JAMES 1:1-112009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: James 1:1-11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. The book of James is an incredible book. And I love the balance of scripture because we've just spent...

Some amount of time, I'm not sure exactly. We started back in 2008 sometime, going through the book of Hebrews. And the book of Hebrews was very largely doctrine. A lot of it was about the deity of Jesus Christ, the superiority of Jesus Christ. We saw over and over again.

And it was about the doctrinal issues surrounding the person of Jesus Christ and his ministry and his sacrifice and what it means for you and I. And so we studied a lot of doctrine. We studied a lot of what the Bible teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And now as we go into the book of James, having been dealing with doctrine for such a great length, now we hit the book of James which really doesn't deal with doctrine at all. But it just begins right away to hit home with some practical issues.

And so you see the balance of doctrine and then the balance of how we're to live, how we're to believe, but also how we're to live. There's to be the carrying out, the living out of God's word. And we see that as we head into the book of James, where he deals with very practical issues.

One of the popular scriptures that you'll hear quoted from the book of James, we'll talk about in a couple weeks, where he tells us in verse 22 to be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves. And so there's the necessity of doing, of living out, of practicing, of working.

Living our lives according to what God has called us to in His Word. Putting these things that we've learned into practice. And so the book of James starts and ends and has in the middle...

practical issues, things that we're to put into practice and live our lives by. And I would encourage you as we study through the book of James to be looking to apply these things to your life, to be looking for ways to put these things in practice and live them out because it's what we're called to do. It's how the word of God should impact our lives. And so here in James chapter 1 verses 1 through 12, we first of all have an introduction from James.

There in verse 1, James introduces himself as James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He also introduces us to who he's writing to. He's writing to the 12 tribes, that is the nation of Israel, which are scattered abroad, and he says to them, greetings. Now there's lots of discussion that we could do regarding who this person James is. I don't think that we need to spend a great deal of time in that this morning. There is two Jameses, three?

James, who is the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mary and Joseph, after Jesus was born, of course, Jesus was the firstborn, Mary being a virgin. But then Mary and Joseph went on after Jesus to have other children. And we see that in the Gospels where they...

There in Nazareth, as Jesus is bringing forth his message, the people ask and say, hey, where's this guy come from? And how does he get this knowledge and wisdom and information? Because, I mean, isn't he the carpenter's son? And aren't his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas here? And aren't his sisters here? And so we understand that Mary and Joseph had other children after Jesus, but they

But James was the firstborn after Jesus. He was the eldest second to Jesus. And this is the man that it is believed he became the one who wrote this epistle. And one of the reasons that the scholars believe that is because James, the brother of Jesus, rose to a prominent position in the church during Jesus's life and during his ministry in

James and the rest of his brothers, the rest of his family, they did not believe in Jesus Christ. They did not believe that he was the Messiah. They struggled with that. They doubted that. They didn't believe. They weren't followers of Jesus and they weren't part of his disciples, except for, of course, Mary, who always stayed along with Jesus in the ministry. But the brothers and sisters, they were not believers, James being included there.

But later on, after Jesus resurrected, there was a transformation that took place and James realized who Jesus was. And so he's able to introduce himself a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his older brother. But he recognizes, hey, it's not just my older brother. He is the Lord. He is God. And he is the Savior, the Messiah. That's Jesus Christ. And I am his bondservant.

And so there was a transformation that took place where James went from just being a skeptical brother to being a believer in Jesus Christ. And he rose to a prominent position in Acts chapter 15. There in the church, there was a serious issue that had to be addressed. And James was one of the leaders there who was dealing with that issue and in fact gave the final decision regarding what the church must do in response to the issue that was at hand.

In Galatians chapter 1, Paul the Apostle refers to when he first got saved and who he appeared to or who he talked to. He said, I didn't talk to really any of the other apostles except for James, the Lord's brother. And so we see that James had this prominent position, this prominent role within the church, and God raised him up after he became a believer in Jesus, after Jesus had resurrected from the dead.

