I invite you tonight to turn in your Bibles to the book of James. We pick up tonight with James chapter 1. We're going to look at verses 2 through 8. Just a few more verses than we looked at last time. I think we just looked at the 1 last time. Kind of caught you off guard there. Tonight we'll look at 2 through 8. But I'm going to begin my reading back at the beginning at verse 1. and then I'll read down for context purposes through verse 12. So James 1, beginning at verse 1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes and the dispersion, greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask god who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that's driven and tossed by the wind for that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the lord he's a double-minded man unstable in all his ways let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation because like a flower of the grass he will pass away the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass its flowers fall and its beauty perishes so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which god has promised to those who love him well if you live long enough you will come to know that life is full of all kinds of trials a comedian once said life is not a joke it's a series of little jokes all wanting to slap us down that's what the the world so easily thinks about life and the trials of life thank god that we as christians don't have to think of life and its trials in that depressing way. Thank God that because of who he is and what he has done and what he is doing, we don't have to think of trials that way. Thank God, as James says here, we can count all of life and its trials as joy, as joy. And that's what James wants to impress upon us tonight joy count it all joy brothers and sisters now if you remember the last time we were in this book i mentioned to you that this is a a realistic book and it is and james continues this realistic book by bringing up trials here right in verse 2 and so i want to approach what James says here by considering three things with you tonight first the perspective of life second the plan of life and third the practice of life the perspective of life the plan of life and the practice of life James begins this text with saying count it all joy brothers when you meet trials of various kinds. Now, a statement like this could so easily lead to some kind of Christian cliche, can't it? For example, you've just been diagnosed with stage four cancer. You share this heartbreaking news with a friend and their response is, count it all joy. Or maybe you just found out that your bank account was hacked into over the weekend and all of your life savings have been depleted count it all joy that's not what james is saying here that's not what james intention is he's not giving us some kind of christian cliche to make blanket statements to one another when life's dark provinces fall upon us we should guard against doing that towards each other's brothers and sisters when we find ourselves in real life trials and difficulties when we find out that a dear friend is going through something significant something challenging something that has thrown their life into something of a tailspin we should simply never give them some kind of christian cliche james is not doing that and neither should we well if that's not what james is doing here what is it that he is doing as i said james is being realistic he's being real remember i said last time we were in this book i'll say it again james is concerned with a life of genuine faith he's concerned with the life of faith which affects every aspect of life his intention is to produce to encourage to strengthen genuine faith and that's why this book can seem so heavy at times so so real and in your face so challenging and yet so encouraging as well we see this concern of james by the fact that right out of the gate right here in the beginning of this letter he jumps into the series of life's trials some think that james does this because those he's writing to are are wrestling or going through some kind of persecution and that may be very well may be the case but i don't think that's why james addresses the issue here up front i think he does because he's being immensely practical and real james is giving us real and practical and comforting perspective on life he's giving us perspective christian perspective on life he's giving us a perspective to interpret all of life and all that we go through in life see james begins here by saying count it all joy count it all joy what's what's the it that he refers to in fact he says count it all joy he even when referring to the it says all of it count it joy well the it that he refers to is the trials of various kinds which he mentions just a few words later but i'm convinced that james here is speaking of more than just simply what we would take as trials. I'm convinced that James is speaking of all of life. You see, without being overly hypothetical here, in a very real sense, all of life can be thought of as trials of various kind. That's why I believe that James, in the very next section, in sections 9 through 18, which we read a portion of, brings up lowly brothers boasting in their exaltation and the rich brothers boasting in their humiliation. We may think that the lowly brother's position is indeed a trial, while the rich's position is necessarily a blessing, when in fact both positions can be both blessing and trial. For example, the lowly person may think that their position is only a trial when in fact their position doesn't present them with the temptation of trusting in their possessions or their money. Remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. We know the story, right? And just as the story says, in life, the rich man received a number of good things while the poor beggar Lazarus received nothing. But after