An Opportunity For Joy
Text: James 1:1-4
Introduction
1. Illustration: "Joy in Christ requires a commitment to working at the Christian lifestyle. Salvation comes as a gif, but the joy of salvation demands disciplined action. Most Christians I know have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful. They know enough about the biblical message to keep them form doing the things which the world tempts them to do; but they do not have enough of a commitment to God to do those things through which they might experience the fullness of his joy" (Tony Campolo. Seven Deadly Sins, 21).
2. This morning we are beginning a series through the letter of James, and I believe that this book can be summed up very simply as "Faith That Works."
3. In order for it to work it must be a functional faith. How do we live this out everyday life. If it's just a bunch of theological concepts that have nothing to do with reality than what good is it?
4. In our opening few verses James hits us right where we live. He says...
A. Let Troubles Become Opportunities
B. Let Your Faith Grow
C. Let Your Endurance Develop
5. Let's stand together as we read James 1:1-4.
Proposition: God is making you better through your troubles so consider them an opportunity for joy!
Transition: James begins by telling us...
I. Let Troubles Become Opportunities (1-2).
A. Opportunity For Great Joy
1. Whenever we are studying Scripture we need to discover...
A. Who wrote it?
B. To whom was it written?
C. Why was it written?
2. So James letter begins with, "This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings!"
A. How often do we open a letter without checking to see who sent it? Ancient letter writers signed their names right at the beginning, so readers immediately knew the source.
B. Modern readers of the New Testament, however, frequently skip over the address. It strikes us as unimportant. Our oversight is a mistake.
C. The first verses of New Testament books often tell us the writer’s identity and how the writers perceived their roles.
D. In James’s case, these helpful insights prepare us for the entire letter. We treat letters with more respect when we understand who sent them and why.
E. James is only mentioned by name a few times elsewhere in the New Testament. As the leader of the Jerusalem church, however, he was known on a first-name basis by the rapidly expanding Christian world.
F. By simply using his first name, James manages to convey both humility and authority as he signs his letter. He could have identified himself as “brother of Jesus,” or “leader of the Jerusalem church,” but the only addition to his name is the title of slave of God.
G. The Greek word doulos (slave, servant) refers to a position of complete obedience, utter humility, and unshakable loyalty.
H. Many of the first followers of Christ were, in fact, slaves. But among Christians, the idea of being a slave of Christ became not a position of humiliation, but a place of honor. There can be no greater tribute to a believer than to be known as God’s obedient, humble, and loyal servant.
I. The three names, Lord Jesus Christ, refer to the unique character of Jesus.
i. He is the heavenly, exalted Lord who will one day return in glory to this world.
ii. He is Jesus, God come to earth as a human being.
iii. He is Christ, the anointed one who fulfilled God’s purposes by dying for us.
J. The Jewish Christians scattered among the nations referred to Jewish believers who had left Palestine by force or by choice.
K. The deportation of Jews to foreign lands had been practiced since the days of the Assyrians over six hundred years before Christ. But many Jews had also emigrated to other lands in the quest for wealth and opportunity.
L. This network of Jewish communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire became the stepping stones for the spread of the gospel.
M. The book of Acts describes the missionary pattern of Paul and others. In almost every town they visited, the presence of a Jewish synagogue gave them an open forum from which to communicate the Good News.
N. What history records as the splintering of the nation of Israel was used by God to facilitate the spread of his Word (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1070).
O. All of these things will come into play as we study this letter.
3. Now that we have discovered some of the elementary issues behind the letter, let's get into the heart of the letter.
4. James begins by saying something that is going to hit home with all of us at one level or another. He says, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy."
A. How can a person consider trouble as an opportunity for joy? This is a remarkable command—we are to choose to be joyful in situations where joy would naturally be our last response.
B. When certain circumstances make us angry and we want to blame the Lord, James directs us to the healthier alternative—joy.
C. Those who trust in God ought to exhibit a dramatically different, positive response to the difficult events of life. Our attitude is to be one of genuine rejoicing.
D. This is not joyful anticipation for trials. Instead, it is joy during trials. The joy is based on confidence in the outcome of the trial. It is the startling realization that trials represent the possibility of growth. In contrast, most people are happy when they escape trials. But James encourages us to have pure joy in the very face of trials.
E. Philippians 4:4 (NLT)
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
F. James is not encouraging believers to pretend to be happy. Rejoicing goes beyond happiness. Happiness centers on earthly circumstances and how well things are going here. Joy centers on God and his presence in our experience.
G. An inner gladness; a deep-seated pleasure. It is a depth of assurance and confidence that ignites a cheerful and rejoicing heart.
