“Joy, Trial, and Patience” is a sermon teaching us that we can count our trials and troubles all joy because we know that great is our reward in Heaven.

Key verses:
James 1:1-4

Right now, I’m going to ask you to take your Bible and turn with me to the Book of James, James chapter one, James chapter one. We were in James last Wednesday night. We were a little bit deeper into the book last week than tonight. I want to go back to chapter one and verse one, James chapter one and verse one, and I want to read the first sentence to you, which is the first three verses of James chapter one.

James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”

James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”

James 1:3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

Who Is James?

I’m going to talk about James tonight and who this fellow James is. I’m going to read to you a few verses, actually several verses, that have to do with James and give you an idea of who he is. Then, I’m going to read you excerpts from an article, and I will give credit to that in just a little bit.

But Matthew chapter 12, don’t try to turn to all these. I’m going to go too fast for that. Matthew 12:46 to 50 says this:

Matthew 12:46: “While he [Jesus] yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.”

I want to interject something here. There is a teaching out there and it’s not a new one. It’s been around for a long time that where it says “his brethren” here, doesn’t really mean His brothers. It means cousins and these are cousins of Jesus. Now, I just want to submit one thought to you and we’re not going to dwell on it. We’re going to move on.

But John the Baptist is unquestionably a cousin of Jesus, and he is never referred to as Jesus’ brother. So, just keep that in mind, okay? All right. Again, Matthew 12:46 to 50:

Matthew 12:46: “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.”

Matthew 12:47: “Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.”

Matthew 12:48: “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?”

Matthew 12:49: “And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!”

Matthew 12:50: “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Obviously, He’s talking about the spiritual relationship there, but contrast that with the next chapter of Matthew, Matthew chapter 13:54 to 58:

Matthew 13:54: “And when he [Jesus] was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?”

Matthew 13:55: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”

Now, I think you’re following that, right? “Is not this the carpenter’s son,” referring to Joseph. “Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren,” not His cousins, “his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas,” not Iscariot.

Matthew 13:56: “And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?”

Matthew 13:57: “And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”

Matthew 13:58: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Mark 15:40, the scene is at the cross:

Mark 15:40: “There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;”

Now, you compare. She’s the mother of James and Joses, and then, back in Matthew 13, His brethren are James and Joses and Simon. It appears to be talking about the same person.

John 2:12: “After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.”

John 7:2: “Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.”

John 7:3: “His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.”

John 7:4: “For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.”

Listen to this next statement:

John 7:5: “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”

Then Paul, in Galatians 1:18 and 19, says this:

Galatians 1:18: “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.”

Galatians 1:19: “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”

Isn’t that interesting?

The Stone Box

Now, I’ve talked to you a number of times about an archaeological artifact called the James ossuary. And I want to read to you just a couple of excerpts from an article by a man named Hershel Shanks. Hershel Shanks was the founder of the Biblical Archaeological Society, and he was the editor and publisher for many years of a quarterly publication called Biblical Archaeology Review. Hershel Shanks, to the best of my knowledge, was not a Christian. He was of Jewish heritage, but he was open and honest in his statements and his studies in archaeology.

He had this to say about the James ossuary, he said, “The massive effort to expose and condemn the ossuary inscription,” – and this is what we’ve talked to you about before and this is the inscription as it translates into English, the inscription is actually in the Aramaic language.

“The massive effort to expose and condemn the ossuary inscription ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’ as a forgery ended with the acquittal of owner Oded Golan. But this effort has risen anew, enlisting a prominent American paleographer in the cause from beginning to end, as we shall see. However, the effort to establish the forgery was motivated by predilections more than facts.”

What he’s saying is what Hershel Shanks was saying is, those who doubt the authenticity of this ossuary and the inscription do so, not based on facts, but because they just don’t want it to be true.

Hershel Shanks goes on, “Although, the ossuary inscription had been authenticated by internationally respected paleographer, Andre Lemaire of the Sorbonne, and the ossuary [or bone box] had been submitted for examination to the Geological Survey of Israel, which found no suggestion that the inscription was a forgery.”

Finally, he says, “The importance of the inscription is also plain. If it is authentic, it would be the earliest written reference to Jesus.” I think that’s pretty interesting.