reading that story and finding out that it's Lazarus who is indeed in heaven and the rich man who is in hell, let me ask you now, whose position was blessed? Whose position didn't lead to them trusting in their possession and their riches? Whose position presented them with depending upon the Lord? I think we see this same kind of dynamic with the rich young ruler as well. Although the rich man asks really a perfect question to Jesus. What must I do to inherit eternal life? After Jesus tells him to sell his things and follow Christ, what happens? The rich young ruler walks away from Christ because he was exceedingly rich. His wealth was an immense trial for him. You see, both rich and poor have blessings and trials to endure. All this to say, James sees all of life as something of a testing ground. All of it is referring to trials because all of life can be both blessing and what we would call trials. Whether we interpret something to be good or bad, blessing or hardship, every phase of life, everything that we encounter should be thought with wisdom as possible blessing and possible trial to point this out further allow me to summarize to a portion of what one commentator wrote on this exact issue he says all of life is a trial and then he begins with a teenager in high school he says a high school senior lives in tension he's at long last king of the hill the privileged senior and yet classes are still long and boring homework monotonous at home. He still faces curfews and chores. He looks around and asks himself, is this what I've been waiting for all my life? There must be more. I'm tired of school, books, teachers. I'm tired of people telling me what to do. I'm tired of my room, my activities, my lack of freedom. I can't wait to get out on my own to do a thousand new things. When graduation comes, then my trials will be over. so our young man goes to college finally free right but of course his major requires many classes he has to perpetually study he has to work part-time in order to cover his expenses by his senior year he has a serious girlfriend they begin to talk about marriage at some point uh there's a grand proposal they decide to get married both of them think to themselves marriage is around the corner soon our trials will be over but then tension continues right wedding comes and goes they set up a house in a an apartment they're newly weds and although life should be simple and good there is still tension between the two who are trying to figure out how to live together under one roof and under and in one life well of course then they have this idea let's have a baby a baby will come and our tensions will go away what better way to refocus ourselves than to have a child together right well then the baby comes you have the trial of pregnancy the trial of raising a child of raising a family of raising teenagers of finances of purchasing a home of finding the right occupation a midlife crisis trial a trial of retirement trial of being old you get the point trial of life all of life can be a trial every stage of it in the midst of every trial we tell ourselves the grass is greener on the other side of the fence it'll be better soon it'll be a time more suitable to me a time more satisfying more fulfilling more gratifying we keep telling ourselves that all the while failing to realize what james tells us here brothers and sisters count it all joy consider it all joy every part of it every phase of life all the trials and difficulties and challenges consider it joy that's the perspective the wise perspective that james gives to us it's a very practical reality that he wants to impress upon us james wants us to interpret all of life through the lens of considerate joy wants that to be the dominant perspective that we have on life whatever we face whatever phase of life whatever real difficulty and trial now this doesn't mean that what james says here doesn't apply to such difficulties and hardships it certainly does this perspective applies to all facets of life perspective that james is giving us here is an all-encompassing christian perspective now why why would james here say count it all joy brothers and sisters why is the christian perspective one of considering it all joy well that takes us to our second point this evening the plan of life james says count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kind kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect complete lacking and nothing james gives to us here the the plan and purpose of life and that is that the lord has a plan and purpose for everything that we face and everything that he has us go through the lord's plan in purpose for us as christians is sanctification to make us more and more like christ or as james puts it here perfection completeness lacking nothing you see brothers and sisters we can count it all of life all the trials we have to go through count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds because we know that god is behind those trials he's graciously working in and through each of them every aspect every phase of life every part is part of his ultimate plan and purpose there is a plan to what we go through there's a purpose there's meaning in what we go through. Nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens out of God's sovereign control. Nothing we go through is just some kind of random occurrence, separate and disconnected from his plan. And that's why James can say, count it all joy. Count it all joy. Not because everything in life is joyful, but because God has a plan and purpose. He's working out through it now let's be honest let's be real some of the trials that we go through leave very little room for joy don't they they don't feel good we don't want to have to go through them when we go through such things are very challenging they're difficult they weigh heavy upon us they discourage us and they