Faith Under Trial
VBC Albuquerque · Aug 17, 2025
This sermon explores the meaning of trials for Christian faith. The preacher emphasizes that trials are not signs of sin or God's abandonment, but opportunities for patience to develop and faith to be strengthened. By looking to Jesus as the supreme example, believers learn to receive trials with complete joy.
The opening section presents the main theme: tried faith is an inescapable part of the Christian life. The preacher uses James 1:2-4 as the foundation, where the apostle teaches that when all kinds of trials come, the believer should "consider it pure joy." The key point is not to deny the burden, but to understand that testing of faith produces perseverance, and perseverance develops fully so as to lead to maturity, completeness, and wholeness.
The second section develops the theological point about the distinction between trials and sin. The sermon quotes Luke 13:1-5, where Jesus refuses the notion that accidents and suffering are punishments for individual sins. Similarly, John 9:1-3 shows that the blindness of the beggar was not the result of ancestral or personal sin. Instead, Jesus reveals that such difficult circumstances are so that "the work of God might be displayed in him." The sermon also employs the teaching from Romans 5:3-5 to show the connected chain: suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
The third section applies the message to the supreme exemplar: Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:1-3 describes the Savior as "the author and perfecter of our faith," who "for the joy set before him endured the cross." Psalm 66:10-12 also illustrates how God tests and refines us "like silver," yet ultimately "brought us out to a place of abundance." The sermon stresses that James did not write "if" trials come, or qualify with any conditions for that joy to emerge. This affirms the objective, non-negotiable reality of trials in the believer's pathway.
The fourth section explores the mystery of grace in trial through Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. Paul had "a thorn in the flesh" given to him, but when he prayed three times for its removal, the Lord said: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Here the trial is not removed, but God's grace proves adequate to sustain it. Finally, the sermon concludes with Hebrews 6:18-19: hope is the anchor of the soul, firm and secure, piercing the veil into heaven. This is the promise that the Christian not only endures trials with joy, but also possesses steadfast hope and eternal security in Christ.