Count It Pure Joy

Introduction

Well lets get started church

If you have your copy of the word of God please turn to the Book of James

The Book of James

We will be in chapter 1

And we will just look at the first 8 verses tonight

————————————————————————————————————————————-

Last Sunday night Bro Wayne asked if I could come back the next 2 Sunday nights

And I’m at the point in my life to where if somebody asks me to preach I’m saying yes.

Because the only way to be better at something is to do something over and over and over

So I am glad to be here again as always

——————————————————————————————————————————————

As I said last week

I love the name of this church and I was shocked at how nice the facilities were.

But the real sermon last Sunday night wasn’t delivered by me

it was delivered to me

by the gentleman in the back.

We were hangin out, chattin it up before service and I made the comment of “Man you guys have some nice facilities, I mean me and my wife got turned around.”

The gentleman in the back said

well its not about the outside stuff its about the people inside this building.

Wow

And the only thing I can say to that is amen

How true is that

So I appreciated that

And I thank you for coming back for fellowship tonight.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Since I knew I was coming back this Sunday night and the next Sunday night I was like well we can look at a shorter book and go through it but I only made it through verse 8 so it dint quite go as planned but it doesn’t matter we can do portions at a time.

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Do you ever see warning labels or caution signs?

And for some random reason do you become extremely curious.

“Caution Wet Floor”

Well I want to prove that this sign isn’t for me Im a grown man so I am walking straight through it

Or when you see a yellow light and we floor it.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

For the next 2 Sunday nights we will be in the book of James

And if the World Health Organization cared enough to get their hands on a Bible

 I am pretty sure they would print Bibles with a warning label over James that says

“The Book of James is a suggestion and it is not for human consumption”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Or social media platforms would say

“Warning: The Book of James should be a hate crime”

———————————————————-

2. “The book of James is to demanding”

———————————————————-

For us Men we like things that are short and straight to the point

We don’t want to be in long meetings

2. We don’t want a buttered up story

We may want a buttered biscuit but not a buttered up story

3. And we don’t want anything to drag out for hours at a time

That’s why we hate shopping

————————

The book of James is short and straight to the point

This book challenges all of us and the only way to be better Christians is to be challenged and tested

The book of James is sometimes called “the Proverbs of the New Testament”

——————————-

The book of James practically and faithfully reminds Christians how to live.

Now your self-righteous people just said

“aint nobody gonna tell me how to live.”

But the person who makes humans in His image has the right to tell us how to live

————————————————-

Lets look at a few characteristics on how Christians are supposed to live in vv1-8*

READ V1

The first point is we should be:

1. Servants of God and of the Lord Christ Jesus.

—————————————-

The greeting of a New Testament epistle plays an important role for the letter that follows

so it’s important we pay close attention to how James frames his greeting.

The first part of a greeting characterizes the writer

——————————————-

an example of Paul

1. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus”

This is where you get the opportunity to flash your credentials

Where you get to throw out some degrees or resumes

—————————————

Have you ever seen these emails or a snippet in the newspapers where it will list a name and all there 50 degrees?

—————————————-

And the second part characterizes the recipients like Paul does in Colossians

“The saints and faithful brothers in Christ”

————————————————————————

Think about how we do introductions today

If I was introducing the president to you tonight, I wouldn’t introduce him like this

Please welcome the father of Barron Trump

I Would say please welcome the 45th and 47th President of the United States of America.

—————————-

But keep in mind that the audience knows the writer or knows of the writer kinda like we know of the president.

If he wrote something to us we would know who it was coming from

So your greeting is extremely important.

————————-

That’s what makes this introduction stand out to me in the Book of James.

Think about some of his credentials that he could’ve given here.

Most scholars believe James was the literal brother of Jesus. (that right there is good enough for me) (How many of us had written a letter we would all know I was Jesus’ brother)

2. James was also prominent enough in the Jerusalem church to chair the first church council.

Acts 15

3. And referred to as a leader or “pillar”

Galatians 2:9

9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me,

James could’ve chosen any of these impressive credentials to establish his authority

—————-

So which credential does James choose?????

“a servant of God”

——————

A doulos of God

———————-

The word doulos means a slave or a bondservant

one who gives himself up to another's will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men

—————————

Do you see the humbleness and humility James is showing here ?

—————————-

I am a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

——————————

Ask yourself tonight.

——————————-

can you insert your name into James’ greeting honestly and truthfully say

I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

—————————

I encourage you to recite this to yourself this week.

When your sippin your morning coffee look out and say I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

—————————-

In the second part of the greeting

We see he is addressing his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”

During this time period the new early Christians were being persecuted by the Romans and they were scattered everywhere.

So this epistle is from James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the scattered Christians everywhere

So the first point is Christians Need To Be Servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

————————————————-

V2

Read v2

V2 is the shift from the greeting to the main parts,

the meat of the letter.

———————————-

We have finished the appetizer and we are about to get into the meat of the letter

And we see point #2

2. Christians are to Count it all Joy

James tells us to Count it all joy

What do you think of when you hear these words Count it all joy?

