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Count It All Joy

James

May 1, 2022


by: Jack Lash Series: James | Category: Suffering | Scripture: James 1:2–4, James 1:12

I. Introduction
A. The flow of James 1 is difficult to discern at points, and since our weeks are limited, we are going to include v.12 with v.2-4 because v.12 follows the theme of v.2-4, it seems, more than it does the theme of v.5-11.
B. James 1:2–4 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... 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.
C. This is a strange way to begin a letter. James immediately jumps into exhortation without any niceties, or affirmations, no affection expressed.
1. The people must have been going through a lot of troubles/sufferings.
2. So, what were their sufferings?
a. We know the text a couple of trials they were facing.
(1) We know that rich people were hauling them into court (2:6) and scorning their faith (2:7).
(2) Which makes sense in light of the fact that they were Christian Jews living in the context of a hostile culture; they were a persecuted minority.
b. But James isn’t referring to a few narrow examples. In v.4 he refers to trials of various kinds, which includes trials which are common to people: loneliness, disappointment, sorrows, physical illness, financial reversal, the death of a loved one, wounds from mistreatment, etc.
II. Trials and sanctification
A. James is making several points here:
1. Trials are a part of the Christian life.
2. These trials are designed to help us grow (James joins Peter and Paul in reminding his readers that God has a purpose for the difficulties in their lives: Romans 5:2–4, 1Peter 1:5–7.)
3. How we respond to those trials is crucial both in an earthly sense and an eternal one.
B. The word for trial here in v.2 can mean outward trial or inward temptation. Some places it means one, some the other, and some are ambiguous. You can tell in this context that it means outward trial because of the idea here of enduring it as opposed to resisting it.
C. We think what we need is to escape from our trials. But what we really need is to be changed. What we really need is to grow in the grace & knowledge of Christ. And trials are an essential ingredient.
D. It’s a beautiful thing. The other day I read 1Pet.3:8, “All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.” And I thought, “What a minute! This is Peter! This is the same man who was so impetuous, so proud, so harsh, so arrogant, and so insensitive. And now, years later he’s saying this! Wow! His trials really changed him, and made him mature!”
E. The problem is that many times we as Christians don’t really have a sense of how much we need to be changed. We like being forgiven, we like being assured, we like having promises of heaven. But we don’t necessarily like being sanctified.
1. Let me ask you a question: Are you the same person you used to be? Can you see any progress which has been made in things like thankfulness, humility, stability, patience, compassion? If so, how were those changes accomplished in your life? Was it not at least partly on account of hardships & trials? And do you regret those things in light of the fruit they have born in your life?
2. And, if you don’t regret these trials of the past, can you not trust your heavenly Father with future trials? Which is more important to you: a smooth life or being prepared for heaven?
F. I think one of the saddest tragedies is the tragedy of wasted pain.
1. I mean, if we’re going to experience pain, it ought to have some good effect, or it’s just wasted!
2. The PAIN is not the tragedy. The tragedy is pain which produces no good result, which doesn’t humble, which doesn’t teach us to trust, which doesn’t produce the fruit of endurance or maturity.
III. Endurance and maturity
A. The word translated endurance or steadfastness implies that someone is holding on for a reason.
1. There is a hope involved in it which enables the endurance. It is not just endurance for the sake of endurance.
2. In other words, it is not just endurance which will go on forever. It is endurance for now because we know that relief is coming.
B. The idea is not one of mere survival. It’s more like making it home in a bad storm than being holed up in your basement surviving a tornado. This isn’t passive endurance, but brave perseverance in getting somewhere in spite of obstacles and opposition.
C. I remember in high school, at the beginning of soccer season, they would make us get in shape. Running wind sprints. And then more and more wind sprints. It was torture. Kids would throw up.
1. I love playing soccer, but I hate doing wind sprints!
2. So, what was the point? Why did they work us so hard? Because the team needed us not only at the beginning of the game but at the end of the game. They needed us to play just as hard at the end of the second half as at the beginning of the first half.
3. The thing we had to keep in mind was: I need this to play the way I want to play; this is good for me and good for my team; though it feels terrible right now, I know I will be glad about it later.
D. Similarly, the trials James is talking about are trials with a goal, with a purpose. And that means that even though they are not enjoyable, we can remember that they are worthwhile.
1. A muscle becomes strong when it regularly faces resistance. Thus, faith gains strength in trial.
E. And the goal here is not just endurance, it’s also maturity: “so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
1. The difficulties of life are intended by God to refine our faith, like gold is refined in the fire, so that it might be improved and become more pure.
F. This is what the Christian life is like! Rev.1:9 “I, John, your brother & fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus.”
IV. What about this “Consider it all joy” thing?
A. Usually we think of things in our life to be happy about as those things which are pleasant.
1. But for the believer, even the hard things, even the seemingly horrible things, are for our good.
2. God has a purpose for trials: He’s using them to do good things in our lives.
3. That’s something to be happy about.
B. God is not asking us to be happy in trials by willpower. He is telling us to be happy in trials by believing the truth about what’s actually happening.
1. Believers can react to trials with so strange & unexpected a response as joy because we know God uses trials to help us grow in faith and make us stronger Christians, because we understand pain.
2. We understand that pain is short-lived. We understand that pain leads to something good.
3. We understand that earthly pain produces eternal pleasure far beyond all comparison (2Cor.4:17).
C. Think about how different this is from the counsel the world gives to those who are mistreated.
1. Now, certainly it is appropriate to stand up for others who are being mistreated. And I think there’s even a time to stand up for yourself – for the sake of others.
2. But the first principle of how to be mistreated in a godly fashion is to consider it joy and welcome the good fruit God promises to bring through it.
