Read -Study Notes – Ephesians Chapter 5:11-20

Eph. 5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
Eph. 5:12  for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
Eph. 5:13  But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
Eph. 5:14  For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

• Don’t participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, Paul says
  • Here again, his mention of bearing fruit (or lack thereof) alludes to our inheritance
  • We’ll gain nothing by following after the world’s example
  • On the other hand, we bear fruit for God when we obey Him
• When we live a called-out life, Paul says we expose the deeds of darkness
  • This is an important principle of Christian witnessing
  • But it can be misunderstood in practice
• The principle is this: when we live a life following Christ, we expose the sin of the world, which is the purpose of the Church on earth
  • It’s the Principle of Contrast
  • Differences in form suggest differences in meaning
  • When two things differ in appearance, they represent differences in meaning or message
• For example, the color red in a traffic light contrasts starkly with the color green
  • The contrast between the colors indicates to us a difference in meaning (i.e., stop vs. go)
  • And even if you’re color blind, you can still perceive a contrast
  • Because the location of each colored light is contrasted (i.e., red on top vs. green on bottom) to reinforce there is a difference in meaning
• And so it must be for the Church if we’re going to fulfill our mission
  • Our choices are supposed to contrast with the world’s choices so we may convey a different meaning, a different message
    • That’s what Paul means when he says we expose the deeds of darkness
    • Our life of godliness sheds light on the world’s evil
    • But it goes beyond merely exposing evil
    • In fact, the Greek word translated expose actually means to refute
  • So by our life we are refuting the world’s perspective
    • For example, they say humans evolved from animals
      • By how we live, we testify we were created in God’s image
    • The world says fleshly desires are natural and cannot be judged no matter how depraved and selfish
      • We testify that we are desperately wicked by nature and deserving of judgment, yet by grace we may be rescued
    • The world holds we are living meaningless and temporary lives of quiet desperation, therefore get all you can while you can
      • We testify that everyone has an eternal future, therefore consider carefully what comes after death
• As obvious as the Principle of Contrast may be, some Christians misunderstand how the Bible expects us to put this principle into practice
  • Some Christians think it’s about what we say rather than what we do
  • So they choose to expose the world’s sin using only their mouths, rather than through living a holy lifestyle
  • They call out others’ sin while failing to deal with it in their own lives
• We’ve all seen examples of such misdirected witnessing for Christ
  • Like Christians who post condemning messages online against homosexuality, yet at the same time they praise movies depicting sex and violence or music laced with obscenities
  • They protest legalized abortion but they turn a blind eye to unmarried Christian couples living together
  • They complain about the ungodliness inside public schools while raising kids that use profanity and pornography
• So when Paul says we are to “expose” the deeds of darkness, we need to understand he’s talking about our behavior, not our words
  • We are to preach the Gospel everyday and everywhere, but only use words when necessary
  • Our mission is to live a called-out life before our neighbors, not call out our neighbors for their sinful lives
  • To do otherwise is to risk becoming known for what we’re against rather than to be known for Who we serve
• That’s why Paul remarks in v.12 that it’s disgraceful to even speak of the things the world does in secret
  • He means when it comes to dealing with the gross immoralities that characterize the world, believers need less talk and more walk
    • It’s unwholesome to even discuss the evil that runs rampant around us, because the Bible tells us to separate ourselves from the things of the world
    • That means moving so far away from it that we’re not even drawn into conversations about such things
    • So when your colleagues at the water cooler or your friends between classes are entertaining discussion of evil things, step away
  • Because in the end, apologetics isn’t about bringing powerful arguments in to those moments
    • It’s about having a convicting testimony
    • So that through living a called-out life, you expose the evil of the world
    • That exposure may then lead to an opportunity for you to give your testimony
    • Some may be convicted by your lifestyle, and so they will ask you to give a defense for the hope in you
    • At that point, you will have skipped past the need to discuss disgraceful things
    • You’ll be speaking about the Lord and His love and grace
  • That’s what Paul means when he says the evil things of the world become visible when they are exposed by light, because light exposes everything
    • Living a life that puts away sin and obeys the Lord is light in an evil world
    • As Jesus taught us

Matt. 5:14  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
Matt. 5:15  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Matt. 5:16  “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

