joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience. Let's pray together. Father, we come to you tonight, and God, we thank you, Lord, for your blessings. Lord, I pray that you would help us this evening. Lord, as we go through your word, God, I pray that you would just open it up to us and help us, God, to hear from heaven tonight. Lord, I pray that that you would help our hearts and God to be receptive of your word. Lord, just pray that you'd bless the evening. God, I pray that you'd help me to preach tonight and just use me, Lord, as an empty vessel of myself, but God, just as a man filled with your spirit. Lord, I pray that you'd just use my tongue tonight, Lord, to give your word. Lord, my mind tonight to give you glory as I preach. Lord, just pray that it is a blessing that are here tonight. Lord, we love you and we thank you for it, and this we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen. All right, James chapter one, and we looked at verse one last week, and as we looked at verse one last week, we talked about James the servant, but not just any servant, but James the bondservant, a man that had given his life, had given himself over to submitting himself over to the Lord, and also showing the Lord Jesus Christ and how he was using God and the Lord Jesus there on equal terms, and also trying to verify to the hearers just who God is, that Jesus is God, and also to the 12 tribes, is who he addresses this to, to Jewish Christians who were under persecution. and they ended the verse there with a word of praise. Actually, they're in verse one. He ended the verse and put greeting on the very end instead of putting greeting on the very beginning because he went through the verse and talked about that he was a servant and also talked about how they were scattered. But after he talked about the negative, he then brought in the positive and said, listen, I know you're scattered, but rejoice. That's what greeting means. It has the idea of to be glad. Greetings, hello, with a tremendous spirit. Almost like he's, I know you're scattered abroad, but he's saying it with a smile on his face. It's almost like some people, man, they feel like they've been beat by the devil all week, but they show up on Sunday morning and they still got a smile on their face. And so it's kind of like that idea is that he understands that there is pain and difficulties. He understands the scattering. He understands all that. but he's still showing up with a smile on his face. And so, what a tremendous introduction that he gives. Now, you don't get long into the book of James, and I tell you what, James really hits on some pretty heavy things. It's not like you have this real long, soft introduction, and then you get into some heavy things. No, he gives a greeting, and then right away in verse two, he just lays it out thick. And he encourages us to to really think about some really heavy things from the very onset, right from the get-go. There in verse two, he wastes no time in getting to the heart of the matter. And so he says there in verse two, he says, my brethren. Now, of course, who's his brethren? Who's he talking to? Well, he's talking to Christians, right? That's who the brethren are. He's not talking to a lost and dying world here at this point. He's talking to the brethren. He's talking to Christian people, those that are saved. And so he tells them, notice he says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers' temptations. The word divers there just means various or different, that's what that word means there. And so he says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall in divers' temptations. That word temptations there in the context of this is dealing with the idea of not dealing with the idea of testings, It's not dealing with the idea of being tempted with sin. Because listen, it's not joysome to be tempted with sin. Amen? That's not joysome. God's not saying have a joyful heart whenever you're being tempted with sin. That's not what He's talking about. He's talking about testings that happen in life. And count it all joy when you go through different trials and testings in life. not temptations to sin. But count it all joy when you go through different trials and testings in life. And you say, well, preacher, I've got an issue with it right from the very get-go. Because how do I count my trials and my testings in life? I don't find much joy in that. Now, the Bible's not telling us that you ought to be happy. You're having a hard time. How many of you are happy? You're having a hard time. Well, I wouldn't say none of us are. The Bible's not saying be happy because you're having a hard time. But one of the things that the Bible is trying to get us to do is listen, it's not that you can't be joyous in the midst of difficult times. That's a choice, too. But also remembering this is that the idea is that we're looking at not necessarily what's happening right now, but what God has planned for the outcome. What is the outcome gonna be? God has a desired outcome. God has a plan for the outcome. As the Bible would say in Romans chapter eight, For all things work together for good, right? All things work together for good to those that are called according to His purpose. Those that love God and are