Okay, open your Bibles, if you
would, to the book of James. We'll continue our study in the
book of James, our journey through James, as I said last week. And we'll be taking our time
as we go through this book. I am not going to rush through
this book. Today, we're going to handle one verse, verse number
two. So we're just going to take our
time as we go through this book. It's going to be, Lord willing,
an in-depth study, verse by verse. Maybe a couple times when we
take two verses at once due to the context. We'll be going through
this wonderful book. There's a lot of instructions
for the saints of God all through this book. And of course, that's
true of all scriptures, isn't it? That there's instruction
all through the scriptures for us, for God's people. And we
are comforted by the scriptures as we read the scriptures. They're
relevant for us today. And that's where I said last
week that the scriptures are timeless. They transcend time
and they transcend culture because the author of this wonderful
book is God the Holy Spirit. And these letters are relevant
for us today as we go through this world and struggle the same
way. Remember, there's nothing new under the sun. So the same
struggles that our brothers and sisters in Christ had are the
same struggles that we have today. And so there's lots of instruction
all through the scriptures for us. And the scriptures comfort
us, don't they? They comfort us while we go through
Well, we journey through this world. And again, we know the
true author of the scriptures is God the Holy Spirit. It's
he who has moved these men to pen these words. And it's he
who's regenerated us. And it's he who teaches us. So
the very one who is the author of the scripture is the very
one who teaches us and guides us and teaches us of Christ.
It's amazing, isn't it? See, it's all of God. Our salvation's
all of God. Our learning's all of God. Our
growth and grace is all of God. It's all Him. All we are is receivers
of this grace and mercy. It's absolutely wonderful. So
he who has regenerated us will teach us. The scripture says
this in John chapter 16 verses 13 and 14, how about when he
the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth.
See, he's the one who guides us into the truth. We don't find
it ourselves. He guides us into it. Isn't that
wonderful? He reveals it to us. So we're not believing lies out
there. We believe the truth, because he guides us into all
truth. For he shall not speak of himself. Look at that. He
won't magnify himself. The Holy Spirit won't magnify
himself. But what shall he do? But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and will show you things to come. He shall
glorify me. This is the words of the master.
This is the words of Christ. He's saying, the Holy Spirit
is going to glorify me. for he shall receive of mine,
and shall show it unto you." John chapter 16, verses 13 and
14. Now, with that in mind, let's
read James chapter one. We'll read the first eight verses
to get the context of the verse that we'll be looking at today.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the
12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Knowing
this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let
patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect in entire,
wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and abrideth
not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering, for he that wavereth is like the wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. Not that man think that he shall
receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable
in all his ways. So today, we'll be looking at
verse two. We'll be looking at verse two.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Note in verse two, we clearly
see James is writing to God's people. He's not writing to people
all over the world. He's writing to specific saints,
God's people, God's elect. those who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, those who have been given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone who once professed to
be a believer told me it was unscriptural to call believers
brothers and sisters in Christ. And this lady said, don't call
me and my husband brother and sister anymore. My gosh. And
they told me it was unscriptural. What? Look what we see right
here. My brethren. This is James writing
to his to his fellow believers, my brethren. Oh my. And that statement that that
person said just shows a lack of knowledge, doesn't it, of
spiritual things, of scriptural things. Because all through the
New Testament, we see this brought forth, that we're brothers and
sisters in Christ. When it says brethren, that includes
brothers and sisters. We're one family, beloved. We're
one family. Do you know what the brethren
means there in the Greek? A brother. That's what it means.
a brother. So there's no denying it, is
there? It's all through the scriptures. And this denotes a fellowship
of life. This denotes that we have a fellowship of life with
each other. And where's that life come from?
It comes from God, doesn't it? Because we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We have no spiritual life in
us when we come into this world. The people that James is writing
to here, they're born again. They're born again. So this denotes
a fellowship of life based on identity, of origin. In the Greek,
it means members of the same family. Well, we are members
of the same family, aren't we? We have the same father, right? We do. We have the same redeemer.
And we're born again by the same Holy Spirit. We're family, beloved. That's why we cry out, I have
a father now. That's why we cry out, I have
a father. Even our Lord called his people brethren. Do you know
that? In Matthew chapter 25, verse 40, the king says this.
The master says this, and the king shall answer, and say unto
them, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye done it unto the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he's
speaking there to those folks who said, when did we do these
things, Lord? He's speaking to his people. He calls us brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ calls us
brethren, beloved. Why? Because we're his bride. We're his people. Jesus appears
to Mary Magdalene in John chapter 20, verse 17, and he says this,
He says this about his people, about his sheep. He says this,
Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended
unto my father, but go to my brethren. Go to my brethren and
say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father and
to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken
these things unto her. He called the disciples there
brethren. Isn't that amazing? So beloved,
we who are the born again blood washed saints to God here in
this church and others all around the world who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, who are born again, are brethren. We have brothers and sisters.
