comes to us from the book of James. We'll be starting in that book. For a series in James, we'll start in chapter 1, and we'll go through verses 1 through 11 today. James chapter 1, verses 1 through 11. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. Greetings. 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. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the lowly brother boasts in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Amen. So good to see everyone here this morning. Let's start with prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we do come before you asking you for help, asking you to give us the grace that we need as we open up your word, Lord, as we go into the book of James. I just pray that you would Prepare our hearts, Lord. I thank you for how, during this week, you've already prepared the hearts of those who sit here this morning. I pray that you would open our ears to you, Lord, that we would hear you speak, and that you would direct us to look to you, Lord, that you would give us the joy that we crave, that you would provide us the wisdom that we're in desperate need of, Lord, and that you would fill us with humility, Lord. We do not come here to work out pre-planned activities or exercises, to feel religious. Lord, we come here to worship you. Lord, we come here to honor you. And we just ask that this time, as we open up your word, would be a part of that. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. I've been excited to start this study. And I have to say, I definitely got the best part of being able to review the backdrop of this letter, as I know the other brothers have been working on and reviewing themselves. But as we look at the timing of this letter, the author of this letter, when we look at the recipients of this letter, I've been able to dig in and review all those wonderful nerdy facts about the backdrop of this. letter, and so I'll try to distill some of that for us this morning into something edifying and useful. Of course, it all is, but our time is limited here, so we'll do what we can. I'll begin with this interesting note. This letter most likely is the earliest New Testament writing that we have. So chronologically, this would have preceded the writing of the gospels. It would have preceded the writing of Acts and the other epistles, even the earlier epistles like Galatians. So this is one of the earliest written letters that we have in our scripture. And that makes this some of the first inspired written words that were communicated to the church. And I find that quite intriguing, because here we are, the church, years later, looking at these same words, looking for God's word to speak to us, to help us in our trials and struggles, to provide for us the grace that we need. And so I'll start with two points. with the first verse, where it says, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. And our two points here will be the author, point one, and the recipients, point two. So first, the author is James. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is this James? You might think to James, the brother of John. You might think of some other random James mentioned. There's a number of James. It's a pretty common name. And so here is James, this author, who is actually the half-brother of the Lord. He was known in the church as James the Just. He was, according to 1 Corinthians 15, 7, an eyewitness of the resurrection. This James is the very James that gave the final judgment at the Jerusalem council. Do you remember that council as they were debating and trying to figure out how does the Gentile church co-mingle, interrelate with the Jewish church? And they had this council in Acts 15, and he gave the final judgment at that council, being one of the chief leaders there in Jerusalem. He was named by Paul himself as one who seemed to be a pillar of the faith. And when Paul says that, you know that's a reference you can count on, right? James was a man of solid faith. And church history even suggests that this James was so devoted to prayer, interesting little nugget, that his knees resembled the knees of a camel. because of all the calluses as he went to God, so often interceding on behalf of the saints. My knees look nothing like this. If I were James, I might point to one of these specific things to start my letter. I might say, James, the eyewitness of the resurrection. I might say James, the leader at the church in Jerusalem, or perhaps James, pillar of faith. It has a good ring to it, right? We might lead with something like that, but he doesn't introduce himself with any of these ideas. I mean, not least of all, James, the brother, half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, James had a lot of reasons to boast, but he doesn't introduce himself with any of these. And really, he doesn't need an introduction. I believe that's one of the reasons we don't see any more detail or information about this James is because the church knew very well who James was when they received a message like this from the church, James. But James focuses, and I hope this will be our focus for ourselves as we identify ourselves. The world is so interested in discovering ourselves, finding ourselves. I hope that we will identify in the way that James does as a servant of the Most High God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. humbly just a servant. His identity is in Christ, not any of his wonderful credentials. Justice Paul also had a list of wonderful credentials that he considered all loss compared to the infinite worth of Christ. Second point, the recipients