And as our friend Pastor Zeki likes to say, I'm gonna read this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered abroad, greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." If I told you tonight that I was going to start with a love story, your mind would immediately fill with all of the story elements. There would be a boy and a girl. They would meet. There'd be obstacles that they would get over. And in the end, there'd be the happy ending. But if I said I was going to tell you a story of tough love, and the boy and the girl are gone, and maybe we see a parent and a child, and the happiness and the giddiness that was there just gets washed away, and we have sadness and heaviness and conflict, for the one, there is the stubbornness, the hard heart, the pursuit of destructive tendencies, and for the other, there is the prayer, the pursuing, the pleading, the silent weeping. Brother and sister, we live our life in the tension between these two stories. We are the beloved of God. We're also the wandering wayward child, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. The story of our whole life is the story of our inner rebel coming to bow before the throne because of afflictions brought by the hand of God out of his love for us. And in the end, we get the surprise. It was all motivated by his tender love for us. And it will shine the spotlight on his glory for all eternity. Peter puts the story of God's tender love in tough pursuit of our total holiness this way, For a little while, you've been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it's tested by fire, may be found to the praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." We might be able to summarize the book of James with the theme of God's tender love in tough pursuit of our total holiness. James takes that crowning piece of the Old Testament, holiness of life, and he urges it upon a suffering early church, urging it principally and practically, doctrinally and pastorally. We'll find that the book cuts right to the heart. In chapter one, we're gonna look behind the curtain and see the divine perspective of how God builds practical godliness in us. something that's so vital because without holiness, no one will see God. Simply stated, the lesson for tonight is that God brings about our practical holiness through trials and through the Word. We're gonna look broadly at chapter one and see how trials and the word interact to form holiness in us. We're gonna focus on verses two through four and look at the command to joy, to rejoice and the reasons for it. And lastly, we'll look at Christ in the text. Well, as we look broadly at chapter one, we see an interesting agricultural word picture that James is laying out for us. And I'm just going to go ahead and tell you the big idea before I point some of the pieces out in the text. Out of God's goodness, wisdom, and love, he uses the plow of providence to cultivate us and plant his word within us that we might receive the crown of life. It's out of God's goodness, wisdom, and love that he uses the plow of providence to cultivate us and plant his word within us that we might receive the crown of life. Where do we see that? Well, in verse 10, man is compared to flowers of the field. In verse 17, the father is compared to the father of heavenly lights. Verse 18 talks about the first fruits of God's work. Verse 21 talks about the implanted word that can save us. Obviously, James is working off the parable of the soils here, where the soil is our heart. And as we pull this all together, we see that God is likened unto the sun. Our hearts are the soil, the word is the seed, the harvest is the great dawning of our salvation at the end of the age, and the only thing missing that we supply is the plow. You see, it's the plow of trials that breaks up the hardness in our hearts, that loosens rocks, that ensures the seed will fall in good soil. As we look to verses two through four, we're going to zero in on the command to rejoice and the accompanying reasons for it. We read, consider it pure joy, all joy, whenever you fall into trials of various kinds. Here's what James is getting at. We're to have the end in mind. We are to think of the breaking up of the soil of our hearts as needed, producing the ultimate end for us, the salvation of our souls. That's not the only reason why we can rejoice in trials. Trials find our weaknesses, and God uses them to heal us of our inner sicknesses. They show us proof and certainty of our faith, And they teach us of the great strength of the Lord Jesus Christ when we are bowed down in weakness. It's by degrees that we learn not to quarrel with God, but walk with him on the highway to heaven. Joy is that unfading heavenly flower that sweetens our human sadness. It's the refreshing breeze from the eternal coast that lifts up our heads. It doesn't depend on our circumstances. It doesn't depend on the people that we are with. It is the fruit of the Spirit. We can be in a bed full of tears and have a heart full of joy. There's no contradiction in that. The contradiction comes in having a heart full of sin and trying to reach out for joy. That's the problem. The secret of joy that the believer knows, the joy of the Lord, it is my strength. We are to consider it all joy whenever we fall into various trials. And when James uses those words, falling into trials, it's like falling into the hands of robbers. Maybe tonight you are smarting from staggering losses. And you think, yes, that pretty much sums it up. When I start to count the things that I have lost, the things that are missing, the things that are lacking, it's like I've been robbed. What Paul will later call those light and momentary afflictions have the power to unleash wolves of grief and loss into what the philosophers call the dark night of the soul. The psalmist has another term. