Sermons 15 | The attitude with which we believers are tried before the Lord
- The NLM
- Mar 27
- 4 min read
Todayâs message is a summary of a sermon by Pastor Paul C. Jong, a servant of God from The New Life Mission. If you visit The New Life Mission website, you can download Pastor Paul C. Jongâs sermons covering the entire Bible in the languages of each country for free as e-books, audiobooks, and bilingual books.
Letâs look at James 1:1â4: âJames, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 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.â
The attitude with which we believers are tried before the Lord
This passage is a letter written by the Apostle James to the 12 tribes who were scattered and living in hiding due to severe persecution during the early church.
The Apostle James also truly suffered much persecution and was a disciple of Jesus who was later martyred. At that time, James told the people of God who were suffering in the midst of persecution, âCount it all joy when you fall into various trials.â
This means that the devil and unbelievers test the children of faith.
âAre you truly a person of faith? Are you truly a person whose sins have been removed? Are you truly a person who lives for God?,â etc.
We believers face many difficulties and persecutions in order to protect and spread the gospel of the truth that Jesus is God and that Jesus removed all our sins by being baptized and shedding His blood on the Cross.
Everyone, the difficulties that arise because of this faith produce âpatienceâ and âhopeâ.
We believers must accept these hardships until Godâs will, âthe gospel of water and the Spiritâ, is fully spread.
And we must spread this gospel of truth to people by looking to the Lord, asking, enduring, and persevering.
James said to âcount it all joy when you fall into various trialsâ because of your faith, and also to âlet patience have its perfect workâ. He stated that through this perfect patience, we may be made âperfect and complete, lacking nothing.â
In other words, through these difficulties, we reflect on ourselves to see if our faith is theoretical rather than real, how deeply we believe and follow the Lord, how grateful we are to Him, and if we truly live for Him. By reflecting on ourselves in this way, we become more solid and perfected in the faith that believes in the Word.
We are always lacking and weak, often falling into evil thoughts and stumbling.
Therefore, we must look to Jesus Christ in faith, who is God and our Savior.
We must ruminate on the baptism of Jesus, who has taken upon Himself and transferred all the sins we commit in the world, and the blood of Jesus, who was judged for us and on our behalf. With this faith, we become those who glorify the Lord as holy children of God, without sin in our hearts.
Today, this world is rushing towards its end.
When the end comes, we will not only face many difficulties due to tribulation and the Antichrist, but we will also be killed. Therefore, in order to become children of God who do not deny the Lord even in the face of death but glorify God through martyrdom, we must now live a life of prepared faith, achieving perfection through patience.
Also, God has a word for us through these difficulties. Thus, when trials come, we should not seek answers elsewhere, but acknowledge God in all things, find and recognize problems within ourselves, and overcome them by looking to the Lord. We must be awake by looking back at ourselves.
The Lord has already taken away all sins of this world through the gospel of water (baptism), blood, and the Holy Spirit. We have become children of God who can abundantly overcome the world by believing in this gospel of truth.
Therefore, we must reflect on ourselves and meditate on this gospel of truth once again, removing the dross from our hearts through faith.
And in order to fulfill Godâs will, we are to become those who, with a heart solely set on the Lord and a clean heart, endure and persevere to become victorious.
The words spoken by the Apostle James in todayâs passage are words spoken to us righteous people who are without sin through faith in Jesusâ baptism and the blood of the Cross.
The Lord has allowed difficulties in order to firmly and perfectly establish our faith, for those of us who have become Godâs people by believing in the gospel of water and the Spirit.
James tells us to rejoice in the difficulties we face in order to fulfill Godâs will. This means we should accept the hardships and deal with them in faith.
The trials of faith produce patience, and our complete patience enables us to live a righteous life without lacking anything.
This is the attitude we must have when we are tested before the Lord.
The passage is a word to the righteous who believe in the truth that Jesus Christ is God, that He took all the sins of this world upon Himself through His baptism, and that He received judgment for those sins on the Cross in our place, thereby saving us from all sins.
We must first become Godâs people, born again by faith in the Lordâs truth of salvation. Those who still have sin in their hearts and have not been born again should read the book âHave You Truly Been Born Again of Water and the Spirit?â by Pastor Paul C. Jong, who preaches the gospel of being born again through the Word of God, and become victorious through faith.
The attitude with which we believers are tried before the Lord
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