of the letter. As we look at these recipients, they are titled by James, the 12 tribes and the dispersion. We find here a reference to the 12 tribes calling our minds to the historical origin story of Israel. Calls our minds back to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were certainly filled with trials from the start. But this letter is not to Jews in general. This Title here, the 12 tribes in the dispersion. James certainly has in mind believers. We know this because over in James chapter two, he says, my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He's writing a letter to brothers who hold the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he calls them the 12 tribes in the dispersion. This term dispersion is most likely the Acts 11 dispersion, You could turn there with me if you'd like. And we read there that the people of God came under persecution. And now those who were scattered, that's the same idea as dispersion, scattered. Those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen, you remember this martyrdom of Stephen? This is that same time period, very early in the church. They traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. And so these are Christian Jews who are dispersed because of this persecution. These are the individuals that were scattered because of the assault on the early church. And so with that in mind, James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, writing to the church that's been scattered because of this dispersion, I turn our attention to his first word, greetings. Now, this seems pretty standard to us. We start our letters with dear so-and-so, right? Greetings. But there is deeper meaning behind this word. It literally means rejoice, rejoice, or with joy, wishing them joy. And we immediately recognize there's a tension here in the text. When we dig in and we look real close, he is speaking to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, scattered because of persecution. And his first words to them is rejoice. Seems odd, seems strange that he would turn their attention to rejoicing. I mean, doesn't James understand what these people are going through? Is he insensitive? I think not. I believe he's being spirit-led to encourage their souls in the way that we, too, need encouragement in the midst of trials. That is our context here. As we look at our text, we have a context of trials, persecution, and difficulty. And today we'll break down our text, verses 2 through 11, into three categories, three specific graces that God gives to his people to help them in the time of trouble. Three specific graces that God gives to his people to help them when they desperately need it, when they need to endure the trials of life and the difficulties and the pains, when they need to endure in a way that is Christ-exalting. Isn't that what we need? to endure in a way that truly honors God. The text here today will give us help for that, Lord willing. So the big question is when our faith is tested, how should we respond? And that's what James will answer for us. James tells us first and foremost, respond with joy. Greetings, rejoice, and James will do this oftentimes. This letter can feel very disjointed, topic to topic to topic, like, wow, he's really going, just jumping from one thing to the next. But James will use very subtle related words to move from one section to the next section. Here we have that happening when he says, greetings or rejoice, then he says, count it all joy. So you can see James' logical transition from rejoice, and then he tells them, count it all joy. You can see just how dire the situation is for these saints, because he wastes no time getting right to the point. He understands their need. He understands their hurt. And so he jumps right to it and says, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. And so there are a few observations here I'd like to make with you. First, he says to count it. Now that's not something that we're so familiar with, count it, all joy, but it means literally to consider, to evaluate, to analyze, and to assess. Review your troubles, digest your situation, friends. And when you do that, as these troubles pile up on every side, literally surrounding you, Apply this command, it is a command, to the equation. The sum of your troubles does not add up until we count it all joy. Now this all joy does not mean only joy. And I'm glad for that because when I'm in a trial, I don't feel only joy, do you? It's not only joy to suggest that the trial isn't hard or that there isn't pain or suffering or that there isn't confusion and questions unanswered. But rather it is all joy to mean pure joy, unalloyed joy. A joy that is genuine and sincere. I love how one commentator put it, sheer joy. And that captures it in my mind, is true joy. It's not mixed with anything else in the sense of being faked. No, it's true joy. No matter what we face, the Christian considers it joy and privilege to suffer. And then we see, last observation here for this verse, when you meet trials of various kinds. I'm so thankful that this scope is wide. Large trials, trials that go on and on, little trials and difficulties. Perhaps you can put traffic in that category or stubbing your toe or your cell phone battery dies. No trial is truly outside of scope here. And so whatever trial you're tempted to murmur, complain, to take your eyes off of Christ, this verse would call us to consider, to truly evaluate those troubles in light of the word of God and consider it all joy. How can James give us this command? How is it that he can say with such certainty, just as