Now, can I share something with you? I’ve said this about other things. I don’t think I’ve said anything about this particular artifact before, but I’ve said it about other things. What if someday, somebody proves it is a forgery, that it’s not authentic? What’s that going to do to your faith? I’m going to answer you. Nothing at all. Why doesn’t it do anything to your faith? Because my faith is not in an ossuary, a stone box. My faith is in the living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I think the box is very well authenticated. I’ve shared just a little bit, snippets, that are from a major article, and that he’s not the only person to write on this subject. By the way, others have, and it was a subject of a court case back in 2015. The court authenticated the inscription and that was the court in Israel. But this box was made public in 2002. The court case was in 2015.

Servant of the Lord

Now, we have an idea of the identity of the author of the Book of James, and the author of the Book of James is James, the Lord’s brother, as Paul called him in Galatians 1:19. The book is written for the people of Israel. Look at it, if you will, verse one. James identifies himself. He doesn’t claim any fame or notoriety for himself. He calls himself a servant, James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know there’s no higher title in God’s service than that of servant? We should all be servants to Jesus Christ.

I’ve mentioned this to you a number of times. My all-time favorite movie is probably Sheffey. This is not one of the most popular movies ever made, though it did fairly well considering its genre and the era in which it was produced.

It is the true story of Robert Sheffy, who was a Methodist circuit writing preacher in the 1800s, who rode all over Virginia and West Virginia and in that part of the country and preached. He was known for his prayer life.

But throughout the film, when somebody asks him, “Are you Robert Sheffey?” His answer was consistent, “I’m a servant of the Lord.” He didn’t claim any fame. He was well known, but he didn’t claim any fame. He said, “I’m a servant of the Lord.” And that is the highest title that any of us could have, to be a servant of the Lord. That’s the title James claimed for himself, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s who’s writing.

He’s writing to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Scattered abroad, the diaspora, the dispersion of the people of Israel throughout the known world. The 12 tribes of Israel never ceased to exist.

Very quickly, let me give you a little history. The 10 Northern tribes, which came to be called Israel, fell captive to the Assyrians. This is long before the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem. So, the tribe of Benjamin was pretty much absorbed into the tribe of Judah, the tribe that lived in Judea and that is the vicinity around the city of Jerusalem.

So, the tribe of Judah became the main tribe and the most identifiable tribe, and I say the most identifiable because the northern tribes were assimilated by the Assyrians. What does that mean? It means many of them intermarried with the Assyrians and they came to be called Samaritans.

Now, you know that term, and in the New Testament, they’re called Samaritans because the capital of the northern kingdom was Samaria, and that was the name of the capital city, and that was where they worshiped God.

But the tribe of Judah is in the southern kingdom and their capital was and is Jerusalem, and where the temple that Solomon built stood. Now, that’s where the name Jew comes from when you talk about people who are Jews. Why are they called Jews? Because they are of the tribe of Judah.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. Understand that today, anybody who is of one of the 12 tribes of Israel is usually called Jewish. Why would we call them Jewish? Because they follow what the Bible calls, not my term the Bible calls the Jews’ religion. They followed that because the tribe of Judah became the prominent tribe. Now, why did it become the prominent tribe as far as God is concerned? Because it is through the tribe of Judah that the Messiah was promised to come, and it was through the tribe of Judah that the Messiah did come.

David, King David, was of the tribe of Judah. Every king who sat on the throne in Jerusalem –this is not true of all the Samaritan kings, but every king that sat on the throne in Jerusalem was a descendant, a direct descendant of David. And therefore, every king that sat on the throne in Jerusalem, and we’re certainly not talking about King Herod, he doesn’t fit in that line, but every king descendant of David would have been, from any viewpoint, Jewish. There’s no question about that, and the Lord Jesus comes to us through the tribe of Judah according to the prophecy. There’s no question about any of this. This is an obvious fact from the Bible and history.

This book was written by James, the Lord’s brother, but he calls himself a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes of Israel. So, obviously, James believed that all the 12 tribes still existed, not as easily identifiable as they would have been hundreds of years before that, but they still existed. And I’m going to tell you they still exist today. How do you know? Because the book of Revelation tells us that God is going to send out 144,000 witnesses during the Tribulation period, 12,000 of each of the 12 tribes of Israel, 12 x 12 = 144. So, the 144,000 witnesses are not members of The Watchtower Bible and Track Society, commonly called Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are of the 12 tribes of Israel.

I asked a person one day if they were witnessing to me, and I asked them if they were one of the 144,000. They said they didn’t think they had that privilege. I said, “Well, I’m sure you don’t.” They said, “Well, how are you so sure about that?” I said, “Are you Jewish?” They said, “No.” Then I said, “Then I’m sure you’re not one of the 144,000. It’s pretty obvious. All you have to do is read your Bible.”

