The Book of James (Week 1)
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James 1: 1-8
James 1: 1-8
INTRODUCTION
What it is up my people! We are finally back in MDWK action and ready to finish the year out strong with our new series The Book of James. This is one of my favorite books in the Bible because it is so practical and jam packed with incredible teaching. For me throughout my years as a believer it feels like every time I open the book of James, I get convicted of my sin.
The team and I were talking about this on Monday with our devo, but have you ever thought about how the conviction of sin is a gift? The Holy Spirit revealing to you that you are a sinner in need of a Savior is an incredible life saving gift. But the gift of conviction is not just a one time thing. Conviction of sin will happen throughout the entire life of a believer as they are being sanctified. As they are being refined into the image of Christ and being made Holy.
The conviction of sin is putting your sin in the spot light, so that way you can repent of your sin. That way that sin can be burned away, you can turn away from that sin. The reason why this is a gift is because it shows how we are dependent on Christ and how we can draw closer to Him.
My hope is that as we walk through the book of James we will apply the practical Biblical values James presents but even more importantly we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and the conviction of our sin. That by the end of this series you can say because of the Word of God, I have less sin in my life and I am closer to Jesus.
So will you pray with me and we will jump right in.
***PRAY***
((Fill out index cards with good things in your life. ))
Alright so the first thing I want ya’ll to do is take the index card and the pens that were under your seats and we are going to put those to use. I want everyone and I mean everyone. You may think this is lame but get over it and just do it. I want everyone to make a list of anything and everything you can think of that you would consider good in your life. Make this list 7 things in total. I know it could be way longer but for now we are going to keep it at 7. You can say, your mom, your dad, your siblings, any other family, you could say your friends, your house, your pets, you could even say your playstation or an instrument. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is something in your life that you would determine good.
MY LIST:
Couri
Titus
My family (in-laws & brothers)
My friends
My house
My job
The Team I work with
Now keep this list close by because we will use it here shortly. Now open up your Bibles to James 1.
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
James is the brother of Jesus and a major leader in the early church. James actually did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah until after His resurrection. But really can you blame Him. Maybe you have siblings and they just get away with everything because your parents just think they are perfect. Like their farts smell like roses. Anyone got a perfect sibling out there? Well here is the deal, your brother or your sister is not perfect. Your parents also know that they aren’t perfect but James… He legit had a perfect brother. That would be rough to grow up with.
However, James believes in Jesus in the end and becomes a crucial part of the early church. He writes this letter really to all believers but mainly to the jews that are now scattered and in hiding due to persecution.
After James’ greeting here, he writes what I think is one of the worst verses in all of scripture.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
This verse can be one of the most difficult verses in all of the Bible to live by. Now first thing is first I want to define what a trial is. I think that is super important to understand for this verse.
TRIAL: a test of faith in which you experience trouble or adversity. (extremely unfavorable experiences).
A trial is either given by God or is allowed by God.
A trial is very different from a consequence or correction from sin.
Explain a consequence of sin.
A trial is something that happens to you or around you that you did not cause.
Some trials come simply because we are humans. Sickness, accidents, disappointments, tragedies and loss of life. Other trials come because we are Christians. Satan and his forces fight us, the world opposes us, and this makes our lives a battle filled with trials.
Students many of you already know this but others of you need to know this. It is not “IF” you meet trials of various kinds, but “WHEN” you meet trials. Jesus never called us to an easy life, He never said you would be wealthy, healthy, and every monetary blessing would come your way if you believed in Him. He actually said…
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
It is not “IF” but “WHEN” trials will come.
A trial puts us in a place of need. When we are in need and are weak we should lean on Jesus. There are only two outcomes a trial brings.
1. The trial draws us closer to Jesus.
2. The trial is used as an excuse to run from Jesus.
James is writing to believers that have lost everything. People that have lost their homes, possibly their family, everything they have known. They have lost it due the to persecution of their faith. James knows this. James is saying hey all of you that have been persecuted, lost your homes, your loved ones, all of you that have been scattered across the land due to your faith. I say this to you… COUNT IT ALL JOY.
COUNT IT ALL JOY
I mean what an incredibly difficult thing to hear after you have experienced so much lose, so much difficultly and adversity. Hey I know life is hard but count it all as joy.
Take your index card put a line through the 3rd thing on your list. Lets say all of a sudden whatever was the 3rd thing on your list is just gone. How many of you would say your life would be so difficult without whatever or whoever that was in your life? And you lost that person or that place or whatever it was and you came to me broken, sad, trying to figure out the new rhythm of life and I look at you and said count this as joy.
I don’t want to hear that. I don’t want to hear how the difficulties in my life should be counted as joy. But right here in James 1:2 it says, “count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Why on earth would James say that to people that are hurting and suffering, why is that so important for us to understand as we go through our own struggles and trials? James 1:3-5 answers this very question.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
That word steadfastness means, “to be fixed in place.” James is saying that a trial… that testing of faith should produce faith that is unmoved. A faith that isn’t washed away just because things get hard. The goal of a trial is to push you closer to Jesus and to make you more like Him.
It isn’t about you and your strong. It is about your trust and reliance on God. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 says it perfectly.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
During our trials we will go through things that we don’t understand or don’t know how to navigate. And that is when we seek wisdom from the Lord. But why ask God for anything if you don’t actually believe God wont do it.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Explain why praying with doubt is pointless.
On top of that, you can pray to God to change your circumstance, to take your trial away. But He doesn’t have too. And often times its not good for us. We shouldn’t pray for our circumstance to change but we should pray that we would change in our circumstance.
But I want to wrap this back to the beginning. James 1:2, Count it all joy. Students it is important to note that joy is not happiness. Happiness is circumstantial. It comes and goes all based on what is going on in your life. Joy comes from Jesus and stays no matter what is happening because of Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Jesus is joy!
Students the most wicked horrible act in all of human history was when Jesus was beaten, mocked, and crucified even though He was without blame. And yet the most horridness act in human history is surrounded by joy. Jesus had joy in His own crucifixion because He made a way for us to be restored, to be freed, to redeemed, when there was no way. Students no matter what happens in your life you can experience joy that will sustain you and carry you through anything and everything. And the trials you face you can count them as joy because they will draw you closer to Jesus.