H. The joy of the Lord is not the same as the joy of the world. The joy of the world is more of a temporary pleasure than joy. The world's joy is always nagged by some incompleteness, some lack, some unfulfilling thing, some missing ingredient, some need still existing. There is not a completeness—not a complete sense of assurance, confidence, and satisfaction.
I. Joy is divine. It is possessed and given only by God. Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit, a joy based in the Lord.
J. Joy does not depend on circumstances or happiness. Happiness depends upon happenings, but the joy that God implants in the believer's heart overrides all, even the matters of life and death
(Practical Word Studies in The New Testament, 1170).
K. The word when doesn’t allow much room for doubt. We are urged to be joyful not if we face trouble, but when.
L. Trials, problems, situations can be joy robbers if we lack the proper attitude. Where does this trouble come from? The troubles and trials we face can be hardships from without or temptations from within.
M. A trouble may be a hard situation that tests a person’s faith such as persecution, a difficult moral choice, or a tragedy.
N. Life’s trail is marked with such trials. Enduring one trial is not enough. God’s purpose in allowing this process is to develop complete maturity in us.
O. Considering your troubles to be joy comes from seeing life with God’s perspective in mind.
P. We may not be able to understand the specific reasons for God’s allowing certain experiences to crush us or wear us down, but we can be confident that his plan is for our good. What may look hopeless or impossible to us never looks that way to God! (Barton, 1071).
B. Don't Be Surprised
1. Illustration: "An invalid was told that she could never escape from his prison of pain and weakness. 'Oh, well,' she replied, 'there is a lot of living to be found within your limitations if you don't wear yourself out fighting them."
2. Make sure that the troubles of life don't catch you off guard!
A. 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NLT)
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
B. There are three reasons we ought to expect trouble in this life.
i. Jesus predicted it.
ii. Satan is against us.
iii. The world hates us.
C. Therefore we shouldn't be surprised by the troubles of life because we are more or less guaranteed that they will happen.
D. The question then becomes not will trouble come our way, but what will we do when they do come our way.
E. Will we allow they to make us bitter or will we allow them to make us better?
F. Will we allow them to rob our joy or will we allow them increase our joy.
G. Remember joy is not happiness! Happiness is dependent upon circumstances, but joy is dependent upon God.
H. Will allow them to cause us to turn against God or will we agree with James, Peter and Paul and rejoice in spite of our troubles?
I. Happiness changes like the weather in Ohio, but joy remains constant because it is dependent upon God who never, ever changes!
Transition: How can trouble be an opportunity for joy? James tells us it can if we...
II. Let Your Faith Grow (3).
A. Faith Is Tested
1. There are few things I hate worse than a test. Give me a 20 page term paper any day! Tests make my brain hurt! But there are more tests in life than an academic test. There are tests on our patience. There are tests on our love. But the ones that are the hardest are the ones that test our faith!
2. But look at what James says in v. 3, "For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."
A. Although we tend to think of testing as a way to prove what we don’t know or don’t have, being tested ought to be seen as a positive opportunity to prove what we have learned.
B. This testing of our faith is a test that has a positive purpose. In this case, the troubles do not determine whether or not believers have faith; rather, the troubles strengthen believers by adding endurance to the faith that is already present.
C. Endurance is faith stretched out; it involves trusting God for a long duration.
D. James is not questioning the faith of his readers—he assumes that they trust in Christ. He is not convincing people to believe; he is encouraging believers to remain faithful to the end.
E. This means, first, that God will give the ability to endure patiently. The Christian with this quality of faith does not give up trusting and praying even when the need continues for a long time.
F. Second, the term carries the idea of discipline. The Christian with this quality of faith continues in a disciplined obedience to Christ as Lord even when it requires "a long obedience in the same direction" (Peterson 1980).
G. Third, the term means steadfast faithfulness. The Christian with this quality of faith is not a part-time servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
H. Making the same point, in fact using the same terms, Paul wrote, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance" (Rom 5:3) (Stulac, 37-38).
I. James knows that their faith is real, but it lacks maturity. We cannot really know our own depth until we see how we react under pressure.
J. Precious diamonds begin as coal, subjected to intense pressure over a period of time. Without pressure, coal remains coal.
K. The testing of your faith is the combined pressure that life brings to bear on you. Endurance, like a precious gem, is the intended outcome of this testing.
L. Endurance is not a passive submission to circumstances—it is a strong and active response to the difficult events of life, standing on your feet as you face the storms.
M. It is not simply the attitude of withstanding trials, but the ability to turn them into glory, to overcome them (Barton, 1071).