I know on Papua New Guinea where Lance is. My, there's a fella
in Russia that contacted Joe Terrell, he had brothers and
sisters in Russia. We're getting downloads from
all over the world now. Saw last night China. Communist
country, my gosh. We got brothers and sisters over
there, beloved. We don't know. We don't know
who they are. But they have the same father
as we have. They have the same Redeemer we have. They're born
again by the same Holy Spirit as we are. Oh, praise be to God. It's wonderful, isn't it? It's
absolutely wonderful. And you know what else, too?
We're washed in the same precious blood, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're redeemed with the same
precious blood. the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that blood paid the price for our eternal souls, didn't
it? Oh, my. And we're all forgiven in Christ,
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. So these words here are
written for our learning. They're not only written for
the learning of the people James is writing to, they're written
for our learning today, too. Right? My. Next in this verse,
we see that James deals with trials, which every believer
shall have in this world. We're told in the scripture to
not be surprised at trials when they come our way. Listen to
the words of the master. Let's actually turn there, John
chapter 16, verse 33. And then we'll go to John chapter
15. John chapter 16, verse 33. We're told by the master himself
that we're gonna have tribulation in this world. We will, we will. John chapter 16, verse 33. These things have I spoken unto
you that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but, listen to this, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Look at that. Our master's overcome
the world. We're gonna have trials, yes
we will, but he's ever with us. He's ever with us. And he tells
us, be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And then looking one
chapter back, John chapter 15, John chapter 15, look at this,
in verses 18 to 21. If the world hate you, And again,
this is the words of the Master, this is the words of the Word
of God. Incarnate. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you. Look at that. God chose us. Remember,
we love him because he first loved us. Boy, this goes against
the grain of religion, eh? This is the words of the master.
This is not Wayne's words. These are the words of the master
right here. He says, but I have chosen you
out of the world. Therefore, the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me. I remember I heard Henry say
this. He said, they can't get at God, so they get at the saints. That's true. But beloved, we
have a great protector, don't we? And that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul wrote these words to Timothy, a young preacher,
he said in 2 Timothy 3.12, he says, yea, and all that will
live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution. So how are we to
regard trials that come our way? How are we to regard trials that
come our way? What is to be our attitude when
they come our way? Well, Brother Henry Mahan brings
forth about this verse, verse two, when you fall into divers
temptations, he said this, my brethren, consider joy of the
highest kind. when you are put under trial
by the hand of God. Listen to these words in light
of what James, let's read what James writes here. My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Listen
to these words of the Lord in the Beatitudes. Matthew 5, verses
11 and 12. He says, blessed are ye when
men shall revile you. Blessed are you? We don't feel
very blessed when people are reviling us, do we? For our faith.
He says, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for
my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." Who's our reward in heaven? Christ. Oh, my. This little bit of time
of persecution and trials will pass, beloved, and our reward
will be to see Christ. He told Abraham, I'm your reward.
I'm your great exceeding reward. Oh, my. Just a little bit of
time, beloved. Just a little bit of time. Turn
to Acts chapter 5. Now remember who's writing this
in James when he says, my brethren count it all joy when you fall
into divers temptations. This is one of the disciples.
This is James the disciple, one of the apostles. Let's look over
here in the book of Acts chapter 5. The apostles of Christ were
called into court by the Jewish Sanhedrin. Now the Sanhedrin
were a group of 70 religious leaders in Israel. They were
literally the who's who of religion in that day. They were the top.
They were the creme de la creme in man's eyes of religious people. They were most highly respected
people. They were the most influential people. And they were thought
to be the most spiritual people, the most godly people of the
religious world at that time. And normally they were very,
very tolerant of different things. But they hated the teachings
of Christ. They were not tolerant about the teachings of Christ.
Not at all. They hated the teachings of Christ.
And we see this come forth in the scripture right here before
us. Now the apostles were publicly proclaiming Christ is the only
Lord and Savior of men, and they were doing it in the temple.
The Sanhedrin thought the temple belonged to them because they
were the religious leaders. But it was God's temple, beloved.
It wasn't theirs. Remember, this church is God's
church, right? It's his church. And he leads
us. and guides us and directs us, doesn't he? It's his church,
and that temple was God's temple. And the angel of the Lord expressly
commanded these men to go to the temple, the place where God's
name was now being profaned, and they were to preach the gospel.
