(v.1) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
(v.2) My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
(v.3) O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
(v.4) I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
(v.5) They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
(v.6) This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
(v.7) The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
(v.8) O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Greetings.
Good morning ... and to God be the glory!
I greet you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
And there is a Word from the LORD ... so let us jump right into our text.
Turn your hearts and your Bibles to the Epistle of James“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.” — James KJV ... chapter 1“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” — chapter 1 KJV ... beginning with verse 1. When you find it ... please say Amen.
Let us look at verse 1.
(v.1) James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(v.2) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
(v.3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
(v.4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
I would like to use as a subject today ...
This ... is only ... a test.
Now turn to your neighbor and say —
Now turn to your other neighbor on the other side and say —
Now give your neighbor a high five and say —
You may be seated.
Father ... the task of teaching Your Word is once again in my keeping.
I commit myself to do the very best that I can ...
Clear my mind of distractions.
Warm my heart with compassion.
Fill my soul with faith in Your goodness and Your power.
Speak to me ... that I may speak for You.
Speak through me ... that I may speak to those who wait to hear Your unadulterated gospel.
Right now, Lord ... remove self. Remove pride.
Increase in me ... and I decrease in You.
Hide me behind Your cross.
Lord ... somebody in this room is being tested right now.
They are smiling on the outside ... but they are barely making it on the inside.
The test does not feel like a test.
It feels like a crisis.
It feels like the end of everything.
Remind them today ... that what they are in right now is not their grave ... it is their graduation.
Speak, Lord ... Your servant is listening.
May the words of my mouth ... and the meditation of my heart ... be acceptable in Your sight ... O Lord ... my strength ... and my Redeemer.
Amen.
I need you to date yourself and go back with me ...
For those of you who can not remember ...
Those of you who are too young ... you will not understand ...
But some of us know ...
I need you to go back with me in time ...
To a time when there were only three channels on television ...
And at midnight ... when the broadcast day was ending ... before the station signed off for the night ... something would interrupt whatever was on the screen.
The picture would cut away ...
And there would be that sound ...
And then a voice ... steady ... calm ... deliberate ... would say—
The message is — this is only a test.
I want to suggest to you this morning ...
That some of what you are going through right now ...
Is God’s Emergency Broadcast System going off in your life.
And the message He is sending you ...
Is not panic ...
It is not catastrophe ...
It is not the end of everything.
It is — this is only a test.
I have four points this morning ...
To describe to you ...
About God’s Emergency Broadcast System ... that is going on in your life.
Walk with me.
Point One — Know the Sender.
Point Two — Understand what the broadcast is saying.
Point Three — Know what the test is measuring.
Point Four — This is only a test — not an actual emergency.
Let us get started.
Now ... before we get into Point 1 ...
I need to stop and speak to somebody specific.
Some of you heard me say "this is only a test" ...
And "not an actual emergency" ...
And something inside you tightened up.
Because you came in here today carrying something ...
That feels VERY MUCH like an actual emergency.
You buried somebody this year ...
You got a diagnosis last week ...
You are sitting next to an empty seat that is never going to be filled again ...
And to you ... "only a test" sounds like a slap in the face.
Hear me, church ...
I am not minimizing what you carry.
I am not telling you the loss is small.
I am not asking you to fake shout.
I am not asking you to fake joy.
Your pain is real.
Let me tell you about a man named David ...
David’s first child with Bathsheba was sick.
And David fasted“David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.” — 2 Samuel 12:16-17 KJV ... and he prayed ... and he wept on the ground for seven days.
David did not perform.
David did not put on a face.
David grieved fully.
And then the child died.
But hear what David did next ...
He got up.
He washed himself.
He anointed himself.
He changed his clothes.
He went to the house of the Lord ... and worshipped.
And then he sat down and ate.
His servants were stunned.
They asked him —
Why are you doing this? When the child was alive, you fasted and wept. Now that he is dead ... you eat?
And David said —
David fasted and prayed ... but he got up.
David grieved deeply ... but he got up.
David did not pretend ... but he got up.
David did not fake shout ... but he got up.
David did not fake joy ... but he got up.
Now, church ... hear me ...
This same David ...
Wrote the Psalms.
The Psalms that taught us how to praise ...
The Psalms that taught us how to dance ...
The Psalms that taught us how to shout ...
The Psalms that taught us how to have joy.
David did not fake the shout in his grief ...