And so it's most likely James, the brother of Jesus, that wrote this epistle, and he writes it to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. He's writing it to the nation of Israel that has been dispersed. Now in Acts chapter 8 verse 1, it tells us that because of the persecution of Saul, because of the attack that he was bringing against the church, that

that the church spread out and was scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles. They stayed in Jerusalem, but the rest of the church was scattered abroad. They were, because of persecution, pushed out and they dispersed.

among the nations. And so it's these that James is writing to, those who are part of the church, those who are believers in Jesus Christ, but they've been scattered because of persecution and what was taking place there. They've been scattered abroad and James is writing to them some practical things that they need to do to continue to walk with the Lord and live the life that God has called them to live. And so this morning, I want to challenge you

to count it all joy, as James will challenge us. I want to encourage you or teach you how to count to joy. Can you count to joy? How high can you count? When you're a child, you know you get excited when you first can count to 10, and then if you can count to 50, that's really great. When you can count to 100, that's like an infinite amount of numbers. That's wonderful. But can you count to joy?

James tells us in verse 2 and 3 to count it all joy. Look at verse 2. He says, As we begin the book of James, James is talking about one of our favorite topics, trials, tribulations.

persecution, difficulties, hardship, the things that we face. And he tells us when you go through hardship, when you go through difficulty, when you fall into various trials, all different kinds of trials, perhaps all different kinds at the same time. You know, as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. And that seems to be true in our lives, doesn't it? We have a difficulty, you know, there's a flat

tire, but not only is there a flat tire, but it's also raining. And not only is it raining, it's two days before payday, so we don't have money to fix the tire. And not only, you know, you get the picture. It's all of these things that compound, and it's various trials, often all at the same time. And James tells us how we're to respond, and the attitude that we're to have, the outlook that we're to have in the midst of those things. He says, count it all joy.

Count it all joy. Remember, we just talked about Acts chapter 8 verse 1. These that he's writing to are those who have been persecuted and dispersed. They've been spread out. They've been dealing with and suffering great persecution. And so James tells them, hey, I know it's tough, guys. You've been persecuted and pushed out from your homes. You've been driven out to various places. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Later on in chapter 2, James will be talking about the rich and how the rich have been oppressing these that he is writing to. Even in the midst of their oppression, even in the midst of their difficulty, even in the midst of the things that they're facing, he says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Can you count to joy? James is not saying that we are supposed to enjoy pain. We need to understand that.

He's not saying we're supposed to, you know, get very excited about pain or have some, you know, some joy from pain itself. But instead, James is really calling us to follow the example of Jesus. You remember Jesus in the garden? In Matthew chapter 26, verse 38, there Jesus is in the garden with his disciples. It's right before his crucifixion. He's about to undergo this great trial.

torturing, pain, unjust or unjust trials, being nailed to a tree. He's about to experience separation from God for the first time in eternity. And so Jesus is looking forward to, He knows what's coming. He knows what's around the corner. He knows what's about to come. And He says, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death.

Jesus experienced sorrow. He experienced hardship. He experienced difficulty, even more so than we know. And yet, he counted it all joy. Because remember in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, there the author of Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, the author, finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. So it's not that we have to enjoy the pain, but for the joy that is set before us,

to endure trials and tribulations. We're to count it all joy when we go through those difficulties, just like Jesus did. He counted it all joy. And for that joy that was set before him, he endured, he persevered, he continued on in the path that God had called him to.

So James says, count it all joy. And I want to think about and ponder this idea of counting for a moment with you. I want to teach you how to count, if I may, if you will allow me for just a moment. And you might say, well, counting, I think I've got that wired. I think I've got that figured out. So learning to count, we are very familiar with counting.

the decimal system, right? If you were to count to 10, it would be very easy for you. You go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Now, the interesting thing about counting is that, well, for us, this is natural. This is kind of second nature counting.

But you know that numbers really are just symbols that we've agreed have a certain value. The number in itself doesn't mean anything. It's not that in nature, whenever you see that shape, that always means singular, that always means one. It's just we've agreed. The Hebrews, in the language of Hebrew, they used their Hebrew alphabet to keep track of numbers. They just agreed, okay, well, this letter means this much, this letter means that much.

And so when we're looking at counting, when we're learning to count, we're learning, okay, this is what that means and this is the order that it goes and so that we can learn to count. As an example of that, you're probably familiar with, if you scratch your head and go way back into grade school or perhaps if you just follow the Super Bowl, you're probably familiar with Roman numerals.

Roman numerals are just characters. They're combinations of characters that we've agreed have a certain value. So if you were to count to 10 in Roman numerals,

Just think for a second. Could you do it? Could you write out how to count to 10 in Roman numerals? Well, the first five, zero actually isn't a Roman numeral. They would put the letter N there. But so you have the I, then the two I's, then the three I's, then the IV, then the V. That's up to five, right? And then six, seven, eight, nine, 10 is written V-I, V-I-I, V-I-I-I.

