Book of James 1:1-15 

Trials and Perseverance 

Tonight I want to start a new series on the book of James 

Why the book of James? 

The answer is simple – first because this is a very powerful and impactful book – second because this is one of my favorite books in the Bible 

In fact, if I was stranded on a deserted island and could only have 5 books of the Bible with me the book of James would be one of them 

The others would be the Gospel of Luke, Psalms, Proverbs, and depending on the day either Romans or 1 Corinthians 

There is so much wisdom in the book of James 

In fact the book of James is considered to be the Proverbs of the New Testament 

Within the 108 verses of this book there are 54 commands.   

One of the things that I love about this book is that James is not afraid to tell us what we should and should not be doing.   

He is a very ‘in your face’ kind of an author who deals very bluntly and directly with the things that believers encounter in everyday life.   

With that being said we must keep in mind that James’ goal is not to beat up his readers, but to help them live the Christian life in an authentic way. 

Let’s go ahead and jump right in with both feet – turn with me if you would to James chapter 1 

James 1:1-15 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  

Wow, quite a lot to chew there 

I want to look at this passage in a little more detail to dissect the powerful truths that are contained here 

Verse 1 - James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. 

The book of James was written as a letter – scholars call it an “Epistle” 

In verse one we have the intro 

The author of the book is James, the half-brother of Jesus.   

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but can you imagine what it must have been like to have jesus as a brother? 

Jesus lived a sinless life, which could have gotten very annoying to a little brother! 

I don’t know what it was like growing up with Jesus, but it is interesting that James was not a believer in Christ during the Lord’s earthly ministry.  

He did not follow Jesus while He was travelling or teaching 

In fact, from what I see in Scripture there is a good chance that James thought Jesus was crazy 

Mark 3:20-21 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."  

It is only after James saw the resurrected Christ that he believed.   

In fact, James was later named among the Apostle and was one of the leaders of the early church 

In his epistle James was writing to Jews who had been scattered through the Roman Empire because of persecution. 

And what does he say? 

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

The very first topic that James deals with is something that we all must deal with in life - the topic of trials.   

The term trials refer to anything that breaks that pattern of peace, comfort, joy, and happiness in someone’s life.   

It literally means to put through a test.   

Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t like tests at all 

In fact, when I read this verse it makes me scratch my head and say “huh?” 

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds 

Pure joy when we face trials?  Is James nuts? 

Not at all, in fact this is a very wise admonition 

First, notice that James said trials are a given.   

He didn’t say “if we face trials”, but “when we face trials”  

We all know that life is full of trials don’t we? 

Give examples 

Trials will come and they are never fun 

But James says that we are to respond with joy 

We must be careful to understand what James is saying here.  

He is not suggesting some kind of masochistic happiness in the hurts and losses of life.  

He is not saying that we are to enjoy being sick, losing a loved one, getting laid off from our job, or things like that  

This is not some weird kind of denial of the fact that sometimes life stinks  

Some of you here today are know exactly what I mean by that – right now for you, life does stink 

James does not suggest that we manufacture some kind of phony sense of happiness about our troubles.  

So, what is he suggesting? 

There is a reason to be joyful in the midst of trials.  

It is not being happy about the trouble, it is finding joy in what the trouble produces.  

One pastor said “It is enjoying the sweet fruit produced only by bitter times.” 

What possible good can come out of trials? 

3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

The purpose of these trials is to develop perseverance, which ultimately leads to maturity and fulfillment 

Sarah – “why do we make so many mistakes” Me – “lack of experience” 

Sarah – “how do we get experience?” Me – “by making mistakes” 

Experience is that thing you get right after you need it! 

Notice this is not a test to find if faith is there -  It’s a test to strengthen our faith 

There is also a process that is implied here.  

Trials produce  Perseverance which produces  Maturity.  

Maturity is not automatic. It takes time. 

Every person here today can think of a trial which he or she has gone through. If I asked you, “Would you like to go through that again?” You would undoubtedly say, “No way.” 

But if I asked you, “Are you grateful for what that difficulty accomplished in your life?” Many of you would say, “I wouldn’t trade those lessons and the character developed in those trials for anything.” 

That is why we consider it all joy.  

We consider it all joy because we know that when tough times come, the end result is going to be perseverance and maturity.  

That can be a hard pill to swallow though, especially in the midst of the trial 

What do we do when we find ourselves up to our necks in trial and have no idea what to do next? 

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. 

Extrapolate 

Let’s skip to verse 12 

12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 

When we persevere under trial we will be blessed 

We will receive “the crown of life” 

Makes me wonder what will happen if we whine and complain under trial? 

Is God pleased by our “woe is me” attitude? 

13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 

When things are going bad it is easy to blame God 

But we must remember that yes, God will allow trials, but God never brings temptation 

If we are being tempted to do wrong, that is not a situation that God created 

The devil will tempt us, but God never will 

In fact, the devil doesn’t have even have to bring temptation, we tend to find it quite well on our own 

14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.  

This is the path to sin 

Our evil desires give birth to sin, and sin brings death 

What exactly does this mean? 

Almost all temptation starts in the mind 

We cannot always control the thoughts that go through our head, but we can control what we dwell on 

If we think about it long enough it’s easy to act on it 

Let me use an example from a fairly recent sermon 

We just finished our study on the life of David 

Remember David & Bathsheba? 

(recap story) 

Could David help what he saw from the roof of the palace? 

Not really, although you could argue that if he was where he was supposed to be – with his troops – that this incident would have never happened 

But still, David did not purposely seek to spy on a bathing woman 

That was an accident 

What was not an accident was David staring at Bathsheba 

His refusal to look away was part of his, as James put it, “evil desire” that got him to thinking about Bathsheba in ways that he should not have been 

This led to David ultimately committing adultery with Bathsheba 

The battle was begun in his mind, fought in his mind, and lived out in the flesh 

The same holds true for us. 

I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not enjoy those battles 

They are the trials that James is speaking of 

So, how do we win these battles? 

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.  

Ask God to renew our minds – to give us a new way of thinking 

To bring us the victory that can be ours 

Closing 

Trials are never fun – in fact they stink 

But there is a plan and a purpose in them