called according to His purpose. Listen, God has a plan for every testing and every trial that comes in our life. Listen, we may not always know what it is, and listen, it ain't always joysome. I know I've been through some trials in my life and I haven't found really much joy in going with it. But I can tell you some joy that I did find. I didn't find the hardship fine. I didn't find the hardship joyful. But I did find the God that was with me in the hardship joyful. I did find that. I was grateful that I had a God that was with me and that I wasn't by myself. I could find joy in that. Listen, what I'm trying to get us to see tonight is that James isn't saying be grateful and thankful, just be thankful because things are hard. Enjoy hard times. That's not the idea. The idea is understanding, listen, it goes a lot deeper than that. It's not just the moment that we're looking at. It's number one, the God that is with us in the moment, right? Focusing on what we have in the moment, which is the God of heaven that we can find joy in, but also looking beyond the moment. What is it that God, what is the outcome? What is it that God's gonna try to do when this is all over? Because listen, every trial has a purpose. Every testing has a purpose. Listen, let's think about this too. Sometimes we'll think, well, that every hardship that we have, that it automatically comes from the devil. Sometimes we'll think that. We got to understand, too, that that's not always the case. You say, well, what's the difference? Well, the difference in what the devil tries to do is his idea is always to steal, kill, and destroy. To bring you down to a place that is sinful and wicked and all that, to destroy your life. But what we see, what does God do? God's purpose is to elevate us, to bring us to a place. Even the next verse that we see as we read down talks about what is the outcome of our trials. Why do we look for joy in the midst of our testing and trials sometimes in life? Because God has a divine purpose there to help us to grow and to be mature. and to do other different things in our life. But there's a difference between what the devil tries to do in our life and what God's trying to do in our life. And there's a vast difference between the two. There may be some difficult times that come just because they're hard doesn't always mean that it comes from the devil. Listen, there's some hard times that may be divinely appointed. There's some difficult times that may come from the hand of God himself. Let's think about this. Let's think about this for a few minutes. But imagine this, before I get into some of that. Imagine Abraham, whenever he left the ear of the Chaldees. Now what God had to do was, God had to get him, listen, I'm going to be your God, you just follow me. I'll show you where you need to go and what you need to do. But there's one thing that Abraham had to do first, Before he ever got to the place where he would ever come to God and say, well, God wants me to sacrifice my only son. He wants me to sacrifice my only son. Before he ever got the faith to go up on top of that mountain, there was one thing he had to do. Have the faith to leave the earth to Caldees. Does that make sense? And so we think to our life, listen, I'm going through hard times. I'm going through some difficult things. Listen, it may be God appointed. It may just be some things that God's trying to do in your life not to tear you down, not to, it may not even be chasing in your life. It may just be for the simple point that God's trying to advance you in something. We understand this, that all things work together for good. God has a divine plan. And so when God's working some things in our life, it's always going to turn out, it's always going to be for the benefit. It's going to be for the good. But before Abraham could ever get to a place where he was willing to sacrifice his son, he first had to get to a place where he would leave the Ur of the Chaldees. That's where his faith was going to start. That's where it was going to begin. Now, if he could be faithful in leaving the Ur of the Chaldees, then he can come to a place where he'd be willing to go on top of the mountain and sacrifice his son. But before he would ever get there, he would have to do this. There are some things that God has to work out in our life. But you notice whenever Abraham went to go sacrifice his son on the earth of Chaldeas, what is it that he did? Before he went up there, he told the people that was down below, he said, listen, I and the lad are gonna go up and make a sacrifice and me and the lad, me and my son, we're coming back. He told everybody, listen, I'm coming back. He says, we are coming back. He knew he was going there to sacrifice his son. But he told everybody, we are coming back. Now, last time I heard, if you go to sacrifice somebody, that's probably a done deal. There's only one person coming back in the midst of that. But his faith had got him to the place where he had left the ear of the Chaldees. And now when God was putting his faith to the test again to sacrifice his own son, he went up. But before he went up, he said, in essence, in his heart, I'm sure thinking, I don't know what God's gonna do, but God, listen, God gave me some promises concerning my son, and