“When Facing Trials”—Part 1
(James 1:1-4)
Series: Living the Faith (James)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
•I invite you to take your Bibles and join me in the Book of James (page 812; YV).
We are beginning our year with a new sermon series. As you know we preach through books of the Bible and James is one of these wonderfully little practical books that really challenges us to live out the Christian faith.
It’s a short book, a short letter really. It’s just 5 chapters and 108 verses. But it is action-packed with wisdom and challenge and straightforward, honest and often painful Christian teaching.
James is not a book for the weak and timid. If you get squeamish when someone tells it like it is, then James is probably not for you. If you want someone to sugarcoat difficult truths, then you will wince when you read James. James in our faces. James is straight up Christianity 101.
James addresses spiritual snobbery in the church, worldliness in the church, unconcern for the poor and destitute. He rebukes us for our favoritism. James addresses our use of the tongue; how we speak to others, how we speak about others.
In fact one of the more interesting characteristics of this letter is that it contains over 50 imperatives in it’s 108 verses. 50 uses of the imperative mood. The imperative is the mood of command. You know, “Do this,” or “See to that,” not suggestions, but commands.
For example, James says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22).” Don’t show favoritism (James 2:1-4). Submit to God, resist the devil (James 4:7). Don’t speak evil of another brother (James 4:11) Don’t grumble against one another (James 5:9).
So James is about living the faith, a word that occurs 16 times in this letter. James is not so much about becoming a Christian as it is about behaving as a Christian. It’s not so much about doctrinal learning as daily living. It is principles put into practice. It is doctrine on display.
It was probably written somewhere around AD 44-49, making it the earliest book of the New Testament. We’re going to look at just the first four verses this morning.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
•Pray.
Introduction:
Well, the title of the message is “When Facing Trials” and there is so much here that we’re going to do a part 1 and part 2 because I really believe this passage can be of such practical help to us—and today’s message is largely introductory and so I want to take our time talking about facing trials.
Every one of us is familiar with trials. And James is talking about all of them. He writes in verse 1 about “various trials” and he means any and all kinds of trials. Trials are the storms we go through in life and I have often said that everyone of us has either gone through a storm or is presently in a storm or about ready to go through another storm.
Storms and trials are part of living in a sin-cursed and fallen world. Ever since Genesis 3 we have had trials of one kind or another. We see evidence of the fall all around us. So while we are shocked and saddened by events such as the recent terrorist attack on Paris Wednesday morning, at the same time we are not surprised by that event. We understand that this world is not as it is meant to be and this is one reason we say with John in the closing book of the New Testament, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
But when trials hit home and we become personally involved in them ourselves we have passages such as this passage that can be of such great help and encouragement to us. So I just want to take some time and really do a part 1 this week and a part 2, next week, Lord willing.
Here’s the first reminder about trials: When Christians face trials, various trials, difficulties, hardships, and so on, number one, remember this:
I. Trials are Inevitable [1-2]
That may sound rather obvious and perhaps even unhelpful, at first. But I think it’s really important to remember this.
Trials can come to anyone. Being a Christian does not keep one from trials. If you are a human being, you will go through trials. James does not say, “Count it all joy if you fall into various trials,” he says, “when you fall into various trials.”
James himself knew something of trials. Let’s talk about James first. Verse 1:
1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
Who is this James? There are four men with the name James in the New Testament. There’s James, the son of Alphaeus, James, the brother John, and James the father of Jude and there is James the brother of Jesus; strictly speaking his half-brother—“James the Just” as he was called.
It is this James who is the writer of this letter, James the Just, the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55) and it almost has to be him for a number of reasons, but certainly because this James was also the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15).
James is described as one of the pillars of the church in Jerusalem, a leader of ranking higher than that of the Apostles Peter and John. That’s a pretty big deal to be placed in a leadership position over Peter and John! So when we read this opening verse and it just says, “James,” without any other identifier, this has to be “the” James so to speak, because any other James would have had to distinguish himself: James, the son of Alphaeus, or James the brother of John and son of Zebedee. This is James, the James. This is the leader of the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the brother of Jesus.
Now that’s remarkable, isn’t it? The brother of Jesus, His little brother! Grew up in the same house as Jesus, sat at the same table as Jesus, shared the same bathroom as Jesus.