• Collectively, the Church is to be a light in the world
  • The Lord placed us in the world to make the truth visible
  • When we live differently than the world, we shine a light that exposes their darkness
  • Notice in v.16 Jesus says our light is our good works, not our good words
• Isn’t interesting how often as we plan ways to reach the world for Christ, our thoughts run first to better ways we can communicate better about Christ
  • We make flyers, billboards, websites, programs, videos, etc.
    • We begin to think that our mission is to talk about Christ
    • But the Bible says that’s putting the cart before the horse
  • Our mission begins with how we live, so that through good deeds, we bring light to darkness and then we follow that with our words
    • Ironically, if we were to talk to the world about Christ and about our church…
    • Yet at the same time we mimic the world’s behaviors and habits and speech and values…
    • Then we would shed no spiritual light despite our words, because we blend into the world and share in their darkness
  • But turn that around…when we live a called-out life before the world…
    • Showing kindness and charity to everyone, while restraining our speech
    • In purity and self-restraint, steering clear of the bad behavior of the world
    • And even going so far as to excuse ourselves when conversations turn to sordid or vulgar topics
    • Then Paul says we will be serving the mission of bringing light into darkness even if we should say nothing about Christ
  • And in the end, your lifestyle will lead to opportunity to testify, because sooner or later someone is going to ask you important questions
    • Someone in a crisis will come to you for spiritual support because they remember you lived in a peace others lacked
    • Or someone convicted in their sin by your called-out life will ask how they can rise above their sin too
    • In those moments, you’ll share your testimony, and it will have power to work far beyond your expectations
    • Because your life testimony proceeded your testimony of words, and in that way you brought light into that person’s dark world
• Paul sums up his arguments in v.14 by quoting what might have been an early Christian hymn or poem
  • He says to the believer “awake and rise from the dead, so Christ may shine on you”
    • This is probably a hymn paraphrasing of Isaiah 60:1
    • It’s an elegant, concise summary of all that Paul has been teaching
  • Having been saved and made alive in Christ spiritually, now we must awaken from the dead life we lived before faith
    • This is another way of saying we must take off that old nature and put on the new self, in behavioral terms
    • Our spiritual nature has already changed – that is, we’re awake – but now the time has come to rise up out of bed and get to work
  • But many Christians are still lying in bed, so to speak
    • Like a person who has been awoken by their alarm clock
    • They reached over to silence the alarm, but they think to themselves, “Boy this bed sure feels comfortable.”
    • It would be so easy to just stay in that bed, to fall back to sleep
    • But they know they must arise, because they have to get to work or school on time
  • Getting out of bed requires a degree of effort and commitment and sacrifice
    • It doesn’t feel good
    • Nevertheless, we will ourselves to do what’s right even though it runs against the desires of our flesh
    • We do so because we want the blessings that come from our paycheck or from the degree we’re pursuing
    • We know if we stay in bed, the good feeling passes quickly
    • And before long, we’ll regret putting something far greater at risk
  • That’s what the hymn means when it says “Christ will shine on you”
    • It’s a reference to the blessing that Christ will bring to those who make the effort to leave their dead life behind
    • If we rise to follow Christ we will know His pleasure which is reflected in our reward
    • That’s our motivation to turn off the snooze and crawl out of that comfortable bed
    • It’s a decision to forgo temporary pleasure to gain eternal blessings
• As Paul concludes

Eph. 5:15  Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
Eph. 5:16  making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Eph. 5:17  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