he wants me to sacrifice him. Listen, I'm gonna be obedient. I'm gonna do what he wants me to do. I don't know what God's gonna do. Maybe he's gonna resurrect him. Maybe God's gonna do something, because I know he promised me some things concerning my son. I don't know what God's gonna do, but I'm gonna put one step in front of the other. I do know this. I'm gonna trust God all the way, and me and my boy are coming back to the house. So he didn't know how that was going to work out. He didn't know how it was going to happen, but he did know this. I'm going to have to put one step in front of the other. How could God get him from coming to a place where he would be willing to come to a place where he'd be willing to sacrifice his son for God if he would have never left, had enough faith and trust in God to leave the earth of the Chaldees to begin with? He never would. What was God trying to do in his life? God was trying to grow him. God was trying to get him to a place where he was in full surrender, full of faith, where he was wholly devoted and giving his life over to him. Not only that, but let's think about this. The Lord Jesus himself, before he began his earthly ministry, was he not led of the spirit there into the wilderness and tempted of the devil for 40 days and 40 nights? Sure he was. He was led there, the son of God himself, led there into the wilderness and was tempted of the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. Not only that, but we think about Job. Now what does the Bible say about Job? The Bible says that Job, man, he was a perfect man, not that he was sinless, but that he was a spiritually mature, righteous, holy man. That's the kind of person that God says that he was. But did you know that Job also allowed, that in his life, that God allowed Job to go through some hardships? God allowed Job to go through some difficult times. I mean, he lost all his possessions. He lost his family except for his wife, all his children. I mean, he lost all of his wealth. He lost all of it. And as he lost all of it, we see that at the very end of it, what did he do? He had nothing else to sacrifice to God, so what did he do? He sat in sackcloth and ashes himself. He says, God, I don't got nothing else to give you, but I tell you what, I'll give you me. Talk about a heart that's willing Talk about a heart that's willing to, that is wholly devoted over to God. They say, God, you give me this, you give me this, you give me that, but now, Lord, you've taken that away, you've taken that away, you've taken that away, but, Lord, your servant is still here. I'm not gonna let the circumstances keep me from serving you. I'm not gonna let it push me out, but, God, I am wholly devoted to you. Listen, I ain't got nothing else to sacrifice. Listen, everything is gone, but I'll sit and sacklock the natchez tonight and offer you myself as a living sacrifice. And so we can see where Job's heart was. He had some difficulties. He had some hard times. Listen, we see Abraham had some difficulties. He had some hard times. There was testings of faith through all of these people. And so we get to ourself here tonight, this place. Well, the Bible says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Now, as I said, God's not saying that you should be gleefully and joyfully excited that things are hard and difficult. As I said, that's not what the Bible's trying to say. But what the Bible is trying to get us to do is to look at, listen, that what we can do is that we can find some joy in what we're going through if we just look in the right places. But what we can also do is think more about what the outcome is going to be. Listen, I'm going through this right now, but I know that when I get out of this, God's got a better place for me. God's got a better outcome for me. I know there's a purpose and a reason for it, even though I may not be able to explain it. Listen, you think Job had some questions for God? Of course he did. You think Job was wondering why he probably lost everything that he had when he was a man that was righteous before God? Yes, I'm sure he did. Did God give him an answer to all of it? No, he sure didn't. He sure didn't. But he did let Job know that he was the God of heaven, that he was just. And he also rewarded Job in the very end. And his end was greater than his beginning. What I'm trying to get us to see here tonight is we all face some hardships. We all go through some difficult times. And we may go through life and never understand why we went through the difficulties and challenges that we face. But there are some things that we can have in the midst of it. And so notice he says here in the text, the Bible says there in verse two, he says, my brethren, he's talking to Christians, he's talking to God's people. But he says, count it all joy. You understand that whenever he says, my brethren, and he's not talking to the world, it's because he's expecting God's people to be able to find some things in the midst that they're going through that a lost and dying world don't have. Does that make sense? He's not talking to the whole world. He's not telling the whole world that, listen, you can find joy when you're going through trials. He's not telling the world that. He's telling God's people that. He's