Ix and then x is the letter 10 so those symbols. We've agreed. We've decided okay This means this is the value of 10 with me so far So you know how to count the decimal system in Roman numerals, but I want to teach you how to count so to do that I've used a system I doubt you've worked very much with and that is the binary system anybody know how to count in binary, okay? So the binary system

has two symbols. The decimal system has 10. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. That's 10 symbols altogether that we use to count. The binary system has two. Now, if you only have two symbols, how can you count to 10? Well, it's a very easy system and that's why I think I could teach you in just a moment here on a Sunday morning. So, to write 0 in the binary system,

You write zero. Very simple. Straightforward. Not a big deal. To write one in a binary system, you write the number one. Very simple. Not a big deal. You with me so far? How do you suppose you write two? Zero, one, you think? Okay. In the decimal system, when you get to the fullest number of symbols that you have, you go one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

What happens to write 10? You have to use more than one symbol, right? Well, it's the same logic. So if you get to the end of the symbols in the decimal system and then you write 1, 0, we know that that means 10. In binary, 1, 0 is how you write the number 2 because you start over at 0 and then you put the 1 in the next position, just like you do in the decimal system.

So 2 is 1, 0 in binary. Well, the next one, 1, 1, what do you suppose that is? Because you're maxing out all of the symbols in each column, right? So that's 0, 1, 2, 3. What do you suppose you do for 4? 1, 0, 0.

You continue to carry the 1 just like you do in the decimal system. So 1, 0, 0 is how you write 4 in binary. Now binary is not really important. It's what computers understand, but it's just an easy system that I thought I could teach you. So 1, 0, 1 is 5. 1, 1, 0 is 6. 1, 1, 1 is 7. How do you suppose you write the number 8? 1, 0, 0, 0. Very good. See, you're catching on. So 1, 0, 0, 0 is 8.

1-0-0-1 is 9. 1-0-1-0 is the value of 10. You with me so far? It's okay. There's no test on this. The point here is that counting is just an agreement. It's just an understanding. And once you learn the system...

Then you can count. If you wanted to, as you learn the binary system, you could count to as big of a number as you could count to in the decimal system. It's just you have to learn the rules. You have to learn how to count in that system. The point of this is James is telling us to count to joy.

And to count to joy, we can't use our normal values or variables of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. There's a different counting system we need to learn in order to get to joy, in order to count it all joy.

as James tells us, when you fall into various trials and temptations. But the point is, once you learn the system, once you learn how to count to joy, then you're able to count to joy. Once you're able to count in the system, then you're able to count it all joy, to get joy in the midst of difficulties and trials. So how do you count to joy? Well, he's teaching us the system here.

What's the starting variable? What's the starting value? He says, trials. In order to get to joy, there has to be trials. In order for God to produce in you the joy that you desire, there needs to be trials. He says the trials, the testing of your faith. This maybe we could call number one, right? It's the one value of this system of counting, counting it all joy. It's trials, right?

trials for us seem to be contrary to joy. And yet it's the very thing that God is using to produce joy in us. It's the very thing that God is using to do a work in us that we need to have accomplished within our hearts.

He says that trials are the testing of your faith. That's what he says in verse 3. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. The reason why we can count to joy or count it all joy in trials is because of something we know. And what is it that we know? Well, we know that trials are producing patience.

We know that the testing of our faith is producing patience. We know that trials, that difficulties, that pain, that hardship in our life is not for nothing. It's not just, you know, for the fun of it. Every trial, every difficulty, everything we face has value to it and it is producing something. And because we know that, we can count to joy. We can count it all joy.

Because our faith is being tested and it's producing in us something much more valuable than we can imagine. Now faith needs to be tested. Not because God needs to find out where we stand, but he needs us to understand where we are and where we stand in our faith in him. And so God tests our faith and he allows situations in our life to test our faith, to reveal to us

Our own hearts and where we stand and where we need to work. That's the point of test. To show with some objectivity how you measure up and what areas you need to work in. God has tested his people throughout the ages. In Exodus chapter 16, he tested his people and how they would respond to his provision on a daily basis.

He gave them manna. But there was special instruction about the manna. In Exodus chapter 16, it tells us, God says, I'm only giving, well, I'm giving out the manna, but I only want them to collect enough for each day. And as they collect enough for that day, it will provide for them, it will nourish them. If they can collect more than they need, well, it will turn bad and it will become poison to them.

