Certainly, I don't think there's anyone that could disagree with a sentence as basic as this, that life is filled with tough times, with trouble, with trials. I think all of us have experienced, or at least know of people that have experienced families that have fractured, friends that have left, spouses betray, children leave, employers go back on their word, Churches split, health fails, bank accounts dwindle, the challenges of life sometimes seem insurmountable. And that's the stuff of life. And that's what we find as we go through life. Now, that's true, whether you know Christ or not. Certainly, there are some people who would suggest if you would just come to Christ, if you would just somehow be saved, that all of that would change. And they teach what we sometimes call a prosperity gospel. I was talking with someone just this past week about a church in town, a very large church in town, that teaches that very thing. That if you would just put your faith in Christ, that everything would be fine. And you'll have money to burn, you'll have wonderful health, and you really won't struggle with the trials of life because now you're a Christian. And that health and wealth gospel is simply not true. Because life is filled with trials, even if you know Jesus Christ. If that's true, that life is filled with trials, I think that means the time to plan for those trials, the time to plan for rough times is now. Because if you're going through tough times, if you're facing some challenges in life, you need to have a plan. You don't want to just go through life lying by the seat of your pants, just winging it, just taking it a step at a time and figuring out as you go, you need to have a plan. Now, you might say, Greg, I'm not facing anything that's real tough right now. Well, certainly that means your time is yet to come. And those tough times will come and the time to prepare is now. Not waiting until the tough times come and then trying to figure out what's going on. But to prepare now, because as Job said, man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward. I'm burdened that we would have a biblical view of how to handle tough times. And we find the biblical view of how to handle tough times in the first chapter of the letter of James. And I'd invite your attention to James chapter one. Where we see how to think when times are tough, how to pray when times are tough, how to view life when times are tough, how to view God when times are tough and how to act when times are tough. And those five statements will be the five sermon titles for the next five Sunday evenings, Lord willing, beginning tonight as we consider how to think when times are tough. Now, if you open up to the letter of James in your Bible, you'll have something like on the top, perhaps the word, the epistle of James, or perhaps the letter of James. The word epistle is simply another word for letter. This is a letter that was actually written. Now, if a person's maybe newer in the faith, they might be thinking, he might be thinking, well, wait a second, why would we have a letter in the Bible? Well, one of the things we want to remember and recall is that the Bible is really not a book as we typically think of a book. The Bible is a compilation of literature. The Bible is an assortment, all bound together of different types of literature written by different authors. And one of these authors is a man named James. And here is a man who was burdened to write a letter, not only because of trials, but he spends the whole first chapter primarily focusing on trials. He was burdened that people would know how to deal with tough times. Now, if you looked at a standard letter in the ancient world, you would see that it always opened with three parts, and we'll see all three of those in verse one of this letter. First of all, you'll have the identification of the author. See, we don't do that. We sign letters at the end, right? If I were writing you an email, I would say, hey, so-and-so, thanks for the ministry. Hope you have a great day. God bless Greg. Where does Greg go? End. They didn't do it that way. The person writing the letter would put his name first. You would say, why? Well, we have to remember that they were writing not on emails, obviously, or even sheet paper. but on papyrus that was frequently rolled up. And you didn't want to have to open up a letter and say, I wonder who's this from? Roll to the end. Oh yeah, James. So they would just put it up front. And here we have his name, James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the identification of the author. Secondly, we have the identification of the recipient. He writes to the 12 tribes who were dispersed abroad. And thirdly, we have the greeting, which in one simple word is greetings. You say, Who is this guy named James? And why should I really be concerned about reading a letter that he wrote? Well, that's a good question. There's actually four different men named James in the New Testament to aren't really mentioned very often. They're kind of minor players. There's really only two well men known in the New Testament named James. The first is James, the son of Zebedee. He's the brother of John the Apostle. He was a member of Christ's inner circle. As many of you know, he was martyred. He was put to death by Herod Agrippa in A.D. 44, which was probably shortly before this letter was written. That's not the James we're talking