I hope to say to you this morning, that you can count it all joy, no matter the trial you're facing? How is it trials could possibly bring us any joy? Well, we can consider our trials joy because we know that the trial is producing something. I always feel much better about things when I know that I am accomplishing something. I'm willing to go through anything as long as it's going to actually do something. This is why we spend the long nights changing diapers and doing the homework late into the evening. And we put in all that effort because we know that it's doing something, it's producing something, parents. So you know, he tells the saints in verse three, 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. You know it, saints, you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. There are other verses that tell us this, just in case maybe you're thinking, well, I don't know. Do I really know that? I don't feel that way all the time. Well, God's Word makes it very clear. You can turn with me to Romans 5, verses 1 through 5. Wonderful section here. If James was not convincing enough, Paul also takes up the same language in Romans 5, 1 through 5. Therefore, since we've been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. Do you see the same theme? There it is again. knowing that suffering produces endurance, or steadfastness, right? And endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. So maybe you prefer Paul, we shouldn't do that, preferring one book over the other. But maybe you don't, maybe Paul's hard for you to read, so let's go to Peter. First Peter 1, verses six and seven. Peter says there, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, that is, since necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, there's our idea, various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's 1 Peter 1, verses 6 through 7. And so we know because James tells us, because Paul tells us, because Peter tells us, and we know because Christ himself showed us this, did he not? He showed us this, our Lord and Savior, for the joy set before him, despising the shame, endured the cross, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Scripture is clear. We have joy in trials because of what it's producing in us. Do you not, Christian, want to grow in Christlikeness? Do you want that? Do you long for that? Do you desire to be made in the image of Christ? I sure do, because I know how I do not look like Christ in so many ways. So I grieve and I pray that I would be more Christlike. And here is the answer to that prayer. It produces steadfastness, a spiritual stamina. That idea of steadfastness is literally to actively hold up the weight of a trial. And you know that as you hold that weight out and it gets heavier and heavier, even though the weight of the object hasn't changed, it seems harder and harder to carry, doesn't it? But it's producing something. Those workouts, they're doing something. Not that I have any experiential knowledge of those, but they are doing something. They're helping you to develop stamina and be strengthened. Trials are joy because we know they're producing Christ-likeness in us. That's why they're joy. That's why we rejoice. By way of example, just consider these beautiful trees over in California. Some of our friends in California, or maybe you visited, can tell us about these beautiful towering sequoias, the redwoods. Amazing trees. It's really something else, just declares God's handiwork. Did you know that they need fire to release their seeds from their cones? This isn't unique to them, but these giant trees, in order to develop into that giant tree, they need fire to release their seeds from their cones, to expose bare minerals in the soil so that that seedling can take root, to recycle nutrients into the soil, to open holes in the forest canopy so that sunlight can reach them. Well, none of us think of a forest fire as inherently good. We would say, oh, that's bad. That could lead to destruction of the forest and destruction of property and even the loss of life. But these beautiful trees need the intense heat in order to have life brought forward. And so, Christians, our maturity is brought forward in the heat of intense trials. Through various trials of varying intensity, it tests the genuineness of our faith. It produces steadfastness and he encourages the saints to let steadfastness have its full effect in verse four. Have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. I'm quite certain this idea of perfect is not perfection. I know that because I've been through enough trials and I'm nowhere near perfect. But we understand that perfect does not mean without flaw, but rather maturity, growth, development, spiritual depth and understanding, and really, truly a depth of relationship and communion with God. Is this not also something you long for, Christian? Well, then rejoice when trials come upon you because that is what the trial is doing. It is developing you. Submit yourself to God and his perfect providence. Trials lead to a maturity that teaches us, well, just as it taught Paul, that we might learn in whatever situation we are in to be content, right? It's one of my favorite John Newton hymns where the songwriter there captures this idea as he imagines God saying to him in the midst of his trials and troubles, these inward trials I employ, God speaking, from self and pride to set thee free and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou may find thy all in me. Complete, lacking in nothing. There is nowhere you can go in this world to find completion, full satisfaction. There