• Therefore, let’s be careful how we live our Christian life, our walk with Christ
  • Don’t be unwise, which is to say don’t make foolish tradeoffs
    • Electing to stay in bed an extra hour or two at the risk of being fired or failing a class is an obviously unwise choice
    • Similarly, electing to live in immorality, impurity, greed, vulgarity or in any way that pleases the flesh and displeases the Lord is also unwise
    • It’s trading something eternal and weighty for something temporary and meaningless
  • Instead, Paul tells us to make the most of your time
    • Your time refers to the number of days each of us have been appointed to live on earth
    • People don’t usually like to talk much about mortality
    • But everyone knows it…no one lives forever
  • We have a limited time to serve Christ, to prove ourselves faithful servants
    • As I reflect on my own situation, I can sense the time slipping away
    • My walk began when I came to Christ in my late twenties…so let’s round up to age 30
    • Let’s also assume I’ll be blessed to live until age 80
  • That’s gives me 50 years of opportunity
    • If that sounds like a lot of time, then you must be under the age of 25, because to anyone past middle age, it doesn’t sound like much
    • And it isn’t…that’s only 18,250 days
    • Then consider I’ve already reached the age of 51, so that means I only have a little over 10,000 days left give or take
    • That’s assuming I live to 80…it might be far less
    • And no matter what age we are now, who’s to say how many years we have remaining?
• So Paul says count each day and maximize its potential
  • Don’t worry about the days already past, since what can we do about those anyway?
    • Let’s think only about what’s left and ask yourself how are you going to use each of those days to bring light to the world?
    • What behaviors still stand in the way?
    • Paul asks us to make the most of those days…why let even one be wasted?
  • Paul says we should do this because the days are evil
    • He means if we don’t make a plan and commitment to use the days well, the evil of the world around us and of our flesh will probably get the better of us
    • We may go to bed with the best of intentions to get up early and make it to work on time
    • But if all we have is good intentions, then “hope” is not a plan
    • So when the moment of decision comes, the evil in our flesh will likely pull us off our goal
• One my brothers was notorious for sleeping soundly
  • His alarm clock would sound but he would silence it without even waking up
    • He was constantly late for school or work
    • He was sleeping at my house the night my wife went into labor with our first child
    • Despite the commotion, he never woke up
    • We even tried to wake him as we were leaving the house for the hospital, but no matter how hard I shook him, he wouldn’t wake up
  • So eventually he had to make a plan to be sure he woke up in the morning
    • He bought the loudest alarm he could find and placed it on the other side of his bedroom
    • So when the alarm sounded, he was forced to arise and get out of bed to silence it
  • That’s Paul’s charge to us today
    • We must make plans in our life that will guard us from ourselves and lead us to make the most of each day that remains
    • And then we can live out the testimony we’ve been given
    • For the purpose of glorifying our Father in Heaven
    • Leading to the potential for greater blessing in the Kingdom to come

It’s time to return to Paul’s instructions to the church concerning walking in love

• • Last week we gained a reprieve from Paul’s exhortations for Christian living
    • Instead, we heard Paul’s arguments for why we should pursue this walk
    • In short, Paul argued our lives are to be missionally-minded
    • And he gave several reasons for making missional living our goal
  • Paul summed up his argument in v.14 quoting a hymn of his day that paraphrased Isaiah 60:1
    • We are to arise from our slumber
    • To wake up from living like the world
    • So that as we walk out our new life before the world, we may serve Christ as He intended
    • Displaying light, exposing the world’s evil and proving what pleases the Lord
  • As we do these things, we will see Christ shine on us
    • We will be blessed now and in the kingdom
    • As we understand this truth, we find greater motivation to tackle our sin, crucify our flesh and walk in the Spirit
• You remember he started the chapter discussing immorality, vulgarity and other ways our behaviors can detract from our witness to the world
  • In Ephesus these behaviors were likely common among the Greek pagans who were coming into the Church
    • So Paul called upon the church to put aside their old self and put on a new self, one consistent with their new nature
    • But as we noted, these behaviors are still common in the unsaved culture around us
    • So we still have equal reason to set them aside today
    • We need to look different if we’re going to convince the world we possess a different message
    • That’s our mission, and it requires focus
  • Then Paul gave us added urgency saying we must make the most of the time God gives us for accomplishing this mission
    • Because our lives are short, at least in view of eternity
    • We each get very little time to serve Christ before we receive our report card
    • And the days in which we live are evil, Paul says
    • So we have to prepare and plan to do the right thing if we hope to succeed more often than not
  • So let’s go back to Paul and pick up where he left off, naming sins that easily entangle believers and distract us from our mission

Eph. 5:17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Eph. 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

