So tonight we begin a series through the book of James, which gives us about four options as to who this James may be. Either he is James, the brother of John, one of the sons of Zebedee, or he is James, the father of Judas Iscariot, which probably isn't the case, or he is James, the son of Alphaeus, which I believe nobody in church history has proposed him as an author. Or he is James, the oldest half-brother of Christ, and also the brother of Jude, who also wrote an epistle by his name. And that's probably who the author is, this James, the half-brother of Christ. Probably wasn't James the son of Zebedee. He was one of the first Christian leaders to be martyred, so he would have been killed too early on in church history to be able to pen this letter. So most agree that this is written by James, the half-brother of Christ, the oldest half-brother of Christ, and the brother of Jude. We know that the first century historian Josephus, maybe you've heard that name, he said that James was martyred around the year 62 So most scholars date this book of James to have been written between the years 44 and 49, which if you think about it wasn't really that long after the Savior's crucifixion and resurrection, and also makes this book of James the earliest of all New Testament writings. So this was the first New Testament book to find wide circulation and to be received into the churches as a New Testament book, a new book of scripture, if I may put it that way. And James writes to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, he says there in verse number one, to twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting, he says. And this is a reference, these twelve tribes scattered abroad, is a reference probably to the Jewish believers who were scattered during that time of persecution in Jerusalem. You remember the When this book was written, Jerusalem was very much still a hotbed of Christianity. And of course, churches had been started elsewhere. But during James's lifetime, he had seen that persecution in Jerusalem kind of come to a fervent boil and pushing out the Christian believers in Jerusalem to surrounding areas. And those are the ones to whom James is writing many of these. He would have been a pastor in the church of Jerusalem. He would have known these people that he's writing to. He used to be their pastor, but they moved away. I can relate. Many of them moved away during the intense persecution in the city of Jerusalem. And you can read about that in Acts chapter 8 and in Acts chapter 12. In fact, so much so that the New Testament says that just the apostles were left there. Everyone else seemed to be going away. and the apostles were left there in Jerusalem to sort of man their battle stations. So many other Christians had left. And if you remember from the book of Acts, when the event at Pentecost occurred, it occurred in Jerusalem when many out-of-towners were in town, right? So you have all of these out-of-town Jewish folk coming to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. There, thousands are saved. and are brought into the faith, and they continue then in Jerusalem for quite a while, learning, being discipled, and we would have understood then that you have this massive influx of out-of-town people into Jerusalem, believing the gospel, joining the church, and then there would have been a slow trickle of these people going back out to their homes. Who knows? Maybe many of them made permanent homes in Jerusalem, but we do know that for months, probably even years, some of those who had come to the Pentecost feast and had gotten saved stayed in Jerusalem, but many of them also began to trickle away until the persecution really erupted in Jerusalem, which caused many of these Jewish believers to go ahead and pack up and go back to where they came from, or to go find new places to live, where is a greater measure of freedom from persecution. So James writes to these Jewish believers, who are scattered and who are fleeing persecution, who are trying to find a safer place to live and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. James writes to these and we would understand that they are in distress. I've never been a refugee. I've never had to flee one place to go to another because somebody was trying to hurt me or harm me or kill me or do all manner of harm against me. But these Christians here that James writes to were experiencing that very thing. They were fleeing persecution, not unlike the ones that Peter writes to in his first epistle, as they fled from Rome because of persecution. And so there's this history in the early church of being in the city, Then intense persecution erupts in that city, and many Christians flee to safer confines. And many of the writers are writing then to these believers to encourage them in the faith and to, I want to say, keep tabs on them, if I may, because they are believers, they are part of the church, and now they're gone and away. And these pastors like James and Peter want to write to these and encourage them and help them continue living. like Jesus would have them live. And so James writes with force, and he writes with somewhat of a blunt style, and he writes to remind these suffering believers that they need to live like Jesus in a world that is hostile to the gospel. So where does he start? Well, he starts with that very issue, this issue of enduring testing and trials of your faith and how to come out on the top side. telling these Christians who suffer how to deal with suffering. So now I'm going to share with you three topics about testing and trials. The first one I'll call the Christian rejoicing in testing, or if I may, the what. Oftentimes you'll find in a passage or in a segment of a passage the what and the why and the how, and we have that tonight. We have the Christian rejoicing in testing, that's in verse 2, That's the what. We'll see the heavenly reason for testing. That's in verse three. That's the why. And then in verse four, we have the necessary response to testing. And that's the how. So let me share with you these three topics about testing and trials. I think we can all relate. We'll all learn something and be edified by