The fact that I’m trying to get across to you is this: James wrote to the 12 tribes believing that the 12 tribes were not only still existent, but identifiable, and all of the house of Israel. He gives them a greeting and then in verse two he says, “My brethren,” – he calls them all brothers. They’re all his brothers and rightly so.

Count It All Joy

Now, he says:

James 1:2: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

I’ve said this here before, and I’ve said it recently, a man in earnest. He wasn’t being funny. At first, I thought he was joking. I discovered he was very much in earnest. He was very serious. He asked me who are these divers that you read about in the Bible? At first, I didn’t know what he meant and then I saw divers, d-i-v-e-r-s, just to change in spelling from d-i-v-e-r-s-e. Today, we say diverse, something that’s different, diverse. It’s the same word, just a different spelling, the “e” left off the end. The meaning has not changed at all.

James 1:2: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into [different or] divers temptations;

James 1:3: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

He says, “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually think of temptations as being joyful. I think of them as being trials, and that’s what we’re talking about tonight trials, joy. Trials, temptation, is not usually joyous but he says count it all joy. Consider it a joyful time when you enter into diverse temptations. Where did he get that idea? Well, listen to Jesus in Matthew 5:10-12:

Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

Matthew 5:12: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Now, let’s read that again, “When men persecute you and revile you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.” We’re supposed to rejoice. Well, that’s exactly what he said isn’t it? “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” That’s why you’re going to rejoice and be exceeding glad, not that it’s fun to be persecuted, not that it’s fun for people to lie about you, not that it’s fun for you to be falsely accused when people revile you. That means they treat you as though your name is poison in their mouth, and they want to spit it out, but because “great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

You know what the Lord Jesus was telling us? When you’re persecuted, when people are reviling you, when they’re persecuting you, when they’re saying all manner of evil against you falsely for his name’s sake, not because you’re guilty of something, but for his name’s sake. When that happens, you’re in the same company as people like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Habakkuk. You’re in the company of the prophets. Rejoice and be exceeding glad.

I want to read to you very quickly from 1 Peter chapter 4:12- 16 and let’s get Peter’s point of view on this. 1 Peter chapter 4:12 Peter says this, and by the way, Peter knew what it meant to be persecuted. He got put in jail just for preaching in Jesus’ name. Healing a man in Jesus’ name got him locked up. It’s not the only time he went to jail.

1 Peter 4:12: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:”

Don’t think that when this happens to you, you’re the only one. Verse 13:

1 Peter 4:13: “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

“Ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings,” – isn’t that something, partakers of Christ’s sufferings, “that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 4:14: “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”

1 Peter 4:15: “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.”

In other words, what he’s saying is don’t do anything that you shouldn’t be doing, that you know you shouldn’t be doing. Don’t do anything wrong so people have a legitimate reason to say bad things about you and to treat you roughly and rudely, and perhaps prosecute you, as well as persecute you. If you’re guilty you’re guilty. But look at the next verse, verse 16:

1 Peter 4:16: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

When you suffer as a Christian because you’re a Christian, glorify God. Glorify God and trust Him with the outcome. “Well, preacher, I don’t know about that. I’ve heard about some godly people who were persecuted for Jesus’ sake and their outcome wasn’t so great. They were either in prison for life or tortured or killed.” And you’re right. That’s not just something that happened many years ago far away, that’s something that goes on today.

I was listening to the radio today, and the persecution of Christians is rampant all over the world, and it is and has been for some time. This is nothing new. It’s very severe in the country of Nigeria, but Nigeria is not alone, that’s one that gets a lot of press. The same people who will tell you about Nigeria, will tell you that the country that is number one in the world for persecuting Christians is North Korea. Now, geographically, there’s a lot of difference between Nigeria and North Korea. Politically, there’s a lot of difference. These are two major persecutors of Christians, and they are not the only countries. It’s not just those two, there are others. There are places where it is illegal for you to be a Christian.

What happens if you break those laws? Well, there are people right now in different parts of the world in jail for being a Christian. What else do they do wrong? No, that’s it. They’re in jail for being a Christian. People are being killed because they are Christians. You and I need to thank God for the freedom and the liberty that we have, we need to. I promise you; we don’t know how good we’ve got it.

So, James writes, according to Scoffield, his theme is the religion, Greek word there is “thriskeia,” an outward religious service as expression and proof of faith. He’s not teaching about works salvation, but he’s teaching about faith producing works. So, James says to count it all joy, consider it a joyful time and rejoice in it.