He did not perform the joy in his loss ...
But the praise was already in him.
The dance was already in him.
The shout was already in him.
The joy was already in him.
Because of all the years he had spent ...
Writing the songs ...
Dancing before the Lord ...
Lifting his hands to the God of his fathers ...
That is why ... he was able to get up.
The praise he had deposited in worship ...
Was the praise he drew on in his grief.
Because David knew —
He could not bring his son back to him ...
But he could go TO his son.
And the only way he was going to make that journey ...
Was to keep walking with God.
The grief was real ... but it was not the final word.
The loss was real ... but it was not the actual emergency.
The actual emergency would have been ...
If David had walked away from God in his grief ...
Because then he would never see his boy again.
So when I say "this is only a test" ...
I am not saying your pain is small.
I am saying ... it is not your final word.
You can fast.
You can pray.
You can weep on the ground.
You can grieve as deeply as David grieved ...
But beloved ... at some point ... you have to get up.
Now church ... look back at me ...
Some of you are in the test right now ... and you do not have a song.
You do not have a Psalm to draw from.
You have not been writing them in worship ...
Because you have been treating Sunday like a ritual ...
Treating praise like a performance ...
Treating the songs like background noise.
And now the test has come ...
And you reach for something to lift you ...
And there is nothing there.
Hear me, beloved —
The David in this story did not write the Psalms BECAUSE he was tested ...
He had the Psalms to draw on BECAUSE he had been writing them all along.
And the praise that is going to carry you through your test ...
Is the praise you are depositing right now.
That is why James reminds us in verse 2“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” — James 1:2 KJV to —
Count it ALL joy.
Because the joy is not just for the test ...
The joy IS the test.
The test is whether the praise is real enough ...
The faith is deep enough ...
The worship is consistent enough ...
To carry you through what comes next.
This ... is only a test.
And the same God who walked with David through the loss of his son ...
Is the same God walking with you through whatever you are carrying right now.
And He is going to bring you out the other side.
Now ... walk with me to Point 1.
Before we can receive the message ... we have to know who is sending it.
James opens this letter with his credentials —
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."
He is not writing as a politician.
He is not writing as a celebrity.
He is writing as a servant.
And in the Greek ... that word servant is doulosδουλοςDOO-losGreek — James 1:1A bondservant. One who has voluntarily attached himself to a master. Not a hireling. Not a temp worker. A lifelong servant who has chosen to belong to the One he serves..
It means a bondservant ...
One who has voluntarily attached himself to a master ...
Not a hireling. Not a temp worker.
A lifelong servant who has chosen to belong to the One he serves.
History tells us this is James the JustA title given to James by the early church to distinguish him from James son of Zebedee (the apostle, beheaded by Herod in Acts 12:2). The earliest source for this title is Hegesippus, a 2nd-century Christian writer (c. 110–180 AD), preserved in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History, Book 2, Chapter 23.Read the source: Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.23 (CCEL) ...
A man whose knees were so calloused from constant prayer ...
An early Christian historian named HegesippusHegesippus (c. 110–180 AD), an early Christian historian. His writings are preserved in Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, Book 2.Read the source on CCEL tells us ...
That James was so often found on his knees in prayer ...
That his knees became hard like the knees of a camel.
This is not a man giving advice from a distance.
This is a man who prayed until his body showed it.
Walk with me to who James is writing to ...
And he writes to — "the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad."
In the Greek ... the phrase is dōdeka phylēδωδεκα φυλαιςDOH-deh-kah foo-LIE-issGreek — James 1:1The twelve tribes. The whole covenant family of Israel. The number twelve in Scripture is the number of divine government, ordained authority, complete representation. Twelve sons of Jacob. Twelve stones at Sinai. Twelve apostles. Twelve gates. Twelve foundations..
Which simply means ... the twelve tribes.
And as we learned last week ...
About the woman with the twelve-year issue of blood ...
And the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus that Jesus was on His way to heal ...
There is something about that number 12.
It is no accident ...
That James is addressing these twelve tribes.
You see ... twelve in Scripture is the number of divine government ... the number of ordained authority ... the number of complete representation.
Twelve sons of Jacob“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” — Jacob KJV ... that became the twelve tribes of Israel.
Twelve stones at the foot of Mount Sinai“And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” — Mount Sinai KJV ... when Moses cut a covenant.
Twelve stones from the Jordan ... when Israel crossed into the promised land.
