Right. Good morning. Good morning. Well, I am those who don’t know me. My name is Wes Grimm, and I’m really grateful to open up the word with you guys all this morning. So, as Rob had mentioned, we are kicking off our summer series in the book of James. So if you’ve got a bible, go ahead and open up to James, chapter one. And if you don’t have a bible, there should be some bibles in the chairs that you can grab and open up there. So, yeah, we’ll just be tracking through, and I am going to actually read through verses two through four, and I’m going to pray and ask for the Lord’s help. And then we’ll slowly work through this verse, this passage, verse by verse. So James, chapter one. And this is the word of the Lord. So verses two through four, it says, 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 his full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Pray with me, Lord Jesus. God, we are gathered here to come together as one body and to hear your voice. And so I ask God that through the folly of my preaching this morning, God, that you would speak to your people and feed your sheep. And God, tune our ears and our hearts to hear from you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So the book of James is overflowing with practical application for God’s people, and this passage is especially helpful for how we are to think about trials in our lives. So as we jump into the book of James, let me first give you some background information about this book as we see in verse one of the book of James. The author is James, who wrote this letter, and he addresses himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Church tradition tells us that James is actually, this is James, the brother of Jesus, and he did not become a believer until actually after Jesus death and resurrection. And acts records that James was with the disciples in Jerusalem before and during Pentecost. Paul tells us in Galatians that James was known as a pillar of the early churches and identifies him, James, as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. So this being said, james was a strong leader in the early church, even though he denied Jesus as lord during his earthly ministry. Instead of using an honorable title as the brother of Jesus, as he begins this book, James instead humbly addresses himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. This shows James humility in recognizing the deity of Jesus. In the world’s eyes, James was just the brother of Jesus, but in James’s eyes he was a servant of his God and of his Lord Jesus the Messiah. James wrote this letter between ad 48 and ad 52, and he died between ad 62 and 66, which actually makes this one of the earliest New Testament epistles that we have. And he wrote, as you can see in verse one, to the twelve tribes in dispersion. Or another word for that is diaspora, which is most likely a reference to jewish Christians living outside of Israel. It is also possible that James could be addressing believers that he had oversight over in Jerusalem that were dispersed after the martyrdom of Stephen, but we don’t know that for sure. James Letter is sometimes called the proverbs of the New Testament because of its practicality and reference to wisdom literature in the Old Testament, which further points to a jewish christian audience. James Letter likely had a specific church in mind, but was written to reach a broader audience of jewish christian believers. And you’ll notice that one of the larger themes James writes about in his letter is applications for the rich and for the poor. It appears that the jewish believers James is writing to were experiencing oppression from wealthy landowners and were struggling with how to treat the wealthy versus the poor in their congregation. And James gives multiple applications for these situations in the church and reminds his readers about the brevity of life and deception in attaining riches. So overall, the Book of James seeks to point the reader towards godly wisdom and compare it with the world’s wisdom, while also offering practical application that is reminiscent of Jesus teachings in the gospels. And these teachings point towards how a person is to put their faith in action as a follower of Christ. So now that we understand the context and intro of James, let’s take a look at verse two, a verse that many of you here are most likely familiar with. It says, count it all, joyous, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Now, I would be lying to you if I said that I was not intimidated to preach this passage. I feel that there are many others in the congregation that have walked through trials that could much more greatly process what it’s like to continue to endure through trials. But that being said, I know and trust that the Lord will speak through our time together. So to count it all joy is much easier said than done when trials come our way. Various trials here means a variety of troubles, including disappointment, difficulty, isolation, circumstances that are just out of your control, like a level four tornado storm moving across your life. It could be a pandemic, a heartbreaking diagnosis, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, war, persecution, famine, all kinds of different troubles. Troubles that break the pattern of tranquility in your life in both small ways and in very big ways. The book of Job says in chapter 14, verse, one man who is born of a Woman is few of days and full of trouble. These troubling trials are inevitable. They are part of the human experience in a broken, sin Filled World that is separated from the creator and sustainer of life. And James says to all these trials, count it all joy. Some of you in the room are thinking, yes, amen, Lord, let it be. Others of you here are thinking, how does that even make any sense? And others here, including myself as I’ve studied this passage, are thinking, how does one actually do this? Like, is this something as CHrISTians that is even possible? And this is the question that I hope the Lord will help me to communicate for everyone through this passage this morning. So what does James mean by count it all as joy? The word count means to consider or to put a conscious commitment towards the thing that is being counted or considered. The words all joy actually go together to further emphasize the completeness of joy one is supposed to have, one is