Count It All Joy

James 1:1-4
January 3, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

I thought a lot about you all last year. I wondered and worried a lot about how all of us were doing as we wait for the return of our Lord. I think it is safe to say that 2020 was a year of many trials and tests. Spiritual trials. Tests of our faith. Every individual believer in Christ goes through various trials and tests each and every year. But it seems like all believers in Christ went through much greater trials and tests last year.

It is easy to say that 2020 was the worst year ever. In many ways, it was. But in terms of spiritual trials and tests of our faith, in the light of God’s sovereignty over his church, could it be that 2020 might go down as one of the finest years of our lives? I wonder and I am curious about the results of your trials and your tests last year. I look forward to what they will produce. I look forward to what the Lord will produce in all of us who are his new creation. And I invite you to do the same.

You can do this. Think about what the Lord is saying to us in today’s passage.

Highland, your trials and your tests are meant to produce steadfastness.

This is really profound. Your trials and your tests are not random. They are deliberate. They are not pointless. And they are personal. Your Father in heaven loves you. And he is putting you through his trials and his tests in order to produce steadfastness in you.

Think of trials and tests as like the melting and the purifying of gold. Earthly gold starts with impurities of other elements mixed with it - zinc, copper, iron, and other general junk. You remove all of this from the gold by melting it with high heat so that the impurities separate from the gold and float away. And at the end, you’re left with just pure gold. Earthly gold that’s been refined into heavenly gold.

You Father in heaven lovingly puts you through his trials and his tests in order to melt away your sinfulness and purify you in knowledge, in holiness, and in righteousness. And a big part of that process involves the gracious removal of and the glorious separation from the general junk of our old selves - unbelief, distrust, worldliness, foolishness, and so much more. And the outcome of these trials and tests is steadfastness. Heavenly steadfastness.

This is really amazing. You may not realize or understand this now, but steadfastness is so very special. Steadfastness is about patience. It is about perseverance. It involves stability. It comes down to endurance. But what are we being patient about? What are we persevering toward? What is our stability and endurance for? It’s for the end. It’s for the eternal kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. It’s for the relationship of being with Jesus and seeing him face to face. That’s what steadfastness is really all about.

This is why the writer James addresses us as the twelve tribes in the dispersion. Right now, the church is scattered throughout the entire earth. And just like the tribes of Israel who traveled through the wilderness to their promised land, and just like the Jewish Christians who were scattered after the persecution and death of Stephen in Acts 7, we have not yet arrived at our home. At the moment, God’s people are strangers and pilgrims in this world. And so we need steadfastness as we wait for Jesus’ return, as we prepare for the kingdom that is to come, as we share the gospel with others, as we grow and change in the love of Christ. We need steadfastness as we go through suffering, as we are persecuted, as we grow old and die in the love of Christ. This is why steadfastness is so very special.

Please don’t overthink what I am going to say next. There is a very real sense in which you can pass or fail these trials and tests in your life. You have great responsibility. Be careful and be serious about this. But there is also a very real sense in which all of these trials and tests in your life are guaranteed to produce glorious results. And the reason why is because God’s plan for you cannot fail. He will sanctify you. And God is the one who is producing steadfastness in you, not you. Therefore, all in all, wake up and be sober-minded. You are being tried and tested throughout your life. Fear the Lord. But also be encouraged and do not be afraid. The Lord’s salvation includes sanctification. Praise the Lord.

Now, if all of this is true, then count it all joy. Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.

This sounds unreasonable and impossible, but it’s really not. You can do this. James is not saying that we are to be joyful because of trials themselves. No. We are to count it all joy because of what will be produced from our trials: steadfastness. And we are to count it all joy because of the fact that God loves us in everything. Say less things like: “Woe is me! These trials and tests are so bad in my life!” Say more things like: “I belong to the kingdom of God. Jesus is on his throne. My trials and tests are producing steadfastness in me. I am being saved and sanctified and loved and disciplined and trained! I look forward to who I am becoming. I look forward to who I will be at the end. And I look forward to everything with joy.”

Highland, count it all joy. You are going to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. This is happy and triumphant news! It is exciting to see how all of us are being conformed to the image of Christ. It is a delight to learn our new creation ways in preparation for seeing Jesus face to face. We are to overflow with hopefulness and optimism in our growth of knowledge and holiness and righteousness. It is nothing short of a miracle to see a brother or sister in Christ become more godly in character. This is the joy of salvation! You are seeing a preview of the new heavens and the new earth, a time and a place of no sin, of utter perfection, of glorious completion. And it is a joy to see some of that here and now as we go through trials and tests on this old and fading earth.

And you are not alone in your joy. Jesus has joy too. He had it in eternity. He had it when he came and lived on this old and fading earth. He had it when he suffered and when he endured humiliation. He had it when he took the wrath for your sins and when he died on the cross for your redemption. Make no mistake, there was nothing joyful about suffering and dying for you. But his joy was not found in that. His joy was found in you. His joy was you.

Therefore, Highland, join Jesus in his joy. Be full joy as he is full of joy. Have his joy, not the joy of the world. It is after all, joy to the world, not joy of the world. Therefore, Highland, let us look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). You are not alone in your joy. This is what it really means to have a Christ-centered life. You can do this. And if you do this whenever you go through trials and tests in your life, you will be able to count it all joy.

Last but not least, Highland, let steadfastness have its full effect.

Trials and tests take time. You cannot rush the producing of steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect. There are many instances in which we are aware that we are going through trials and tests in life, but we think we know when our trials and tests are over. We think we know when we have achieved a level of maturity. But then we end up realizing that we have not let steadfastness have its full effect. We realize how much more we need to trust in the Lord and in his timing. Let steadfastness have its full effect. Let everything that you went through last year, and let everything that comes out of all of your trials and tests in 2020, have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

In closing, we are beginning a new year. While many people think that this year will be better than last year, let us not think that this year will be clear of trials or tests from the Lord. James tells us that we will meet trials of various kinds. I’m sure that new trials and tests will come your way in 2021. I’m sure that old trials and tests will continue or return to you in new ways this year. But I’m sure that the Lord will produce steadfastness in you more and more as the day draws near. And I look forward to seeing his joyful results in you.

Soli Deo Gloria