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You see, it's the shepherd himself that preserves us in trial. Even if we were to remain in painful trial the rest of our lives, it's his rod that will shut and ultimately crush the jaws of grief and loss. We don't grieve as those without hope. Oh, death, where is your sting? I shall not be afraid." He's reading this weak story of a martyr from the third century in North Africa. And she was led into the Colosseum filled with gladiators and wild animals. And as she was huddled in a small band of believers, a wild heifer ran by and knocked her down, knocking her hair loose. And as she was preparing for the sword, she stopped her executioner and said, do you mind if I tie my hair? You see, hair being down was a sign of mourning. And she said, this for me is the day of my joy. Even our death has become a door to our reward. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not fear. Count it pure joy whenever you fall into trials, various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Patience is that wonderful quality of bearing up under difficulty inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. James is urging us to use our experiential knowledge of God's past dealings with us in trial and difficulty and to apply it to our current circumstances. Don't you remember, beloved, when he was faithful in the past? Don't you remember how he blessed you? Don't you remember how He furthered your sanctification, brought you closer to the eternal shore? Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. I think it might have been Spurgeon that said, the grace that I have received from comfort and ease can fit on the head of a penny. But what I have gained from affliction is the best book in my library, the best piece of furniture in my house. The wise welcome affliction because they know its benefits. Believe it, there's really nothing much harder for us than patience. waiting without complaining, waiting for the day of your vindication, waiting for your deliverance, waiting for the day of your restoration, waiting for the day when your tears will be wiped away. Spurgeon said that patience is the sword that cuts the head off of our pride. And maybe patience is so hard for us because our pride is so large. If patience grows humility, surely the godly will say, let me wait, Lord. Let patience have its perfect work. James seems to personify the concept. Don't get in patience' way. Don't undermine its work in your life. It's the fruit of the Spirit that's growing in you. Don't cut it down. Cultivate it. See, there's a logic in the text. You want your sanctification to grow. Let your patience grow. In God's economy, they are connected. Let patience have its perfect work that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. As we look into the logic of it, these things that short-circuit our patience are those things that are hindering our sanctification. The very issue we take with patience is that thing that is slowing and stifling our growth. Like I said, trials do have a way of finding our weaknesses. But God's intention is to seek them out and to heal our hidden sicknesses, to save us from ourselves. I've said earlier that we, by degree, learned not to quarrel with God and his providence. And there are three very common quarrels that the people of God often make out of their weakness, out of our weakness. And I'm going to state them, and then I want to try to answer each of them in your hearing. Under severe trial, it is easy for us to say in our hearts, I don't deserve this thing that I've gotten from the hand of the Lord. Another thing that's fairly easy to think to ourselves is, I don't see others suffering like I'm suffering, really getting at the heart of fairness with God, taking issue with God's fairness. A third, is this really the best way, right? These are quarrels we make with God in our hearts, but the believer recognizes them and lets them go. You see, it's the wicked that refuses to let go of these issues. When you talk to unbelievers, they're somewhere on this list, probably. The fairness of God, making innocent man suffer, putting their place above God, bringing judgment on his works and his ways. Let's look into these quarrels and examine the way that we struggle with our patience in them. I don't deserve the way that I have been treated. Brother and sister, you might remember that in Adam, you lost your right to life. Any moment spent outside of hell is profound mercy. You know what it took to rescue Adam and the sinful race from its pride? It really took the humility of Christ. You see, He laid aside His glory, and then on the cross He laid aside even His human dignity as He was stripped naked on the cross. If we would be humbler, we might find fair weather in the storm of our trials. Others aren't suffering as I'm suffering, and I'm having a hard time with the fairness of it all. You might remember what the Lord said to Peter after the resurrection. When he was calling Peter to himself and restoring him and calling him out to follow Christ, Jesus told him of his future. He said, when you were young, you went where you wanted to go, but now as you're old, you'll stretch out your hands and others will lead you. Speaking of his