, whip, beat, or spank. The Greek word for "chasteneth" used in Heb.12:7 is paideia and is word #3809 in Strong's Concordance. That same word is also used in II Tim.3:16; however, now it is translated "instruction." That verse tells us that "all Scripture is given of God and is profitable (or useful) for doctrine (teaching), for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness"(parenthesis added). Again, the Greek word translated "chasteneth" does not necessarily mean physical punishment.
The Greek word for "reproof" found in II Tim.3:16 is elegchos, and means "to convince, convict, or to tell a fault." This clearly denotes something that is either verbal, or works upon our mind in order to show us a fault. But that same word, which clearly refers to a mental process or a verbal process, is translated "rebuke" in Heb.12:5 thereby giving an inference of punishment, or pushing away when that is not the meaning of the verse. The Greek word normally translated as "rebuke" is epitimao, and that word means "censure", to physically stop something. For example, epitimao is the word used in Mk.9:25 where Jesus "rebuked" the evil spirit. That is also the word used in Lk.4:35 where Jesus "rebuked" the fever, and in Lk.8:24 where Jesus "rebuked" the wind and the storm.
Heb.12:6 says that God punishes everyone He accepts as a son; however, that punishment for us has been taken care of. According to Isaiah 53:5 our peace was brought about by Jesus' punishment and suffering. According to Isaiah 54:9-10 God will not be angry with us. We are not appointed to suffer the wrath of God (I Thes.5:9) Because of Jesus' suffering on the cross we have peace. We need not sit helplessly by as satan attempts to put things on us. During Job's time satan had not been defeated, but now, like Jesus, we are to use the Word and faith to exercise our authority over him. Since we use the Word to overcome this temptation, our faith will grow.
God is able to help us. The very Spirit of God is with us now. According to II Tim.1:7 God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self discipline. We have been given power, love, and His armor that we may persevere, and thereby become mature and complete (Col.1:29). Furthermore, Jesus tells us in John 17:11&18 that we are protected by the very power of God's name. We are not to fear these sufferings "for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creations will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ro.8:38)