Twelve apostles“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits.” — apostles KJV that Jesus called — deliberately matching the twelve tribes.
Twelve gates of the New Jerusalem“And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” — New Jerusalem KJV ... twelve foundations.
When James writes to the twelve tribes scattered ...
He is invoking the WHOLE COVENANT MEMORY of Israel.
He is saying — the same God who established this people through twelve sons ...
Is the same God speaking to you now in your scatter.
God has not lost count of His people.
He is still keeping the books on twelve.
Now I need you to understand who these people are ...
And what scattered actually meant in their world.
This letter was written approximately AD 45 to 50 ...
Making it one of the earliest letters in the entire New Testament.
These are Jewish believers in Jesus Christ ...
Who have been driven from their homes ...
Their synagogues ...
Their communities ...
Their livelihoods.
In the Greek ... the word for "scattered" is diasporaδιασποραdee-ah-SPOR-ahGreek — James 1:1The dispersion. The scattering. From the same Greek root we get the English word "diaspora." A people forced from their homeland and spread across foreign territories..
The diaspora.
And we know exactly where some of them ended up ...
Because Acts 8:1 tells us —
Jot that down in your notes ... Acts chapter 8 verse 1 ...
You see that word Samaria?
Last week ... we talked about how Jesus must needs go“And he must needs go through Samaria.” — must needs go KJV through Samaria ...
We talked about how the path to the divine appointment always goes through the place you would rather avoid ...
If you missed that message ... it is on our website ... go back and listen.
But hear me right here ...
Jesus had to go THROUGH Samaria ...
One named place ... on His way to the cross.
He did not go through every region of the twelve tribes ...
He went specifically THROUGH Samaria.
And now ... in James ... the persecution that started when Stephen was stoned ...
Has scattered believers INTO Samaria ...
And throughout Judaea ...
And out into Asia Minor ...
Across the Roman Empire.
Watch the pattern ...
Jesus went TO Samaria.
Persecution scattered believers INTO Samaria.
James writes a letter that includes the believers IN Samaria.
God knows where every scattered child is ...
Because He has been there ahead of them.
Walk with me to verse 1 again ...
They are under Roman occupation ...
Facing economic hardship ...
Separated from family ...
Cut off from their religious community ...
Living as strangers in cities that were not designed for them.
Now walk with me ... because I need you to hear this next part carefully.
Because Hebrews 13:8“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” — Hebrews 13:8 KJV says — "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
The God who wrote to scattered people then ...
Is the same God speaking to scattered people now.
And we are scattered ... in 2026.
I want to speak to somebody specific right now ...
I want to speak to the mother in this room ...
Whose son or daughter is deployed ...
Sitting on a ship in waters near Iran ...
And every time her phone rings ... she holds her breath before she answers it.
She is not sleeping through the night.
She gets up every morning and puts on a face ...
But inside she is scattered ... and she does not know how much longer she can hold it together.
I want to speak to the man in this room ...
Who lost his job six months ago ...
His severance has run out ...
And now he is sitting at his kitchen table at two in the morning with a calculator ...
Wondering if what he saved is going to be enough.
I want to speak to the woman in this room ...
Who showed up to work one morning and found out her job had been eliminated ...
Not because she was not good at it ...
But because a decision was made in a room she was never invited into ...
And now she is rebuilding from a place she never planned to be.
And on top of all of that ...
Politics is trying to scatter us.
Division is trying to scatter us.
Wars are making us choose sides even inside our own families.
Even inside our own country.
Yesterday ... we watched the news ...
More scattering in the nation’s capital ...
Another night of fear ... another scattering moment ...
More division. More fear. More questions about whether the center will hold.
The country is being scattered AGAIN.
The signal is going off AGAIN.
The noise of this moment is designed to make us feel ...
Like there is no signal worth trusting ...
Like everything is falling apart at once.
Now go back with me to verse 1 ...
James greeted his scattered brethren.
He used a specific word — greeting.
Watch this ...
That word "greeting" in the Greek is chaireinχαιρεινKHIGH-rainGreek — James 1:1Greeting. Rejoice. The same root as the Greek word for joy. Not just "hello" — but "rejoice." The first word James sends scattered, persecuted, displaced believers ... is JOY. ...
It means — rejoice.
James looked at everything they were going through ...
The scatter ... the persecution ... the displacement ...
And the first word he sent them ... was joy.