• Notice Paul begins with the word “so”
  • He’s drawing the proper conclusion for us
    • And there truly is just one sensible conclusion we can make given what we studied last week
    • We’re here to serve a purpose, a mission to bring light into a dark world, to expose the world’s evil by proving what pleases God
    • Our mission requires we stand apart from the world, that we look different and live differently
    • And we do this knowing our time is short and the days are evil
  • Therefore, Paul says we cannot afford to be foolish
    • The label “fool” is a strong word in scripture
    • It means to act without reason, to act without sense
    • And given the importance of our mission and the limited time we have, we must act sensibly, not foolishly
  • A lot of Christians do, in fact, live foolishly though
    • They live without proper reasoning
    • They are not thinking about what life is truly about and what they’re here to do for Christ
    • Some Christians float through life, from moment to moment, pursuing the world while keeping Jesus in a corner reserved for Sundays, Easter and Christmas
    • What’s missing for these believers?
• Paul says in the second half of v.17 that the issue is they aren’t seeking to understand what the will of God is
  • In this context, the will of God refers to God’s desires for their life
    • His will for how they live, what they are on earth to do in service to Christ
    • They aren’t asking the question, “What does the Lord want for my life?”
    • And they aren’t consumed in finding the answer
    • And therefore they can’t walk according to His plan and fulfill His purposes in their life
  • Perhaps more importantly, they don’t concern themselves with God’s will for His followers in general
    • They aren’t reading His word to learn His expectations for a called-out life
    • They aren’t aware a judgment is coming, they aren’t thinking about the day they stand before Christ
    • And they aren’t concerned with how their choices and decisions now will impact that day to come
  • Imagine a young man who was drafted into the army but he never bothered to read his draft notice when it came in the mail
    • The young man had been called into service, yet he kept on living for himself oblivious to his new calling
    • He was oblivious because he hadn’t taken time to read what he knew was true, and certainly we would describe such a man as foolish
    • One day a policeman knocks on his door, and much to his surprise he’s taken away
  • I think that’s Paul’s concern for the church in Ephesus
    • He didn’t want the church to live ignorantly unaware of the mission God was calling them to serve
    • Or even worse, disregarding what they already knew God expected
    • Having been distracted or deceived into following the world instead of Christ
• Paul then calls out one particular form of distraction and disobedience, one that forms the first half of a comparison at the heart of today’s teaching
  • Paul says do not become drunk with wine
    • There is no mystery in the Greek words Paul is using here
    • To be drunk means simply to be inebriated, to lose control of our faculties by consuming too much alcohol
    • And the word wine refers to the fermented drink common to Paul’s day just as it is today
    • Some have tried to argue that wine in the Bible isn’t really wine
    • And if you are interested in an in-depth explanation of how we know the word wine in the Bible refers to an alcoholic beverage, read our article here: May a Christian drink alcohol?
  • But the Bible teaches believers have liberty to consume alcohol responsibly so long as they do so without becoming drunk
    • We are expected to recognize where the line is between enjoying wine in the way God intended
    • And crossing that line into drunkenness which is abuse and it is sin
  • Substance abuse is a particularly dangerous form of sin
    • It robs us of our senses and erects barriers between us and the Spirit’s leading
    • If substance abuse becomes a fixture in our lives, it will likely give rise to other sinful practices
    • In the end, the sin of drunkenness is the abandonment of self-control
• Self-control is always the goal for the Christian
  • It is the goal for all areas of our walk
    • Nothing of this world should control us
    • Only the Spirit of God should have our obedience
    • Therefore, whether we abuse wine or prescription drugs or illegal drugs or food or something else, we are sinning
  • So why did Paul focus on wine?
    • First, wine was the drug of choice in his day
    • It was easily made, reasonably priced and commonly available
    • There were few other ways to sin in the same, socially-accepted way
  • Today, we have a smorgasbord of choices for stimulating our body in an attempt to escape
    • So we should understand this teaching broadly as a condemnation of any kind of inebriation regardless of the source
    • It is always a lack of self-control and a giving over of our bodies to something other than the Holy Spirit
• Paul says when we demonstrate a lack of self-control and allow ourselves to become drunk, we are experiencing dissipation
  • The Greek word translated dissipation can have three meanings, and all three are applicable here
    • First, dissipation means self-indulgence or excessiveness
      • Acting in an excessive way and for selfish reasons
  • Certainly, the decision to be drunk can be understood to be an excessive act born out of selfishness
    • This definition reminds us that drunkenness is ultimately a choice, a decision
    • Christians who get drunk are making a choice, they are not victims of an outside force
    • There may be complex life circumstances that lead us to make our mistakes
    • But in the end, becoming drunk involves a decision or series of decisions made in our flesh and at the expense of others
• Secondly, the word dissipation means a squandering of resources
  • And certainly becoming drunk involves squandering resources
    • But we’re not referring to the money spent on drink or drugs
    • Paul is primarily referring to the squandering of time and opportunity