And so God says to Moses in Exodus 16, 4, I'm doing this. I'm just instructing them to gather just enough for that day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. God says, I'm going to test them. I'm going to test their faith to see if they really believe that I will provide for them again tomorrow and to see if they'll really believe that I'll provide for them again the next day. I'm testing their faith.

By giving out the manna and only allowing it to be good for that day. God tested the children of Israel and their faith by their time of wandering. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 2 says,

There Moses says, You shall remember that the Lord your God led you in all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and to test you. That time in the wilderness was a time of testing. It was a time of proving. It was a time of revealing their own hearts to themselves. It was how God tested their faith. Will you still walk with God? Will you still believe God? Will you still have a right heart towards God when you're wandering around in circles in the wilderness saying,

Not having any idea where you're going. God tested the nation of Israel and their faith with conflict. In Judges chapter 3, God says, look, I'm leaving these nations within the land of Canaan, the land that God gave to them. He left certain nations within the land to test Israel, he said.

They were nations that would bring conflict, that would bring attacks and war against Israel. And God was using that conflict to test them. Faith needs to be tested. Remember, he tested Abraham. Would he obey God?

In the most difficult task that God could require. Genesis chapter 22. Offering his own son. It says there in Genesis 22.1 that God was testing Abraham. And so the testing of faith is nothing new. It's not something that's revolutionary. It's not something that's just for our generation. It's something that God has done himself.

Throughout history, since the beginning of time, faith has been tested because testing proves the value and the validity of something. And we could talk about how you test a diamond and you use the test to prove that it's real. Or you test a metal, gold or silver, and that test proves the validity or the value of that metal. Testing also shows areas of weakness so that they can be corrected.

so that they can, well, they could be instructed in those areas and that they could grow and learn in those areas where they are lacking. And so testing is very important. It's not inherently evil. We should not be freaked out and surprised over testing. It's happened throughout history. Instead, as we are tested, as we face trials, as we face difficulties, we are to count it all joy.

Because the testing of our faith produces patience. Patience is also translated endurance. It's lasting a long time under difficult circumstances. And how do you get patience? Well, if we're talking about counting again, how do you get to patience? Well, first, you have to start with trials. So trials, let's say, is number one. Patience is the next thing. You start with trials. It produces patience.

You remember the author of Hebrews told the Hebrews, and we talked about this a few different times. He told them, you have need of endurance. Same word as patience. You have need of patience. We have need of patience. We have need of endurance. But how do we get there? The testing of our faith. The trials, the difficulties, the hardship, the pain, and the suffering that we go through, the persecution that we experience.

is what produces patience in our lives. Of course, we would love to get patience without the trials, but you can't count that way. That's not how the system works. You can't go from 1 to 7 to 11 and just kind of pick which numbers you want to choose. You start with trials, then you get patience. The testing of your faith produces patience. So to count to joy, first we must start with trials. We move on then to patience.

Then we can count to our completion. Look at verse 4. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

So here, as he continues to teach us this counting system, he says, look, you can count to completion. Count it all joy because your trials, the testing of your faith that's producing patience and patience, when that's done, when the work of patience is done, when you've, you know, got through with patience, he says, then you are perfect and complete and lacking nothing. When patience is produced in us, when the work of patience is done in us, well, it produces joy.

a completed person. It brings us to completion, to the fullness of what God has in store for us and what God desires for us. And so he says, let patience have its perfect work. Let patience have its perfect work. You have to let patience have its perfect work. You have to count it all joy and you have to let patience have its perfect work. You have to allow patience to do the work in you, to produce in you,

The things that God wants to produce. Turn with me for a moment to Romans chapter 5. We'll come back to James in a moment. But Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul there in the book of Romans is dealing with a similar topic. And he gives us a little bit more insight on the subject of patience. In Romans chapter 5, we're looking at verses 3 and 4. Paul says, Now, if I was to rephrase what Paul said there,

Paul says, we also counted all joy when we face trials or various trials. He says, we glory in tribulations. Same thing that James is talking about. But why do they glory in tribulations? Notice what he says. Knowing that. See, it's because of what we know, because we've learned the system, that we glory in tribulations.

that God uses to count to joy, we are then able to glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. Guess what? That word perseverance, same word as endurance in Hebrews. Same word as patience in James that we were just looking at. Tribulations produce patience. What did James tell us? The testing of our faith, the trials, what do they produce? Patience.

