Consider It Joy

James 1:1–12 NASB95

1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. 12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

INTRO: If you were able to peer into the future and observe yourself- particularly how you are living out your identity as a child of God, what would you hope to be true?

Do you think you will have grown any? I hope so!

How many of you would like to see yourself as mature in the faith, wise in your ways, and joyful in demeanor?

Further, how would you know if these were true of you?

Many of our students are either right in the middle of their end of grade tests or have just completed them. This is often a miserable time in the lives of our young people because they are stuck for hours without the freedom to talk, move around, etc.

The tests require them to focus, analyze problems, write well thought out essays, and try not to think about what is riding on their score.

If they pass, they will move to the next grade or perhaps graduate. If they fail, then it could mean summer school or repeating a grade.

What am I saying? The only way to truly know if you are mature, wise, and joyful is to be tested. After all, if everything is going well, then we appear to be and maybe think that we are all of those things.

Even Jesus was tested. Just after being baptized by John, Jesus went into the wilderness where Satan tested him and tempted him for 40 days. Even though we know that Jesus is God in flesh, this testing gave evidence of His identity, for he was tempted in all ways, yet without sin.

Further, he faced the ultimate test, that Roman cross on Golgotha’s hill. The author of Hebrews explained that for the joy set before him- the joy of completed redemption and victory, he willingly endured the cross (Heb. 12:2-3)

You and I will face tests in this life. This is a sure promise. But these tests, though they may be unpleasant at the time, all have a purpose.

Someone once told me, “The thing you want most is on the other side of the thing you do not want to do.”

Today, we are beginning a new series through the Epistle of James. In our time this morning, we will look at how the trials of life shape us as Christians.

Before we get into the content, I’d like to give you a brief overview of the context. Remember church, we must grasp what was originally intended by Scripture in order to rightly apply it.

While there are several James’ mentioned in the NT, this letter was written by James, the half brother of Jesus somewhere in the early 60’s… not 1960s, just 60s.

James is an interesting guy in that he didn’t follow Jesus as a disciple until after Jesus was crucified and resurrected. (Isn’t that just like a sibling?!?) But once he committed, he took on a major role in the early church. In fact, we see him present in Jerusalem in Acts 12.

He introduces himself as a bond-servant of Jesus, a humble acknowledgment that the one whom he initially rejected as Lord, was now his master. He writes to a mainly Jewish Christians who had been dispersed out of Jerusalem due to persecution.

If you remember, Stephen was martyred for proclaiming Jesus as Lord and God in Acts 7, and from there many dispersed into the surrounding nations. These early Christians not only faced persecution, but also famine.

In hard times, there would be both temptations to violate one’s convictions as well as those who would take advantage of the desperation of the poor.

It is into this context that James writes “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials...”

This may seem like James is simply blowing hot air- attempting to encourage people with empty words. Yet, there is much more here than vague positivity.

Perhaps you are encountering a trial or temptation this morning. Friend, God has a purpose… and that’s not just a line. My hope, and the title of the message, it that you Consider It Joy.

I want to focus in here just a second… this is an intentional attitude that we must take on - the tests we face are an opportunity to trust God. If we fail to consider them as joy because of this, then we fail to reap the benefits of the test.

ILL: Have you ever been on a sports team and the coach seems to be extra hard on you? He puts you against the most difficult opponents, pushes you on your training, and cuts you no slack?

Well, you have a choice. You can consider it unfair and quit or you can consider it joy to learn and grow and keep on.

So, follow along with me as we learn how God uses the tests in our lives to shape us as Christians.

First, we can note that:

Testing Sanctifies Us (3-4)

What I mean by sanctify is that we are made mature in our faith. (READ)

In faith, we learn and grow through the challenges and tests in life. As we seek to please God in temptations, we grow. As we remain steadfast in Christian conviction, we become stronger in our faith and surer in our convictions.

In the early church, these trials included physical threats for those who would dare be so bold as to speak the gospel. It included shunning and shaming from the public realm so that anyone who claimed to be a Christian would be an ‘outsider’ or not welcome in the market.

It meant temptation to be a closet Christian or chameleon Christian… just look and act like the world and try to hold onto some faith..

It meant that in their physical hunger and need, thinking also of others who faced similar challenges.

In order to reflect the light of Christ, these early Christians must choose Christ in all times, even when the world would demand otherwise.

This is what we all hope for, right? That we would stand firm in our faith whether we faced temptations to sin, persecution intended to coerce us to abandon the faith, tragedies that we don’t understand, etc.

ILL: How many of you have seen someone on a fitness poster or magazine and thought- “I’d like to look like that!” Well, that happens through proper diet and exercise! We may not like the process, but we’ll like the results! And the same is true as we pursue education, athletics, and it’s true as we pursue Christ.

