James 1

James 1:1-4

James 1:1–4 ESV

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Verse 1:

The Old Problem

Who is the writing this letter?

Who is the author writing the letter to?

James is writing this letter in a specific context, where the people are presented with a specific problem.

So what is the problem?

To the 12 tribes in the Dispersion.

Dispersion implies they have been dispersed because of suffering and persecution for thier faith. They are living for the Lord, and have had to escape the violence that was coming at them.

The Letter of James A. The Readers and Their Situation

The letter reveals quite a lot about the people to whom it was written. First, they were almost certainly Jews

The Letter of James A. The Readers and Their Situation

The fact that the readers have been “dispersed,” forced to live away from their home country, helps explain a second major characteristic of the readers of the letter: their poverty and oppressed condition

You are faced with unavoidable suffering and trails as you follow Jesus.

Verse 2:

The New Perspective

Surprisingly though, James doesn’t make light of the problem..He says even though you have trials…rejoice!

Now often we read this and think that trials are really any problems that come in our life. Car breaks down, didn’t pass a test, get sick, get hurt in a sports game..but that is not what he is talking about. That is just suffering that comes from life in general. You can be a Christian or not, you will still have hardships in life. Sin has caused brokenness.

However this suffering is suffering that comes from living out your faith.

Live boldly for Jesus, and rejoice even when things get hard because of it.

Whats the difference between general suffering, and suffering for your faith. Give examples.

Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds

James does not, then, suggest that Christians facing trials will have no response other than joy, as if we were commanded never to be saddened by difficulties. His point, rather, is that trials should be an occasion for genuine rejoicing. Why this is so, he will explain in vv. 3–4

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

The word that is translated “trial”—peirasmos—and its verbal cognate—peirazō—are important words in this section: we find peirasmos in vv. 2 and 12 and peirazō in vv. 13 and 14. These words have two distinct meanings in the NT. They can denote either an outward trial or process of “testing” or they can denote the inner enticement to sin: “temptation” or “tempt

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

What were the “trials” that James’s readers were enduring? Poverty must certainly have been prominent among them

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

James 2:6–7 makes pretty clear that religious persecution was one of the causes of the poverty the believers were experiencing

Verse 3:

New Response: Steadfastness

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

James reminds his readers that God brings difficulties into believers’ lives for a purpose, and that this purpose can be accomplished only if they respond in the right way to their problems

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? is, indeed, one of the most perplexing and difficult questions that God’s people can ask. James gives no complete answer. But implicit in what James says is a conviction that the suffering of believers is always under the providential control of a God who wants only the best for his people.

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

Why can believers react to trials with so strange and unexpected a response as joy? Because we know that God uses trials to perfect our faith and make us stronger Christians

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

The difficulties of life are intended by God to refine our faith: heating it in the crucible of suffering so that impurities might be refined away and so that it might become pure and valuable before the Lord. The “testing of faith” here, then, is not intended to determine whether a person has faith or not; it is intended to purify faith that already exists.

Testing produces, first of all, perseverance. The etymology of the Greek word points to the idea of “remaining under,” and, in this case, etymology steers us in the right direction. The picture is of a person successfully carrying a heavy load for a long time

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

Like a muscle that becomes strong when it faces resistance, so Christians learn to remain faithful to God over the long haul only when they face difficulty

Verse 4

New Purpose

Following Jesus is not about avoiding trials..but going through them with them so that God’s purpose in your life is accomplished.

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

James reminds his readers that God brings difficulties into believers’ lives for a purpose, and that this purpose can be accomplished only if they respond in the right way to their problems

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

When faith is tested, then, the immediate result is, or should be, perseverance. But valuable as it is, perseverance is not itself the final goal of testing. Rather, James says, believers should “let endurance have its perfect [or complete] work.” This translation is a fairly literal rendering of the Greek, which we need as the basis for a solid understanding of what James intends here. The translation reveals, first, that the benefits of testing come only to believers who respond to them in the right way: Christians must allow endurance to do its intended work

The Letter of James A. Enduring Trials Brings Spiritual Maturity (1:2–4)

Testing, James suggests, is intended to produce, when believers respond with confidence in God and determination to endure, a wholeness of Christian character that lacks nothing in the panoply of virtues that define Godly character

Every trial is an opportunity! And it is either making us more like Jesus or less.

You may be mad at God that you lost a friend because you did whats right..when losing that friend was necessary to get you a new friend to help you be what God has called you to be.

What if the thing you are complaining at mad at God about is exactly the thing that you need, that he put in your life to change you.

Lost friends and relationships

Who in the bible faced trials for following God, and God still used it for their good.

Joseph..not sleeping with Potiphars wife.

Daniel being thrown in the lions den.

David being on the run from Saul to teach him to trust God.

But just as each of these men had a decision to trust God and grew becaues of it..you can also face challenges and become less for it.

Saul, the first king..offered a sacrifice instead of obeying.

Judas

Its not the trials in our life’s that are the real problems..its our response to the trials.

Someone yells at you, you try and be kind and love them thats a trial. You can choose to love them and be kind and trust God..or get even.

Example: John has been looking for new friends and has come to a new school and he has met Jacob and Ryan. They like basketball like he does, so they would go afterschool and play with some other friends. They connect and start coming over to each others houses..and picking eachother up going out to eat on week days. However, one day they are over at Jacob’s house and Jacobs parents are not home. Jacob takes them around to a cabinet in thier parents bed room with some alchohol in it..and laughs and says lets drink some. My parents never notice. Ryan grabs a glass…John is unsure of what to do. He is trying to follow God..is a Christian..but he doesn’t want to lose his friends. This is a trial for John...What should John do?

Ashley and Corey are both good friends and play volleyball. They are apart of a team this year that could make it to the state finals. They practice and practice..and thier coach all of a sudden says, “Ladies, to prepare for competition this year, I am hosting a Wednesday night practice with a college coach. Those that come will learn new moves for this season. Ashley and Corey have never started for thier team, but they feel like this is thier year. They think this new practice is the way to do it. The problem is..they are both involved in a Wednesday night bible study group at First Baptist Church. They’ve been involved for a while..but they think, this practice may be more important..we can start on a championship team. What should they do? Thier faith is tested here? What would you tell them.

James 1:5–8 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

And if you can’t see it..or can’t trust God..ask for wisdom. Endurance is good..but you need wisdom!

Because alot of times we are so back and forth! Sometimes we want to trust Jesus..other times we don’t. And were like a ship blown back and forth in the water..and not going anywhere.

What is a situation in your life you need wisdom with?