But he goes on to give us a little bit more insight. He says, tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character. Patience produces character in our lives. The result of patience having its work in us is character, integrity. We become the children of God that we're called to be. And character, what does that produce in our life? He says, in character, hope. Character produces hope.

in our lives, in our hearts. And so this is why we're to let patience have its perfect work. This is why we're to allow patience to come to completion in our lives. Because patience is producing in us things that are necessary for us, that we become the children of God, that God wants us to be and is required for us to be. But we cannot get there by skipping ahead. We have to follow the system and count to joy.

Starting with trials, the testing of our faith, affliction, difficulty, pain. Of course, yes, we would love to have it a different way, but that is the instrument that God uses to produce patience. And patience is what produces in us character. You know, they say character is who you are when no one else is around and no one else is looking. You have some character flaws?

You have some difficulties that maybe nobody else knows about, nobody else really sees, or they don't know what you're doing, they don't know what you're struggling with. How do you deal with those?

Well, character is produced by patience, which is produced by trials. It's God's way of working out those things in our lives and bringing those flaws to our attention that we might surrender them to Him. It's His way of producing in us the character of Jesus Christ, the nature of God. You want to know how to grow in the nature of God and love like He loves and be compassionate like He is?

It's not just about, you know, saying a prayer and then you wake up the next morning and now you have the character and nature of God. It's produced as we go through trials, through difficulty, through hardship. It produces in us patience and patience produces character and character produces hope. Let's go back to James. Tribulation, trials, the testing of our faith produces patience, which produces character and hope. And these are things that are necessary for us.

God told the nation of Israel in Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10. He says, Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. God refines us. He purifies us. He produces in us what is necessary for us in the furnace of affliction. In the furnace of affliction. Of trials and tribulations. And so we are to count it all joy. Because we know something. We have knowledge.

an understanding of the system that God uses. We can count to joy because we know that these things are bringing us to completion. They're producing in us the character and nature of God. This is what we know. And yet, we often struggle with this idea. We often ask ourselves and maybe even ask one another, how can God use pain? How can God use trials and affliction? You know, to this day,

I have very vivid memories of me screaming in pain and my dad inflicting it as he was pulling out the splinters that I had got on the fence. It killed. I have vivid memories of him. And they were deep in there and he had to dig and he had to get them out, to pull them out. And I have memories, nightmares even. No, I'm just kidding. But of just screaming of it being so painful.

And yet it was something that was necessary for me. He had to get that out. He had to protect me from that infection. He had to protect me from what that would produce. And so we ask, how can God use trials and pain? But we fail to remember, well, doctors, surgeons, they inflict those things as well. But the end result is good. That's for our benefit.

It's done out of care and compassion and love. In the same way, we look at our lives and say, how could God use pain? How could God use this difficulty, this affliction in my life? But if we would step back and see the bigger picture, then we would understand that God does it out of love and compassion and to produce in us and protect us from those things that are not of Him and produce in us the things, the character, the nature of Him in our lives. How do you count to joy? You start with trials.

Then you move to patience. That brings us to completion. Don't fight God. Don't fight against God. Let patience have its perfect work. Don't do whatever you can to run away from that trial. Let patience have its work. Don't find your own solution. Let patience have its perfect work. Because it's God working in your life. He's getting those splinters out. He's producing...

In you, the character and nature of God. He's bringing you to completion. Now, even though this is what we know, God understands that we'll still struggle with this. In the midst of our trials, in the midst of our difficulties, we still struggle with this concept. And we still ask, why God? And we don't understand and we fight God on these difficulties and pains and trials that we face. And so God gives us an opportunity now to ask for help.

If you are in the midst of a trial or difficulty and you are having a hard time counting to joy, then we can ask God how to count. Look at verse 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. Do any of you lack wisdom? In talking about trials and difficulties and what it produces and how

We know these things about trials and difficulties and God is doing a great work in bringing us to completion. Yet, we still struggle in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our difficulties. How can these things be used by God? And what in the world am I supposed to do now? And so God gives us the opportunity here. He says, look, if you lack wisdom, ask God. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.