about. We're talking about a James who was commonly known as James the Just, the half brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. A man who's mentioned in the gospel of number of times, but interestingly enough, even though he was the half brother of Jesus, he never came to saving faith until after the resurrection. That event that we celebrate today on this Easter Sunday. Somehow, after he saw his half brother rise from the dead, he put saving faith in his half brother. You say, why half brother? Well, because even though he had a common mother, he was certainly born of Mary. He did not have a common father, for we know that the Lord Jesus Christ was born to Mary when she was still a virgin. And this would be James the just who would claim Joseph as his father. You say, what kind of guy was he? He was a humble man. You say, how do you know he's humble? I'm just impressed by the way he refers to himself in one word, James. Think about it. If you were Jesus's half-brother, how would you begin a letter? Greg, half-brother of that wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, lived with him a long time. Listen to what I have to say. I'm someone. That would be, I think, the normal human temptation. But not James. He didn't say James, the key person in the church of Jerusalem, which he was. The apostles are out spreading the gospel. Who's taking care of believers in Jerusalem? From the best we know from Scripture, it's James. He could have said, brother of Christ, key man in Jerusalem, James, the man. He doesn't do that. It's just one word. He's a humble man, but he's more than a humble man. He's a godly man, because look what what comes right after his name. It says James, a servant. Or if you will, a bond servant of God. So what does that word mean? Servants or bond servant? Well, it implies being a servant, one who serves another. But the word servant really doesn't work real well because we think of servants that are hired by other people. This was not a servanthood where he was working for a paycheck. Some Bibles translate it the slave of God. and of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, then why don't we just say James the slave? Because when we think of slave, we tend to think of forcing someone to serve for you. Most people don't volunteer to be slaves. If I could paraphrase this word, it would be something like this. James, one who has volunteered to be a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was slavery. But he entered into it voluntarily. You say, what's that a picture of? That's a picture of what every Christian should think of himself as. A person who has voluntarily come to Christ. And now that we know Christ, we put our faith in him as Lord and we worship him and submit to him. A humble man, a godly man. And what's interesting to me, and you'll have to read through the book as I know you have, a man with a pastor's heart. This is not a guy who is going to spend a lot of time on deep theological issues. He's going to spend a lot of time on very practical exhortations, which has made this letter one of the best love letters in the entire New Testament. A humble man, a godly man, a man with the pastor's heart. And who is he writing to? Well, verse one says to the twelve tribes who were dispersed abroad. Twelve tribes, just another way of saying Jews. people who were ethnic Jews. It's interesting that James never said James, the bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the church of Rome or Corinth or Philippi or Thessalonica. He doesn't write to any specific place, nor does he write to any specific person. Timothy, Titus, Philemon, he writes a general letter to an unknown location to a general group of people. This is why James is normally called. This letter is normally called a Catholic epistle. That's another way of saying a general epistle. It's written generally, which I think is another reason people love this letter so much because we read this letter and we identify with it. It's not so specific. You know, you read certain portions of certain letters, I think of Corinthians, and there's such specific information that you say, well, that's not really what I'm struggling with. You read James and you say, yep, that's me all through the letter. I'm finding things that apply to me and the kind of life that I live. You say, are these believing Jews or are they unconverted Jews? Well, James answers that in verse two, because he refers to them as my brethren. And in chapter one, verse 16, my beloved brethren, and again in 119, my beloved brethren in chapter two, verse five, my beloved brethren, this is written to converted Jews. Let me pause and just make a comment here, we're going to be talking tonight about how to think when you face time, tough times, if you don't know Jesus Christ, this letter is going to make no sense to you. You're going to read this letter. And you're going to say there is absolutely no way I understand it. And even if you did, it's going to seem completely ridiculous because this is a letter written to people of faith. People have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus, I trust that you know Christ, because if we know Christ and we can understand the letter of the James is here written and these Jews notice it says in verse one are dispersed abroad. You say, what does that mean? The dispersion. James is writing to the Jews who are no longer in their promised