making a distinction. Because, listen, the world, they can't do what we're doing, and they're trying to separate and make a difference. As God's people, these are some things that we can do in the midst of some hardships. And he says there in verse two, my brethren, notice he says, count it all joy. What does that word count to mean? Well, it has the idea, it has the idea to consider. It has the idea to really think about. If you was to be a mathematician here tonight and we was to think about our problems and think about our issues And I actually appreciated the song that we sung tonight. I'm going to get into that here in just a minute. I didn't even know they was even going to sing it, but it fits well with my message tonight. Because we think about, the Bible says, count it all joy. Count it all joy. What are we supposed to count, right? Well, as a mathematician, we think about And he says, you know what? We're going to evaluate our situations in life, whether it's one or whether it's the many. And we're going to look at it, and we're going to say, you know what? As I look at my life, man, I counted all joy. Listen, yeah, there's been some hardships, and man, there's been some tough times. Man, I tell you what, look what God did there, and look what God did there, and look what God did there. And listen, and even in my hardships, even in the tough times, even in the battles, there's still some things that, listen, I can praise God for. And number one, one of those things is, listen, I gained some experience. I gained some maturity in my life. I grew, not only that, but I came out stronger on the outside than I was when I went in. I learned some things along the way. And listen, perhaps that's what God needs us to do in our Christian life. Is to come out on the other end stronger. To come out on the other end, having learned some things. Come out on the other end, having grown and become more spiritually mature. in our Christian life. And so he says there in verse 2, he says, my brethren, count it all joy. Consider what you're going through and evaluate it, calculate it, really sit down and deliberate on it and come up with a logical conclusion. And that is this, is that listen, I understand that the pain and the hardship, that listen, none of that is joysome. But if we'll look away from that aspect of it, I know it's more difficult, but if we'll look away from that aspect of it, and we'll concentrate on what God is trying to do through us in the midst of it, we can find some joy in that. Because it shows us that, listen, in our trials and in our testings, that God is something that he's trying to do, something that he's trying to work. Listen, if it wasn't so, then then our trials and testings would be pointless and useless. Right. But God's trying to do something, and God has a purpose for everything that he does. And so our testings in life, there is a purpose, there is a point to it, and there is a plan. You say, well, what is the plan? I'm going to jump ahead just for a moment. Notice he says in verse 3, knowing. He begins verse 3. with knowing, knowing this. Something that you need to know about counting it all with joy. Something you need to know about the trials and temptations of life. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. The idea of patience there has the idea of being steadfast. It has the idea of coming to a place in life where you can keep pressing forward. Listen, there are some things that happen to people And man, they just kind of get out of the race, and they just kind of shut down, and man, they're just done. But man, there are some folks that, man, they go through some things, and man, they stay in the race, and they just keep going. And what God's trying to do is get you to a place where you can keep going. Have you ever done this? How many of you run, or you walk, or do some things like that? Maybe you exercise and do some things. You can try to run five miles, you can try to run 10 miles. Maybe try to run a marathon. Listen, if I tried to run a marathon tonight, you know what would happen? I would die. If I ran five miles, I might go into cardiac arrest. Maybe. I can probably last three. But five, I don't know. But if I started out trying to run 20 miles, I ain't gonna make it. You know what I got to do? I got to run one. And then I got to try to run two, and I got to try to run three. And I got to try to run five. Then maybe I can run 10. Then maybe I can run 20. And I'm going to have to run some of these pretty good while, maybe before I ever get to the place where I can be steadfast and for me to be where God needs me to be. Because understand this, tonight, me and you, we're all in the Christian race. There's a plan for all of us. We're all in the Christian race. God has a different plan for every single one of us. And in that plan, in that personal race that we're running for God, is some things that God's bringing us through, some things that God's bringing us to. There's some things along the way. And along that way, along that way, we're gonna come to some places where it's gonna be, are you gonna leave the earth with the Cowdeys? We're gonna come to some places where it's gonna be, are you willing to surrender your son? We're gonna come to some places where, man, there