Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
11 sermons cite this verse
… I want to give somebody an anchor scripture because some of y'all are looking at me like pastor You gonna have to tell me something else james chapter 1 verse 2. It says consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters Whenever you face trials Whenever you face obstacles Of many kinds Because you know that the testing of your faith everybody say faith This is all about your faith. Who do you believe in you or god? Like the reason he sends test I got this revelation god always sends tests that he knows he can conquer and you can't So that you always have to go to him To be able to do it, but he's gonna do it through you And that's why he said this is gonna produce perseverance See if you learn it at this level You're going to be stronger for the next obstacle that comes Somebody asked me Pastor Mike does serving God get easier I said no you get stronger No, no, no, no, no, no, you missed it The same things that trip you off When you're a baby Christian Or when you're first in faith It doesn't get easier, it'll be the same thing But you get stronger And this is what God is trying to do See, you're going to rise, but there will always be resistance to your rise, but you are resilient. …
… Hebrews 2, our salvation is made perfect through suffering. James 1 verse 2, we are to consider it a pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. 1 Peter 1, we are to greatly rejoice when we suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Don't these verses suggest that we should not be looking for peace and reconciliation, but a lifestyle of suffering and persecution. I would think so when you look at the early church. That's exactly what they went through. Matthew 10 is the one I love the best because Matthew 10, Christ is commissioning the 12 disciples. He's sending them out and notice what he says. I'm sending you out as lamb before wolves. If you go in my name, you will be number one, you will be hated. How many of you have been hated for Jesus Christ? Number two, you will be persecuted. How many of you have been persecuted for Jesus Christ? Number three, if you go in my name, you will be jailed. …
… And I have to have the response that I trust you. And he took me to James chapter 1, verse 2, and it said, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. I never looked at that scripture with much faith because nothing had happened to me that hit me to my core like this. but it changed my perspective on how I was looking at this situation because God knew it was going to happen. And so if God didn't put James chapter 1 verse 2 in the Bible for anybody else, he put it in there for me. Because he said, Michael, don't worry when troubles of any kind come your way. I want you to change your perspective and I want you to consider it an opportunity for your joy to grow, for your joy to be full for you to be joy full for there to be fruit to come out of this he said for you know when your faith is tested and it has been he said your endurance has the chance to grow so then he tells you like it's gonna be okay let it grow don't don't fight it don't deny it don't try to act like his hands the enemy tried to get me not to share it to think that people will label my son and all this other stuff and God said just let it grow he said I'm gonna get the glory out of this I'm gonna do a miracle behind this I'm gonna be the …
… See, the gospel is not redefined by our experience. He is absolute. my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing is there anybody else in the room that wants to be lacking nothing i mean that's uh that's an extraordinary promise it's one of the largest in scripture. But here's, I want you to see this word patience. A friend of mine wrote this tremendous book called Throne Life. And in it, he says, the word translated patience two times in these verses is defined as independent, unyielding, defiant perseverance in the face of aggressive misfortune and thus to a kind of courageousness. Another scholar suggests it's not the resignation of the passive sufferer like our modern use of the word patience, as much as the fortitude of a stout-hearted soldier. One more perspective may be helpful. It's the characteristic of a man who is unswerved in his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety that even the greatest trials and sufferings can deter from. This word patience is almost a military term. …
… And I have a relatively short text this evening from the letter of James, chapter 1. I want to read only verses 2 through 4, and then verse 12, James chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. This is a dark room, and James in any case has a way of hiding in the New Testament. He's after the letter to the Hebrews, and if you've got to 1 Peter, you've gone one stop too far. James, a servant of God, is the way he introduces his letter under the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. That is rejoicing greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that But the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, that you may be mature, lacking in nothing. And verse 12, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. …
… verse two James one verse two he says my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Ooh, that's such a powerful passage right there. I don't know if y'all got it. It's profound. It's amazing. It's significant. he tells us to count it all joy. I know that sounds strange to you because most of you probably don't know how to count anything joyfully when you're having a tough time. As a matter of fact, let me pause for a moment. I want to look back over my life and think about things that I've gone through that I thought I wouldn't be able to overcome. And as I'm looking back over the stuff I've gone in my life. James says count it all joy. Thank all 20 of y'all for clapping on that. I appreciate that. Some of y'all ain't got it, but here's what he's trying to tell us. …
do I be prophetic today do I be priestly today do I be sagely today what do I do and God led me to one verse that calmed all of this down and I hope it calms you down too James chapter one verse two my brothers and my sisters count it all joy when you fall into different temptations verse two in the new revised standard version says my brothers and my sisters whenever you face trials of any kind consider it nothing but joy because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete lacking nothing then the message bible shouts me it says consider it a sheer gift friends when tests and challenges come at you from all sides you know that under pressure your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. Y'all listening, but y'all ain't listening. So don't you try to get out of anything prematurely. …
… It's the same thing that James 1 says, right? Consider all joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of various kinds. Why? because it's that testing of your faith that produces perseverance and let perseverance have its perfect results so that you can be perfect and complete not lacking in anything it's the same example of jesus he was made perfect through his suffering through the pain I was sharing last night about the church in China when I was talking to those underground church leaders and how they were saying, man, that was one of their pillars of their church. Their five pillars were a devotion to prayer, a deep commitment to his word, every believer shares the gospel, a regular expectation of miracles, and they embrace suffering for the glory of Jesus. Is this what the church was built on? Why did it spread to over 100 million people? Because they had a common commitment. They said, we're devoted to prayer. We're going to get on our knees. …
… Just in my humble opinion. It says this, James 1 verse 2. Listen to this. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. What's he saying? This phrase, meet trials, is the idea to actually be surrounded by them. It was a picture of someone that's about to get jumped by a group of people. So a group of people surround you. They're about to pounce on you. He says, now you've got various trials. You've got health issues. You've got relationship issues. You've got job issues. You've got all these things going on. They're surrounding you. He goes, when that happens, count it all joy. Isn't that what you normally do? It's like, yes. Look at all these problems. This is awesome. No. That's why I'm saying, like, what are you talking about? Most of us count it all joy when there are no problems. Well, I don't see a single problem. …
… talking about the trials, he's writing to encourage them. And so he says, now, count it all joy when you fall into divers or various temptations and trials. doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why should I get rejoicing over pain and hurt and things I can't change and things I can't alter in my life? Yeah, that's exactly what he says. And so he says, if you'll notice, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, he says, now here's what I want you to do. He says, I want you to rejoice, count it a joy when you fall into these testings and trials and temptations. Now, in the King James says temptation, the word really a better word is the word here means those periods of testing which have a purpose in them. That is, there's an end to them, and that end is this, that you and I would come through them with our faith being stronger and our heart being purer. So he says it will produce endurance. …
… he begins the second verse by saying, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men or women generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for he who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. But let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Every single one of us has had the problem with wavering faith because there's some things that hit us blindsided or hit us right in the front. There's some things that you and I know that we need and we come to ask God for and we waffle in our faith. …