  • Remember, last week Paul said we must make the most of our time, this brief period we will live on earth to serve Christ
    • In my life I counted maybe 10,000 days remaining in my life
    • Assuming that’s accurate, then every day I might choose to spend drunk would be one less day I’m serving Christ and the mission
    • And I don’t have enough days that can I afford to waste even one
    • I want to make the most of every day knowing I will face judgment one day
  • Paul also said the days are evil, so we must be on our guard
    • We must make plans and adopt strategies to avoid being sidelined in our mission whether by the schemes of the enemy or our own temptations
    • And drinking excessively is one of the surest ways to get sidelined in the pursuit of Christ and His will in your life
    • So if I’m prone to drunkenness, I must take meaningful steps to avoid that temptation because the days are short and evil
  • In fact, every addictive drug creates a craving in the flesh
    • So as we give ourselves over to it, we make future episodes of drunkenness all the more likely
    • We’re strengthening our flesh at the expense of our spirit
    • So a choice to become drunk today means dissipation today and makes it more likely the Christian will lose more days in the future
  • The only hope is to break the pattern so we can establish a new pattern
    • We must starve the flesh of its drug so that its attraction will weaken over time
    • Meanwhile, we spend time strengthening our spirit through the pursuit of Christ in the discipline of our faith
    • To do otherwise is to waste resources, and the most precious resource we have is our time to serve the Lord
• And finally, the word for dissipation in Greek can also be translated “unsavedness”
  • Because the entire existence of an unbeliever can be described as dissipation
    • An unbeliever lives a lifetime on earth opposing God and wasting their time
    • Only then to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire
    • Their life is one big self-indulgent, excessive affair that ends in nothing…and they will be forgotten in eternity
  • Then in v.18 Paul applies this same word to believers who get drunk because drunkenness makes the believer indistinguishable from unbelievers
    • Physically, a drunk believer looks exactly like the world in many ways
    • While we are drunk we sideline our witness and our pursuit of the mission
    • Because inebriation robs us of our sensibilities
    • We can’t make choices that reflect Christ or show love
    • We are simply a walking display of debauchery
    • So to any observer, we simply look like the world, and lacking contrast we cannot serve the mission
  • And spiritually, the drunk believer is also like the world, at least in a sense
    • Clearly believers share nothing in common spiritually with unbelievers
    • But in practical terms, the drunk believer is no more spiritually-directed than the sober unbeliever
    • Neither an unbeliever nor a drunk believer is under control of the Spirit
  • While we’re under the influence of any drug, our flesh takes change and hands control over to the enemy
    • If you’ve ever been drunk, do you remember saying or doing things you would never normally say or do?
    • That’s proof to you that you are not acting under the control of the Spirit but of the flesh and the enemy
    • The more we drug ourselves, the more our flesh gains control while our spirit becomes imprisoned
• All three meanings of the word dissipation point us to the same conclusion:
  • We’re engaged in a battle between flesh and spirit so we can’t afford to be foolish
    • The wise thing to do is to seek to be filled by the Spirit rather than wine, Paul says in the second half of v.18
      • It means to come under control of the Spirit, to be filled in the same way as someone may be filled with rage or joy
      • The Greek verb filled is in the passive tense, meaning this is something done to us not by us
  • So we are called to set aside anything that conflicts with the Spirit so that He is free to lead us
    • We are to be consumed by the will and desires of the Spirit
    • We are to be under His control in the sense that we yield to the Spirit’s will and desires by denying our flesh its desires
  • That’s how the Lord has constructed the process of our sanctification
    • We must set aside our flesh to give the Spirit opportunity to take over
    • We must say no to self before we can say yes to the Spirit
    • When we do that, the Spirit will guide us for as long as we seek the will of God
• Some believers see Paul’s contrast in v.18 between being drunk in the flesh vs. being filled by the Spirit and come to a wrong conclusion
  • They assume a filling of the Spirit is like a filling of wine, something we must take in that isn’t with us normally
    • As if we must take in a secondary experience of the Spirit beyond what we already received at the point we were saved
    • Secondly, they imagine that being filled with the Spirit must result in a similar physical response to being drunk with wine
    • A believer filled with the Spirit should exhibit strange or unconscious behaviors
    • Out of this thinking comes charismatic errors of one kind or another including the teaching that a person isn’t truly saved without such manifestations
    • And that even true believers must seek after a subsequent “filling” of the Spirit following salvation
  • Reading v.18 in its context makes clear the charismatic teachings are born out of a wooden interpretation of the text, one that misses Paul’s point entirely
    • We can see Paul is contrasting slavery to a physical addiction with submitting to the Spirit
    • And these things work in opposite ways, not in similar ways
    • One is a barrier to serving Christ while another is a means to serving Him
    • One causes us to lose control over our flesh, while the other puts our flesh in subjection
    • One is giving in to self while the other is yielding to the Spirit
  • In fact, Paul goes on to clarify what walking in the Spirit looks like in the life of a believer