may be some losses on the outside. You may say, man, I tell you what, I lost this, I lost this, I lost that. And there may be some places in our life where, man, we feel like, man, we're just kind of bleeding out. And, man, things are hard and things are difficult, you know? And we're lifting up our voice to God, thinking, what in the world's going on? And we've all been in, we've been in some places like that. I mean, Job was in a place like that, you know? And other people in the Bible were in places, I imagine were in places like this as well. But here we are, we see that we're all in the Christian race. But we are. But in this Christian race, there are there are different paths, different tracks that we're all on in this Christian race, because God's got a plan for every single one of us. And in this plan that God has for us, there's going to be some obstacles overcome. There's going to be some things we're going to have to learn. There's going to be something. But but regardless, In order for me to get to that finish line where God needs me to be, to be the strongest and the best Pastor Brown that Pastor Brown can possibly be, there's going to be some things along the way that I'm going to have to endure. There's going to be some things along the way that's going to be tiresome, that's going to be wearisome. There's going to be some things along the way where I'm going to have to get on my face before an almighty God and complete in total desperation and confusion. There's gonna be some times in my life where I'm gonna have to pour myself out to God with tears falling down from my face and come to God in prayer and fasting over some difficult situations that's taken place in my life, but full well knowing, even though I don't understand possibly the reason why I'm going through it, I know that there is an expected end. I know that God has a purpose and a plan for it all. I know that what I'm going through isn't just because God's just trying to be mean to me as an individual. But I know that God has a purpose and a plan for every single bit of it. And God's plan, of course, ultimately, is to bring me to a place of steadfastness in my life, where I will keep pressing forward. But listen, there are some folks, man, I tell you, man, we can get hit with some stuff, and the next thing you know, we say, you know what, I can't do it no more, and I back out and I get out. and they quit the Christian race, and they get out of church altogether, and they're off by the wayside, and listen, let me tell you something, the devil's laughing at them, and he's glad they're no longer in church, because as long as they're sitting off to the side, and they're no use, and they're not serving the church, and they're not serving the Lord, then listen, the devil can clap his hands knowing every single day that he's got the victory over you. Well, I don't know about you, but I would like for myself to be in a place where I wouldn't be letting the devil have the victory over my life every single day. I like to be in a place where, listen, I understand hard times is going to come, but I also understand that God's trying to work some things into my life and work some things out of my life, you know? And so as He's doing the working in and working out, listen, I want to make sure that I know that my ultimate goal is that God's trying to grow me, God's trying to strengthen me and bring me to a place of endurance and steadfastness in my life. And we can see here that that is part of the goal. But it says in verse two, he says, my brethren, count it all joy. Count it all joy, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. That it's working out some good things. It's working out some steadfastness. Listen, you're running your Christian race, and as you run your Christian race, the more you run it, there is endurance that in essence is building up. There's some steadfastness that's going to help you to keep going further. Because listen, as I said, if I tried to run a marathon tonight, I know I would die. There's no way I would possibly make it. But you know what? If I run one for a little bit, and I run three for a little bit, and I run five for a little bit, and I run 10 for a little bit, and I run 15 for a little bit, eventually I could get myself to where I could run 20 miles. And maybe that's where God needs you to be. Maybe right now you're sitting at a place where you're on one, maybe you're on three, maybe you're on five, and God's trying to get you to this place where you can have the endurance to be an Olympian Christian. Because does not God want the best out of every single one of us? Of course he does. Maybe God's trying to work some things out in our life, work some things into our life, work some things we don't need there out, work some things that we do need in, and steadfastness is one of them. Well, how are we gonna get that steadfastness? Well, it's not just gonna, listen, I can lay down my head at night and I believe God can do all things. I really do. I believe if I laid my head down at night and I said, Lord, I know I don't never run, but Lord, I pray that tomorrow you'd help me win that marathon. Now, could God do all things? Yes, he can. More than likely what's gonna happen is I'm gonna put my shoes on, and I'm gonna put