death on a cross, remember what Peter said as he was walking along with Jesus and John? Peter said, what about John? And Jesus said, if I let him live until I return, what is that to you? You follow me. And there's something in that correction where Jesus was telling the church about the cost of discipleship. You can't condition your willingness to love me, to serve me, based on what others do or don't have. Is there anything you wouldn't give me? What are you holding back? Why does it matter? The one who meticulously collects our tears in a bottle is saying, what is that to you? You follow me. A third quarrel that we hear in the corners of our heart is the question, is this the best way? At stake here is an issue with God's wisdom. Now, we would never walk into the throne room with a question like that. Can you imagine approaching the all-wise God, taking issue with his wisdom? but he's so loving and he's so good. How do you think that conversation might go? My child, you saw the footsteps of my wisdom in creation. You saw the face of my wisdom in the cross. You and your ways are asking for Esau's empty soup bowl, and I am about to break the blessings of Jacob upon your head. What is it that we want that won't wash away or be burned up when this earth is done? We so often pray, Lord, get me out of trial. And what's God doing? He's using the trial to get us into heaven. Let patience, my brothers, have its perfect work in you. The end of patience is our perfection. And here James is holding out the Old Testament idea of perfection as undivided obedience in an unblemished life. Is that what you see when you open up the box of your heart? You often see the chaos of a divided heart and a sin-stained life. It's here where Christ comes into focus. It's here where Christ must come into focus. You see, Christ is the picture of the undivided obedience and the unblemished life for us. He is the answer in that he dealt with the wrath of God. But more than that, his act of obedience has been credited to our account. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. And it's His hand at the plow. It's His voice speaking in the Word. He is testing you. He is refining you that your faith may be found to the praise and the honor and the glory of God when Jesus Christ is revealed. He is pursuing you in trial, in His Word, with a tender love. And He will personally sustain you as He leads you home. Lord is my shepherd. We need so desperately the act of obedience of Christ credited to our account. When we look into our hearts, we grieve over all of the times that we choose sin to avoid suffering. When the Father looks into my account, When the Father looks into your account, He sees Christ withstanding the devil, being unwilling to take the kingdoms of the world without the cross. How many times have you pulled away from the wisdom of the Father? Just like our Father Adam. And yet, Christ for us, not pulling away in the garden. submitting in our place, being our champion, not my will, but your will being done. He was perfected through suffering. When was the last time you repented for not having joy? Think of that as a respectable sin. Do we need to repent for not having joy? We have been joyless in trials, but when the Father looks at me and when the Father looks at you, he sees Christ for the joy set before him heading to the cross. What's your response to this staggering story of God's tender love in tough pursuit of total holiness? Are you the rebel that's running from God's authority? No matter how far you have run, and no matter how deep into the darkness, He's over your shoulder. You can turn around. And He will receive you because Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. He is giving His broken body for you. He will take what you owe and give what you can never pay. He will provide all that the Father demands and welcome you home. Maybe you're listening tonight as a skeptic. And this is some fanciful story, or at worst, a malicious lie. You know, the Apostle Paul spoke before the men at Athens, and they had a whole bunch of stories about what they thought the nature of reality was. And they mocked, some of them mocked, when he spoke about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But when he spoke about Judgment Day, they were silent. And that's because no matter what book you read, no matter what story you make up, everybody reads the same last chapter. It's the day of judgment. Don't ignore the doubt you might have, and don't kill off your conscience while there's still time. I want to challenge you to ask God, God, if you are real, will you show yourself to me? If you sincerely ask that, He will be faithful to meet you. Are you the son that can see behind the trials in your life and the word of God, the measureless, unending love of God leading you to holiness and lifting you up to glory? Wait without unbelief. believe without wavering and receive gladly the command to rejoice. Let's pray. O Heavenly Father, what wondrous love is this, that we should be called the children of God? No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived of what you've prepared for those that love you. Who are we that we should be called the sons of God? You gave your best, you gave us yourself, you gave us your Son, you gave us your Spirit, undeserving sinners as we. O Heavenly Father, we have all of eternity to serve you in paradise, but such short time to serve you in our suffering. Lord, I pray you would make it sweet to us, that you would bend our wills into your way. For Jesus' sake, amen.