Not a crisis alert.
Not a plan of escape.
Not a list of demands.
He sent them joy ...
Because he knew something ...
He knew what the signal meant ...
God does not wait until your trial is over to speak to you.
He greeted them in the middle of the scatter.
And He is greeting you in the middle of yours right now.
Before you fall apart ...
Before you give up ...
Before you decide the test has gone on too long ...
Receive this greeting ...
To that mother waiting on her child to come home ... this is only a test ...
To that man at the kitchen table with the calculator ... this is only a test ...
To that woman who is rebuilding from a job she did not choose to leave ... this is only a test ...
To this nation watching itself scatter again ... this is only a test ...
Joy is the signal. And the signal is coming from the top.
And God ... is still the one ... sending the signal.
And I can tell you why ...
Because the God who sends the signal ...
Has every power needed ... to bring you through this test.
Now that is Point 1 ... walk with me to Point 2.
Watch this ...
Let us examine verse 2“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” — verse 2 KJV ... word by word ...
Because every single word is doing work.
Notice ... James does not say "citizens."
He does not say "members."
He does not say "constituents."
He says brethren.
And in the Greek ... the word is adelphoiαδελφοιah-del-FOYGreek — James 1:2Brothers and sisters. From the same womb. Same blood. Same origin. Not just church members. Family..
It means brothers and sisters ... from the same womb ... same blood ... same origin.
James is saying —
I am not above what I am about to tell you.
I have been scattered too.
I have been tested too.
This is a family letter.
Walk with me to verse 2 ...
James says — "count it all joy."
He used a specific word — COUNT.
Watch this ...
The word "count" in the Greek is hēgeomaiηγεομαιhay-GAY-oh-myGreek — James 1:2To consider, to count, to deem. A deliberate, conscious decision. Not how you feel — what you decide..
To deem. To consider. To regard as.
God is not telling you to feel joyful in the trial.
He is telling you to COUNT IT ALL JOY ...
To decide something about the trial ... before your feelings have had a chance to vote on it.
Why?
Because ...
Joy is not a feeling first.
It is a faith decision first.
And once you make that decision ... watch what God does with it ...
Walk with me ... still in verse 2 ...
James says — "count it ALL joy."
Notice this word — ALL.
Watch this ...
Do not skip over this word ... because this is where it gets personal.
In the Greek ... the word is pasanπασανPAH-sahnGreek — James 1:2All. Every. The whole of. Not part. Not most. ALL..
It means ... ALL.
All means all.
And in other words ...
When you look on the other side of ALL ...
There is nothing there.
Because ALL ... encompasses ALL ...
All ... means ... ALL.
Every color of the trial.
Every dimension of the test.
ALL of it.
Not the easy parts.
Not the parts that are almost over.
Not the parts you chose.
And the God who said "all" ... saw all of it before He ever said it ...
And He still said count it joy ...
Walk with me ... still in verse 2 ...
James says — "when ye fall into divers temptations."
Notice this word — TEMPTATIONS / TRIALS.
Watch this ...
The word translated "temptations" here is peirasmoisπειρασμοιςpay-rahs-MOICEGreek — James 1:2Trials, tests, proving seasons. Not primarily moral temptations to sin — but trials of life that prove and reveal what is in a person..
I need you to understand ...
That this is not primarily about the temptation to sin ...
This is about the proving seasons ...
The trials ...
The tests.
And "divers" means multi-colored ... various kinds.
You see ...
Some trials come as sickness.
Some come as loss.
Some come as financial pressure.
Some come as grief.
Some come as betrayal.
The colors of the test may vary ...
But the command over every color is the same — count it all joy.
This is only a test ...
And the broadcast is telling you exactly what to do with it.
Now walk with me ... because I need you to see something in the Old Testament before we move forward.
Jot this verse down in your margins ...
And read it when you get home ...
Notice what God said to Satan.
Jot that down ... Job chapter 1 verse 12 ...
Did you catch what God did there?
God set a limit on the test.
Satan could not go further than God allowed.
The trial had a ceiling.
The test had a boundary.
And the one who set that boundary ... was not the enemy ... it was God Himself.
Which means ... if your test is still going ...
God has not lifted His hand yet.
And if God has not lifted His hand ...
He has not finished what He is doing.
Tribulation ... worketh ... patience ...
Patience worketh experience ...
Experience worketh hope.
The test is manufacturing something in you that comfort never could.