Look at verses 19 and 20 in Acts chapter 5. But the angel of the
Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth
and said, go stand and speak where? In the temple. All the
words of this life. So what do the apostles do? Well,
they go and preach, don't they? Off they go, they go and preach.
Look at Acts chapter 5, verses 29 to 32. Then Peter and the
other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than
man, because they were told not to preach the gospel by the Sanhedrin
and by other people. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses.
Now they're in the temple preaching this. We are His witnesses of
these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that obey Him. When they heard that,
they were cut to their heart and took counsel to slay them.
Now look at, right away, they wanted to kill them. All they're
doing is preaching the gospel. Do you see the hatred that the
world has? Remember, remember the Lord said,
marvel not if the world hates you. We have a picture of that
right here, don't we? You Sanhedrin, they hated them
for preaching the gospel. Oh, they were madder than a wet
hornet. And it says here, They took counsel to slay them, to
kill them, just for their words, just for what they were saying.
And they were cut to the heart by these words, which means the
Holy Spirit, which we know that it's the Holy Spirit got a hold
of those words, didn't he? And they were cut to the bone,
man. One of them stood up and told
them to leave these men alone because if their work be of God
and not of men, they were fighting against God. Look at verses 38
and 39. And now I say unto you, refrain
from these men and let them alone. For if this counsel or this work
be of men, it will come to naught." It'll fade away. But if it be
of God, you cannot overthrow it. Look at that. See, God's
gospel will never be overthrown in this world. Never. There'll
always be a remnant. The gospel will always be preached
right to the end. Look at that. But if it be of
God, you cannot overthrow it, lest, happily, you be found even
to fight against God. So what are people doing in this
world? They're actually fighting against God. when they shake
their fist at our great God, and we did it before we were
saved, when they say all manner of evil against the gospel and
God's people, they're fighting against God, beloved. That's
a scary place to be, isn't it? Oh, may God have mercy on them.
So we see here an example of what James is bringing forth
in his exhortation to those he is writing to, because he tells
us in James chapter one, verse two, my brother encountered all
joy when you fall into divers temptations. Now we're gonna
see here that James and the apostles, they practiced what they preached.
And when it says, falls into diverse temptations, that's just
various temptations, that's all, various trials. Again, the one
who's writing the book of James is here among these who are suffering
for the gospel in chapter five here. Let's read what the text
brings forth here in verse 40. And to him, they agreed when
they had called the apostles and beaten them. Look at that.
Well, they didn't kill him, but they beat him. They commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let him
go. So they took him, they beat him, and they said, we don't
want you talking about Christ anymore. Now it's better to obey
God than man, right? Oh, look at their reaction now. Look at their reaction to the
trial they had just went through. They'd been beaten and they were
told not to teach Christ, not to speak Christ. And look at
their reaction. This can only be the work of
God, the Holy Spirit. I'm telling you, this can only
be the work of God, the Holy Spirit. And they departed from
the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy
to suffer shame for his name. Oh my gosh, they were praising
God. They were praising God, beloved.
Remember what James says over here? My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into divers temptations. He knows what he's
talking about, doesn't he? He knows what he's talking about.
He knows, because he's one of them here. I love this. I'm going
to read it again. And they departed from the presence
of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for his name. Their bodies were full of pain,
beloved, because of what they had went through, but their hearts
were full of joy, and the scriptures proclaim here they rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ. They
considered it a high honor bestowed upon them that God would allow
such worthless sinful creatures as they to suffer for the honor
of Christ. They rejoiced in God's faithfulness
to them. Remember this, God is Faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able,
but will with the temptation make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it. First Corinthians 10, 13. He'll
carry you right through it. And then he'll give you a way
of escape through it. So we see here that James practiced what
he preached, didn't he? Oh, may God give us grace. When
we go through trials and temptations and situations in our life, may
he give us grace to rejoice during those situations. I remember
what Norm Wells said, the battles of the lords, Put my hand over
my mouth so I don't say anything. It's true, isn't it? Battles
of the Lords. Oh my, it's His. And He'll always deliver us.
And they were trusting in His deliverance. They'd been delivered
out of prison, we saw. Sent to the temple to preach
the gospel. Then they preached the gospel boldly and it cuts
the hearts by, again, by the power of God, the Holy Spirit
cuts the hearts of those hearers. And then they got beaten and
said, you can't preach Christ anymore. Well, what'd they do? I love this. What'd they do?
