James 1:12 “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Not only are those who remain faithful blessed and approved but the third reward is that they will:

3. Receive the Crown of Life.

There is a great reward that awaits those who faithfully persevere through the trials of this life. James wraps up his teaching on trials with a promise that persecution doesn’t conclude with pain but rather a crown. The outcome of faithfulness that is forged in the fire of trials results in a great reward. The life that has burned brightly for God’s glory through the bitter trials of this life will not be forgotten by God in heaven. They will be rewarded with the crown of life. Revelation 2:10 also speaks to the crown of life as a reward for those who suffering for the Savior: “Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.” Life is promised to those who love the Lord. It is the enabling to take hold of life and live it as God would have you. It is the ability to enjoy God’s abundant life even in the midst of miserable circumstances. Not only is this a full and free spiritual life right here and now, but it is also a reward in the life to come. The greatest reward for those who faithfully endure is a reward that will endure, a reward that will never tarnish or fade. In the Greek world, crowns were given to those who distinguished themselves in service, or athletes who participated in the games, as 1 Corinthians 9:25 clearly states, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” Today Christians want to sit in the stands and watch the race instead of run it. But Christianity is not a spectator sport we are not called to watch we are called to war. To not just show up on the field but to be faithful on the field of battle. Being faithful means to be whole-hearted, to leave it all on the field. The call to run the race, should remind us that it’s not going to be easy, that it will be hard and it will hurt. That the road we are called to run on is sometimes paved with pain and strewed with suffering. Only fans sit in the seats, but followers show up on the field. What about you are you a fair weather fan or a faithful follower? Are you sitting in the stands or serving on the field? While we may want to sit in the stands and serve as spectators that position is already taken. According to Hebrews 12:2, saints that get to watch are the witnesses, those who are no longer living in this world: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” The witnesses who get to watch are those who have faithfully finished their race and stepped off the field. Until we cross the finish we need to be faithful. The crown that the Greeks sought was seen as a prize of victory or a badge of honor. The Old Testaments speaks of the crown as a mark of royalty, Psalm 21:3: “You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head”. But where athletes have human competitors, the Christian’s adversaries are the demonic powers of darkness that try to drive us off course and keep us from running a righteous life. Satan wants to set up roadblocks or fill the road with so much rubble that we become discouraged and want to give up. Rubble was one of the things that caused the people in Nehemiah 4:10 to want to give up: “Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” The dirt and debris caused them to become discouraged. Satan loves to try and trip us up with trash. It’s hard trying to live for Jesus and run the race while carrying all the junk. Hebrews 12:1 challenges us to get rid of it. “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race marked out for us.” The trouble with rubble is that we become fixated on the problem not the promise. The people complained about the rubble but wasn’t this same rubble there at the beginning of the building? And yet somehow they were able to build the wall to half its height when the rubble was in their road, so why is the rubble a problem now? Because before they were focused on rebuilding now they are focused on rubble, before they focused on the Father now they are focused on the frustration. Are you focusing on the junk or on Jesus? Focusing on the frustrations leads to throwing in the towel, focusing on God’s faithfulness leads to walking in the truth. The crown that is received is a gift from God showing His approval of a life tested by trial. The crown is the reward of the Christian’s effort to run despite the rubble and the roadblocks. It is a tiring race but unlike the athlete’s race this is a contest that last longer and it’s not a game. Difficulties can discourage and get you down but they don’t have to take you out. Focus on the Father and be faithful to finish. God will give you strength of character so that you will walk confidently with God prepared for whatever life has in store for you.

James 1:12 “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

The second reward for those who remain faithful is that they are:

2. Approved

James tells us that those who faithfully face trials and temptations are not just approved, they are approved by the Almighty. After the proof is victoriously demonstrated in the way that they live through the dark and difficult times they are approved by God. Today we want to be approved before we are proven, we want the affirmation we just don’t want the affliction. But only after one is proven are they approved. The word translated approved or tried here was used of metals and coins which had been tested and found to be true or genuine. What good is counterfeit currency, it’s not even worth the paper it’s printed on because it isn’t real. We may not like trials but these times of testing reveal what is real. While good times are what many of us are chasing after and living for they really don’t reveal our real hearts. It’s the groaning times, not the good times that reveal where we really are. Today there are a lot of counterfeit Christians, people who claim to believe but at the first sign of difficulty or distress, they bail. Their faith is not in God but in everything going good, instead of following the Father they are following feelings. And as long as life keeps feed their feelings with warm fuzzy feel goods they are content, but the moment there is a crisis they abandon Christ. The truth is they were never really chasing after Christ they were just chasing happiness. Happiness is dependent on our happenings where faith is tied to a Father that will never fail. As long as we keep following our feelings we will always be fair weather followers, committed as long as we are not challenged. But at the first sign of struggle, we will cut and run because we were never really committed to Christ and His cause. This is not faith it’s fickle, where we worship good times instead of worshiping God. We can rejoice in trials because tough times reveal that what we believe is real. The truth is that trials can be our greatest testimony, because in the midst of the storm what a watching world gets to witnesses is genuine faith that can’t be faked. The outcome of enduring in the fiery forge of trials is being approved by God. His approval of our faith is precious because it assures us that our little faith is genuine faith. Like a gold prospector that brings their sample of ore into the assayer’s office to be tested. Though the sample itself may not be worth more than a few dollars, the approval, the official statement reveals that the mine that the ore came from is worth millions. It assures the prospector that he has a gold mine. God’s approval of our faith is precious because it assures us that our faith is genuine. Trials bring blessing because they prove our faith is genuine and God blesses us as we trust Him through the trial. Several years ago one of the adds that aired to recruit new Marines said, we are looking for a few good men that will be tested to see if they have the metal to be Marines. The same is true of Christians, we will be tested to see what kind of metal we are made of. It is through times of pressure that we are molded and we mature. We may not like the process but we will like the product. Trials expose our real character, not who we say we are but who we really are. Christianity is not a religion for the faint of heart or those who want to spend their time whining. There is no place for wimps in the development of faith, for faith development and the cultivating of our character calls for stamina and courage. As Christians, we are called to take up our cross and follow Christ, the one who was crucified. So why would we think that this would be an easy calling? Those who are faithful in the fire are rewarded by growth in their Christian character. “Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner’s fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal. But as soon as he skims the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.” –Arthur T. Pierson

He sat by a fire of sevenfold heat

As He watched by the precious ore,

And closer He bent with a searching gaze

As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test;

He wanted the finest gold

To mold as a crown for the king to wear–

Set with gems with a price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Though we fain would have said to Him “nay,”

And He watched the dross that we had not seen

As it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,

But our eyes were so dim with tears

We saw but the fire, not the Master’s hand,

And questioned with anxious fears.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow

And it mirrored a form above

Of Him bent o’er the fire, unseen by us,

With a look of ineffable love.

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause us a moment’s pain?

Ah, no, but He saw through the present cross

To bliss of eternal gain.

So, He waited there with a watchful eye,

With a love that is strong and sure;

And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat

Than was needed to make it pure.

As we go through the fiery trials of this life we need to remember that God can use the heat to refine and cleanse us, not only for our good but also His glory. If you are in a time of refining don’t complain about the trials instead rejoice in the truth that your Father can use this fire to refine. Don’t let the fires defined you let them refine you.