Of course, James wasn’t a believer in Jesus during His earthly ministry, right? John 7:5 says, “even His brothers did not believe in Him.” Not too surprising, really. It’s a pride thing. Most of us know something of sibling rivalry.
I had opportunity recently to travel to Georgia and visit with some family, including both of my sisters. My older sister and I recalled an occasion when we were smaller and living in California and my older sister convinced me to touch an electric fence with a wet rock, telling me it would not carry electricity through it. I believed her and tried it and to this day I can recall the jolt of that electricity going entirely through the left side of my entire body. Why did she do that? Because she’s a sibling and siblings do these kinds of things to each other!
Our family knows us. They grew up with us. They changed our diapers and wiped our noses and held our hands and so forth. So were not really surprised that James and his family did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God during His earthly ministry.
James became a believer later, probably at the very moment Jesus singled him out for a special appearance. Remember this unique way in which the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to James?
1 Corinthians 15:7, After [Jesus appeared to Peter, the 12, 500] that He was seen by James, then all the apostles.
That must have been something! Jesus the resurrected Lord appearing to His brother James. It definitely made a believer out of James.
So James refers to himself in verse 1 as a “bondservant of God,” and—and I think this is especially important—and “of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
And the word James uses there for Lord is the Greek work “kurios,” which is a title of deity. The same word is used throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, as it’s called. The word “kurios” is used there to refer to the One True God. It’s used for “Elohim” and “Yahweh.” It’s the equivalent of saying, Jesus Christ is God.
Even the Roman pagans knew that because they insisted that the same title be applied to the Roman emperor; the referred to Caesar as a god.
And verse 1 says that James is writing to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” The Greek reads literally, the twelve tribes, “which are in the dispersion.” The Jewish people, originally the 12 tribes, had been dispersed or scattered all over the world, by the Assyrians and Babylonians— and are scattered still now as Jewish Christians, scattered all over the Mediterranean world as a result of oppression.
James is writing, then, to a number of house churches outside of Palestine. In fact, another interesting characteristic of the Book of James is it’s distinctly Jewish flavor.
James is one of the more “Jewish” letters of the New Testament, referring to or alluding to 22 books of the Old Testament (that’s more than half of the Old Testament books), including more than 20 allusions to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
One more thing about James the writer. Church history records that James died as a martyr in AD 62.
Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian tells us that James was accused by the high priest and condemned to death by stoning ( Antiquities of the Jews , Book 20, chap. 9, sec. 1).
Eusebius, a fourth-century church historian, adds a few details of James’ death. He says that the scribes and Pharisees took James to the top the temple, and “demanded that he should renounce the faith of Christ before all the people,” but rather than deny Jesus, James “declared himself fully before the whole multitude, and confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, our Savior and Lord” ( Ecclesiastical History , 1995, pp. 75-76).
Another historian, Hegesippus, adds: “they went up and threw down the just man [from the temple], and said to each other, ‘Let us stone James the Just.’ And they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall, but [James] knelt down and said, ‘I entreat thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ One of them… took a club with which he beat [James] And thus he suffered martyrdom.”
So when James is writing about trials, we understand that he himself is prepared to face them.
Trials can come to anyone. Being a Christian does not keep one from trials. If you are a human being, you will go through trials. They are inevitable. Again, verse 2:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when (not “if”) you fall into various trials,
Trials are inevitable. In fact the word, “fall” there means to encounter. It’s the idea of going about one’s business and suddenly he encounters an unexpected trial.
That word,“fall” is the same word used in Luke 10 where Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Remember, He began by saying, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and—what?—fell among thieves (Luke 10:30).” This man was minding his own business and suddenly and unexpectedly he encountered thieves.
That’s how we encounter trials. We’re minding our own business, the day may start out great and suddenly—trial. And what kind of trial? Various trials. Any number of trials, hardships, difficulties.
Now James says that when this happens, verse 2, we’re to “Count it all joy,” or, “Consider it joy.” Now what does that mean?
It’s not count trials joy. James does not say that. He doesn’t say, “Oh, trials, wonderful!” You know, “I love trials and I am so joyful when they come.” That’s silly if not, a psychological disorder finding pleasure in pain. James is not calling for a masochistic indulging in trials.
