Series: James
Lesson #2
Title: Count It All Joy
Scripture: James 1: 9-12
Date: January 10, 2010
Place: SGBC, NJ
James 1: 2: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
First, God grows us in patience through trials.
James 1: 3: Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Secondly, God draws us to Christ our Wisdom through trials.
James 1: 5: 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.
The opposite of the wavering, double mindedness, is steadfast mindedness, single mindedness for Christ who gives grace in time of need. He promises to give in abundance to those who ask him. He promises to never upbraid, revile, lash of those who come depending upon him. This great reason to count it all joy.
Now, this time we ssee that James gives another reason for rejoicing in trial.
James 1: 9: Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11: For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
By God’s grace, all brethren in Christ are kept where we need to be.
The brother who has little of this world’s temporal things has reason to rejoice: because in Christ, God has freely given him an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled that fadeth not away. He possesses true riches beyond measure. Likewise, the brother who is rich in temporal things rejoices, for God is gracious to bring him low to rejoice in his only true treasure, the Lord our Righteousness, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
We might even look at this passage as describing one believer. Scriptures describe the believer as two men.
I. Our lives consist of that which is earthly and that which is heavenly.
2 Corinthians 4: 16: For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
The outward man, Paul speaks of is not the old sinful man of the flesh, but our earthly life: it consists of temporal things, riches of this world, honors, friendships, etc. We become too fond of those things far too easily. Therefore, the Lord is faithful through trials to take away those things if need be so that nothing comes between us and Christ. But though our outward man perish, though our earthly man, the rich man, is brought low—REJOICE--that the inward man, the man of low degree, is renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4: 17: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
II. Also, every believer has the inner man of the new birth as well as the old sinful man of our first birth.
John 3: 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The old carnal, rich man of the flesh no longer reigns due to God’s grace, but he is there.
Ephesians 4:22: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23: And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24: And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The old man of the flesh is rich in self-conceit:
James 1: 14: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed….
Read through the book of James at your leisure.
· The fleshly spirit desires to be exalted
· The fleshly tongue wants to be unbridled
· To show respect of persons
· To rejoice in judgment rather than mercy
· To be a master over men
· It is where bitter envying and strife comes from
James 4: 1: From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Romans 7: 22: For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
James 1: 21: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Whether it is our temporal things that God removes through trial or it is that rich man of the old sinful flesh that he bridles and subdues through trials, let us rejoice that he is brought low:
James 1: 10:…because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11: For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Isaiah 40: 6: The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
As God teaches us through his gospel, in every trial, let us trust God, wait on the Lord, draw near in faith asking for wisdom, rejoice that the man of low degree is exalted and the rich brought low. This is where James is headed with this exhortation:
James 1: 19: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22: But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves
James 1: 12: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Happy is the man that endures the trial.
When God has tried our hearts, when he has purged away the dross and tin, refined and purified us, as gold and silver are refined and purified in the furnace, we shall receive the crown of life. Christ is our Life. The crown is Life. It is the peaceable fruit of righteousness after every trial. And after this life, to be with our Redeemer in glory. THE LORD HATH PROMISED TO THEM THAT LOVE HIM. It is the free gift of God, the reward of grace, and not of debt.
Trials work patience. Trials make us to ask God. Trials renew the brother of low degree and bring low the rich. The end of the trial is the crown of life. What reason to rejoice! Brethren, Count it all joy! Amen!