The Book of James, Count it all Joy, James 1:1-4 - Lesson 2

In our study of the book of James we must remember that this book is probably the earliest written book of the entire New Testament.

It is a book addressed to the twelve tribes of Israel which have been scattered abroad.

It is a book which was written by the brother of Jesus who shared the same mother but not the same father.

Being the earliest book, means that it was written before any of Paul’s epistles which deal with matters such as the relationship of Jews and Gentiles, and the revelation of the mystery of the church.

This book has had a controversial past as far as Biblical inclusion in that it was thought to contradict Paul’s writings but we will see by our study that that conclusion is without foundation.

It is a book that naturally would come from the pen of one who was a Jew, a Jew with a mind set underpinned by the Law of the Old Testament but who now saw himself governed by Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

But the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of the church were not yet spelled out clearly at the time of the writing of this book.

It is clearly a book from the Spirit of God but framed from within a Jewish mind.

But in all this, it is a book for the church, for it provides a practical outworking for the grace of God that Paul expounds upon in his epistles.

It is simply written and concise, it is a book which comes to various points quickly and in many cases returns to those points again and again.

James introduces a theme or topic, he expands upon it and then moves to another topic, only to return again and again to the same topic each time adding more detail.

For example the subject of riches and poverty are introduced in chapter one and then returned to in chapters two, four and five.

James begins the book with a brief mention of who is writing the book, a brief mention of his rank, that of a servant, and to whom the book is addressed.

Contrary to Paul’s writings there are no personal salutations other than the word "greeting" for James gets right to the points that he wishes to teach.

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

Here in the King James version of the Bible, James is pictured as a servant but this word comes from the Greek word meaning slave.

It reads, James a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Nowadays the use of the word slave is avoided for it brings up days of old in this country that most wish to forget.

But Apostles called themselves slaves, for a slave is one who wholly subjects himself to the will of another.

A slave is one who has no will of his own, but whose person and services are wholly under the control of another.

This is how the half brother of Jesus saw himself and this is the title he used to bolster and further his message.

He chose not to refer to himself as the brother of Jesus which in a worldly sense would have furthered his message, but instead he advances his message by saying that it is from one who is wholly subject to the will of Christ.

This message comes from one who is totally obedient to Christ and therefore it is a message to be heeded for the message is from Christ.

It is a message of greeting to the twelve tribes scattered abroad.

By this greeting we can conclude that James is writing primarily to Jewish Christians who have been dispersed from Jerusalem.

Remember the scattering of the Jews which took place after the stoning of Stephen of which we are told in Acts 8:1,  and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria.

These were beginning and transition times in Jesus Christ and with this dispersion many questions arose that new believers needed to have answered.

Saints with an Old Testament mindset have come to faith in Jesus Christ and know that a new dispensation has come.

All things have become new but they question as to how their Jewish heritage is to fit into this new thing.

I remember this very transition taking place in my life when I came to Christ almost forty years ago.

I had a mind filled with false ideas based upon certain interpretations of the Bible that had to be compared to a true understanding of God’s word.

My mind was not the mind of Christ, but as a new born babe in Christ I had to begin a transition into the mind of Christ though a purging of the old mind.

James provides God’s word from a Jewish perspective to aid in this transition to those who are scattered.

For the Jewish perspective was that God blessed his people materially in response to obedience to His law and they expected that those who did evil would experience divine retribution or loss of material blessing.

The Jewish mind was such that they expected God to bless them materially for doing good and to materially punish those who did evil.

Remember the mind set of the disciples who when coming upon the man who was born blind they asked: Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

The same type questions were posed to Job by his friends proposing that his predicaments came as a result of sin.

This was the Jewish attitude toward adversity but there was a new attitude to be lived, now that they were in Christ and James is the one chosen to tell of the Christian’s attitude toward adversity.

For he says in James 1:2-4,  My brethren, count it all joy when ye 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 and entire, wanting nothing.

James does not delay his teaching with further salutation but he moves immediately into his teaching about adversity.

There are to come about, as a rule, divers temptations which believers in Christ will face.

The word divers is derived from the word "motley" which in its essence means spotted.

It means that there will be variegated temptations, different kinds of temptations, all sorts of temptations.

You have seen variegated scrubs with every leaf color pattern different from other leaves.

All complete leaves, but nuances of change in each.

That is what James puts forth.

There will come into the life of believers all kinds of nuances of temptations.

The word temptations means putting to proof, trying, testing, trials.

In other words there is going to be in the life of the believer a diverse set of trials which are intended to test one’s faith.

Think of the event in the Olympics that determines the World’s Greatest Athlete.

The King of Sweden conferred this title when he referred to Jim Thorpe who won the event known as the Decathlon in the Stockholm Olympics of 1912.

The Decathlon is composed of ten events conducted on two days.