it. The Christian, we're told by James, is to look at testing and trials as joy. To even count it as all joy. To look at the hard times as totally joy. Count it all joy when you suffer and endure diverse temptations. And those are not diverse temptations. You understand? It's not about going under the water. This is diverse temptations. Different kinds of testings and trials of life. And we understand then that this is something that we do on purpose. because it's contrary to our nature. Nobody likes the hard times. Of course we don't. And so to count it all joy when you suffer diverse temptations and you fall into these different kinds of hardships and tests and trials of life, and also understand that that word temptations, again, as I've said before, it doesn't always mean a temptation to sin. We always think of temptation as being the devil coming to us and trying to entice us into sin, but a temptation is a general word that can also apply, yes, to enticement to sin, but in addition to that, a testing or a trial of life or your faith, going through difficulties, going through hardship, experiencing the negatives of life, some of them very difficult, some of them very sore. But this is something that we're told, and here's that bluntness and that force that James uses, that we're to consider it all joy when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. Now that's a tall order, isn't it? I mean, to see when rough times come, whatever those rough times may be, and to purposefully be joyful about it is something that I think is hard for the human mind to really agree to. This is something we must do with our armor on. We must put on the armor of Christ, as I preached not long ago. Some of you were there for that sermon. The difference between passing a test, which is often what a temptation is, it's a test of faith, The difference between passing a test and failing a test of faith is whether or not we have on us the armor of Christ. And so, when the Christian is to look at testing and trials, we're to count it all joy. Now, this is different than, I believe, how many Christians look at problems of life. It seems to me that most Christians, their first knee-jerk reaction to anything that's bad is, the devil's out to get me. the knee-jerk reaction ought to be, well, praise the Lord. Now, I know that's difficult. And yes, sometimes there is an element of our enemy who is out to get us. Again, sometimes these things go hand in hand. But we are not to necessarily look at every trial and tragedy and difficulty in life as completely an assault of the forces of evil against us. But I will say this. If you fail the test, you will be accosted by the forces of darkness. They will find a weakness there and they will exploit it. So yes, be aware that when the trials come and when the tests come, that there is an opportunity in that for our enemy to assault our souls. But instead of immediately reacting to all tests and trials with maybe an element of fear or suspicion, We're told instead to count it all joy. That's a tall order, and how do we do this? Why do we do this? Well, those are the next two points of the sermon, okay? To count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations, we must understand the reason, the heavenly reason for testing, and we see this in verse number three. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh what? Patience. patience, diverse temptations, different kinds of tests will come our way to test our faith. And may I say, I praise God for the word diverse, because it covers all the bases. I'm glad it's not just one kind of trial or temptation that we can count it all joy and see the heavenly reason behind it, but it is all kinds, all of them in life that you will face. Some of you will face temptations and trials that others will not, but there is still in all of it a general understanding that we all face the same trying and trials of faith. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it. So that means that yes, yes, there is in life differences of individual experiences, but that doesn't mean that you're alone. That doesn't mean you're the only one who will ever experience the testing and trial that you're experiencing. Others have, and maybe not exactly the same way as you, but at least, generally speaking, others have experienced the same trial of faith, the same test that you are. So understand the reason for testing. What is the reason? Well, the testing of our faith works, patience, or builds When you exercise, we call it working out because you're working what? You're working your muscles. That's right. And it builds, you know, the athletic physique. If you do curls, it's supposed to build the biceps. If you do squats, it's supposed to build the legs and the back and everything else. And so the testing of our faith, it builds up that part of us that we need to have strengthened, which is patience. And patience could also be understood as endurance or perseverance. Sometimes we always think patience means the person who is able to wait, right? Like the fisherman who is waiting for the bobber to be pulled under the water. patiently waits, or the deer hunter who sits in the deer stand waiting for Bambi to cross the path so he can fling an arrow or, you know, get a shot off it, you know, and he's patient about that. Or maybe we think of a mother who has little children that are always, you know, and so she's patient with all of the chattering. Sometimes I think of, you know, the lion who sits in his regal pose on the African Savannah, and yet there's this lion cub pulling his ear, you know, and that lion could turn and snap that little lion cub's head off, but he's patient, and he lets the little animal pull his ear because it's playing, and he puts up with it. And those are not bad examples of patience, but this understanding here of patience is not this idea of waiting in line at the DMV, but of enduring. So it's like waiting in line at the DMV, but at the same time doing wall sits. You know what a wall sit is? Yeah, you know, it makes your quads really burn, and you will, at least I will, my legs will burn and start shaking in under three minutes. And yeah, it's difficult