"Pilgrim Trials"

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 58:13-14
• Hymn — Lord of the Sabbath (#151)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 29 (Questions 78–79)
• Hymn — In Christ There Is No East or West (#414)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — James 1:1-4
• Sermon
• Prayer of Application
• Hymn — The Lord Will Provide (#246)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: Pilgrim Trials

Scripture: James 1:1-4

I. Joyful Pilgrim Trials (v. 2)

A. Two contrasting kinds of joy run throughout Scripture

1. The serpent's joy — rooted in self-indulgence; exemplified in Genesis 3 when Eve is offered the fruit as a path to wisdom and delight
2. The cross-shaped joy of the Christian — rooted in self-denial; exemplified in Hebrews 12:2: "For the joy set before him he endured the cross"

B. The serpent's joy is the dominant cultural assumption: if something is hard, it cannot bring joy; joy comes only through self-gratification

C. Christian joy is entirely foreign to this assumption

1. Its object is God, not self — "You shall take delight in the Lord" (Isaiah 58:14)
2. The aim of life must shift from the glorification of self to the glorification and enjoyment of God
3. Solomon in Ecclesiastes illustrates this: possessing every delight of the serpent's joy, yet concluding "all is vanity" because his heart had been pierced by the goodness of God

D. Only when the heart is regenerated by the Spirit and captivated by God as the supreme object of joy can a believer count trials as joy — because trials in self-denial draw the soul closer to the triune God, who is the sum and substance of true and lasting joy

II. Testing Pilgrim Trials (v. 3)

A. Two kinds of testing appear in Scripture

1. Negative, sinful testing — the people testing God, as condemned in Deuteronomy 6:16 ("You shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Massah"), which Jesus quotes to Satan in Luke 4:12
2. Positive, gracious testing — God testing his children for their good, the predominant pattern in Scripture

B. When God tests his children, he does so for their benefit

1. Trials confirm assurance of salvation and solidify interest in Christ (cf. 2 Peter 1 — making one's calling and election sure through practiced obedience)
2. James 1:13 anticipates a key distinction: God never uses trials as an instrument to lead his children into sin, but into rest in his provision

C. Testing produces steadfastness (v. 3b)

1. Illustration: a child jumping from the diving board trusts the father waiting below; having done it once, he runs back to do it again without hesitation — steadfastness is built by repeatedly finding God faithful
2. Polycarp's martyrdom illustrates mature steadfastness: "Eighty-six years I have served Christ and he has done me no wrong — how can I blaspheme my king?" His courage was the fruit of decades of passed tests
3. Judas as the antitype: he consistently fed the serpent's joy (stealing from the money bag, John 12:6), failed the tests, and ended in cowardice rather than martyrdom
4. The practical question: "Could I die for the Lord?" is answered by another question: "How am I scoring on the tests God is giving me now?"

III. Perfecting Pilgrim Trials (v. 4)

A. "Perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" does not mean sinless perfection but wholeness and maturity

1. We will never be entirely free of indwelling sin in this life; the flesh wars against the Spirit (Galatians 5)
2. The critical distinction is between sin's reigning power and sin's remaining presence

B. In Christ, sin's dominion has been broken

1. Romans 6:12 — "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey its passions"
2. The believer's identity is servant of Christ, not servant of sin; living as a slave to sin contradicts that identity

C. John Owen's warning: multiplying religious duties to compensate for an unmortified sin involves no actual exercising of grace

1. No prayers, sermons attended, or outward duties can compensate for one area of the heart still under sin's rule and reign
2. As Paul says, to break one part of the law is to break it all; one cracked corner renders the whole window broken

D. Practical application and closing exhortation

1. Honest self-examination: where do our trials truly lie? Where does Satan most often find an opening?
2. For those convicted: 1 John 1:9 — "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we confess them"
3. The pilgrim's pattern: stumble, confess, receive fresh forgiveness and the joy of salvation, rise and endeavor after new obedience, and actively dethrone every place where sin has raised its banner