But you know what our problem is? We are impatient! We live in an instant-gratification world! That’s why there are so many gimmicks out there… no diet or exercise, just take these pills… don’t worry about practice, take steroids… You don’t even have to play a whole video game- there are cheat codes!

But friends, diamonds are formed under pressure over time.

Therefore, we must allow ourselves the grace for our growth. In v. 4, James says “let endurance have its perfect result...” IOW, we need to acknowledge that this growth is slow. Many things in life only come through experience. We make mistakes and learn. We see God’s faithfulness in our pain, and we learn. We witness God’s provision of strength in our weakness and we grow!

Slow growth produces strong trees, so friends, as you experience trials and hard times, be aware of God’s grace and sovereignty and trust Him to grow you. On the other side, you’ll see what might not be evident in the midst of the trial. Testing sanctifies us.

Next, James shows us that:

Testing Stabilizes Us (5-8)

(READ)

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. Of course, this is not a formula- each new situation may call for a different application of knowledge.

Let me ask - How many times have you been faced with a situation, a decision, or a season of life when you think, “I have no idea what to do!”?

Yeah, so often we don’t realize how much wisdom we lack until we are faced with a new problem… then we suddenly realize that college didn’t prepare me for this or I didn’t learn this in Sunday School.

You see, it is when we come to the end of ourselves that we learn truly how to trust God.

James uses the illustration of the waves in the sea- foaming and being tossed about. They are unstable.

I want you to imagine being on a boat, trying to eat a meal. If the sea is rough, you might find that you cannot easily pour a drink… or even keep it on the table. You might find that cutting a steak will be dangerous, and making it to your mouth with the food a bit of a gamble… as is keeping said food down, but we won’t talk about that. ;)

But, a smooth sea is stable.

When you are facing trials, you can either be an unstable mess- emotionally erratic, paralyzed by fear or grasping at straws trying to cope, or you can be be calm and confident in God’s sovereignty.

Look at v. 7-8 again. James tells his readers that if you do not trust God, then you are praying in vane, because you are double-minded. And what happens if we do not trust God is we may say a prayer, but then we get on Google and search out the wisdom of the world.

Christian brothers and sisters, if you find that you kind of freak out at the trials and problems you encounter, I want to encourage you to pause and go before the throne of our God, and lay it down before him.

I love the OT story of Hezekiah, who when besieged by the Assyrian army, received a letter from his enemies threatening, mocking… His response was to lay it before God- to place his trial in God’s hands. And you know what? God delivered him.

God’s Word is sure; if we ask in faith, God will provide the wisdom we need generously. Through the trials and testing of life, God sanctifies and stabilizes us.

Finally, James shows us how:

Testing Satisfies Us (9-12)

To satisfy means that we are not longing or lacking in anything; content.

As we faithfully encounter and walk through difficulties in life, we get the joy of maturity and wisdom, but also the assurance of belonging.

ILL: Have you ever just felt out of place? Whether an event or whatever, you just feel like you stick out? When this happens, we probably are a bit insecure or unsure of ourselves. It can be intimidating to face a new challenge- what if I make a fool out of myself?

It’s easy for us to look at others and try to compare circumstances- they drive a nicer car, they dress fancier, etc. But James reminds us that whatever our circumstances on earth, they are temporary.

(READ)

For the Christian, our greatest satisfaction is the assurance that we belong to God. Here, in v. 12, we see that all that testing that we walk through- as we grow and trust, serves to validate our identity in Christ.

You see, there comes a time when we get to look back upon those trials and see how our lives and responses reflected the Spirit of God -

we overcame temptation

we surrendered that stronghold over to Christ

we found peace in the uncertain times…

We’ll see this throughout our study; when Christians demonstrate their faith through life’s trials and tests, it gives assurance and that assurance allows us to be satisfied and content!

The 11th chapter of Hebrews lists out several who, when tested, revealed their faith in God through their response. Their response in times of testing revealed their trust in God. We look back and read their names and think- Wow, These folks, because of their testing, have confidence or assurance that they belong to God.

Similarly, Jesus said to his disciples,

Matthew 7:16–17 NASB95

16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

Oh how sweet it is to be able to see that in our lives we have borne good fruit! Testing allows for us to see evidence of our faith.

Friend, are you going through a test right now? Maybe you are struggling with why or what next… perhaps you feel like you are drowning in the sea of your circumstances. Listen, “Just keep going. Keep enduring. Keep pursuing. Keep believing. “

Romans 5:3–5 NASB95

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Consider it joy and see how God will transform you as you trust God through your trial.

Chances are, your test will show you whether you are His or not. And if you are not, then I encourage you to call upon His name and be saved today.

[PRAY]

Discuss: What tests are you facing or have you faced lately?

Discuss: In what ways are tests useful in Christian development?

Discuss: What does it mean to endure? How do you intend to remain steadfast through your next trial?