They're told not to preach Christ anymore. Well, look at verse
42, Acts chapter 5. And daily in the temple and in
every house they ceased not to preach, teach and preach Christ. Why? They just, you know what
those, you know what those Sanhedrin did? They just poured fuel on
the fire, beloved. That's all they did. These men
were not going to be stopped. God had told them, you go and
preach. They're not going to be stopped. And they're going
to be kept with the ability to preach the gospel by God, the
Holy Spirit, and by God himself. Oh, and daily in the temple and
in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. They couldn't shut him up. I'll
tell you what, if God gives a man a message, you can't shut him
up. You can't. If God gives a man a message, you can't shut him
up. Because God will send him wherever he's pleased, and wherever
he goes, that's what he's gonna talk about. He's gonna talk about
Christ. That's what he's gonna do. So what does it mean to suffer
for Christ? What does it mean to suffer for
Christ? Well, it's to be a true believer. It's to be a true believer.
It's to lose your life for him. To count your life nothing and
to count Christ as all. To obey him, to follow him, to
submit to him, and to trust him regardless of the cost or the
consequences. Every one of us here have probably
lost friends because of what we believe. Maybe even some family
members won't speak as warmly as they used to to you because
of what you believe. But you know what? We counted
all joy that Christ saved us, don't we? We counted all joy,
regardless of the cost or the consequence, to follow Christ. And every believer will, as long
as they live in this world, be called to suffer for our Savior's
name. But rejoice, you who are the
purchased people of God. Rejoice. You whom Christ died
for on Calvary's cross, as you have all the promises of God.
He said he'll never leave you nor forsake you. No matter what
you go through, he's promised. that He'll never leave you nor
forsake you, never. There's some hard things that come our way,
isn't there? But God's promised, I'll never leave you nor forsake
you. And we saw there, He'll not let us suffer more than we
can bear. Now, sometimes we think, my gosh, Lord, how am I gonna
do this? But you know what? When you're going through those
times, He's keeping you, He's upholding you, and He's ever
with you. I'll tell you what, the lowest
time of your life, He's never left you. And there may be dark
days ahead, but know this, He'll never leave you. Here never forsake
you, here ever be with you, here keep you, and God will be glorified
on you. And it's he who preserves us
to the end. It's he who does this. Let's read verse two again.
James chapter one, verse two. My brethren count it all joy
when you fall into divers temptations. Now divers there again just means
various in character in the Greek, various in character. So when
you fall into all different temptations and trials, now temptations in
the Greek means trial, trial, a putting to the test. See, God
puts us through these things to prove our faith, beloved,
to prove our faith, to strengthen our faith, because he always
gets the glory when we go through these situations, doesn't he?
We can always look back and say, look what the Lord's done. This
is amazing. Look how he's kept me. Oh my. Listen to how this verse is translated
in a literal Greek translation. Esteem it all joy, my brothers,
when you might fall into various trials. Esteem it all joy, my
brothers, when you might fall into various trials. So beloved
of God, again, trials test or prove our faith. They're hard
and no one likes them. I don't know anybody who said,
well, I love trials. I haven't met anyone yet as a believer
who says that. No, they're hard, aren't they?
They're hard. And sometimes they're trials of health, trials of affliction,
trials of words from others, all different kinds of trials,
trials in our minds that no one ever sees, trials in our hearts,
that no one but the Lord knows about. Heartache, but oh, beloved,
count it all joy. Count it all joy when we fall
into these afflictions and persecutions for the sake of the gospel, because
God's people will be tried. But here bring us forth, beloved.
Here bring us forth through that fire of affliction. And God tries
his people. He tried Abraham, didn't he?
He tried Abraham. He called him to sacrifice his
son. My, he tried his faith. And he does for us by various
afflictions which we go through. And God tries the graces of his
people. Not that he might know them, for he's not ignorant of
us, or ignorant of the things we go through, but that they
might manifest to others. And these are divers, meaning
as the scripture declares, many afflictions of the righteous.
But what do they do? They manifest to others that
God is keeping us. You ever hear somebody say, I
don't know how you went through that. By God's grace, he carried me through
it. And he does time and time and
time again. And we know that many are the
afflictions of the righteous and through much tribulation
they must enter the kingdom. So God's people in this life
endure trials just as these believers that James was writing to. We
endure the same kind of trials today, all because of our love
for Christ and our love for the gospel. And these brethren that
James was writing to, they were persecuted by their own countrymen.
They were distressed by the Gentiles. Among whom they live, they face
reproaches for preaching Christ, just as we do today. Oh, may
our great God give us grace and strength in our time of need,
just as he did for those to whom James was writing. May God be
glorified by the preaching of his word.