2. 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 its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, and so on.
Now, when you read the introduction to this letter, we see that James is writing to those who are in the dispersion. They are scattered all over the place, and sometimes in life we feel like that ourselves.
We feel that we are far from heaven, and sometimes we feel that we are far from God, and the life that we live and the world in which we live sometimes has that effect upon us.
We read through the letter, and we see the way in which James understands that. He understands the kind of world his readers are living in.
He understands the way in which the world is a temptation to them. He understands the different groups of people in the world.
There are those who are rich. There are those who are poor. There are those who are showing their faith. There are those who are not showing their faith.
And there is the overall theme of the importance of them living in dependence upon God.
And right at the very beginning here, we see the way in which James wants to encourage the people with regard to their faith.
And looking at these two verses this evening, we want to think of trusting in our trials and spiritual maturity.
Well, first of all, see that there is a prompt in these verses.
And sometimes we need a prompt.
We need somebody to poke us, to waken us up to what we should be doing.
And we rely on good friends to do that for us from time to time.
But God is the expert at doing that at the right time.
And here, James is prompting those who are going to hear this letter to think of certain things.
And he wants them to think especially about the way in which they are going to look at what they are going through in life.
And he wants them to count it all joy when you meet various trials.
He wants them to go through a kind of thought process.
He wants them to think things through.
And he wants them to think things through in such a way that they will come at last to find joy.
And it's wonderful the way in which he wants them to count it all joy.
He wants them to see all of life as a time and experience of joy.
And that kind of prompt is really staggering.
We think of our own lives and we think of how much time we spend rejoicing
and how much time we spend sorrowing.
But James wants his hearers, his readers, to be joyous all of the time.
And when we think of joy, we want to ask ourselves, what is joy?
Is it an emotion?
Is it a choice?
Is it a feeling?
What do you think of when you think of joy?
When the Bible thinks of joy, it thinks of joy in God.
And it is experiencing God in a particular way.
And in order for us to have that kind of joy in God,
we have to do the things that lead us to joy.
There is an activity.
And that activity creates joy in our hearts.
And then we have joy in God.
And in general terms, when we read the New Testament,
we see that joy especially arises out of the resurrection of Jesus.
He told the disciples in John 16 that he would see them again
and their hearts would rejoice.
And your joy no one will take from you.
There is a joy that has its source in the resurrection of Jesus.
And that joy should filter through the whole of our lives
so it becomes part of who we are every day.
Perhaps all of us tonight need the kind of prompt
that points us to remember that we should be joyful.
And we may look at ourselves in the mirror.
We may reflect on our own lives.
We may look at the lives of others.
And we may ask or think, where is the joy?
But we do remind ourselves that the joy that we have in the Bible,
it's not going around with a smile on your face all of the time.
It is something that's deep-seated.
It's something that takes place in our hearts.
But the prompt is even more staggering
when we see the arena in which they are to remain joyful.
Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.
He's giving us a picture as if we're walking along the road,
walking along the street in life,
and we encounter somebody.
We encounter something.
And as we journey on in the life of faith,
we will from time to time encounter,
not oppression, but we will encounter trials.
And in the book of the letter of James,
we see that the same word translated trials
is used in two ways.
We see as we journey on later on,
he speaks of being tempted and not being tempted.
God does not tempt us with evil in version number 12, number 13.
There is a temptation that is to prove the genuineness of something,
and there is the temptation to entice us to sin.
There is the temptation to bring something to shine forth,
and there is a temptation that seeks to destroy.
But here we have God working.
Here we have God encountering us in life with various trials,
the things that cut across our paths.
We are familiar with these kinds of things.
They come in various shapes and sizes.
They come with physical things.
They come with providential things.
They come with things that happen in our hearts.
They are testings.
They are trials.
We see that God tested Abraham,
asked him to go and sacrifice his son.
We see at the end of it that God says to him,
now I know that you fear God
because you did not withhold your son from me.
There is the need for us to know joy
and to have joy and to have joy in the midst of our trials.
And we know that if we're going to do that,
there is a lot of thinking
because, naturally speaking,
our response to trials is not to have joy.
It's not to have gladness to sing the song.
The natural response is not only to reject and to complain,
but sometimes even to question the very goodness of God.
The God who is in the trial.
The God who is the object of our faith.
So often we crumble at the least trial in life
and faith seems to disappear
because we're not thinking it through.
And perhaps tonight that's where we are at.
This has happened.
This has come into your life.
And because this has happened,
your whole experience has changed.
And by the very thing that you're going through,
you're rebelling against it.
You're rejecting it.
And you're even questioning the very grace of God.
And if that is the case,
how much tonight you need the prompt from God,
his hand upon your shoulder,
his alert to you,
his waking you up
so that your response to your trial
will be one of faith
and not one of fear or of rejection.