my shorts on, and I'm gonna get out there, and about half a mile, I'm gonna be gassed and ready to pass out. Because you know what happens? There's some trying. There's some trying over and over and over again, where God's trying to get us from the one mile to the 20. Because God goes, what does the Bible say? The Bible says we are more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors. Listen, God sees more than you than you see in yourself. Now listen, would I just get out there and run, you know, just for my own accord? No, but would I get out there and do it for God? Yes. And so God's desire is to work something in us, work something out of us for us to excel and be exactly what it needs to be. Now I can look back at it, you know, even in the days when I was lifting weights really hard when I was younger. Was going through the soreness and all that, was that fun? Waking up the next day looking like you're a zombie walking into work because your legs hurt so bad? Now was that fun? Was it fun not being able to raise up your leg because you hurt so bad? Not being able to get your arm up above your head because your arms hurt so bad? Because you pushed yourself so hard? No, that wasn't fun. But I tell you what was fun. Whenever I did it long enough to where I was able to bench 225, and then I got 250, and then I benched 275, I tell you what, then it started getting fun. But how did I ever get to that point? Because there was one moment that I walked in, and I said, you know what, I'm going to bench this, and I was only benching 95 pounds. But God brought me to a place where I could go from 95 to 275. You know how that happened? Two years of hard work. Two years of pain. Two years of consistency. Two years of going in and saying, you know what, yeah, this did hurt, and yes, this was pain. But you know what, dedication and consistency paid it off, and I went from being this to that. And sometimes in life, listen, that's what comes. And I look back at it. And I say, you know what, I look back, yes, I'm at this point now, but I look back at, man, I look back at all those days I spent in the gym, the hours that I was there, the hard times, but listen, the muscles that hurt and the muscle that ached, and listen, the progress, was it all fun all the time? No, it wasn't. But I look back at 275 and being at the goal that I was trying to get to, and I look back and I say, you know what, man, that was some good times. Why? Because looking where I'm at right now to where I was then was two different places. Two different places. And God's trying to get us from one place to another, and sometimes that comes through the testing of life. And God's trying to build Olympians and champions in our life, and sometimes that comes through the trials of testing. It comes through hardship. It comes through resistance. Notice, He says count it all joy. As I said, he's not saying be happy that you're having a hard time. But the idea is be understanding, be happy that God is in the midst of this. Number one, that there's a God that you can count on for strength, that you're not by yourself. And I think number two is that God has a plan for what you're going through. That God didn't just bring you to it just to leave you in it. Does that make sense? God didn't just say, hey, I'm gonna bring you to this and I'm gonna drop you off. Listen, have fun with that. sometimes that's what we can feel like. Because we can sit there and we say, man, I tell you what, man, I'm having the hardest time of my life. And God, do you know what's going on here? God, do you know the ins and outs about this? And God says, yeah, I sure do. Listen, I knew it was coming. I knew it was going to happen. Listen, I'm right here. I see it. And as I said, there's some things the devil brings in our life, but there are some things that are orchestrated by God. God's desire is to build us. God's desire is to bring us to a place of construction where we're growing and becoming better. The devil's desire is always to tear apart and to rip down and destroy and to steal. But God's desire is completely different. And we see here, he says, count it all joy. Listen, if the devil was in charge, he wouldn't say count it all joy. There in verse two, he says, my brethren, count it all joy. In other words, you can have a different attitude. That word joy there. That word joy there. We understand one of the fruits of the spirit, or one of the fruit of the spirit is joy, something that God gives, something that God gives. Here we see kind of two sides of the coin. We can see that, listen, the joy there is something that God gives. Here in this text, we understand as a Christian that I can have joy. That is something that God gives to me. That comes down from him to me. And if God lives in me, then it is there to come out. What I gotta do is tap into it. Sometimes you just gotta look, sometimes we just have to look at our situations. in a different light and from a different perspective. And that's not always easy. It doesn't mean there's not going to be some tears. It doesn't mean there's not going to be heartaches. It doesn't mean there's not going to be times of discouragement. But what I think what the Bible shows us here is is that in the midst of that, you can count on there's a God