The first thing that came to my mind was I can count all the “good things” or the “easy things  in life as joy

————————

And I soon began to realize that Sometimes we can get in this mindset

to where I can only be happy when good things happen to me

————————————

But James says to count it all joy!

———————————

A mindset according to google is – a set of beliefs or attitudes that shape how an individual interprets situations, handles challenges, and perceives their own abilities

————————

And consider the context these are Christians who are scattered

—————————-

who are being persecuted.

—————————

Dr. Carol Dweck says there are two types of mindsets

A fixed mindset and a  growth mindset

———————-

So tonight lets fix our mindset that we are going to count it all joy.

———————

that we fix it that nothing can change it

——————————

That no matter what I face I count it all Joy!

——————————

And James specifically tells us what to count all joy?

And we get to point #3

3. Christians Should Embrace Trials

Count it all joy My brothers and sisters when you face trials of various kinds.

—————-

When I was reading this verse I was like this added brothers and sisters in the middle seems out of place

It kinda interrupts the flow

And James does this on purpose

—————————

We often times do this using however

—————-

We use the same kind of delay tactic using words like “however” in the middle of a thought, usually right before something important or surprising.

EXAMPLE:

I want to go to the movies tonight HOWEVER I have too much homework to do

2. Church Service this morning was great however the evening services are cancelled

3. Johnny was good in school today however he failed 3 tests

4. I was diagnosed with an illness however there is a cure

———————————-

So James is telling us to listen up.

To count it all joy when you face various trials

———————————

*The president of the Southern Baptist convention story*

Why in the world would I want to rejoice over trials?

Read v3

Well it turns out that it isn’t just the mountaintop experiences that grow our faith;

But it’s the times in life when its hard

—————————————-

When times are hard Consider it pure joy

——————————————-

2. When the world is crashing down consider it pure joy

——————————————

3. When everything is falling apart consider it pure joy

——————————————

But there is reward for considering it all pure joy

Vv3-4 tell us that trials play an important role.

4. Christians Should Live with joy because of the reward from trials

He uses the word know at the beginning of verse 3

He is telling us so that we know why we are to go through these tough things with joy.

—————————————————————-

We can leave here tonight KNOWING that there is a reward when we get through these trials.

———————————-

Overcoming challenges and enduring trials may not be a lot of fun, but the growth is what’s important.

————————-

In verse 3 he tells us the certain trials he is talking about -  the trials that test your faith.

James describes a multi process that begins with trials in verse 3

———————————

James isn’t referring to these situations as events but when you have the right mindset it becomes a process.

—————————

He re characterizes trials as testing our faith, which in turn builds endurance. Endurance then leads to being perfect – a state James defines as being mature and complete, not lacking anything. Our reward for persevering in the face of trials is the growth and maturity God brings about through us.

———————————

This is like lifting weights

You go to the gym and tear down your muscles so they rebuild back stronger.

The harder we are tempted and don’t give in the stronger we are for the next temptation.

—————————-

 James transitions into a new topic in verse 5

Read v5.

5. Christians should have wisdom

There is no reason for us to not have wisdom

Not wisdom from the world but Godly wisdom

———————————————————-

He says if any of us lacks wisdom ask God.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

——————————————————————

We need to recognize our need and ask the unreproachable Giver

James makes it sound simple but there’s a catch in verse 6

Don’t you love when there is a catch.

6. Christians are to ask our Heavenly Father without faith and doubt.

Read v6.

We are to ask in faith and not doubt.

——————-

He tells us that a doubter is like a wave that is blown and tossed about

and His conclusion is doubters should not expect to receive anything from the lord.

—————————

So are we praying and asking about things from our heavenly Father without doubt.

or Do we think we ask for too much ?

———————————

Well we serve a God who is omnipotent.

All Powerful

there is nothing he cant handle.

——————————-

This isn’t prosperity gospel

This isn’t ask for a million and receive a million

This is truly recognizing a need in our life and asking God with the 100% belief and trust that He will answer that need. He may not answer in the exact ways that we want but He will respond.

————————————

Ask God for wisdom without doubt.

————————————

This is the last point

 7. Christians are to have a stable foundation.

read v8

V8. a double minded person is unstable in all his ways.

—————————

Have you ever seen an unstable bookshelf?

Or an unstable object and you just knew it was about to fall over?

————————

An unstable foundation never withstands the storms

————————

Matthew 7:24–27 ““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.””

—————————————

NT Wright says. “ The question is whether the character that develops within us is the real thing, or whether, as James says in verse 6, we are simply double-minded and unstable, blown and tossed about by this wind or that.”

——————————

A double minded person doesnt know where to turn, or which road to choose

—————————-

Tonight if you don’t know which road to choose

I encourage you too pull out your gps

your “God Positioning System”

and follow the path that God has laid before you

and you will be on the road that is built to last in this life and the next

the foundation will hold all the way through eternity.

——————

Clint Pressley The President of the Southern baptist convention preaches at alot of places and he usually always shares his testimony

To close tonight just a reminder

Trials lead to testing and testing leads to endurance and endurance leads to completeness or perfection.