land right. We know what took place. We know that with the various captivities that took place at the end of the Old Testament era. We know that the Jews were basically conquered and forcibly removed from their home. Some person has mentioned in the commentary we could think of these people as refugees. People who wish they could be back home but they're not. And thus people that are facing tough times. And one of the things that this pastor was burdened for was to how to help these converted Jews face tough times. When you're facing tough times, how do you think? What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear, honey, there's water running in the basement, right? Honey, I turned the key and the car didn't start. Honey, I think maybe there's something wrong with the air conditioner. It's making funny noise. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you're facing an employer? who says I have some bad news I'm not sure if the company's going to continue. You may need to start looking for another job. What's the very first thing that comes to your mind. That's what we're going to look at today in just three verses verse two three and four a message on how to think when times are tough. Three verses three points. Here we go. The first point. How are we to think when times are tough. Number one we are to count it all joy. Verse two. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. God commands us to count it all joy when we face the different trials that come our way. Now, you'll notice in verse two, we have the word trials in the King James Bible. You have the word temptations. The same word can be translated trial or temptation, same word works for both, for example, In 1st Peter 4.12, Peter writes, Don't be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering. And he uses this word for an outward trial. That is, something outside of me is not going well. I'm facing tough times. Same words used by Paul in 1st Timothy 6.9 when he writes, People who want to get rich will fall into temptations. And there it's not referring to some pressure outside of me. It's referring to a temptation in my own sinful heart. You say what James thinking of here in verse two trials and temptations. Most people say based on context trials. He's not talking about coveting something. He's not talking about an internal struggle. He's talking about something around him. That's really a difficulty. We would just call it trouble trials or tough times. You say what kind of trials. Well they're unexpected right. Because look again at verse two. He writes when you encounter various trials, the word encounter literally means to fall into frequently when you least expect it. And that's the way life is. Sometimes you're going through life. Everything's fine. And when you least expect it, what do you face? He refers to in the end of verse two, various troubles. Now, the question is why here I am right, a child of God. And here I am reading that as I go through life, I'm going to face trials when I least expect it. I'm going to face all different kinds of trials, diverse trials, various trials. Why in the world would this be so? I mean, if God's in control, right? And if God is good, right? Why doesn't he simply say you're my child, no more trials for you? Personally, I would like that. That would be wonderful. If I could simply get saved and that's the end of trials, but that's not the way life is. You say, why? Because the trials are necessary. I want to show you that, please, in another book. Turn over to First Peter, Chapter one, please. And we'll come right back to James. First, Peter. I want to point out just a very small phrase, just a few words that Peter makes. Peter writes in First Peter, Chapter one. Parallel passage, if you will, to what we're reading here in James and first Peter chapter one. I'll begin in verse three, something of a doxology of praise to God, verse three, first Peter one. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, have caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away. Reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this your salvation you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while. Note these words if necessary or if you prefer if need be you have been distressed by various trials. Why did the trials come? Because they're necessary. Trials are just not a fluke of providence. Trials are not just due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. God says trials are necessary. And when they come, he commands us to deal with it this way. Back to James chapter one and look at verse two, please. James writes in this letter, chapter one, verse two. Here we go. This is our first point. Consider it all joy, my brethren. James commands us to count it joy. And that's a command. I think about that, honey, I went to the car, turned the key, it didn't start. And God commands me to count it joy. Honey, I heard water downstairs running, not sure what it is, and God commands me to count it joy. Now you understand why I told you if you're not saved, there's no chance you're going to understand this. Those of us who were saved are sitting here saying, I'm not sure I understand this. Because I don't know about you, but when I turn the key and nothing happens, the first thing that goes on inside of me is my heart just kind of drops. You know what I mean? I go, oh, no, not again. Another problem. And yet God commands