that is present. You can count on a God that says, You can count on a God that's not only present, but you can count on a God that is powerful, that is in your life. That I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. That even though I may be in some hard times, that I can have joy because I have an unlimited God that has unlimited power. That His presence is here. That His power is here. I can find joy in that. I don't find joy in what's going on. I don't find joy in what's happening, but I can find joy in knowing that when this is all done, I know God's got a plan and a purpose and I'm looking forward to seeing what it's going to be like when it's all over. I can find joy in the fact that I know that there's a God in heaven that hears my prayer, that knows exactly where I'm at, that knows exactly how I feel. I can find joy in that. I can find joy in knowing that an all-ever-loving, present God is right there with me in the midst of it. That He didn't just bring me to it and drop me off, but He is there. And so I can find some joy in these things. And so it says, count it all joy. Consider some things. Think about some things. Look beyond even what's happening right here and what God's desire is to do in your life. My brethren, count it all joy. Notice he says, when you fall, how many have ever failed before? Yeah, have all fallen before? Did you fall on purpose? Did you just go to work one day and say, I think I'll fall today? No. He says, count it all joy when you fall. When you fall into divers temptations, count it all joy when you fall. Now, this fall was something unexpected. It wasn't planned on that. You ever had something unexpected come up in your life? Yeah, something unexpected. You weren't planning on it, you weren't looking for it, but man, it just walks right in. It just came right into your life and made itself known. You didn't call it, you didn't invite it. You didn't do it, but I tell you what, but it sure came. It seemed like it knew your address. It walked right on in. Didn't even ask if it could even come in. It just walked right on in. You're just minding your own business, and the next thing you know, there it is. Didn't ask for permission, and it stood over top of you and said, I'm here, what you gonna do about it? You ever been in some things like that in life? I know I have. The Bible says, count it all joy when you fall. I mean, it just sounds like what God's asking us to do don't even match up with what our flesh is supposed to do, which is part of what I think James is trying to get at. I mean, how many have ever prayed for your enemies before? We have. Did you find a lot of joy in it in the beginning or even throughout? Pray for those that despitefully use you and slander you, talk evil about you. Pray for those people that despitefully use you. Is that easy? Does that bring joy to your heart? Not really. What God's asking us to do is something that reaches beyond the flesh. Walking in the Spirit. When we're walking in the Spirit, we can do what the flesh doesn't want to do. The flesh says, no, the spirit says, yes. Do this because this is pleasing to the father. The spirit says, no, I don't want to pray for these people. The spirit says, no, I mean, I mean, the flesh says, no, I don't want to pray for these people. The flesh says, no, I want revenge. The flesh says, no, I want to do this. And the flesh says, no, I want to do that. And the spirit says, you don't need to do this. You don't need to do this. You need to pray. You need to do good. And the spirit works contrary to what our flesh desires to do. And it may not be joyous in the beginning, but there can be joy found in the process. And part of that is knowing that when we're walking in the spirit and living how God wants us to live, that it can bring joy into our life because we're honoring God. And it totally contradicts our flesh. You really want to walk in the spirit world? You really want to see some of that joy come flooding in your life? Then just live how God said to live. And God can place something in your heart that you never thought or ever wondered would ever even exist. And it may be the fact. Yeah, maybe you're praying for some people that did you wrong. Maybe you're praying for some people to talk about you. Maybe you're praying for some people have done some things. Maybe they did lie on you. Maybe they did. Maybe they did put you up on a cross somewhere and just slander you and throw rocks at you and say all kinds of evil, wicked things that weren't true. Man, maybe they did. I tell you what, we start walking in this spiritual world where we say, I'm not going to listen to my flesh, but God, I'm going to walk in a way that's pleasing to you. And I'm going to pray for those. I'm going to do good to those. And then the next thing you know. Guys, that's my child. Floods us with everything that we need to do what he's asking us to do, because now God will never ask you to do something that he's not going to equip you God, how can I pray for these folks? God, how can I do good to this? How can I do all those things? Well, the Lord can help us. It's outside of our physical flesh to do that. He says here in the text, he says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. In verse two, when you fall into