The prompt to have joy all of the time.
That's what we long for.
And the Bible is suggesting to us this evening
that that's what we should have.
Following on from that,
we want to see that there is
a particular perception here.
How on earth am I going to rejoice
in all of my trials?
Only from the right perspective.
And James says to them in version number three,
for you know,
you're going to do this
based on what you know.
And based on what you know,
not of your trial,
not of life in general,
but based on what you know
of the God who is your savior,
based on what you know
from the word of God,
which he has breathed out for us
to equip us to live for him.
It is a perspective
that's based on the knowledge of God.
And in the very relationship with God,
the promise that he gave to Jeremiah
through Jeremiah in chapter 31,
that when he makes this new covenant
with his people,
all shall know me.
It's a fact of a Christian experience
that we know God.
If we don't know God,
we are not the children of God.
But because we are the children of God,
we do know God.
And it is that knowledge of God
that gives us the perspective
with which we're going to look down
upon the whole of life
and look down especially
upon our trials.
And what does that knowledge
of God tell us
that enables us to have joy?
It is that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness.
The testing,
the trial,
what they're going through.
And interestingly,
once more to do with the words
that James is using,
he is using a different word
here in verse 3
to what he has used in verse 2
with regard to trials and testing.
The testing here
is a process through which
the genuineness of something
is confirmed.
And James is saying to them,
this is what you know,
that the trial of your faith
is actually for your good.
it's confirming
who you are
and it's enabling your faith
to shine forth
in such a way
that it did not before
and that it could not
up until now.
And God appoints the encounter,
he appoints the meeting with us
along life's way
for that very purpose.
It produces steadfastness.
There's an energy
that comes from God
that works in the midst
of our very testing
and that energy
is something
that produces something
in ourselves.
And what it produces
in ourselves
is
steadfastness.
It's that sense
of
being constant
and being firm
and being established.
The picture
that the word gives us
is remaining
under
bearing circumstances.
No matter
what the circumstances are,
it's
continuing
under them.
And is that not
what
our trials
so often feel like?
They feel so much
like a weight.
And if
we don't have
the right perspective,
the weight is crushing.
and it can crush us
right down
into the ground.
It can break us
emotionally.
It can leave us
a crying wreck
because of
the huge burden
of the very
testing process
through which
God is taking us.
But despite that,
and regardless of that,
it does
produce
the effect
of
steadfastness.
And that's why
Job was saying
in Job chapter 23,
when he has
tried me,
I will
come forth
like gold.
And the very
experience
that we think
will cause
our faith
to fail
is the very
experience
through which
your faith
is refined,
through which
its impurities
are taken away
and through which
it becomes
really strong.
Douglas Moon
says,
like a muscle
that becomes strong
when it faces
resistance.
So Christians
learn to remain
faithful to God
over the long
haul
only when they
face difficulty.
How have we
survived
until now
in our faith?
only because
through our
difficulties
God has
strengthened our
faith.
And had he not
done that,
we would have
failed long ago.
We would be like
the seed that
fell upon the
rock in the
parable.
And when the
testing came
when the sun
rose,
the scorching
heat,
faith vanished
that they
fell away.
The perspective,
the wonderful
thought,
that whatever
is happening
to you tonight
and whatever
happened to you
yesterday
and whatever
happens to you
tomorrow,
God is working
for your good
to produce
your faith,
to stretch
that muscle
of faith.
and I'm
sure we
will all
agree that
it's a
muscle that
needs stretching,
so weak,
sometimes so
feeble,
that it's
hard working
and we
need the
exercise that
comes through
the testing
through which
God strengthens
and enables
and causes
us to
persevere
and to
persevere
because the
knowledge that
we have
is increased
in that
process
and that
increase of
knowledge
in the time
of testing
ensures
that we do
not separate
from God
but guarantees
that we are
bound
closer together
with him
than ever
before.
And then we
have joy,
then we
easily
counted all
joy
because of
the knowledge,
because of
the perspective
of God
as he looks
down
upon the
furnace
watching over
your trials
and mine
and ensuring
that the
temperature
doesn't go
beyond what
they're able
to bear
and ensuring
that the
temperature
is such
that it
will produce
the refining
to perfection.
And so
like Job
when he
has tried
you,
you will
come forth
like gold.
And thirdly,
we want to
think of
participation.
In version
number four,
and let
steadfastness
have its
full effect.
Why is he
saying that?
He is
saying that
because they're
not letting
steadfastness
have its
full effect.
He is
saying that
because there
is resistance
in them.
There is a
lack of
submission.
And that
lack of
submission
means that
they have
no joy
and that
no matter
how great
the pain,
they have
lost their
joy and
they're overcome
by sorrow
and they're
never going
to recover.
other.