He doesn’t say, “Count the trials joy.” He says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials,” why?—because—reading on now into verse 3, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (or perseverance).”
Put other way, “Consider the fact that you are undergoing trials—as painful as they may be—as an opportunity to grow in faith and become strong and, for that reason, you may have joy in the midst of your trials.”
So this is the second important reminder. We said, “Trials are inevitable,” secondly and more helpfully:
II. Trials are Beneficial [3-4]
Consider the fact that you are undergoing trials—painful as they may be—as an opportunity to grow in faith and become strong—trials are beneficial—they bring the benefit of strength and endurance and, for that reason, we may have joy in the midst of our trials.
So at the same time—and this is very important—James is not saying that joy comes in the absence of trials. He doesn’t say, “Count it all joy when you escape various trials.”
And be honest: If we pray without thinking, if we pray just in a sort of default mode, then what will we pray for? We will pray for absence of trials.
So someone is sick and we pray that God heals them. A persecuted Christian is imprisoned so we pray for their release. And one of the reasons we do this because we think that joy comes in the absence of trials. But that’s not what James teaches here. I want to develop that idea more fully next time, but for now just observe that truth—that James does not teach that joy comes in the absence of trials.
And allow me just to introduce two main benefits that come as a result of trials. Christians can “count it all joy” when they fall into various trials is because—verse 3—because “the testing of our faith produces patience (or endurance).”
In other words, and here’s the first sub-point:
A) They Strengthen You (3)
You know how you build muscles? You work them, right? I’ve joked before about going to the gym and feeling sort of inferior in the area where all of the barbells and weights are located. There are these guys there and they’re flexing their muscles and looking into the mirror and I see them and note that they have muscles in places I don’t have places.
But how do you get muscles? How do you grow strong? You work out. It’s work. You picture a guy struggling to carrying a heavy load of something. The longer he carries that load the stronger he becomes. It just happens. The longer you carry you carry your load, the stronger you become. You want to be strong in the faith? Keep carrying it. God means to strengthen us through our trials.
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
The word “patience” there is better translated “endurance,” or, “the ability to stand,” literally the word is to “hyper-stand,” or super-stand.
The picture is a bit like one of King David’s mighty men recorded in 2 Samuel 23. Some of you will remember there’s a short accounting of some of three special warriors who fought for King David. And one of the men is named is Shammah. The writer describes an occasion where, “The Philistines had gathered together into a group where there was a piece of ground full of lentils (or peas). So the people [God’s people] fled from the Philistines. But [Shammah] stationed himself in the middle of the filed, defended it, and killed the Philistines [and] the Lord brought about a great victory (2 Samuel 23:11-12).
My pastor back home in Georgia liked to preach that passage and he would bring a powerful message entitled, “Victory in the Pea Patch.” But you see the picture, don’t you? Here’s a guy who stands in the middle of the opposition, clearly facing trials, the trial of warfare. And he is victorious not because he runs, but because he stands—he hyper-stands.
We opened our praise time this way, in the chorus of “Gonna Trust in God,”
How great is the love of God.
How steady is His hand
to guide me through this world,
and though I am weak, in Him I stand,
and you will hear me say today, in faith,
I’m gonna trust in God.
This is why Christians can “count it all joy” when they fall into various trials because they know that trials are beneficial. Trials strengthen you (verse 3) and trials:
B) They Complete You (4)
And I’ll just read it here:
4 But let patience (or endurance) have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
That you may be complete. In other words, apart from trials, we are incomplete. The testing of our faith, the strengthening of our faith, produces the ability to hyper-stand, super-stand in the midst of storms. Trials strengthen us and complete us.
James says in verse 4 that when the strengthening of our endurance grows and we become more and more like Christ, we become complete, lacking nothing.
God has a purpose for our trials. He means to complete us, to make us more like Jesus Christ.
Think of it: Without trials how would we ever really learn how to be compassionate, to have empathy, to be humble, to be truly wise. Without trials we would be lacking these things, we would be incomplete.
So:
Count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces the ability to super-stand.
4 And let that strengthening have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
•Stand for prayer.
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