often cause us to cry out to the lord as the psalmist cries out lord where are you help me lord why how can this be we'll see shortly that that's the correct response to have to cry out to the lord when we find ourselves in need of him that's why we take comfort in the psalms because they so often present us what the psalmist going through many similar things that we find ourselves going through the point is this some trials aren't an occasion for joy and yet because the plan and purpose of God will prevail we can still count them as joy again because we know we know as james says here you know what steadfastness produces the author of hebrews and hebrews 12 says this about discipline he says for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it one can easily replace the word discipline there with the word trial and i don't think that would be a misapplication of hebrews 12 for the moment all trials seem painful rather than pleasant but later yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by them so it's obvious not everything in life is joyful and again we don't want to take james here as just giving us some kind of christian cliche or or some kind of pull yourself up by your own bootstraps when you find yourself in a difficult dark situation it's not what james is saying and yet we can as christians because we know who our god is and we know what he is doing because he has revealed that he works through all things we can indeed count it all joy now that takes trust doesn't it it takes trust and that's why the lord gives to us his word which presents us with records of how the lord works through difficulty we're all familiar with the story of joseph the life of joseph was certainly a life of trials of many kind right that's probably why we like the story of joseph because we can sympathize with joseph and what he went through joseph's life was a difficult life sure early in the beginning stages he was the favored son he got a coat of many colors which our children love to study and then what happened his brothers threw him in a ditch sold him as a slave betrayed by his brothers taken to some foreign and distant land as a slave now sure the lord prospered him and his work in that moment and yet what happened he was falsely accused falsely put into jail in prison he was betrayed by someone that he helped out forgotten in prison and all of this happened for a number of years didn't it joseph wasn't just looking to the next phase in life joseph was truly suffering in his life he suffered and yet the lord was with joseph through it all through it all the lord was refining joseph the lord was making joseph into a man of genuine faith and trust into him by the time we get to the famous words that joseph says to his brothers you meant it for evil but god meant it for good joseph has been forged into a man of great faith in God it's a beautiful picture and I think that if Joseph had the opportunity of of going back in time and talking to himself in the midst of one of those very difficult trials I think Joseph could say what James says here Joseph count it joy for the Lord is doing something greater the lord is making you into something beyond what you can imagine he's working trust him count it joy and that's what james is telling us here james is giving to us the plan and purpose of our lives our lives are are not meant for the next latest and greatest thing in our lives our lives are not meant for self-fulfillment self-actualization self-achievement our lives are meant for god in his glory our lives are meant for god and his purposes and plans our lives are meant for sanctification and that's why james says in verse 3 for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness james speaks here again as if this is as if this is obvious to his listeners you know it's obvious that the testing of your faith brings about steadfastness for some of you here tonight you know this truth you know this not just as a truth and reality but you you are a truth you know this as reality you've gone through trials that have forged a deeper richer more robust trust in god the beautiful beautiful thing just as james said says here let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect complete lacking in nothing the word steadfast there steadfastness used there could also be translated perseverance endurance the word is used in hebrews 12 from that text that i just quoted where the bible describes life as running a race and says let us run with endurance with steadfastness with perseverance the race set before us and then it says this looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of god jesus too counted it all joy he looked forward he looked to the plan and purpose that his father had laid out for him and he endured all of the trials of life even to death death upon a cross for the joy set before him and we may look to the story of joseph to see god working out good things in the life of one of his children but we look to jesus christ the author and perfect of our faith in order to be strengthened to endure since he endured for us christ endured for us for the joy set before him he endured the cross armed with the reality that god gave his son for us and his son lived and suffered and endured in this life for the joy set before him can't we now looking to him consider all of life all the trials of life as joy knowing that he too is working out his perfect his gracious plan in our lives so as we face trials of many kinds brothers and sisters look to christ remember that your lord and savior knows exactly what you have gone through he has endured it himself he's a suffering savior who didn't need to go through life and suffer he did it for you he did it for us he did it to save us from our sins while James realizes that what he has written here is immensely challenging and difficult so that leads him to bring up the the third thing