Those events are the 100 meter run, the Long Jump, the Shot Put, the High Jump, the 400 meter run, the 110 meter hurdles, the Discus, the Pole Vault, the Javelin, and the 1500 meter run.

These are athletic trials, the proving of an athlete’s prowess.

This is what James is talking about, but with regard to your faith.

Believers are to expect all sorts of trials.

We are to run the decathlon of trials in our Christian walk.

Adversity will come and when it comes there is to be a certain attitude about these trials.

And that attitude is not to be the worldly attitude of despair, but on the contrary Christians are to rejoice.

You are to count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Now please note that this is joy over the trying of your faith.

This is not a call for joy when you bring trials into your life through sin or wrong behavior but these are trials that come because of your walk or testimony in Christ.

Jesus planted the seed of this idea in Luke 6:22,23, when he said this:

Note that this hate is generated because of one’s connection to Christ.

The trials that come because of your connection to Christ are to be rejoiced over for they not only bring great reward in heaven but they bring great patience to continue in the faith.

Now these trials are not only confined to men hating you but are trials that come into your life because of your service to Christ.

Those of you who work in the ministry are to rejoice on payday even though your paycheck may not stretch to the end of the month for you do what you do for the Son of man’s sake.

Missionaries who put their families into harm’s way and perhaps because of this may even lose a child or a wife or their own life are to rejoice for they do what they do for the Son of man’s sake.

Many put their health behind their service and suffer greatly but they are to rejoice for they do it in the name of Christ.

We are to count it all joy.

This is not a counting of ones blessings in contrast to ones trials but a counting of the actual trials with all joy.

We sing that song that tells us to count our blessings.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed do not be discouraged thinking all is lost, count your blessings name them one by one: as if more blessings than trials is what God wants us to desire.

But counting blessings is not the message of this scripture for it is the counting of trials experienced in the name of Jesus Christ that is to bring joy.

The attitude preached by James is on a higher plane than counting blessings.

This is seeing trials brought on as a result of serving Christ as that which brings great reward.

The coach of the Decathlon athlete brings trials into the practice schedule of that athlete so he will win the prize.

The one who will not win will grumble and complain but the worlds’ greatest athlete will count every mile as a mile that brings joy for he always keeps his eye on the prize.

In like manner God chooses to bring trials into our lives as a part of His sanctifying process.

Every adversity tests the strength of our faith.

Elbert Green Hubbard (1856–1915) said this:  God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars.

Are not scars that which Jesus Christ, our savior brought the Father?

Every adversity met by calling upon God for grace increases strength for the next trial for there is no cessation of trials in the Christian walk.

Every practice mile of the athlete, every hurdle jumped, every pole vaulted, every javelin thrown, brings greater strength.

But not greater strength to rest on ones laurels but greater strength to run faster, to jump higher, to throw farther.

Trials bought into our lives as a result of serving Christ will push us up to and beyond our limits.

This is where our Father wants us, for this is the only place where we will recognize our dependence upon God and call upon Him for help in time of trouble.

The message of the Bible is that the only safe place is in the Lord.

If trials bring us to have a trust in God and God alone then we can indeed count it all joy when they come into our lives.

Whenever I think upon this idea I am led to Psalm 107.

This psalm tells of those who see the works of the Lord and the wonders of the deep.

These are not those who stand on the shore afraid to enter the water, but these are they that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.

They are those who come to see the stormy wind, the waves that mount up to the heaven.

These are those to reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit’s end.

But that end brings them to cry unto the Lord in their trouble and when they do he maketh the storm a calm so that the waves are still.

Our Father wants us at times to be at our wit’s end for at that end we recognize our weakness and our need to depend upon God and call upon Him for help.

A man named Edwin Lutzer said this,  God often puts us in situations that are too much for us so that we will learn that no situation is too much for him.

That is why ye are to count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations which again I say means all sorts of trials and testings.

As God’s children the lesson to be learned in life is that we have nothing to offer God, and that we need everything from Him.

Life’s lesson from our Father is that we are not self sufficient and if we think we are, we lie to ourselves.

Every trial is designed to show that we must call upon our maker to supply what we lack.

All of the Christian walk is a learning process whereby we recognize our limitations and only when we do that, will we call upon God’s grace to meet the need in our life.

The Christian who is growing does not avoid adversity but willingly chooses to go down to the sea in ships for only by doing that and coming to the place where he sees his limitations will he see the works of the Lord.

To resist this perfecting work of God is as if a raw block of marble chose to resist the pounding of the mallet on the chisel of the sculptor.

Contrary to the nature of the old man James tells us to rejoice with every chip of marble that the chisel brings.

This is the wisdom of the ages and James is careful to tell the reader from whence wisdom comes for in:

James 1:5-8 we read,  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.