B. Faith Is More Precious
1. Illustration: The purpose of testing your faith is to help you to see whether or not your faith is real and how strong that faith is. A jeweler gives as one of the surest tests for a true diamond what is called the water test. An imitation stone is never ever so brilliant as a genuine stone. A genuine diamond placed in water sparkles brilliantly although it's under water while the imitation is practically extinguished as to its sparkle. Place one along side the other in water and you’ll be able to pick out the real diamond relatively easy.
2. God tests our faith not to punish us, but rather to make us better.
A. 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
B. Everybody loves a good pity party, and if you don't believe me log on to Facebook sometime.
C. It's been said that misery loves company!
D. We love to tell people about our troubles because it actually feels good to have some one sympathize with us.
E. But what if we change the way we look at our problems?
F. What if we started to look at them as a chance for our faith to grow?
G. It's all in the attitude! If we begin to look at the difficulties in our life as chance to grow we would probably lessen the stress in our lives.
H. What if instead of questioning God's love for us we started asking God to show us what he is trying to accomplish in our lives?
Transition: Not only do our troubles allow our faith to grow, but it also allows...
III. Let Your Endurance Develope (4).
A. Endurance Has A Chance To Grow
1. Do you think that one day LeBron James woke up and said, "I think I'm gonna go out and be the best basketball player in the world," and just walked out and started slam dunking on every kid in the neighborhood? Of course not! It took him years of of training, practicing and studying the game. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about him is that in his entire career he has never been injured. The reason for that is he is constantly training his body and taking care of his body so that he is better than everyone else.
2. Well the same is true when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. In v. 4, James says, "So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."
A. It is not our nature to endure. When it comes to trials, we would rather escape, explain, or exit the difficulty.
B. In fact, we will tend to do almost anything to avoid enduring a trial.
C. Faithful endurance, however, generates whole people, recognized as strong in character, or mature.
D. We will be seasoned, experienced, well-developed, fit for the tasks God sent us into the world to do. This strength is a quality developed by how much we have learned from the trials we have experienced.
E. We are also ready for anything because we have been fully trained.
F. The weaknesses and imperfections are being removed from our character; we are gaining victory over old sins; we are demonstrating a sense of competence about life. This completeness relates to the breadth of our experience.(Barton, 1071).
G. James invites you to envision yourself in the state of spiritual maturity, rid of the jealousy or laziness or impulsiveness or impatience or bitterness or self-pity or selfishness that now mars the wholeness of your fellowship with God and the completeness of your spirituality.
H. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you long to be fully the person God desires you to be? If so, then you now have the full reason for considering it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.
I. The trials can be opportunities for testing to develop in you the perseverance which, when it finishes its work, will leave you mature in Christ! For those who have set their hearts on becoming Christlike, this is wonderful reason for Great joy (Stulac, 38-39).
B. Building Up Endurance
1. Illustration: Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. "Captain, give me a gun!," he shouted. "This fight ain't got any rear!" - Daily Walk, July 10, 1993
2. Even if you have been severely wounded in the battle of faith never stop fighting!
a. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
b. Let me ask you a question this morning; do you think the road to Calvary was an easy one? Now let me ask a second question; did Jesus quit halfway up the hill?
c. Let ask another question...when Peter was thrown in prison did he give up?
d. Let me ask you another question...when Paul was beaten, imprisoned, whipped, left for dead, ship wrecked, and bitten by a poisonous viper did he give up?
e. The answer to these questions are no, none of them gave up! They kept getting up, moving forward and pressing on!
f. And so can you! Never forget that the will of God will never call you where the grace of God cannot keep you!
g. If your here this morning and you feel like giving up, and maybe you feel like God has abandoned you, never forget that God has promised to never leave you or forsake you!
h. If the devil has told you that all the troubles you've going through is proof that God doesn't love you anymore, remember that God loves you so much that he sent his only Son to die for you!
i. If you're going through troubles and you feel you can't stand any more, that Paul said that when you are in a spiritual battle to put on the full armor of God and STAND!
j. God's not given up on you! God has not abandoned you! God loves you in the midst of your troubles! God's tells us that these earthly troubles are only temporary setbacks so keep pressing on and God will sustain you!
Transition: God is making you better through your troubles so consider them an opportunity for joy!
Conclusion
1. James hits us right where we live. He says...
A. Let Troubles Become Opportunities
B. Let Your Faith Grow
C. Let Your Endurance Develop
2. Here are three things to consider...
A. God has led you this far and he's not going to leave you in the middle of the wilderness!
B. God wants to use your troubles to make your faith stronger so hang on and enjoy the ride!
C. God wants to use your troubles to open the door to help someone else through theirs...so let him!