to do that. It's a good exercise. It really wears you out very quickly. That's patience. That's the endurance we're speaking of. It's going on when things are difficult. I'm reminded of 1 Peter 1 and verse 7 that we're told to be mindful of the trial of our faith, which is much more precious than of gold. That is, our faith is more precious than gold. 1 Peter 1, 7, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire. So gold, As precious as it is, and as valuable as it is, after it's tried with fire and purified, all the impurities out so you have pure gold, your faith is better than pure gold. And your faith is tried like gold is. And the trying of your faith is something the Lord does in the lives of his believers so that their faith may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. They put all of this together, again, understanding, yes, there is a spiritual enemy that we have. Yes, there are assaults against our soul from our enemy. But when it comes to the trials of faith, and it comes to the problems of life and hardship. The Bible often points us in the direction of a Father in heaven who allows these sayings to purify our faith so that we would be better Christians because of it. You know, it's not unlike what your parents told you growing up, that you're supposed to do something that's difficult because it builds your character, that's right, and your Heavenly Father is the same way, but he's not interested in necessarily building your character in the way that your dad was. He's interested in building your faith and your patience to make you more like the Savior so that it might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And may I say that many Christians in the world today, including yours truly, need to have our faith built. strengthened, our patience to be built up so that we can endure the problems of life without seeing our faith weakened. And one of the most common weakeners of faith is struggles, temptations, trials. So many people, they get into the Christian life and then they find out that it's not a surefire way to fame and fortune. but rather instead oftentimes an invitation for problems and suffering that they turn their backs. Or they never do go on in growing the way that the Lord has called them to. They never experience true victory. It's always sort of half on and half off. They're always, if I may, at the back of the pack, never up front, but always hobbling behind. The heavenly reason for testing is because God wants to see your faith built, and not only your faith, but your patience, your patience being built up, this endurance of yours being built up. Now, that's the reason why God is building you. God is strengthening you. God does not want his people to be weak and to have a namby-pamby faith that is easily dismissed and ditched at the side of the road when anything gets rough. Thirdly, in verse 4, we see the necessary response to testing, the necessary response to testing. Remember, we saw the Christian rejoicing in testing, that is, that we're to see it all and to count it all joy. As counterintuitive as that is, it's the command, and it's hard, and it's something we have to do on purpose, by faith, with the armor of Christ on. Secondly, we saw the heavenly reason for testing. That is, God brings these things into our lives that our patience may be built, that our faith may be purified, so that we would be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Lastly, there is the necessary response to testing. That is, okay, well, how do we do this exactly? Well, there's no easy way to answer that because that's like, you know, saying that there is an easy way to build muscle. Well, there isn't. You have to do the work. You've got to lift weights and you've got to probably break a sweat, right? It's not going to just come. You're not going to take a pill and be, you know, magically athletic the next day. And I know you're saying, well, what about steroids? Well, don't sidetrack the sermon now, okay? Don't do that. James tells us that we need to let patients have her perfect work. You know, here's the thing. I've heard it said, growing up in churches, one of the common mantras of some Christians is, never pray for patience, because the Lord will send you what? Trials and tribulation. And I always thought that was strange, because shouldn't we have patience? You know? Well, if you pray for patience, God's going to send trials and tribulations. Well, I've got news for you. God's going to send it anyways, whether you pray for patience or not. In fact, it could be that if you're not praying for patience, then you are unaware of your need for patience, and God's going to send the trials and tribulations even more so to wake you up to the need for patience. Do you understand? So yes, pray for patients. Don't be afraid of that, because you're gonna have problems and trials in life no matter what. You're not gonna get away from that. We live in a sin-cursed world. There's death, disease, there's people, there's problems, you know? I mean, there's financial strain, cars break down, kids get sick, right? Moms and dads need help with different things, and roofs get leaks, and foundations crack, and I mean, this stuff happens. People fight, and families have problems, and churches have problems, and neighbors have problems, and you're not going to get away. I mean, even if you move to the cabin in the mountains, as was my dream as a teenage boy, that was my dream life, me in a log cabin in the Rocky Mountains. You know what you're going to find in the log cabin in the Rocky Mountains other than quiet seclusion? You're gonna find that log cabins need work and sometimes the fish don't bite when you're hungry, yeah, and you're gonna have problems there too. It's just life, it's life. So what is the necessary response to testing? You must let patients have her perfect work or if I may, let patients grow to full maturity in you. What do I mean? I mean when the testing comes, don't cave. Don't quit. Don't become an excuse finder. Don't lose faith. Don't back off the zeal that you have for the Savior. When you quit or when you stop or when you fail to go on when life is hard, that's when you