me to count it joy. And you might be thinking, no way, can't do it. There is no way I could feel joy when I face trials. Isn't it a blessing that James does not command us to feel joy? He commands us to count it joy. And there's a difference between feeling joy and counting joy. You say, what's the difference? It's the difference between emotion and cognition. Emotion is how you feel. You can't always control it. Cognition is how you think. We can choose to think this is joyful, even when everything emotionally in me says, but it doesn't feel joyful. That's what James is commanding us to do. I could hear bad news of a loved one that is really struggling physically with the major disease. And even as I feel absolutely sad, I can make a cognitive intellectual choice. I will count it as joy. You say, well, then it's OK to feel sad even while you count something joy. Absolutely. Because in verse two, you'll notice it says, consider it all joy. You say, what does the word all mean? Some translations put it this way. Consider it pure joy. It doesn't mean all here that you have to count everything as joyful. And thus it would be sinful to be sad. It's not sinful to be sad. But it's sinful not to consider something intellectually, cognitively as joyful. What James is telling us is when we face a difficult time, no matter how bad we feel, we can make a choice. I will choose to consider this a joyful opportunity. You say, do you have any examples? I think of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. A young guy who was betrayed by his family, a young guy who was taken advantage of on many different occasions, finally gets back in touch with his brothers, the same ones who wanted to kill him, and then later ended up selling him into slavery. He finally had the chance to get even. And what did he say back there in Genesis chapter 15, verse 20? You guys meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Do you really think Joseph felt like saying that? I mean, if I were to guess and say, Joseph, what did you feel like doing to your brothers? He'd probably say something like, let me tell you what I felt like doing to him. I thought payback time. That's what I was really kind of feeling, if you will. But Joseph said no. God meant it for good. That's kind of what it means to count it all joy. To walk out of a doctor's office to get a diagnosis that's less than encouraging. And even as you leave with a frown on your face saying, God, I am making a choice. You've commanded me to count it joy. And because this is a command. Any other response. Any other response. is disobedience. I am not saying who here is an upper crust Christian. You know, who here is one of those few people that are on the verge of sainthood in a Catholic sense? And you're so incredibly close to God that you think you're ready to try this. It's not what James is saying. It's a command. Verse 2. Consider or count it all joy. when you encounter various trials. It's not if, it's when. The trials are coming, and James commands us, we have to count it all joy. That's a command. And that's what we have to do. Now, if your mind is anything like my mind, I read verse 2, and I think to myself, no way. There is no way I even have a chance of obeying this command. I'm supposed to get bad news and I'm supposed to feel bad, yet say, Lord, I choose to think that this is joyful. I will count it all joy. I'm supposed to react that way. I know myself and it's not going to happen. James, you're going to have to explain this to me. And he does. I'm so glad in his letter that he didn't just give me verse two. Because I'd be reading verse two and praying like crazy, God give me grace. But to be honest with you, I still don't think it's going to happen. What a blessing that we have verse three. And James can at least give us a little bit encouragement, which takes us to our second point. We are to count it all joy, knowing that the testing of our faith leads to a patient endurance. James, this doesn't say count it all joy and this leave us hanging, wondering if we can do it. James has counted old joy, and I'm going to tell you why. Verse three, knowing there is something that we know that somehow encourages us that yes, by God's grace, maybe this can be so knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. There's something we know, and it involves the testing of our faith. You say, what is this idea of the testing of our faith? Well, we're talking here about the idea of purification. I think we've all heard sermon illustrations about taking gold or silver and they put it in a pot or a vessel of some time and the Smith cranks up the heat underneath it and all of the dross goes up to the top. And then one of the workers comes by with some type of apparatus and he kind of scrapes all the yucky stuff, the junk off the top and the silver is purified. The gold is purified. That's what James is talking about here in verse three, knowing, you know, that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Tempered metal is more valuable. than the raw material. Now, in my fairly short and less than illustrious football career, we always had a saying that we repeated frequently, especially in August in Cleveland, where it was fairly humid and hot and we were doing double sessions and all of us felt like quitting and we just didn't want to continue to practice. We would repeat to one another the same mantra, if you will, Very