And 1 Peter 1:6-7“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” — 1 Peter 1:6-7 KJV reminds us that even in heaviness ... even in manifold temptations ...
The trial of your faith is "more precious than of gold that perisheth ... though it be tried with fire."
In other words ...
The fire does not destroy you.
The fire reveals you.
The gold was always there.
The fire just brought it to the surface.
Somebody in this room ...
Has gold in them that the fire is bringing to the surface right now ...
The test did not create what is in you ...
It revealed it ...
And the One holding the gold in the fire ...
Has every name in the book ...
And every name carries ... ALL POWER.
Now that is Point 2 ... walk with me to Point 3.
Here is why James can say count it ALL joy ...
Because you know something.
The joy is not blind.
It is not denial.
It is not pretending the trial is not real.
The joy is anchored in knowledge.
Now look at verse 3“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” — verse 3 KJV ... look at that word — trying.
In the Greek ... the word is dokimionδοκιμιονdoh-KIM-ee-onGreek — James 1:3A test, a proof, an assay. The word for testing precious metals — putting gold in a furnace not to destroy it, but to PROVE it. To reveal what was always there..
You do not put gold in a furnace to destroy it.
You put it in a furnace to prove it ...
To reveal it.
And what does the trial PRODUCE in you?
PATIENCE.
In the Greek, the word is hupomonēυπομονηhoo-poh-mon-AYGreek — James 1:3Patience. Endurance. Steadfastness under pressure. Not the patience of a waiting room — the patience of a soldier who holds the line when everything in the moment says run..
But this is not the patience you’re thinking of.
This is not the patience of a waiting room ...
This is not the patience of waiting in line at the DMV ...
This is the patience of a soldier ...
Who holds the line ...
When everything in the moment says RUN.
Now look at verse 4“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” — verse 4 KJV ... look at that word — perfect.
In the Greek ... teleiosτελειοςtel-EH-ee-osGreek — James 1:4Perfect, complete, mature. Brought to its designed end. Not flawless — but FINISHED..
And look at that word — entire.
Whole. Undivided. Nothing missing. Every part present and sound.
The goal of the test ... is wholeness.
God is not punishing you through the trial.
He is completing you through it.
Jot this scripture down in your margins ...
It says ...
Shadrach ... Meshach ... Abednego ...
They were thrown into a furnace so hot it killed the soldiers who threw them in ...
And they walked through ... and they came out ...
Without even the smell of smoke on their clothes.
The test did not consume them.
The test could not consume them.
Because the same God who designed the test ...
Walked through it with them.
And He is walking through yours ...
You are not in that fire alone ...
There is a fourth man in the fire ...
And His form is like the Son of God ...
"Weeping may endure for a night ... but joy cometh in the morning."
The night is not the end of the story ...
It is just the night ...
And morning is coming ... because this ... is only a test ...
And James says — "let patience have her perfect work."
That word "let" tells me you have a choice.
You can short-circuit the process.
You can bail out before the work is done.
You can manufacture a premature ending to something God has not finished yet.
Or you can let it finish.
The test is preparing you for the territory.
Last week ... we studied the woman at the well in Samaria ...
And we talked about how Jesus must needs go through that place ...
Because there was a divine appointment waiting at the well.
But I want you to see the other side of that story ...
How she left her water pots ...
And went back into the same city that had rejected her ...
And became the first one to bring Samaria to Christ.
The very place that tried to break her ... became the place where she preached.
Her test was her territory.
And somebody in this room ...
The place you are being tested in right now ... is the same place God is going to use you in ...
That job you lost ... may be the open door to the business God always intended for you ...
That season of scatter ... may be the preparation for the territory He is sending you into ...
That trial that felt like it was going to bury you ... may be the very thing that qualifies you ...
The scatter is not permanent ...
The trial is not the destination ...
The test is preparing you for the territory ...
And when patience has her perfect work in you ...
You will come out whole ... mature ... lacking nothing He promised ...
More ... whole ... complete ... ready for the territory ...
And the One preparing you for the territory ...
Has all power ...
To finish what He started in you.
Now that is Point 3 ... walk with me to Point 4.
My last and final point this morning ...
Walk with me one more time ...
Look again at verse 4“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” — verse 4 KJV ...
Look at that phrase — "wanting nothing."
Now ... in the context of what was happening to these believers in AD 45 ...
This is a stunning statement.
