James 1:1-4 | Instruction In Trials, Part 1

James 1:1-4
How to Face Trial (Part 1)

I. v. 1 Intro

¹ James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.^[1]

II. vv. 2-12 How to go through trials

1. vv. 2-4 The work of trials
   1. v. 2 Exhortation to be joyful in trials.
      
      ² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials
      
      
   2. v. 3 Because it produces patience by way of faith
      
      ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
      
      
   3. v. 4 God’s road to make us complete, lacking nothing
      
      ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
      
2. v. 5 The need for wisdom in trials
   
   ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
   
   1. Trials bring many questions, and it is during these seasons that we need to find our answers, our way, and our direction from God.
   2. You can have all kinds of knowledge about a subject, but when you are faced with the event in real life versus on paper, your need for wisdom is much greater.
3. vv. 6-8 The need for faith in trials
   
   ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
   
   
4. vv. 9-12 The eternal perspective for trials
   
   ⁹ Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, ¹⁰ but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. ¹¹ For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. ¹² Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

III. Background

1. The son of Zebedee was beheaded in AD 44.
2. This writer is the brother of Jesus.
   1. Jesus appeared to him after His resurrection, at which time he put faith in Him as the Messiah.
   2. He was in the upper room gathering on the day of Pentecost.
   3. He was the leader of the church at Jerusalem.
   4. Tradition has it that he was martyred by the Jews in Jerusalem as they threw him from the Temple and beat him with clubs.
3. To the twelve tribes.
   1. This letter was written to Jews who were scattered about, possibly because of the persecution of the Church in Acts 8.
4. Outline of James
   1. We will be instructed on trials, temptations, real religion, royal law, real faith, our speech, why relationships go bad, the folly of not finding out the will of God, and the power of prayer and more.

IV. v. 1 James, a servant of God.

1. There are many things that are seeking to have us serve them.
   1. This world.
   2. Our enemy.
   3. Our flesh.
2. James was one who said I have denied the rule and influence of all others, but God.
   1. He wasn’t trying to serve two masters. He had one will that he was seeking to fulfill, and that was the Lord’s.
      
      NOTE: This band of people was under hardships and trials, and they needed to hear how they ought to be conducting themselves in their trials.

V. v. 2 Various trials.

1. This is something that all of us are familiar with: trials and difficulties that life brings.
2. Peter told us not to consider it odd that fiery trials come to try us as though some strange thing has happened to us.
   1. Scripture is clear that trials and testings are all a part of the Christian experience.
   2. Yet how many of us are surprised and find it strange when we enter into those seasons of testing.
      
      OUR RESPONSE OUGHT TO BE…

VI. v. 2 Count it pure joy.

1. This is not something our flesh would like to do, but it is something our spirit should do.
2. This word “count” speaks of a careful and deliberate judgment.
   1. To respond with joy during various trials will have to be a deliberate act. This won’t come naturally. It will be something we consciously and willfully do.
3. We are also told what kind of joy we are to rejoice in: pure or all joy.
   1. Our joy shouldn’t be intermingled with grief, despair, and complaint.
   2. What is your attitude like this evening? Is there a difficulty of ANY KIND that you have been other than joyful in? The Lord wants you to begin to rejoice in the midst of it.

VII. v. 3 Know – if you don’t know the truth contained in these next two verses, you will never be able to count it joy in your trials.

1. You see, we are to be rejoicing in what the trial will work in us, not what tragedy or hardship the trial has caused.
   1. In Romans 8:28, we also have the hope that God is causing all to work together for the good. Thus, we have another reason for rejoicing.
2. Trials come to test our faith and see what substance our faith is made of.
   1. Is it made of gold and so forth, or is it made of perishable things?
   2. The testing isn’t so that God can get insight, but that we can get insight into what we are really like.
      
      John 6:5-6 ⁵ Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
      
      
   3. We are often like Peter, who says, “Lord, I am more mature and steadfast than all of these,” but as soon as the trial comes, we fall and then get a good understanding of where we really stand in our faith.
3. So, in this trial or your next, examine your faith and see where you need to have the Lord strengthen you.
   1. Too much dependence on what you can provide financially.
   2. Too much anger when things don’t go your way.
   3. Bitterness is uncovered.
4. In this trial, God will want to produce patience in you.
   1. It is a lack of patience, endurance, or perseverance that has caused the greatest men of faith to falter.
      1. Abraham and Hagar.
      2. Moses killing the Egyptian.
      3. David faltered because he lacked steadfastness on the course of holiness.
   2. Whether it is waiting for God to act or remaining steadfast in your pursuit of Jesus Christ, trials will work to produce this.

VIII. vv. 3-4 Let patience be fully developed in you through the means which the trials produce.

1. Trials ought not to be tampered with.
   1. Jesus didn’t pray that Peter would be delivered from the trial, but that his faith would not fail.
   2. Peter stumbled, but His faith did not fail.
   3. You can bet Peter learned a great deal about himself and the lack of enduring commitment he had.
2. We need to submit ourselves to the course they take us on and seek to learn all we can through them.
   
   “If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be to count it all joy. If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter not better.”^[2]
   
   
3. We will only arrive at maturity as we face trials and learn from them.
   1. Today we are at the place we are at because of the trials we have endured or not endured.
   2. The Lord has taken me through some difficult times in the ministry in the years past so that I might be able to stand under the spiritual attacks of the enemy.
   3. If I had never encountered trials before coming out to Lynchburg to pastor, I would not have been ready or complete for this phase of my walk with God.
4. God is readying you and making you complete and strong for the blessings that will be surrounded by hardship.
5. So, this is why we rejoice.
   1. It is making us a godlier character and is making us more mature.

IX. vv. 5-8 Ask for wisdom in the trial.

1. One of the most common questions we ask when we find ourselves in difficulty is WHY?
   1. We wonder the purpose of the difficulty, etc.
   2. We wonder what our course of action should be in the difficulty.
2. We are given a wonderful exhortation and promise from James in asking for wisdom.
3. The Lord desires to lead our lives and help us make right decisions.
4. If God wants to lead my life, then why don’t I see His hand of direction?
   1. First, do you see your trials as something that is helping or hurting?
   2. Asking in and of itself speaks of admitting need and pledging reliance.
      1. So often we go back and forth between dependence and independence!
      2. If you aren’t willing to follow the Lord’s wisdom, don’t expect to receive it.
   3. Do you believe God will give you wisdom, and do you believe the wisdom He gives you is right?
5. Faith is an important part of answered prayers.
   1. Many of God’s people don’t believe that God will help THEM or actually give THEM direction.
   2. We don’t ask for God’s wisdom to decide whether His is better than ours.

X. vv. 9-11 Poverty is no reason not to rejoice.

1. Do you rejoice in your exalted position in Christ?
   1. You are spiritually and eternally wealthy.
2. The rich man is glorying in that which is in reality not exalted but that which lowers (e.g., the love of money, the pursuit of riches, etc.).
3. The rich man is a brother whose real glory is not in riches, but in his spiritual bankruptcy.
4. The rich man is a brother who has lost his riches in a trial and is exhorted on the basis that this trial is working out an eternal goal, whereas the riches were something that was going to pass away anyway.

XI. v. 12 Blessed is the man.

1. All the testings and trials that we go through are made worthwhile when we consider the crown of life that will be given to us when we inherit the kingdom.
   1. Paul echoed this truth when he said in Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
2. Hang on in your trials; let them run their course and inherit that crown of life.

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^[1] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

^[2] Warren Wiersbe, Be Mature: Growing Up in Christ (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1978), 22.