simple. No pain, no gain. And somebody would say, I don't know if I can go on. And we would say, no pain, no gain. If you want to be a good ball player, if we're going to have a winning season, it's going to take pain. No pain, no gain. If you're the kind of person who doesn't stay up, pretty soon you'll be off the team. You'll never make it. It hurts to improve. I mean, why is it that so many of us exercise less than we should? I mean, if exercising was as enjoyable as eating ice cream, most of us would be in great shape, right? But the problem is eating ice cream is fun exercising for most of us. I know there's some of you that would think differently, but for most of us, exercise is not very fun. You say, then why do we do it? Because when you take a muscle group and let's just say you're lifting weights or running or walking, whatever you're doing, and you exercise that muscle group repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly until that muscle is almost fatigued. Then that muscle rests and somehow, some way, I don't know the biology of it, but that muscle becomes stronger. And the guy who started off doing three or four push-ups pretty soon is doing eight or nine push-ups. Pretty soon is doing 15 or 20 push-ups. You say why? No pain, no gain. His muscle is being tried. This is what happens in Christianity. God allows trials to come into our life And he wants us to make a choice to say, Lord, this is good. And I choose to experience joy. I will count it joy. You say why? Because of verse three, knowing that the testing, the trying, the assault, if you will, of your faith. Does something wonderful, it produces endurance, it produces endurance, Something that you can't get any other way. A word that means to patiently bear under a burden and not to quit. Do you want that kind of faith? The kind of faith that doesn't bail out when life gets tough so that you can bring honor to your Lord Jesus Christ. And I think every one of us would say, yeah, Lord, that's what I want. I want to be the kind of person that when tough times come, I can hang in there. People look at me and they say, wow, how can you do that? And then I have a chance to say, oh, I can't. It's all Jesus Christ. Let me tell you about my savior. That's the kind of faith I want to have. I want to be the kind of person who maybe one day walks out of a doctor's office and says to my family, to my church family, well, guess what? Here's the diagnosis. Here's what they said. And it's fine with me. Either way works, because all I want to do is bring glory to my God. That's the kind of faith I want. And if you know Christ, that's the kind of faith you want. You say, OK, how do we get it? Only one way. Through trials. Through tough times. When God puts us If, as it were, on the furnace or on the fire of affliction and all the impurities of our life rise to the top and he could move those away and he produces in us endurance. If you really believe this, if I really believe this. Then I'll be able to count it all joy when the tough times come. Does that make sense? I'll be able to go out my truck and turn the key in the car. The truck doesn't start and be able to say, well, this is not my choice, but I want to be like Christ and being like Christ means I need to have a faith that endures. And the only way God does that in my life is by letting me have trials. This trial is going to help me become more like Jesus Christ. God, I choose to count it all joy. That's the only way it's going to happen. And if we would think this way, then we'd have a better view of trials. Like Paul writes of in Romans 5, 3, we exult in our tribulations. Why? Knowing the tribulation brings about perseverance. Or as another translation of James puts it here, he says in verse 2, consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. Think about that. Consider it a sheer gift. I'm supposed to be able to look at trials and say, thank you, Lord. That's a gift. What a blessing. Thanks for the trials. You say, I'm not there. Neither am I. But God wants us to be there. And the way he's going to help us get there is by encountering trials. You say, OK, so if I just face a really big trial and hang in there, then I'm going to be fine. No, it's not that simple because it takes time. You say what do you mean look again at first three knowing that the testing of your faith. I'm going to paraphrase a little bit is continually producing endurance is continually working out patient endurance. Sanctification never takes place in a moment of time. We do not believe in crisis sanctification. You say, what's crisis sanctification? That's walk the aisle, come up front. And when you get off your knees, you're a changed person and you're never going to struggle again. That's come forward and raise your hands and speak in tongues and have an ecstatic experience. Be slain in the spirit, if you want, and be changed forever. The problem is that never works. Sanctification takes time. Same way exercise takes time. If you want to learn to run a race, It's going to be a consistent pattern of exercise that's going to get you there. And if we want to become like Jesus Christ, it's going to be a consistent pattern of counting joy in the face of trials that's going to get us there. Godliness takes time. And that's what James is teaching us in verse three. The only way that you and I are going to develop patient endurance is by learning to count it all joy. when