Do you struggle to count it all joy because you don't understand what's going on and you don't see the big picture and you can't figure out how God could use this for good in your life? Do you need wisdom in dealing with these trials and the decisions you have to make and how you can get through and endure and persevere in these trials? God says, look, you can ask me. And notice, God says, look, if you ask me, it will be given to you.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. He says, ask God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him. If you need wisdom, you can ask God and it will be given to you. Just consider, just consider that for a moment. You can ask God for wisdom and it will be given to you.

It tells us that God gives wisdom liberally. That means, you know, without holding back. He doesn't kind of just kind of give you like a pinch and say, okay, well, just work with that for now. I'll give you a little bit more later. God gives liberally, freely, plentifully, and without reproach. You ever had one of those teachers or maybe one of those parents that, you know, they smack you on the head because you ask a question? You dummy, how come you don't know that? I've told you a hundred times.

God doesn't do it that way. He doesn't treat us that way. He gives liberally and without reproach. We come to God and say, God, I don't understand why I'm going through this. Lord, I need wisdom. I need your help in understanding this.

and remembering and knowing that the testing of my faith produces patience and patience produces character and hope and those things bring me to completion. Lord, I need help. I need wisdom. I don't understand what is going on and how this can be brought into something good. God doesn't smack us over the head and say, you dummy, I already told you. He gives liberally and without reproach.

If anyone lacks wisdom, do you lack wisdom? Ask of God and it will be given to you. It's God who gives wisdom. He desires to give wisdom. Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6 tells us that wisdom comes from his mouth. The Lord gives wisdom through his mouth, through his word. Come knowledge and understanding. He wants to give us wisdom. He's given us his word, the Bible that we hold before us,

As an instrument of providing to us wisdom that we could understand, that we could count it all joy. All you need to do is ask. But there's a condition. Look at verse 6. He says, So here's the condition. You can ask and it will be given to you as long as you ask in faith.

As long as you ask in faith, you will receive the wisdom that you need for that trial, for that difficulty, for that situation, for that decision that you must make. You will receive the wisdom that you need if you ask in faith with no doubting. This is the key. You must ask in faith. He says, look, the person who doubts, he gives us this picture. The person who doubts is like a wave of the sea. How stable and sturdy is a wave of the sea?

Well, they're not very stable and sturdy at all. In fact, they're constantly moving, being tossed back and forth by the wind. The wind's coming from this direction. The waves are coming from that direction. The wind's coming from this direction. The waves come from that direction. The tide comes in. The tide goes out. It's constantly fluctuating, constantly changing. That is the picture of a person who doubts. A person who asks God for wisdom, but then the next moment, or perhaps the next day, is freaking out,

terrified, frustrated, saying, what in the world am I going to do? The moment prior there saying, hey, I trust in the Lord. He's going to show me. Then the next day, oh my goodness, what am I going to do? I got to do something right now. I got to take care of this. I got to solve this. I got to fix this. I got to get out of this. I can't stand this any longer. Look at verse 7.

He says,

Verse 8 tells us he is a double-minded man. The person who doubts when asking God for wisdom is double-minded. Two minds. Do you have two minds? Are you double-minded? The double-minded person is unstable in all his ways because on the one hand he's saying this and then on the other hand he's changing his mind. And sometimes we can be very schizophrenic as Christians. One day I trust the Lord, hallelujah, praising God, worshiping God. The next day the world is over.

Nothing good can come of this. This is terrible. What in the world am I going to do? Life is depressing. Oh man, what a bummer. The day before we were praising God and worshiping God, but there's this double mind going on. There's this split personality spiritually. That is the state of the one who doubts. I like what J. Vernon McGee shared about this portion. He says...

Why don't you believe God, my friend? I can't do J. Vernon McGee's voice, but just picture his voice in your head. He says, why don't you believe God, my friend? Do you as a Christian have a long face today, he asks? Are you wondering how your problems are going to work out? I know exactly how you feel. I've been there. Why don't you believe God? Why don't you trust him and turn them over to him?