to consider it complete joy or full joyous or pure joy when they are met with various trials. The webster definition of joy is the emotion evoked by well being, success or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. And that may sound like a good definition, but that is not biblical joy at all. So what is this joy that James is getting at and that all of the Bible really has a theme over well. Biblical joy is not based on our well being, success, good fortune, or possessing worldly possessions. Biblical joy that James is speaking about is based upon God. Listen to John Piper’s definition of biblical joy, which I do think is one of the biggest theologians on biblical joy of our day. This is what he says. Joy is a good or satisfying feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as he makes us see and savor the glory of Jesus Christ in the word and in the world. So where does this joy come from? It comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ, which is manifested by the Holy Spirit. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It cannot be produced or felt on our own. Like all the fruit of the Spirit, joy is pursued by the believer, but ultimately it is manifested by the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are readily at our disposal to be produced for those who are in Christ, yet they also require active faith that is, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, according to Galatians 525. To put it another way, joy in God is not a choice. We cannot conjure up joy which may be different from what you have heard. There is an understanding that biblical joy is of our own doing. We just need to put a smile on our face and choose to make it the dominating thought in our minds. And that’s biblical joyous. But this way of thinking does not help us understand what biblical joy is and how to experience it. Biblical joy is given by God through faith in God from the Holy Spirit. What we do choose is to have a joyous attitude which is very different than the actual joy that God gives us. A joyous attitude actively looks beyond our circumstances to a God in faith who then provides his people with the joy that we seek to clarify. An attitude of joy isn’t the actual experience of feeling satisfaction of the soul, but it is a pursuit of this soul satisfying feeling that comes through dependence upon God to manifest it within us. In John 1511, Jesus says, I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. Jesus says this right after talking about abiding in him as the vine, the source of our spiritual growth and production of fruit. Listen to what Nehemiah 810 says. Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah is leading the people of Israel towards cultivating an attitude of joy with eating the fat and with drinking sweet wine and sharing with others to bring about a rejoicing in the Lord. And at the same time, Nehemiah tells the people, the joy of the Lord is your strength, not your joy that you conjure up, but the Lord’s joy that is made available to you through faith in God’s provision and promises for Israel. And this joy will be your strength. Biblical joy is not turn that frown upside down. Rather, it is much more than that. It’s placing our hope and faith in a God who promises joy and perseverance to those who trust in him, knowing that fullness of joy is found in God and will be experienced with God in this life and for eternity in the life that is to come. This is the joy that James is pointing us to when we face trials of various kinds. And practically speaking, we do this and experience this kind of joy by cultivating a joyous attitude through faith in Goddesse in the midst of each trial that we go through, depending on God to fill us with his joy despite our circumstances. So when James says, count it all joy when you face trials of various kinds, he is saying, keep cultivating a joyous attitude in every trouble that comes your way, which I think if we’re all honest. Cultivating this joyous attitude is not an easy discipline. The greater the hardship, the more difficult it is to count it all joy. When trials come our way, it is natural to feel anything but joy and just to feel overwhelmed by the weight of what’s happening. But this verse tells us, even when we feel immense sorrow and grief, these emotions are not the anthem to our story. In two corinthians 610, Paul expresses, we are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. As believers, we have a hope that even the deepest sorrow and grief cannot take away. John Piper says this the joy you know in the very moment of heavy sorrow will keep the sorrow from crushing you. But it doesn’t make the sorrow less weighty, it makes the sorrow less destructive. We can cultivate a heart of joy because our faith tethers us to a God who is holding us fast. He is our refuge and fortress in times of trouble, and his storehouse of joy is available at all times to carry us through each day that will never run dry. His wells are deep. His joy is sweet and sufficient in every dark and rainy moment of life. Looking at verse three, James further tells us why we should count it all as joy, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James is saying, here, here’s why you should count it all joy. Because when these trials come into your life and test your faith, know that they produce steadfastness. And steadfastness is equivalent to perseverance or endurance. It is the tenacity of spirit to hold on during times of pressure or difficulty, like a watchman fastened to his post, standing firm against the rain and the wind and waiting faithfully, watching day after day. This is what God is developing in each of his people in the midst of trials, a faith that, when is tested, continues to hold fast and hold tightly to Christ. Now, if you’re like me, I want to ask, why does God want to develop this endurance in his people? Can we just smooth sail to heaven without having all these troubles and difficulty? My flesh desires an easy path, a life without hardship and pain and loss. But we see in verse four that there is a reason God desires to develop steadfastness in our lives. It says, let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking and nothing. A life without various trials produces a very weak and incomplete character. Say that again. A life without various trials produces a very weak and incomplete