Eph. 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
Eph. 5:20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

• In this list we find four behaviors that typify a believer walking in the Spirit
  • Each of these believers has a parallel to the earlier contrast with drunkenness
  • In contrast to the counterfeit joy that comes from feeding the flesh with wine or any such thing, Paul’s examples illustrate true joy among believers walking in the Spirit
  • These things enhance fulfilling the mission, in contrast to the dissipation of feeding the flesh
• First, Paul says a believer walking in the Spirit with a mind set on the mission speaks to other believers in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
  • He’s talking about public expressions of joy
    • A psalm is a poem of praise taken from the Old Testament book of the same name
    • A hymn is a song of praise sung to the glory of God
    • And spiritual songs are simply any other joyful expression of spiritual truth (we might include Christian pop music here)
  • When you see someone singing in public, they appear joyful and exuberant
    • Ironically, you might wonder if they are drunk
    • And that’s Paul’s point of comparison, of course
    • If you want to get a little silly in public, then do it in the Spirit rather than the flesh
    • Rather than getting drunk, standing on tables and singing your school fight song, sing songs of praise to the Lord by the Spirit
    • That’s an expression of joy that serves the purpose of the mission
  • Secondly, a believer in the Spirit directs their joy to the Lord in private praise
    • Paul says we are to sing and make music to the Lord in our hearts
    • This is inward praise and joy before the Lord
    • So find joy in knowing what you have eternally in Christ and carry that joy in your heart praising Him continually
  • This is in contrast to those who run from God into their addiction
    • We can’t show God joy in our heart if we’re so drugged we can’t think straight much less praise Him sensibly
    • Furthermore, the desire to be drunk is inherently an act of running from God, not toward Him
    • Of denying Him rather than praising Him
    • Like the Prodigal Son, we’re saying we want to run away to enjoy our inheritance now rather than remaining patient under the Father’s authority
• Thirdly, Paul says give thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God
  • Those who abuse wine or other drugs are usually seeking an escape
    • At first, we may turn to a drug to numb ourselves from pain or disappointment in our life
    • Eventually we come to rely on the drug, and then the addiction takes on a life of its own
  • Seeking to escape from disappointments and trials in life is the opposite of giving thanks to the Lord for all things, including for trials
    • The Bible teaches we are to thank the Lord for the trials we face knowing they are opportunities for spiritual reward

James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

• James says trials are cause for joy because they present opportunity for eternal reward

• But of course that assumes we endure them properly
• We must face them soberly, prayerfully, seeking counsel and support from our brothers and sisters
• Asking what good thing is the Lord trying to accomplish through this trial and how should I respond to it in godliness to ensure a reward?
• If we bring that mature perspective to our disappointments, we can learn to count or consider our trials as a source of joy

• Therefore, we thank the Lord for everything, both the things that please us and the things that try us

• But if we escape into a bottle or a needle, we won’t be thanking the Lord for a trial
• We’ll be too busy trying to forget the trial is even happening