fail to let patience have her perfect work. Again, going back to the exercise illustration, you can't start a workout and not push yourself and expect to improve in athletic condition. You have got to push yourself to the point of difficulty and beyond, or else you won't experience an improvement in your physical condition. And the same is true with your patience and faith. You can't stop when it's difficult. You've got to push on in the hardship of it. That's how you build patience. That's how the Lord builds patience in you and endurance build your faith. If you back off and stop because things are getting difficult, then you fail to let patience have her perfect work, and if I may, you waste a completely good temptation. You failed the test, and you didn't get any better for it, and you're gonna have to take another one, too. Don't do that. But let patience have her perfect work. This is what makes the Christian develop a soft heart, but thick skin. And that's what you need. You need a soft heart for the Lord and for others, but you need a thick skin in life. So many Christians are so easily stopped when things get difficult. Sunday morning rolls around and they're feeling a little stressed, life's rough, so they're gonna stay in bed. You know what happens when you do that? You let your patience become weak. You lose endurance, spiritual endurance. When it's time to pray, when you know you ought to be in the Word, when you know you should be doing the duties and graces that God calls us to, but you don't because something is hard in life, you are failing to push through the pain and let God, by His grace, build your patience and faith. And if you never push through that pain by the grace of God, call out to him for help. Say, Lord, help me do what is right now for your glory and for my good. If you never do that, you never learn to build endurance, to build endurance. I remember when I was in Bible college on a Sunday night, there was a family there that was in that Sunday night service. And that day, their house burnt down to the ground. And where were they on Sunday nights? They were in church. Now you probably think, well, there's nothing else to do because their house burned down. Well, it's true, but I'll tell you right now, the majority of Christians would have said, I'm not going to church tonight because my life just got ruined. Well, you know, it's not like, again, what else are they gonna do? Might as well go to the church house and be encouraged by the word and encouraged by believers. So they did. You know what happened that night? Their patience was toughened. Their endurance grew. You've got to push yourself. You've got to let the Lord push you through these hard times. Let patience have her perfect work. It's good for our faith and for our endurance when there's a have-to. This is what makes the Christian develop that thick skin that they need to endure the hardships of life, to learn to use the armor of God that he gives us, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, our loins girded about with truth, to have all of that armor on, so when the trials of life come, you can easily deflect those and stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. You know, it's said that the measure of your character is what it takes to stop you. Well, what does it take to stop you? What does it take for you to be halted in your progress? What does it take for you to be removed from the place where you ought to be? What does it take for you to be dissuaded away from following the Lord and to be enticed into sin? What does it take for you to stop doing what you know is right to do and to start defining good and right by your own terms? What does it take to stop you? That's the measure of your character. You know, we used to have a an old fella in the church long ago, Brother Moore. This guy was, well, he should have been in a wheelchair. Don Moore, he should have been in a wheelchair, but I think there was a certain fight inside of him that refused to, I don't know what affliction he had, but he was as wobbly on his feet as I've seen any man walk. And I'm talking like this. Yeah, that's exactly how I, you know, I was always like, trying to run to catch him, or I was always nervous, but he always insisted on walking. And he was not well. He was an afflicted man. But he never complained. You remember him, honey. Did he ever complain about anything? Never. And in spite of his affliction, that man was in church every single Sunday without fail. And in fact, the only time that he didn't come to church worried me. He didn't come. He's always here. So I was concerned. I went by his house the next day to see if everything was okay, and I figured out why he wasn't there. He had fallen in his house, and nobody was there to help him up. Nobody was there to catch him as he fell. to help him up. And that was the only time I ever remember him being absent. The rest of the time he was faithful, he had endurance, as I've never seen a man have spiritual endurance. And every now and then he'd come and he'd kind of chuckle maybe at the sparse crowds. He said, don't worry, he says, there's two reasons why people will stay home from church. And I said, why is that? He goes, they'll stay home from church because it's raining, or they'll stay home because it ain't. And his point was that oftentimes Christians will look for reasons to quit, to go easy. And they never let patience have the perfect work of growing into maturity. Now listen to me, I plead with you as your pastor, when those difficulties come, and they will come, you've got to push through the pain and do what you know is right. or you will never let patience grow to full maturity. You will never have the endurance that you need as a Christian. The measure of your character is what it takes to stop you. What stops you? I think that's a different answer for all of us, and I think it's different answers for all of us at different times. The measure of your character, the measure of your endurance, of your perseverance, of your patience, is what it takes to stop you. Would to God that we would have the grace to let patience have her perfect work. Amen. Amen. Let's stand and pray.