He says, I know I do not have the brains to meet the problems of life. I know I am not capable of living in this complex civilization, but I have a heavenly Father who can supply the wisdom that I need. Why don't you believe God, my friend? Why don't you believe God? If you need wisdom, ask, but believe Him. Believe Him at His word. He said, I'll give liberally and without reproach. If you ask in faith,

If you believe that I will supply your need, if you believe that I will answer those things, maybe not in your time frame and your timeline, but I will do it, God says. You'll get all the wisdom that you need if you ask in faith because God gives liberally. Don't be a Christian with multiple personalities. Don't be double-minded. I would encourage you to, if you need to, consider what your life looks like to your coworker. You know, one day coming in,

Sharing, oh, you need to get saved, man. You need the Lord. You need a Savior. God's been so good to me, and He's got me taken care of, and this and this is happening, but I'm not worried. Man, God is just so good. And then the next day, or the next week, oh my goodness, what am I going to do? I can't. Just a few moments ago, you're, we must wait, wait, wait. Oh yeah, just wait. No problem. And the co-worker's looking on going,

This guy's schizophrenic. He's double-minded. What's happening here? How do you count to joy? Well, you start with trials. Then you move on to patience. That brings you to completion. And if you need wisdom in any of this, ask God. He'll give it to you. But let's move on. Now, we must learn to count to eternity. Look at verse 9. He says, Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation.

Because as a flower of the field, he will pass away. So in this system of counting that we're learning from James, we understand, first of all, it starts with trials. Difficulties and affliction, these painful things, these hardships that we endure, they're a necessary part in order to be able to count it all joy. Because those things produce in us patience. And those things bring us to completion. But you know, we're not just talking about life itself.

on this planet, spiritual life and the life that Jesus promised to us is eternal life. And so we must not only learn to count to completion, to God producing in us the character and nature that he desires, but we must also learn to count to eternity because life extends beyond this world and death is not the worst thing for us.

Because death ushers us into the presence of God and eternity. And so he says, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. The lowly brother. Now he contrasts that with the rich. So we're talking about the poor, the needy, the person who is in a very low position. And perhaps that describes you. He says, you should glory. Don't you feel so privileged? You get to glory. Because you have nowhere else to go but up. Let him glory in his exaltation.

But the rich in his humiliation. So you're not in need. Your needs are met. Oh, you get a glory in something else. Your humiliation. The rich in his humiliation. Why? Because as a flower of the field, he will pass away. Here's the point. Whether you are in need or have a lot, this world, it's going to pass away.

The riches of this world and you think you're in such a terrible position because you don't have this or that. You're in this circumstance and you've got these difficulties and you think the rich person, man, that person, they've got all taken care of. They don't have any problems. This world is not the focus. We need to count to eternity because the flower of the field will pass away and so will the rich man and all of his treasure, all of his collections, all of his wealth. Look at verse 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 will also fade away in his pursuits. He gives us again this picture, the idea of a flower. How long does a flower last? I think guys have a good understanding of this because they pay good money for flowers, they give them to their significant others, and then it just doesn't last very long.

It's like, what was the point of spending that money on this thing that just does not last? The flower fades. The flower fails. Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, guys. It's just we understand it. The flower doesn't last. It fades. It fades.

It lasts a very short time. It lasts for a season. Or he talks about the grass and the grass withers. Now, I grew up right over off La Sierra in Indiana and right behind our house, there was these, the foothills there that you can see around the areas of Riverside and Corona. And it's beautiful. This time of year, man, it's green and just lush. It just, it looks beautiful. But for the majority of the year, what color are they? Brown. Not even a nice brown. You know, it's just dead brown.

weed brown. And when does it happen? What does it say here? No sooner has the sun risen with the burning heat than it withers the grass. You can count on it, like clockwork. As soon as summer hits, it starts to get hot. It all dies. It all turns brown. And so he gives us this picture. So now we see the mountains, we see the hills, and we can remember, oh yeah, it's all going to fade. My mom's favorite flower was a poppy.

And the poppies around California, they flourish, they come alive, but for a very short time. Sometimes there's whole hills, you know, that are just covered and it's beautiful, but it doesn't last. We can see that and remember, that is how the rich man and all his pursuits will fade away. See, we need to count to eternity because this life is not going to last. The things of this world are not going to last any more than the grass or the flowers last.

Look at verse 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. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. This word temptation, it's the same word for trial. We'll talk more about that next week, how those two relate to one another, trials and temptations.