And it's
thought-provoking
for us all
tonight that
the joy that
we crave,
it is absent
because of
what we're
not doing
as well as
what we are
doing.
and if
we're
growing as
the children
of God
who have
this
knowledge
of God
then we
should be
developing
and growing
and we
should have
this real
sense
of the
joy,
the deep
seated
sense of
trusting
in the
grace of
God
and that
producing
its fruit.
And we
may well
ask ourselves
and I
may well
ask myself
not only
tonight but
every step
of my
journey of
faith
am I
standing
in the
way of
God?
Am I
resisting
what God
is doing?
Am I
rejecting
what God
is giving
to me
for my
good?
And
therefore
am I
going
through
my
life
of
faith
with
the
absence
of
the
thing
I
crave
to
have
the
joy
of
the
Lord
which
is
the
fruit
of
the
spirit
love
and
joy
and
peace.
I
long
for
that
and
yet
soften
their
opposite
and
here
James
is
saying
let
steadfastness
have
its
full
effect.
Take
possession
of this
whole
thing
instead
of
pushing
it
away
embrace
it in
your
heart
and
make
it
your
own
and
once
you
do
that
you
will
no
longer
hinder
the
work
of
God
but
you
will
allow
the
steadfastness
to
have
its
full
effect
to
reach
the
pinnacle
which is
God's
design
and all
that you
are
going
through
and
what
we
desire
most
of
all
and
what
we
cannot
reach
so
often
because
of
who
we
are
is
what
God
has
purposed
for
us
so
we
cannot
say
tonight
that
we
don't
have
joy
because
God
did
not
purpose
that
we
would
have
it
right
now
but
what
we
can
say
is
that
if
we
don't
have
joy
in
the
way
that
God
has
purposed
to
have
it
in
our
lives
and
our
hearts
then
we
ask
what
are
we
withholding
what
are
we
embracing
at
the
expense
of
embracing
his
providence
and
his
will
and
his
purpose
and
how
we
need
to
exchange
how
we
need
to
empty
our
hearts
of
the
thing
that
stands
in
the
way
of
embracing
what
God
is
doing
and
then
it
will
have
its
full
effect
it
will
reach
its
telos
there's
the
goal
there's
what
God
has
in
view
that's
what
he
wants
us
to
be
and
that's
what
I
want
to be
ourselves
if we're
honest
but let
us
tonight
think of
participating
in this
very
thing
to
ensure
that
we're
not
standing
in
the
way
of
what
God
wants
to
do
for
us
and
in
the
participation
then
that
you
may be
perfect
and
complete
lacking
nothing
it's
an awful
thing
in any
kind
of
experience
any
area
of
life
to
think
that
there's
a
deficit
that
we
cannot
do
what
we
want
to
do
because
we
lack
certain
things
sometimes
we
can
be
so
conscious
of
what
we
lack
that
we
lose
sight
of
the
things
that
God
has
given
to
us
but
here
is
God
working
so
that
we
will
not
lack
anything
he
wants
to
fill
our
experience
he
wants
to
fill
our
cup
in
such
a
way
that
we
will
feel
we
lack
nothing
because
our
joy
is
complete
in
God
that
we
may
be
perfect
and
complete
I
said
at the
beginning
that
sometimes
we
feel
we're
far
away
from
heaven
and
far
away
from
God
and
we
know
that
there
is
a
perfection
and
a
completion
that
will
only
be
ours
when
we
get
to
heaven
but
there
is
another
perfection
and
there
is
another
completion
and
that
is
that
our
development
should
correspond
to
where
we
are
on
the
journey
of
faith
if
it
does
not
then
there's
something
seriously
wrong
and
the
maturity
that
the
Bible
speaks
of
that
Paul
speaks
of
and
Jesus
himself
speaks
of
that
maturity
there
should
be
a
corresponding
level
of
maturity
in
our
faith
to
the
years
that
we
have
travelled
with
God
on
this
journey
and
so
tonight
let's
hear
the
prompt
let's
be
alert
what
is
God
saying
to
us
let's
ensure
we have
the
right
perspective
make
sure we
know the
word of
God
make
sure we
know more
of
Jesus
Christ
make
sure we
know more
of God
as the
object
of
our
faith
to
give
us
the
perspective
that
ensures
joy
and
then
let's
ensure
that
we
are
participating
in
what
God
is
doing
not
standing
in
his
way
but
willingly
submitting
to
him
and
recognising
the way
in which
he
blesses
and the way
in which
he fills
and the way
in which
he tops
up
our
experience
of his
grace
and therefore
our
experience
of his
joy
may God
bless
these
thoughts
to us
so
concluding
psalm
is
psalm
number
34
from
St.
Psalms
on page
number
41