is nowhere you can go. There's no classes you can take. There is no efforts you can make to bring yourself to completion, lacking in nothing outside of Christ. But in Christ, in Christ, in the midst of trials. We can become literally well-rounded. Do we not want this for our children? Do we not want to be well-rounded individuals? Trials round us out. They break off the rough edges. They shake us up so that we fall to our knees like those knees of James. So we fall to our knees and we count it all joy because we find Christ in Him alone. That's what we need, friends, is Christ and Him alone. And so this is the first grace. When our faith is tested, how should we respond? Well, with joy, and this is the grace we need, the grace of joy in the midst of trials. But the second here, as we move into verse five, is wisdom. Now, counting it all joy is a very easy thing to preach, and it's easy to shake your head and nod as you listen, but it is so hard to live in the moment. Counting it all joy requires, necessitates wisdom. What do I mean by wisdom? What does James mean by wisdom? James means that wisdom is knowing how to put into practice what God has taught us in his word. Wisdom is knowing how to put into practice what God has taught us in his word. And that is a lifelong journey, friends. Regularly, daily, opening up your word, the word, each day in your time of devotion, and seeking the Lord. Seeking, how can I put into practice what God has taught us in the word? How can I? How can I do it? Not on our own wisdom, not by our own strength, not by our own ability, No, we're told by God's word to ask for wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, does that fit anybody here? It does me. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God. Let him ask God. Again, another command. How can we apply rightly what we know from the scripture to our circumstances without wisdom? And we're told to ask. So we can do that, we can ask, but what confidence do we have that we will receive an answer? What certainty? How is it that James can tell the believers, yes, ask God for wisdom? Go to him and ask. Well, James appeals to the very character of God as our confidence as to why we can ask God for wisdom. He appeals to the character of God and who God is. He says, this is our God, one who gives generously to all without approach, one who gives generously. This is our God who will give, who through his word has spoken to us and says, ask me for wisdom. Can our God lie? Doesn't our God know our every need before we ask? Doesn't he know it? Is our God not a God who we can cast all our cares and anxieties on? Now you're like, I don't know if to nod or to shake my head, I'm not sure which. Yes. Doesn't God know the number of our hairs on our head? All of these verses, I hope you recognize them as verses, all of these verses remind us of God's care for us, of his character, of his goodness. God is good. Would our heavenly father give us a rock when we ask for bread? No. Or a serpent when we ask for a fish? Absolutely not. James affirms that we should ask from God for wisdom because God gives generously and without reproach. God is not bothered that you're going to him again. I get bothered when I'm trying to study and my children are knocking on the door, but God does not get bothered. God does not slap our hand or say, look, I gave you 66 books, isn't that enough? God is a gracious God, a generous God. And yes, we just asked yesterday, perhaps you just asked this morning, but ask again, ask again for wisdom. Ask for wisdom on how to apply, verse two, counting it all joy. Pray that God would give you wisdom to know how to be steadfast. With our God, because of his character, who he is, you will never go without that which you truly need. Never, I can say that with confidence. But James says here in verse six, let him ask in faith with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea. a wave of the sea that's driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose they will receive anything from the Lord. He's a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." And so what we have here is a warning to not ask with doubting, but to ask in faith. How can we doubt we're so great a God? How can we? We should never doubt. We should never doubt, and we shouldn't ever doubt. But we do. What is this doubting? It's a danger that we must watch for, saints. This doubting, really at the very root, is thinking that you and I can solve our own problems. That's what doubting is. It's thinking that we have to take matters into our own hands, that we can apply resources, we can apply efforts, we can apply our money and our status, We can fix it. We got this. Yeah. No, I'm not shaken. No, I'm confident. I'm sure. I've got this. And the whole time we're just trusting in ourselves, applying truly temporary fixes. We're putting Band-Aids on things, trying to move along instead of just trusting the Lord. We don't ask with confidence. That's what it means to ask in faith, with confidence in God that he will give us all that he has promised to give us. This double-mindedness needs to be far from us, and instead we need to be single-minded, wholehearted, turning to God and trusting in Him fully with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, loving Him and His goodness, never doubting the goodness of our God. We cannot work our way out of it. We cannot escape our troubles with pleasures that are fleeting in this world, whatever that pleasure may be. Instead, we turn to Christ for wisdom. May God give us grace. First, the grace of joy. Second, the grace of wisdom. And then third, the grace of humility. This is what we see here in our final section, the grace of humility. This grace comes to us in the form of a comparison. You have two individuals, peoples being compared, the lowly and the rich brother. It shows us the need of our humility. First, with the lowly brother. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation. This seems strange. What exaltation? You're talking about lowly, literally the idea of being in poverty or poor, something we know very little about here in the States. To be lowly. When you're brought low, you see, it's so easy, instead of humbling ourselves, We want to develop this form of pride. It's really pride. That's self-pity. We want to pity ourselves. Oh, woe is me. We daydream of the riches and the fixes that'll make our life better. If I could just get to this point somewhere out there in the distant future, and if I could just get to that place in my life, then all my troubles will be over. If I can just close on that house, if I can just get that promotion, if I can just have that success, then I'll be satisfied. When my spouse starts living this way or that way, then I'll be happy. When they start listening to me, when my children start obeying better. We don't boast in our exaltation in Christ. Instead, we pity ourselves. But if we rejoice in where Christ has put us, this echoes. Joy, right? Counting it all joy. If we boast, if we rejoice in our trials, this approach will leave us strengthened and encouraged in the midst of our troubles. Because truly James is pointing us to look beyond ourselves, to look past our own troubles and difficulties, and to look to Jesus Christ. He's calling us to look to all that we have in Christ. Paul says it this way, therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Do we boast in our weakness? Do we boast in our inability? I'm so glad I don't have it all figured out and I'm so glad I'm in this low place because now Christ can be made great. Now Christ can be made known. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God, of heaven. Now we have the rich. Here's the comparison. Here's the rich brother boasting in his humiliation. I do not think James is being facetious or ironic here. I think he's talking about a rich brother. That seems to be the idea in the text and the parallelism. Let the lowly brother boast and the rich boast in his humiliation. So I understand this verse to be an encouragement to all of us, all of us who have so much, all of us who are so blessed and privileged in so many ways. This verse reminds us to boast in our humiliation and the fact that we are brought low, that we are brought on the same level as the poor brother, because in Christ, there are no levels. No levels between pastor and saint. No levels between men and women. No levels even between adults and saved children. No levels in the sense of our standing in Christ. That is what I mean. Because in Christ, we are all the same, broken sinners. That is what I mean. In Christ, We are humiliated. If we accept what scripture really says about us and our sinful state, we are humiliated. And we're told that we are humiliated because life is fleeting and you can take nothing with you. Do not boast in your riches, in your abilities, in your riches. Because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and weathers the grass. Its flower falls and its beauty perishes. We do not need to stretch far for imagery of the grass fading away, do we? No, not far at all. Thank you, Lord, for the rain. But every spring, these highways of ours here in Texas get these beautiful wildflowers. And I think we better get out there and do those family photos quick, because they'll be gone before you know it. We understand exactly what James means, that this life is very short. And these goods and things we have are here today and gone tomorrow. And what we truly need, more than riches, more than our abilities, is humility to endure our trials. We need to be brought low, no matter our life circumstances. And I'm so thankful that God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. So as I close, brothers and sisters, God calls us to ask of him all that we need. We need joy, we need wisdom, and we need humility. Matthew 7, 7 through 8, James probably has this in mind as he reflects back on the teachings of Christ often. Matthew 7, 7 through 8 says, ask, and it will be given unto you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks, it will be opened. Ask the Lord for grace, saints, in every trial. This is the only way that we grow in spiritual maturity. Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously. And let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, the rich brother in his humiliation. And lastly, may the God of all comfort strengthen and sanctify us in him. Let's pray. Lord God, we do praise you for your word that sharpens us, strengthens us, equips us, Lord. I pray that you would, by your spirit, apply these words to your saints and equip them for the work of the ministry, Lord, that they might reflect you, that they might live lives worthy of your calling that you have upon them. Lord, I thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, who lived that perfect life. and died that sacrificial death for us, Lord. And I just pray that you would help us always turn our eyes to you in the midst of our troubles, Lord. Would you help us to count it all joy? Would you give us grace? Would you give us wisdom, Lord? We ask for it without doubting. And Lord, would you humble us just as you were humbled for our sakes. So in Christ's name I pray, amen.