But he says, blessed is the man who endures temptation or who endures trial or who endures tribulation or affliction. Blessed is the man. You know what blessed means? It means, oh, how happy. See, this is where we get to joy. You can count to joy because blessed is the man who endures temptation because when he's been approved, that's when the testing is complete.

and he's proven to be true to have genuine faith he will receive the crown of life which the lord has promised to those who love him see it's not about the pursuits of this life and the food on our tables and the flowers in our fields those things will all fade away blessed is the man happy is the man joyful is the man who has endured gone through the trials through the difficulties through the affliction been proven the testing of our faith it's the proving of our faith

he will receive the crown of life, an everlasting crown, an eternal reward. And that's how we count to joy. Because we're counting not on this life. We're looking not in this world, the things which will fade away, but the things of eternity. Blessed is the man who endures temptation or trial. So how do you count to joy? Again, once you learn the system,

You can count to any number. You can count to anywhere you want because you've learned the system. In the same way, no matter what you go through, no matter what I go through, this is the system that God has established, that James is teaching us this morning. How do you count to joy? How do you get joy? How do you count it all joy in the midst of difficulties? Well, first, you start with the trials.

The trials are necessary. Now, when we were kids, you know, we used to goof around and we would count to 100 saying, one, two, skip a few, 99, 100. Remember those days? Don't do all the work in between. Let's just skip right over and get to 100. It doesn't work like that in the faith. We would love to, you know, one, two, skip a few trials and have patience and character and hope and become complete, become the person that God wants us to be and skip 99,

those difficulties and hardships. We would love for that to happen, but you can't do that. The first value in this counting system is trials. They're necessary. They're valuable. They're important. They produce in us patience, long-suffering, being able to endure for a long time under difficult circumstances. And that produces in us character and hope. Paul told us in Romans.

This is how you count to joy. You remember, in the midst of your difficulty, in the midst of your pain, in the midst of your affliction, in the midst of your tribulation, you remember, okay, trials, they're not meaningless. They're not just, you know, God messing around with us and giving us a hard time because we blew it. You know, often we think, well, this trial, you know, I'm going through because I messed up and I sinned and that's why I'm facing this trial. Listen, count it all joy because...

These trials, the testing of your faith, is producing something. It's worth something. It's valuable. It's accomplishing God's work in your life. You know, a few weeks ago, as we looked at the end of Hebrews, we were excited. We were like, hey, God's going to complete the work. He's going to do it. Wow, that's wonderful.

Until we find out perhaps how he does it. Then we don't think it's so wonderful. Well, why does he have to do it that way? Well, that's not for us to worry about or figure out. This is the way God works. He's going to complete the work in you. And you know how he does it? He told the nation of Israel, I tested you in the furnace of affliction. That's how I refined you.

That's how He refines us. That's how He works in our lives. We start in counting to joy. We want joy. We want eternal life. We want completion. We want all those things. But we need to understand we can count it all joy right now in the midst of difficulty because we know the system. We know how it works. We know what's next. Those trials are producing in us patience. And patience is producing the character of God and hope in our lives. It's bringing us to completion. And so in the midst of

a hard time in the midst of trials and various trials and multiple trials and downpours and showers of trials, we can count it all joy because we know the system. He's taught us to count so we can count it all joy. Trials, patience, completion, eternity, joy. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. Blessed. God has eternal blessings in store for us, but we can't want to skip a few.

It starts with the trials. And we can count it all joy in the midst of those trials because God is at work. He is accomplishing his purposes. God says, I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. God tests us. He allows these things in our lives because he loves us so much that he wants to produce in us

the character and nature that we need, but it can only be done, it can only be accomplished through trials, which produce patience, which produces completion, which brings us to eternity, which the end result is joy. Jesus, looking forward to the cross, said, I'm exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, but for the joy that was set before him, he endured. In the same way, you and I, we can endure for the joy that is set before us.

Because we know the God that we serve, the love that He has for us, and we know that He is using these things to produce in us the end result of joy. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You that You work in our lives in this way. And God, there's still going to be many times that we don't understand it, many times that we struggle with it. But Lord, thank You that even without our consent, You allow these difficulties, these hardships,

these trials in order to produce in us the kind of character and nature, the kind of people that you desire for us to be. Lord, your word says that you've predestined us to be conformed into the image of your son. And we love that. That's exciting. We want to be more like Jesus. And so Lord, we can count it all joy knowing that that work is taking place when we're going through trials and afflictions and pain, sufferings and hardship. And so Lord, thank you.

for teaching us to count. Thank you for the hope that we have in you and that it's not in this life which can be shaken. It's not in this life which will not last, but it's in eternity. It's a kingdom that cannot be shaken. It's an inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away. And so help us, Lord, to count it all joy. Even this day, may we have wonderful joy, not because of the difficulty, but because of what you are doing and accomplishing.

in the midst of our difficulties and hardships. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.