character. Without trials, we aren’t able to learn how to hold on to the promises of God in order to grow our faith. If our faith is never tested, it will never grow, and the image of Christ cannot be formed within us. Christ, in his incarnation for the joy set before him, endured the cross. His faith was tested, and yet he held fast to God the Father all the way till his last breath on the cross. Jesus endured far, much more than we could possibly imagine. And the book of Hebrews reminds us that in our struggle against sin we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood. If Jesus grew in steadfastness through trials and tribulation, then so shall we, in order that we may be made like him and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Just stop and think for a moment how it would be if you showed up on the shores of heaven without ever going through any trials. It would be impossible to relate, let alone to understand the significance of what Jesus has done for us and what he has endured without going through any trials in this life. But because God uses trials to shape us and grow us in steadfastness, we can all relate to Jesus and praise God for what Jesus has endured for our sake. One Peter, one six seven says this. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold, that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor. At the revelation of Jesus Christ, Peter tells us just how valuable our faith, it truly is in God’s sight. It is more precious than gold. God loves us too much to leave us in a weak state of character that is incomplete. So he tests our faith with trials so that we may become perfect, meaning mature, and that we may lack in nothing. Therefore, as verse four instructs us, let steadfastness have its full effect. Understand the steadfastness that God is shaping in your and my life through trials. It’s no small thing. It’s actually a huge thing. It is building a strong faith in christlike character that will bring honor and glory to Christ for eternity. When God brings trials your way, don’t avoid them. Trust the Lord, and in all your ways acknowledge him. Know that the only way out of a trial is through it, and God will see you through to the other side. As a matter of fact, count it all as joy because you know that God is not absent in difficulty. No matter what you are going through, God remains in control even if we can’t see it. He knows what the depths of our hearts feel, and he knows how many tears we have shed in each of our darkest trials. And in all of it, he promises he will use it for our good and for his glory that we may lack in nothing. Verse five continues this thought by saying, but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. Biblical wisdom is not wisdom of the world. It is God given understanding that enables a person to avoid the passive wickedness and to live a life of righteousness. This begins with fearing the Lord as God and recognizing he is the source of all knowledge and wisdom, and his ways are wise and true. James is saying that if you are lacking in the process of being tested by trials, then you should ask God for help and for wisdom. He is listening and gives understanding for righteous living, and he gives it generously to all who ask. God is not crossing his arms as he tests us our faith. He’s not just expecting us to figure it all out. He desires us to depend upon him and to ask him for help and understanding in the midst of our trials. That doesn’t mean he is going to tell us exactly why each trial is happening, but it does mean he will help us to understand how to go through each trial in order to see him more clearly and to grow in our faith. Godly wisdom shows that God is the one on the throne even in the midst of the most difficult trials. And if we lack seeing that, we are but to ask, and it will be given. As we look at verse six, we see there is a condition for our asking. It says, let him ask in faith with no doubting. James here makes a clear distinction. There is either faith that is believing in God and trusting his promises, or there is doubting that rejects God’s control and disregards God’s promises. A lot of people reference the Book of James as a letter that emphasizes works above faith, from chapter two, where James talks about faith without works being dead. But that is simply not true. James says, the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. This is referring to the chaos seen in waves as they rise up only to crash and swirl and spiral in our lives, especially when a big trial of a storm comes our way for this person, when a trial comes, there is no sure footing for their life. They are swept every which way in every direction, in chaos, driven by wherever the wind blows, no anchor or hope to tie them down. Trials just wreck you and leave you with absolutely nothing. And James says in verse seven, that person must not suppose that they will receive anything from the Lord, for he is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways. Another way to put this is the person without faith shouldn’t expect to receive anything from God. And that is a huge warning for us here who do not have faith in God. Double mindedness is not how God calls his people to live. He has called us to live by faith. Faith in a God that is Lord over the wind and the waves of life’s storms. Faith that secures us is an anchor for our souls, remaining steadfast because Jesus is on the other end of the line, holding us fast every step of the way. That doesn’t mean that the person of faith won’t feel their boat being rocked when trials come. Even with faith in God, we are prone to worry and to doubt. But when that happens, doubt never overcomes our faith in the Lord. We never stop persevering because God is the one holding us fast to himself. That’s the difference between the person of faith and the double minded man that James is warning us about. The double minded man has 1ft in and 1ft out, saying yes to faith for a brief moment and then allowing doubt to overcome, resulting in no trust being placed in the Lord. The double minded person trusts in themselves, not in God. Hebrews eleven six says, and without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. This is a warning to unbelievers. If the storms of life come your way and you are tossed every which way, without any faith in God and in his promises, understand that this kind of living will only result in a shipwreck of death. Put your faith in God. Believe in Jesus as the anchor for your soul, and in the midst of all various troubles in your life. Verses nine through eleven say, 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. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass and its flower falls and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Now why does James give us this warning concerning riches in regards to being tested by trials? Two reasons I have for you. First is we know that this was a prominent issue for believers that James is writing to at the time. Since James picks up on this theme all throughout his letter, James wanted to address these issues by warning believers not to trust in riches as others were doing at that time. But instead he told them, let the lowly or the humble brother boast in his exaltation, meaning boast in a God who exalts the lowly because his exaltation is what will last the test of time. The second reason? It’s so easy for us as humans to think that the comfort of our riches will protect us when trials come our way. And James, likely reflecting on proverbs and the teachings of Jesus regarding riches, plainly tells us that riches with all of its beauty will pass away. As I said earlier, a life without trials produces a weak character. To think that riches will protect us from the trials of life and make everything better and just ignore the reality of death is just flat out foolish. The grass withers, the flower falls, and its beauty perishes. Life is short. We’re here, and then we’re gone. There is so much more to life than riches and comfort, which I think is a good warning for us as Americans to hear since we’re part of the rich. Don’t hear this verse and think, ah, that’s not me. I’m not the one with a mansion and a yacht. That’s not true. In the eyes of the majority of the people living on planet earth, we are the rich ones. And James warns us that the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits. So don’t get comfortable with riches. Seek the things that are above and are eternal, like the souls of other people or the condition of your faith in Jesus. Trials help to wean us away from the comforts of life and the delusion of stability that riches bring. Trials wake us up to recognize we need God. We need faith in a sovereign God that is far greater than any riches in this life and far more satisfying than any comfort this life has to offer. Only one life twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last. Moving to verse twelve, it says, 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. Here, James gives us another reason to count it all as joy for the one who remains steadfast, who continues to persevere under trial of difficulty, disease, loneliness, heartbreak, loss. When they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life. And the crown of life alludes to the reward that a believer receives when they have finished the race of faith that is eternal life with God. And James says, God has promised this to those who love him. For as Paul says in one corinthians, love endures all things. Our faith is not without love. Rather, our faith is fueled by love for our savior, who first loved us and willingly sacrificed his life for ours. And with this, love is a promise of eternal life for the one who will remain steadfast under trial. Here James is circling back from where he started in verse two and crescendos his exhortation on enduring trials to the one who remains steadfast and lets it have its full effect. They will find themselves on the shores of eternity, crowned with eternal life with God, where fullness of joy is found and trials remain no more, for our faith will be turned to sight, and we will dwell with our God for eternity. That being said, when we are enduring trials and our faith is being tested, understand this. The steadfastness that God is shaping in your and my life through trials, it’s no small thing. It is no small thing. It’s not just an additional add on to the christian life. No, this is the work of God that is immeasurably valuable. The ability to endure is building christlike character that will bring honor and glory to Christ for eternity, forever and ever and ever. The story God is writing right now in your life has immense weight of glory that will be brought to God for the rest of your days in God’s heavenly kingdom. In this life, trials are inevitable. But our God is using the difficulty of testing to refine our faith for something greater. He is heeding our faith in the crucible of suffering so that the impurities might be refined away and that our faith may be presented as pure and glorious before the Lord. He does this so that we may be mature, complete, lacking in nothing, and ready to receive the crown of life with Jesus as co heirs, reigning with him for eternity. None of those realities are small. They are immeasurably valuable to our God, and we must not forget that precious truth when we are in the midst of a difficult trial. For the believer, trials are not a debilitating shackle that is binding us to a dark prison of despair with no hope and no way forward. Rather, trials are a ladder for our faith to climb higher, an opportunity to grow our muscles of faith and to build our christlike character and to ready our hearts with a longing for the crown of life that will be given with our king, Jesus. So if you are going through a difficult trial right now, my encouragement to you is let steadfastness have its full effect. Don’t avoid or run away from it. And don’t let the lives of the enemy cause you to doubt. God is with you. He knows the trial you’re in, and he is developing a faith within you that is far greater than anything else in this life that we could possibly experience, a faith that resembles our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, in whom we will have fellowship with and worship for all of eternity as a sweet and satisfying reward. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, count it all joy, moving to verses 13 through 18, and there’s a lot here to work through, James now transitions to writing about the source of temptation and the character of God that we will finish our time looking at. So verses 13 through 15 say, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. James lays out an important theological truth. God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. God is holy, meaning he is set apart without any sin or inclination towards sin. Otherwise he wouldnt be God. Therefore, he doesnt lead people into sin because doing so would be a sin. It is true God tests us with trials to test our faith and to grow our character for his glory. But God doesn’t lead his people into sin. Rather, people lead themselves into sin. There are two different forms of temptation. There is external temptation that comes from Satan and from the world, and there is internal temptation that comes from within, which is often referenced in scripture as desires of the flesh. Here, verses 14 and 15 are the clearest description of internal temptation that the New Testament offers. The words lured and enticed are greek words unique to this passage. In James only the greek word enticed is used two other times in the New Testament and second, peter, in relation to sinful seduction or enticement from our own desires. And the word lured here it actually means to be dragged away. So James is saying, each person, meaning everyone, all of humanity, we’re all sinful, is dragged away and sinfully enticed by their own desire, which is a sinful desire, according to the context of verse 14, and I want to make that clear because it’s important to understand James is describing evil desire that is sinful in verse 15, not just any kind of desire. In verse 15, James is likely thinking of job 1535 or psalm 714 that both convey mankind’s inclination towards conceiving trouble within and then giving birth to evil. James is saying, the moment this evil, sinful desire is conceived or created in one’s heart or mind, it naturally gives birth to sin, and the direct result of sin is death. This analogy is not to be taken as the life cycle of sin. This is not a process that can be stopped or paused somewhere in between. Evil desire directly results in sin. We can see this clearly from the sermon on the mount where Jesus teaches sin begins with the heart. This is the natural flow of sin, rooted in the temptation that comes from a sinful heart. One commentary says, just as water runs downhill, so evil desired, if allowed to pursue its gravitational inclination, runs down into sinful activity, and this evil desire leads straight to eternal death like an avalanche. It is inescapable, and it will drag you under until you have nothing left. Colossians three five six warns, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetedness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming, so don’t make any room in your heart for any kind of sinful, evil desire, for its destination is hella, and it will take you there without hesitating. Instead, put to death your sinful desire by repenting and turning in faith to Jesus, who gives us freedom to overcome sinful desire of the flesh. Our passage ends with verses 16 through 17 that say, do not be deceived, my beloved brothers, for every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James further points his readers to understanding the God in whom they believe. James does not want his readers to be deceived or tricked into thinking God is something he’s not. God is not the giver of death he is the giver of life. Every good and perfect gift is a sentence made to encapsulate the common grace of every single good and pleasing thing we have on this earth. It is all a gift from God. It is not a deserved right or an achieved good. Everything, anything good that you have is a gift from a gracious and good God from above coming down from the father of lights. This is a title meant to reflect God as the source of light that dispels evil and darkness and reflects his immutability, which is a big word that means God’s ability to remain the same. God is not changing over time. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and there is no variation or shadow due to change. God is trustworthy, unlike man, who is liable to change over time. Verse 18 of our passage says, God does this out of his own will, his own initiative. He brought us forth by the word of truth, that is the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ that we, meaning all who place their faith in in Christ should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. In the Old Testament, first fruits are the initial fruit that are harvested and are considered to be the best of the crop. And our passage ends with the greatest truth that could ever be preached or known, that God has brought forth his people of faith by the word of truth. Faith in the word of truth. The gospel message brings the best out of all that God has made, and it is all possible because the father of lights, out of his own immense love, decided to do so through Christ. Jesus is our hope and salvation for all who repent and believe in him. As the only son of God who lived the sinless life that we cannot and died in our place on the cross. To whoever places their faith in Jesus, making him the Lord and king of their lives, God will bring them into completion through every trial and difficulty that they face. It is a promise from God we are but to ask in faith and God will generously provide all that we need, boasting in the one who is highly exalted instead of seeking exaltation in life’s riches and comforts, blessed is the one who remains steadfast under trial. For when you have stood the test, you will receive the crown of life so that whatever you may be going through here and now, you may be able to say and consider all things joy. Pray with me. God, I admit this is a heavy passage, and yet the truths that are here in this passage are an anchor. God to keep us going through whatever life may bring. God, I do pray that you would help each person here to learn how to say and walk in a manner that would consider it joy when we walk through difficult trials. And God, I pray that your joy, your strength, your steadfastness would hold each of those fast who are struggling and in a season trial God, that you would lift them up by your good and righteous right hand and provide shelter and immense joy in their hearts to praise you yet and to continue to endure. Thank you that you are a faithful God who has brought everything to completion in faithfulness through Christ. God, thank you for your word this morning and help the rest of our time. Continue to honor and bring you worship and praise. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.