we face tough times, but it doesn't stop. Because you might say, why does God want us to have patient endurance? Well, let's go to verse four and pick up the third and final point. We are to count it all joy, knowing that patient endurance is necessary for spiritual maturity. The only way you can be a spiritually mature Christian is to develop patient endurance. And the only way you can develop patient endurance is to learn to count it all joy when you face trials. If I'm not, verse two, counting it all joy when I face trials, I'm never going to develop first three patient endurance. And if I'm not developing patient endurance, first three, I'm never going to experience what's talked about in verse four. Let's read it and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." What's God's goal for us? That we would be perfect. You say, does that mean spiritual perfection in this life? No. That means perfectly mature. That means growing in every area of my life. Am I growing in every area of life? Are you growing in every area of your spiritual life? And you might say, I'll be honest with you, Greg, there is an area I'm growing in. I really haven't been consistent in Bible reading, but now I've been in the word more and it's such a blessing. I've been growing in that area. I'd say, great. How about in your marriage? Are you growing? It's like, well, I'm not so sure about that. How about in witnessing? Are you growing? Well, I'm not so sure about that. I'm just kind of focusing on the Bible reading thing here. You know what James says? James says we can be the kind of people that are growing in every area of life. That's what the word perfect means. Let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect and complete. The word complete is the idea of all of the parts are there, OK? I don't know about you, but when I open up an item like a bicycle that I'm putting together for my kids and they say, count the parts, I never count the parts. You know, you open up a bag and there's whatever, 126 parts, and they say, line them all up and see if you have them all. And that just seems so time consuming. I never do that. But I have to admit in the back of my mind, I'm thinking the whole time, man, I hope all the parts are there. Because it really is exciting. when you only need one more bolt and there's only one bolt left. I don't like it at all when I need one more bolt and it's not there. I like it a little more, but I'm still uneasy when I need one more bolt and there's two bolts there because then I have to go back through everything and see if I've covered it. That word complete here in verse four, perfect and complete, if you will. This idea in the King James, it says perfect and entire. It means being a well rounded Christian. In fact, James just puts it this way. Look at the end of verse four. Lacking in nothing. Lacking in nothing. What do most of us do? Or let me just speak of myself. What is my typical response when I'm in a trial? Lord, get me out of here. I want out. Plumbing problem. Please fix it as soon as possible. Please fix quick. I rejoice. Not quick. I'm not rejoicing. Lord, car problem, please. Could you please help this get fixed, Lord? Just as soon as you can, please. I want out. I want out now. I want out of this trial. You say, what do you call that? Can I call that? Listen, please. A disobedient prayer. Because I am commanded in verse 2 to count it all joy. So that verse 3, God can work in my life patient endurance. So that verse 4, I can be a mature, complete believer who's growing in every area of life. The only right way out of the trial, people, is through it. And to stay right in the middle of it as long as God intends. Not praying, God, get me out of here. Praying, God, change me. Change me. Lord, this is not a mistake. You didn't blink or fall asleep and all of a sudden one of my pipes breaks or all of a sudden my battery is not charged anymore. All of a sudden I'm sick. It's not like God messed up. God has a purpose in allowing tough times to come and what he wants to do is he wants to change me. And you know what happens in my life and I fear perhaps in your life. As we forget that. And you know, it's sad. All of the pain. Is wasted. I want you to think with me. I want you to think, please, if you would, of something that's happened to you. It can be recent. It could be this day. It could be last week. I want you to think of something tough, something that was really hard to handle, something that kind of caught you off guard. It really made your heart drop. We'll call it a trial. We call it trouble. My question is this. When that happened to you, did you count it all joy? If your answer is no, that is what I'm going to call wasted pain. You got beat up, you suffered, and you have nothing to show for it. I don't know about you, but that sounds quite discouraging. I mean, how would you like to be a person that exercises and you go out there and you do the best you can to lift weights, to jog or to run, and when it's all done, you're weaker than when you started? How would you like to be a guy who goes to football practice and works his very best and experiences pain, and when you're finished, you're weaker than when you started? If I go through this life facing trials, praying, God, get me out. I want out. Let me out. I hate trials. Lord, get me out. I get beat up. I struggle. I suffer. The trial ceases. And I am no better than when I