The Trying of Your Faith

Now, look at verse three. When you’re persecuted James 1 and verse 3:

James 1:3: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

“The trying of your faith,” – when your faith is on trial, when you are being persecuted, when your faith is being tested, when you are being tempted, when you are going through the hardest time, you need to have faith. It’s hard to have faith. That’s going to bring patience about in you. Listen to Paul in Romans 5:3-5:

Romans 5:3: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”

“What’s that, Paul, you grow glory in tribulations?” Yeah, that’s what he said, Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. Tribulation or trouble brings forth patience.

Romans 5:4: “And patience, experience; and experience, hope:”

Romans 5:5: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Again, that’s Paul, Romans chapter 5:3-5. So, the way that we can count it all joy is that we know that the trial is a putting to the test of our faith. And it’s done so that number one, we can have the honor of suffering for our Lord. Number two, we can be in the company of great servants of our Lord, such as the prophets of the Old Testament. Number three, our faith can be strengthened. Number four, we can develop patience through our endurance of the trial of our faith.

James will tell us that there are many who profess Christ who don’t have any persecution, they don’t have any trouble. James is going to tell us later on, not in this verse, but later on he’s going to tell us that there may be some of them who aren’t genuine Christians.

Now, having said that, let me tell you, and I can’t know the hearts of other people, I’m going to tell you if somebody tells me they’ve been saved, I take their word for it. I do. I can’t see their heart. I don’t know what’s in their heart. God knows if they tell me they’ve had a born-again experience, they’ve trusted the Lord Jesus as their Savior, I take their word for it. But the fact of the matter is that the trial of our faith is evidence that our faith is indeed genuine.

So, he says, knowing “that the trying of your faith worketh patience,” verse four:

James 1:4: “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

What does that mean? What he’s saying is let or allow patience to have her perfect work. Patience is going to work in your life, to bring you to perfection. So, why would we want to have trouble that will produce patience, that will produce experience and experience that will produce hope in our lives? Why would we want to have that? Well, he tells us in this verse, take a look at it:

James 1:4: “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be perfect. Well, somebody says that word “perfect” really means complete. Let me ask you something. If something is totally complete, it is not lacking in any way whatsoever, is that not perfect? It certainly is. By the way, this is the same Greek word translated “perfect” where Jesus said:

Matthew 5:48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

So, if you want to say it’s complete, He’s saying be as complete as your Father in Heaven is complete. “Well, how complete is God?” I’d say He is perfect, wouldn’t you? “Well, that’s your opinion.” And yes, it is my opinion, but it’s more than that.

I did a little research on this not too long ago, just a few weeks ago, and every English translation of the Bible, every one, not a single exception, you can name whichever English version you want to name, every one of them translate that verse, “Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Not one of them says complete. Every one of them says, “Perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” So, I think we’re safe in saying perfect is the right word. What do you think? “So that we may be perfect.”

And then he says, so that we may be entire. Entire means mature here, grown to maturity. How do you know when a Christian is grown to maturity? When we’re like Christ, when we’re truly like him, that’s how you know when a Christian is grown to maturity. Then it says wanting or lacking nothing. So, the goal of the Christian life is to grow up to be like Christ.

Let me read to you another passage. I’m going this time to 2 Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12:7 to10. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, listen to this, Paul says:

2 Corinthians 12:7: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

2 Corinthians 12:8: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 Corinthians 12:10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

What is he saying? He’s saying the Lord works it all out in His working in you and through you, if you’ll let Him do it. So, when trials and trouble come and they will, remember that our Lord has suffered for us. And those trials and trouble come whether we want them to or not. Remember that we are honored to suffer for Him. Remember that we can count it all joy because we know that great is our reward in Heaven and remember that we can count it all joy because we know that in this life it is going to produce patience, and cause us to be perfect and mature in Him. In other words, we’re all growing up to be like Jesus.

~~~~~~~

Let’s pray, Heavenly Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Help us Lord to see you working in our hearts and our minds and our lives. Lord, forgive us of our sins. Help us Lord to be repentant of sins. Help us Lord to turn to you in faith. Help us Lord to trust you for cleansing and then use us. Lord, use us as the witnesses and testimonies for you that we need to be, and let us see the fruit that would come from your working through us. Lord, lead us not into temptation, we pray, and deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

---

Watch the prerecorded live version of the entire service and sermon, Joy, Trials, and Patience, on Facebook.

Joy, Trials, and Patience — Related Sermons

You may also want to listen to or view these sermons:

The God of Peace

The Primary Work of the Holy Spirit