They have lost jobs ... homes ... community ... safety ...
They are scattered across regions they never chose.
And James sends them a letter that says —
On the other side of this test ... you will want for nothing that God promised you.
Not because the world will give it to you ...
But because the test will have made you into the kind of person who can receive it ... carry it ... and steward everything God promised.
To that man at the kitchen table ... on the other side of this test ... wanting nothing ...
To that mother holding her breath every time the phone rings ... on the other side of this test ... wanting nothing ...
To that woman rebuilding from the job she did not choose to leave ... on the other side of this test ... wanting nothing ...
"All things ... not some things ... ALL things ... working together ... for your good ... because you are called according to His purpose."
And I need you to see this ...
Because the word "all" did not start in James chapter 1.
Watch this ... Matthew 28:18“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” — Matthew 28:18 KJV ...
He said ALL power.
He did not say "some power."
He did not say "limited power."
He did not say "power under certain conditions."
He said ALL power.
And He got that all power ...
By going through the test that none of us could pass.
Sweating drops of blood ...
Asking if the cup could pass ...
And He stayed in the test.
He went to Calvary ...
Bleeding ... forsaken ... buried ...
And He stayed in the test.
Three days ...
In the silence ...
In the tomb ...
He stayed in the test.
And on the third day ... Hebrews 12:2“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” — Hebrews 12:2 KJV says —
"He endured the cross ... despising the shame ... for the joy that was set before Him."
He went through the test ... for the joy that was on the other side of it.
And He came out with ALL power ...
So that we could have ALL joy ...
Not some joy ... ALL joy ...
"The joy of the Lord is your strength."
The test is not stealing your strength.
The joy that comes through the test IS your strength.
Now ... go back to the Emergency Broadcast System ...
The voice said —
"If this had been an actual emergency ... you would have been instructed ..."
If what you were going through right now ... were an actual emergency ...
There are some names that God goes by ... that would have activated immediately ...
Because if it had been an actual emergency ...
El Shaddaiאֵל שַׁדַּיel shah-DIEHebrew — Genesis 17:1God Almighty. The All-Sufficient One. The God who is more than enough. The breasted One who nourishes and supplies abundantly. — God Almighty ... the All-Sufficient One ... the God who is more than enough ...
Would have already stepped in with provision that had no limit ...
But He said — not yet ... this is only a test ...
Because if it had been an actual emergency ...
Jehovah Raphaיְהֹוָה רֹפֶאyeh-ho-VAH RAH-fahHebrew — Exodus 15:26The LORD who heals. The God who heals body, mind, soul, marriage, finances. The Healer who walks through every diagnosis with you. — the Lord who heals ...
Would have already moved on that body ... on that diagnosis ... on that report the doctor gave you ...
But He said — not yet ... this is only a test ...
Count it ALL joy ... because if it had been an actual emergency ...
All of those names ... all of that power ... all of that provision ...
Would have been required immediately.
The fact that you are still here ...
The fact that you walked into this building today ...
The fact that you are reading this sermon online ...
The fact that you are listening to this audio ...
The fact that you have not been consumed ...
Is the evidence that this is a test ... and not the end.
Now that is Point 4 ... walk with me to the close.
But before I close ...
Allow me to remind you of our four points ...
Point One — Know the Sender.
This is only a test.
Point Two — Understand what the broadcast is saying.
This is only a test.
Point Three — Know what the test is measuring.
This is only a test.
Point Four — This is only a test ... not an actual emergency.
As I hasten to my seat ...
Let me also remind you ...
That James wrote to people who were scattered ...
Displaced ...
In a season they did not choose.
And his word to them was not sympathy.
His word to them was strategy.
Count it all joy ... knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience ...
And patience is working you toward wholeness ...
This is not a feel-good message.
This is a stay-in-it message.
This is a message for the person who has been praying ... and the answer has not come yet.
For the person who trusted God ... and the situation still looks the same.
For the person who is doing everything right ... and the test is not over.
Did you see that word? Through.
Not around. Not over. Not under.
Through.
And when you come out on the other side ...
You will not be the same person who walked into this season.
You will be perfect ... and entire ... wanting nothing He promised you.
Count it all joy ...
Not because it does not hurt ...
But because you know Who is in it with you ...
And you know where it is going ...
And you know that God ... never ... wastes ... a wound.
And the same God who sent His Son through Samaria ...
Through Gethsemane ...
Through Calvary ...