started. I'm going to call that wasted pain. In fact, I think it's worse than wasted. Because I think we've many of us at least have heard the same trials can do one of two things in our lives. Number one, they could make us better or number two, they can make us what? Bitter. You say, Greg, how do people get bitter? It's very simple. They face trials and they don't count it all joy. They cry out, God, get me out. And they don't count it all joy. You say, Greg, how do people get better? It's not easy, but it's simple. They don't pray, Lord, get me out. They say, Lord, by your grace, I'm going to count it all joy. Verse two, because you promised if I counted all joy, verse two, that you would develop in me patient endurance. Verse three. And if I have patient endurance, verse three, then you're going to help me mature as a believer. Verse four. And at least when the trial is finished and the pain is over, I can look back and say, you know what, Lord, thank you. I'm not saying I'm asking for another one right now, but thank you because I did count it all joy. You are helping me to develop patient endurance and you're helping me to become more of a complete Christian. This is how God wants us to think when we experience trials. You say how? Number one, to count it all joy, even if you feel sad. That's OK. Count it all joy. You say why? Because God's going to help you in your spiritual life to develop patient endurance. You say, why do I want that? So you can be a complete and spiritually mature Christian. The kind of Christian God wants you to do to be. You say, what if I don't do it? Then you're going to go through trials. And continue to get beat up. You're going to struggle. You're going to suffer. And you're going to have nothing to show for it. Except maybe. God forbid. Bitterness. And you know what I'm talking about because you've met bitter Christians. You know what it's like to meet a child of God who is bitter and just doesn't understand what God's doing in his or her life. And you don't want to be that way. And neither do I. This is what James has shown us this evening. That when tough times come, there is a way to think. And that way to think is counting it all joy so that we can develop patient endurance and be the mature children of God that he would have us to be. Let's bow our heads please. We've opened up the scriptures this evening and we perhaps have learned for the first time or maybe reviewed something that we've known for a long time. that God has a very specific purpose in mind when he allows us to encounter tough times. And we've seen from the Word of God tonight that there is a command, a command to count it all joy. Every time we face a trial, we are commanded as children of God to count it all joy. Now, again, if you're here tonight and don't know Jesus Christ, this doesn't apply to you. You need to come to Christ. But for those of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ, His work on the cross, His resurrection from the tomb, we've seen something tonight. We've seen that God is commanding us to count it all joy, and yet God in His grace and His goodness has explained why, so that we can have the patient endurance that would make us the kind of children that He wants us to be, complete, mature, equipped to bring Him glory. I'm wondering tonight if you consider this very simple message from these three verses of James that God's convicted you and there's something going on in your life right now. It's a tough time and you haven't been counting it joy and you don't want to end up saying that was wasted pain. That was all for not. I got beat up and I didn't even grow. And just in your heart, you'd like to say, Father, forgive me for responding wrongly. And even though I don't feel like it tonight, I'm praying that you would give me the grace to count this trial is old joy. If that's true, I'd like to just pause for a few seconds so that you can pray silently to yourself and tell your heavenly father that very thing. Father, we come to you this evening confident that you've heard the prayers of your people, confident that you always hear prayers that are prayed in the name of our wonderful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we've seen very clearly tonight what you've commanded us to do. Lord, this is hard. And you know that. We thank you that you give us the grace to do the hard things Father, for those that have prayed this evening asking forgiveness, we pray, Father, that you would bless them with great joy and encouragement, Lord. Help them, Father, to find great peace in knowing that you've spoken to them tonight through your Word, not through me, but through the Word. And they've responded, Lord. They did not greed the Spirit. They've submitted to the Spirit. Father, I pray for those who did that very thing, that you would bless them. that You would encourage them, that You would help them. And Lord, we pray as we go through life this week, not knowing what awaits us, we pray that You would help us, Lord, to be prepared that whatever comes our way, whatever type of tough time we would face, that we would truly choose to count it all joy, regardless of how we feel, Father, that we would choose to submit to You and to count it all joy, knowing that you're doing something wonderful in our lives. We pray by your grace, Lord, that this may be so. And we'll thank you for it. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.