diverse temptations, You weren't looking for it, but it came to your life anyway. When you fall into diverse temptations, in other words, various, in other words, things that, things that, just different things. I mean, there's all different types of things that we can come, that we can come across in life that are trying in our life. All different kinds of things. And as all these different things flood into our life, we have a decision to make. Am I gonna count it all joy? Am I gonna look beyond what's really happening right here? Am I gonna try to focus on, not just focus on this, you know, but am I gonna focus on what's beyond? Remember when I was bringing the message the other week, and it was talking about refining division. Remember when Habakkuk, whenever he, or Habakkuk, or Habakkuk, however you wanna call it. Remember when Habakkuk, whenever he went up there in the tower, and he said, I come up into the tower to hear from God. He got away from the ground noise. Sometimes in life, that's what we gotta do to hear better and to concentrate better, is to get away from all the things that's just surface level down here. And we set our attention to hear from God. He said, I come up here to hear from God, to what He might say to me. Sometimes we just gotta get up off that surface level, and we gotta get up into, we gotta elevate ourselves up away from all this other stuff, because then we can hear from God, and it gives us clarity in our vision, but also does something in our heart. The Bible says, he says, my brethren, count it all joy. When you fall into divers temptations, listen, there's gonna be all different types of things that come up in your life. But he starts in verse 3 saying, but knowing this, because when you think about all the different testing and trials that come up in our life, there's one thing, there's something that God wants us to know, and there in verse 3, and to know, knowing this. Not something you gotta think about, not something you gotta wonder about, but there's something that you can know about your trials and temptations, your testings in life. What is that? Knowing this. The trying of your faith worketh patience. I'm gonna stop with this. You ever, I'm sure you've heard the illustration before, but whenever they go to, put gold and silver to the test, they put it in a trial by fire. What they do is they subject the gold and the silver to a certain temperature and at a certain temperature it'll liquidate itself and everything that floats up to the top is what they call the dross. In other words, all the impurities that came out of it. But the only way the impurities is gonna come out is if the gold and the silver goes through the trial by fire. The only way it's gonna come out. And so as all those impurities come up to the top, what the refiner does is he takes all those impurities, scrapes them off the top. And once he gets it to a place, he can see where, once he gets it to a place where there's no more of those impurities there, he's looking down in it. And when he looks down in it and he sees his own image, then he knows it's done. Sometimes God's trying to bring us to a place, to a place. It's a trial by fire. It's a testing by fire. But God's desires to look into your life and see his image in you. I got to scrape away all the things that are impure, all the things that are in the way, all the things that are not valuable, that are not good, so that I could see myself in you. so I could see myself in you. So how can I count it all joy going through my trials? Do I like hard times? No. Have I been through some? Quite a few. But I do know this. I do know that it was all for a plan. It was all for a reason. And I do know that the very end is that God's trying to help me to be a better person. God's trying to help me to mature in my faith, to help me to grow, but ultimately to see himself in me. See himself in me. Let's pray. Father, we come to you tonight and we thank you for your blessings. God, we thank you for your goodness and we thank you for being with us, Lord, in our difficult times. Lord, they're not fun. Lord, they're not joysome. But God, you do show us in your word that we can find joy if we look in the right places. Not at the problem, but we can find joy by knowing that you are with us in the problem. We can find joy in knowing that your presence is there, that your power is unlimited. We can find joy in knowing that our prayers are being heard. We can find joy in knowing that you have a perfect plan for it all. That even though I may not sit and understand it now, and even though it may not be comfortable right now, that there is a place that you're trying to bring me. And ultimately, God, to see yourself in me. Lord, I pray that you'd help us tonight in our various struggles and trials in life to not just to look at the problem, but to look at what you're trying to do through us and to us and even work out of us and work in us and to see the final, to try to see the final picture at the very end. which is for us to be more conformed into your image and not our own. Lord, I pray that you'd help us tonight. Lord, you know what we need help in. I pray to keep everybody safe this evening as we go home, and I pray to bless our night. And all this we ask in Jesus' name, amen.