Through the grave ...
Is the God walking with you through this right now.
Weeping may endure for a night ...
But joy cometh in the morning ...
And joy is not coming when the test is over ...
Joy is what sustains you through the test ...
Because Nehemiah 8:10 says — "the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Not "was your strength" ...
Not "will be your strength" ...
IS your strength ... right now ... in the middle of it ...
Beloved ... if you are wondering what to do while the test is going on ...
The Bible itself gives us seven commands.
Not seven suggestions ... seven commands.
That is what the Bible tells us to do during the test.
Seven commands ... seven actions ... seven steps.
And seven ... is the number of completion.
Seven commands ... seven actions ... seven steps ...
And ONE God ... behind every one of them.
The same God who told you to count it joy ...
Is the same God who told you to pray ...
Is the same God who told you to stand still ...
Is the same God who told you to wait ...
Is the same God who told you to trust ...
Is the same God who said do not forsake the assembling ...
Is the same God who said ... do not faint.
And THIS God ...
Has all power in His hand ...
More. Whole. Complete. Ready for the territory.
This is only a test ...
Count it all joy ... every bit of it ... ALL of it ...
Because this ... is only ... a test ...
And God ... is the one ... sending the signal.
Amen.
Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...
In a moment I am going to ask you to do something ...
But first I want to speak to you right where you are ...
If you have been going through something that felt like the end ...
If you have felt scattered and alone ...
If the test has been long and you have been wondering when it is going to be over ...
I want you to know that you do not have to go through it alone.
The God who sent His Son through Samaria ...
The God who walked through the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ...
The God who provided the ram for Abraham on Mount Moriah ...
That same God is present in this room right now ...
That same God is present online with you right now ...
And He is ready to meet you right where you are.
And the Bible tells us how to come to Him ...
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior ...
Today ... is your day ...
If you have walked away from a relationship with Him ...
Today ... is your day to come back ...
Because Jesus said ...
No man cometh unto the Father“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” — John 14:6 KJV ... but by me.
Right where you are ... in this room ... or online ... or listening to this audio ...
If this is you ... I want you to pray this prayer with me ...
Just say —
If you prayed that prayer ... and you meant it from your heart ...
The Bible says you are now saved.
How do we know?
Because the same Romans 10:9-10 we just read says ...
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness ...
And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
You are a new creature ...
Old things have passed away ...
All things have become new.
Welcome to the family of God.
The door of the church is open ...
Come down this aisle ...
Give me your hand ...
And give God your heart ...
We receive you ... we welcome you ...
And we will walk with you through whatever test you are in.
And if you prayed that prayer online ...
Or while listening to the audio this morning ...
I want to celebrate with you.
Text me about your decision.
Kelvin
(479) 339-9381
I will pray for you by name.
I will rejoice with you over the decision.
And I will walk with you into what comes next.
Before you go ... I want to leave you with three things this week.
One ...
Write down the test you are in right now. Name it specifically. Then write next to it — this is only a test.
Two ...
Look up the names of God — El Shaddai ... Jehovah Rapha ... Jehovah Nissi ... Jehovah Jireh ... Jehovah Shalom — and ask yourself which name speaks directly to what you are going through. Then speak it out loud over your situation.
Three ...
Read James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 every day this week ... out loud ... Let your ears hear what your heart needs to believe.
Will the congregation please stand to your feet for the benediction.
And to present us faultless before the presence of His glory ...
With exceeding joy ...
To the only wise God our Saviour ...
Be glory and majesty ...
Dominion and power ...
Both now and ever ...
Amen.
This sermon is offered freely for Kingdom use. Pastors, teachers, and believers are welcome to preach, print, and share this sermon without charge.
Not for resale. Not for commercial use.
Any reproduction in paid products, paid courses, paid conferences, subscription services, or other commercial distribution is prohibited without the written permission of the author.
For permission or further inquiries, contact Kelvin L. Parks at kelvin@c3ptexecutivesolutions.com or (479) 339-9381.
This sermon is offered freely for Kingdom use. Pastors, teachers, and believers are welcome to preach, print, and share without charge.
Not for resale. Not for commercial use.
Reproduction in paid products, paid courses, paid conferences, subscription services, or other commercial distribution is prohibited without written permission of the author.
For permission or further inquiries, contact Kelvin L. Parks at kelvin@c3ptexecutivesolutions.com or (479) 339-9381.