that we want to consider this evening the practice of life James says in verse 5 if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him. James brings up prayer. Prayer as the practice of the Christian life because he realizes that when we go through life, when we face trials of many kinds, we can find ourselves distracted, lost, overwhelmed, confused. We don't know what the lord is doing we can't imagine him working through these moments and so we need to turn to him and we should turn to him in prayer prayer is the practice of the christian life prayer is the natural response of the christian to everything in life to every part of life when we find ourselves overwhelmed with joy because of some good news maybe the birth of a child we need to turn to the lord in prayer thanking him for what he has given to us but also asking him for the wisdom to receive this great blessing when we find ourselves overwhelmed with heaviness of heart because of some dark providence that we've encountered we need to turn to him in prayer asking him again for wisdom on how to navigate through this situation prayer is the practice of the christian life this past week i looked up the various times that jesus is recorded as praying and it was a wonderful little story i'm sure we're all familiar with uh the the the text where Christ is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. But if you look and take note of every other time that Christ prays, you'll see that Christ prayed all the time. He prayed while on the cross. He prayed while in the upper room. He prayed at the transfiguration. He prayed just before Peter's confession. He prayed before choosing his disciples. He prays at his baptism. He prays when tempted by the devil. Jesus prayed all the time. Mark 1 tells us that he prays in the morning. Luke 5 tells us he prays throughout the day. Luke 6 tells us that he prays into the night and sometimes throughout the night. Christ prayed without ceasing. And that's why Paul calls us as Christians to do that. Again, prayer is the natural response and practice of our Christian lives. Prayer is the way that we commune and communicate with God, the way we give thanks to Him, the way that we ask Him for what we need from Him in any given moment. I'm guessing that we probably have to be more careful to pray when it comes to the joys that arise in life. I'm sure we're all familiar with praying when challenges and trials arise, but what about with joys and blessings? Are we quick to thank the Lord for what he has given to us and yet at the same time to foresee that such blessings can be also trials and challenges listen to what with the wisdom of proverbs 30 it says remove far from me falsehood and lying give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with the food that is needful for me lest i be full and deny you and say who is the lord or lest i be poor and still and profane the name of my god see there in proverbs 30 we're taught that both poverty and riches blessings and hardship can be trials and blessings in both circumstances we're called to respond with prayer to our god and what do we need to pray for what is it that james calls us to pray for wisdom. Wisdom to discern the Lord working in and through our trials. Wisdom to discern that we need to carefully trust him at all times. And so James says, ask God for wisdom if you lack wisdom. But then he says, be careful when you ask. Be careful to ask consistently in faith. James says let him ask 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 the doubt that James is speaking of here isn't the general doubt that we're all familiar with the word translated here is doubt could also be translated as waiver the same word that Paul uses in Romans 4 20 when speaking of the faith of abraham and he says yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of god now we know that abraham did doubt god's promise at various times didn't he and yet at the same time that doubt did not lead to him wavering in his faith his faith was not some kind of inconsistent faith Throughout Abraham's life, he consistently believed the promise of God. That's James' point here. In your prayers for wisdom, don't waver in your faith, but consistently believe that God is able and will provide you with what you need to face wherever he has brought you. You see, with this point, James has come full circle in this text. our lives are lives of faith we can count it all joy that's our perspective the perspective of faith the lord uses all things all the various trials that we face good and bad for his plans and purposes when you find yourself struggling in those moments of testings and trials and blessings were called to the practice of the christian faith to pray to the lord to pray to our god who is good and true and faithful and loving and kind he's proven that he is that isn't he hasn't he he's proven that he is trustworthy he's given his very own son to prove that reality to us and it's his plan now to make us more and more into the image of his son i began this sermon by quoting a comedian who said life is not a joke and that's true life is not a joke for us christians life is a joy it's a joy and we can take it all to be a joy because we know who our god and our king is he is constantly at work trust him christian and trust yourself to him and trust your lives to him let's pray lord we thank you that you are the god that you have always revealed yourself to be the one who is true and faithful the god who is always working all things out for good and for your glory lord you also know the weakness of our faith and so we pray lord that in those moments of trial that you would increase our faith that you would graciously uphold us provide us with what we need to face that which you have brought us to we thank you for our lord and Savior and for the assurance that we have in Him. We pray this all in His name. Amen.