James 1:1-8

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. ² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

What is authentic Christianity? That is the question the letter of James answers for us in God’s Word. James is one of the earliest letters (perhaps the earliest) of the New Testament. He writes in the earlier years of the church (first 20 years) and writes to predominantly Jewish Christians who have been scattered throughout the known world due to persecution. As these Christians went, Acts 8-12 tells us that they preached the gospel everywhere they would go. The Church grew under the threat of persecution, but believers still had to face the trials brought by being displaced from their homes and the threat of persecution. The letter of James begins with instructions about how Christians are to faithfully face such trials. In the first eight verses of the letter, James gives to us five essential things that mark true believers and are essential to enduring life’s trials. This week, we will introduce the first two.

First, he tells us in verses 1-2 that we need true joy. Perhaps one of the last words on a list of words to describe how we feel in the midst of difficulties in life is the word joy. However, James tells us that how we feel must not govern our thinking or our actions. Instead, we are to “count it all joy” when we face various trials. The word “count” means to consider something a certain way. That means that we may not feel joyful or happy about a circumstance, but we are to consider it “all joy” because there is something deeper going on. “All” here means “pure,” “perfect,” or “complete” joy. The joy found here is true Christian joy found only in the Lord. As the believer endures trials, we have joy and are able to consider the trials “all joy” for two reasons. First, we have joy because we know the Lord Jesus and we know that He has promised to be with us through all of life. Hebrews 13:5 promises, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Even the most difficult of trials cannot separate us from Him and His love (Romans 8:31-39). The second reason that we have joy is because we know that God has a greater purpose for the trial. Romans 8:28-29 promises us that everything that God allows into our lives is worked for good and to the end of conforming us into the image of Jesus. I can have joy, not in the trial itself, but in what God will accomplish through the trial. If we are to faithfully endure trials as true Christians, then we must have this true joy, in knowing the Lord and what He is accomplishing.

Secondly, James instructs that we need right knowledge. Carrying forward the idea of knowing what God is accomplishing through trials, James tells us in verse 3 that we know that “the trying of your faith worketh patience.” “Patience” is the Greek word hupomone which has the literal meaning of remaining under something. It is the idea of allowing a weight or pressure to accomplish the work of squeezing something into a mold or pressing it down. Trials are allowed into our lives by God for the purpose of producing “patience,” the ability to stick it out and remain under. With every trial there is the inevitable temptation to respond in a sinful way that may lessen the difficulty, but cause us to dishonor God. Instead, if believers faithfully endure, we will find the sustaining grace of God and His faithfulness and we will grow in our faith through the trial. This “experience” spoken of in Romans 5:3-5 allows us to face other trials and encourage other believers in trials because we have witnessed the faithfulness of God firsthand in our own trials. Romans 5:5 also tells us that it is through these trials that we come to see and know “the love of God” more fully as it is “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” whom God has given to be with us until the day of redemption as a guarantee that, no matter what we face, He will finish the work He began in us (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30). We must know the Word of God and the promises of God if we are going to faithfully endure these trials. His Word gives us His perspective on them and His promises concerning them.

Are you facing a trial right now? Are you being persecuted for your faith or for taking a stand for righteousness? All of us will inevitably face “divers temptations” or a variety of trials that will test our faith. How are we to endure them in a way that honors God as Christians? This week, we have learned that we will need true joy found only in right relationship to the Lord and rooted in His Word and His promises. We will also need right knowledge of God, His will for us concerning trials, and how He will demonstrate His grace and love to us in greater ways as we endure trials looking to Him.