D. There are some among us who may find it painful to even hear these words. They bear in their souls a wound so deep that it feels like it never can be healed, or they carry a weight so heavy that they feel like it’s about to crush them, or they feel a sorrow so deep that it is hard to think of anything else. How is it possible for someone like this to count it all joy?
1. I don’t think James is asking his readers to just walk away from their pain or to stop feeling grief.
2. Even Jesus wept and experienced grief, and was once so burdened that He sweat drops of blood.
3. James doesn’t mean we shouldn’t experience deep, agonizing pain.
4. But he does mean that we do not grieve in the same way as those who have no hope (1Thes.4:13).
5. He does mean that for the believer the pain of trials should be sweetened with the joy of faith.
6. He is asking them to remember the redemptive value of sufferings.
7. E.g. a woman in labor must not dwell only on her discomfort. She must remember what it’s for!
a. Yes, it’s painful! Yes, it’s overwhelming! Yes, it’s scary! Yes, it seems to go on and on! But it’s actually short-lived, and it’s accomplishing something wonderful! You are bringing a little person into the world whom you will love more than you have ever loved anything in your life!
8. We should think about our suffering in this same way. No matter how painful it is, it is ultimately short-lived, and it is sent to accomplish wonderful things in our lives.
9. God asks us to believe His promises that there is a redemptive purpose for our pain.
a. He asks us to believe that one day we will not only be healed, but we will be glad that it happened – because we’ll see its purpose and its value and the good fruit which came from it.
b. And He asks us therefore to keep sowing, even when our hearts are breaking (Ps.126:5-6).
V. Crown
A. V.12 adds one more dimension to this: “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he’s been approved, he’ll receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him”
B. Faithfulness in the face of trial has two great effects, according to James:
1. First, it produces steadfastness and maturity.
2. And secondly, it brings God’s blessing. Now we know this is true in an earthly sense, experiencing His presence and help in the midst of our trouble (e.g. Ps.23:4).
3. But what James has in mind here in v.12 is the eternal blessings: the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who persevere in their love for Him even through the valley of troubles.
4. On that day we will experience Romans 8:18: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
C. Jesus says the same thing in Revelation 2:10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
D. If we are going to be healthy, happy, well-adjusted human beings, we need to understand why we’re here, we need to understand what our lives are for.
1. More than anything else, we are here to be prepared for heaven.
2. This life isn’t ultimately about this life. It’s not about our health or our family or our career or our country. This life is about our souls; it’s about preparation of our souls for the next life; it’s about preparing us to receive the crown of life!
3. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, there steals on the ear that distant triumph song. And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong! Alleluia! (Wm. How, For All the Saints, T358)
E. So, keep your eyes on the prize!
VI. (Christ our helper)
A. “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials.”
B. James didn’t coming up with this on his own. He got this from his brother, Jesus, who said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.” Matt.5:11-12
1. Isn’t that basically the same thing as, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials”?
2. Now this kind of thing is easy to say. It’s easy for You and me to tell people that they ought to rejoice when they are insulted or when people speak evil of them or when they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
3. But who has a greater right to say these things than Jesus, who experienced the ultimate persecution, and mocking, who was despised and forsaken, He was pierced and He was crushed, like a lamb led to slaughter. – Isaiah 53
4. And yet, He knew that His sufferings would end with great joy and satisfaction.
5. How did Jesus know this? Well, one way He knew it was from the word of God, which said this about His sufferings in Isaiah 53:11, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied.” He grew up reading that in the Bible and hearing it in the synagogue.
6. And so He grew up as the perfect example of someone who counted it all joy when facing various trials, and when the time came, for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross (Heb.12:2).
C. So how can WE live like this?
1. Heb.12:1–2 Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus.
2. When I’m suffering, I need to remember His suffering.
a. Not only to remember His love.
b. Not only to put our sufferings in context with His suffering.
c. But to remember that suffering is His secret weapon to bring about righteousness and peace. “The Lord disciplines the one He loves... It is never pleasant at the time, but to those who are trained by it, it yields the fruit of peaceful and righteousness.” – Hebrews 12:6, 11
D. We can’t live joyfully in the midst of trials without God’s help.
1. Col.1:11 ...strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously.
E. So, when we are feeling weak or overwhelmed, when we are feel weighed down by the burdens of life, Jesus says, “Come unto Me. I will give you rest.” (Matt.11:28-30)
1. For many years, I didn’t do this very much. My tendency was to just move on; just put it behind me and go to the next thing.
2. I survived trials that way, but I couldn’t count it all joy that way.
3. You can’t count it all joy unless you meet Jesus in it.
4. I told you a while back that the Lord had met me in many of the things which had been causing me pain, but that I was still struggling with counting my parents’ divorce as joy.
5. And I told you that I was wearing my father’s wedding ring to remind me to seek the Lord in the midst of the ashes of the collapse of their marriage. And I’m still doing so, though the Lord has helped me.
6. But I’ve decided to keep wearing the ring, just to remind me to look for Jesus in my pain.
F. 32 years ago we had a house fire, as some of you remember. The next day we walked through the ashes to see if there was anything worth saving. We found a few things.
1. Some of you have been through very painful experiences. It might be good for you to walk through the ashes of those experiences to see what joy might be found. Is there some treasure that came out of it? Is there some way it corrected your view of life in this world? Is there some way it prepared you to help others?
2. Go through the ashes and look for Jesus, and ask Him to meet you there. He’s done it for me.
3. See if He won’t show you some joy in the ashes of your suffering.