Sermon Tone Analysis

*03~/30~/2008*

*CONSIDERING IT JOY*

*James 1:2-4*

*~*~*As twice born men and women living in a once born world, there are some doctrines that we embrace that help us to live our lives with HOPE.*

* *

*~*~*One of the things that we believe is that this book that I hold in my hand is the Inspired, Inerrant, Infallible Word of God.*

*~*~*That means that as disciples or followers of Jesus Christ we live our lives by the promises, precepts, principles and instructions written in this book.*

* *

*~*~*Some of God’s instructions are easier for us to follow than others.

Today I am going to share one of the more difficult commands that you will find in God’s Word.

*

* *

*~*~*The command that I am talking about is the one found in our text today (James 1:2) and it says */Consider it all JOY, my brethren, when you encounter various trials . .

./

/ /

*~*~*As you can see from your outline or from the power point slide the message today is titled “CONSIDERING IT ALL JOY”!*

* *

*~*~*In our text today, we read that somebody by the name of JAMES said that */when we encounter trials, we should count it as joy./

/ /

*~*~*Pastor and author Kent Hughes writes in his commentary on James that he imagines the original readers may have responded something like this when this letter was read in their congregation the first time: (/James: Faith that Works /[Crossway], pp.

17-18, ellipsis marks his) “How nice…a letter of encouragement from Pastor Whacko!

Don’t worry, …be happy!”*

 

            *~*~*I got to thinking about these words that James wrote and wondered how they would apply to some of the trials that some of our members have encountered in their Christian lives.

*

* *

*            ~*~*For example I wonder how this would apply to someone whose husband or wife has been unfaithful to them */(Consider it all joy brother, sister)./

/ /

*            ~*~*Or how would Kathlene have responded when she called me Friday saying that her princess, Danielle was in the hospital with seizures */(Consider it all joy sister Kathlene).

/

/ /

*            ~*~*Or how would have George have received it when he found his son dead on New Year’s Day */(Consider it all joy brother George)./

/ /

*            ~*~*Or how would Lionel or Gary or ____________ say when they let me know that their mother or father had passed away */(Consider it all joy)./

/ /

*            ~*~*Or how would the Church have responded if the Sunday we had Church discipline on one of our elders if I had preached */Consider// it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials!/

/ /

            ~*~**We may hesitate to call James “Pastor Whacko,” but we might question whether his advice is practical and realistic when we’re going through terrible trials.*

* *

*~*~*Sure it might work for the little irritations that we encounter every day, but is it realistic advice for facing the huge trials that hit us?*

 

*~*~*Before we write off James as a masochistic weirdo, we should recall that two other New Testament writers said similar things.*

*~*~*Peter wrote to believers who were suffering and whose faith was being tested by fire and he told them that* /“to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing” /(1 Pet.

4:13; see also, 1:8).

*~*~*The apostle Paul wrote (Rom.

5:3), */“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance….”/

*~*~*This is the same guy who wrote Philippians from prison, and the theme of that letter is */joy in Christ/*.

He gave that impractical command, */“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”/* (Phil.

4:4; see also, 1 Thess.

5:16).*

*~*~*Paul not only instructed his readers */to rejoice in the Lord always/* but he also practiced what he preached.

As he sat in a Philippian jail cell, unjustly arrested and beaten, unable to sleep, he and Silas sang praises at midnight (Acts 16:25).

*

* *

*~*~*And so if we write off James as being a bit out of touch with reality, we also have to write off Peter and Paul! *

*The alternative is to consider that perhaps these godly men had discovered a powerful secret to the victorious and abundant life in Christ Jesus!*

* *

*            ~*~*So if the instructions to CONSIDER IT ALL JOY WHEN WE ENCOUNTER VARIOUS TRIALS IS indeed godly and worth obeying then we probably need to find out a little bit more about what it means to CONSIDER IT ALL JOY!*

* *

*            ~*~*There are four things that I want to call to your attention in this message I have titled CONSIDERING IT JOY.

Firs of all I believe that:*

* *

* *

*I.                   **THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED*

*A.                 **BY his NAME*

*1:1 *James . . .

*~*~*Who was James?

There are several men in the New Testament by that name.

We know that this James was /not /the apostle James, brother of John, because he was martyred in A.D. 44, too early for this epistle.*

*~*~* The vast majority of scholars agree that the author of James was the half-brother of Jesus (Matt.

13:55).

Apparently he did not believe in Jesus as Lord until after the resurrection, when the risen Savior appeared to him (see John 7:5; 1 Cor.

15:7).

He became the leader of the church in Jerusalem in the years following the Day of Pentecost (Gal.

2:9; Acts 15:13-29; 21:17-25).

He became known as “James the Just” (or, “Righteous”) because of his well-known holiness.*

*B.

**FOR his TESTIMONY*

*1:1 *. . .

a bond-servant of God

 

*~*~*James could have pulled rank by opening the letter, “James, the son of the virgin Mary, brother of none other than Jesus Christ.

I grew up with Him!

I knew Him long before He became famous!”

But James (1:1) and his brother, Jude (Jude 1), both opened their letters by calling themselves bond-servants.*

*~*~*The word means, “slaves,” and refers to those who are the property of their masters.

2) They had no rights.

They lived to do their masters’ will.

James adds, */“a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

/*By mentioning God and Jesus Christ on equal terms, and adding “Lord,” the Old Testament word for God, to Jesus, James affirms the deity of Jesus Christ.*

* *

*~*~*James wrote this letter to “the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad” (1:1).

This identifies his main readers as Jews who lived outside of Israel.

The contents of the letter, further identifies them as followers of Christ, although they were perhaps still worshiping in synagogues (“assembly” in 2:2 is literally, “synagogue”).*

* *

*~*~*It is likely that James was the first New Testament book written, perhaps around A.D. 47 (before the Jerusalem Council in 49).

According to Josephus, James was martyred in 62.*

 

*~*~*Some of the readers had probably been members of the church in Jerusalem, but they had scattered into many locations because of the persecution that arose after the death of Stephen (Acts 8:1; 11:19-20).

Because of anti-Semitism in the Roman Empire, these believers in Christ were often the brunt of hostility both from the pagan world, as well as from their own people.*

* *

*~*~*Word got back to James of some of the difficulties that these brethren were encountering: affliction from without (5:1-6) and, as often happens at such times, conflicts within (2:1-13; 4:1-12).

*

* *

*~*~*Some were lapsing into a superficial, formal religion that professed orthodox beliefs, but practiced selfish, ungodly lifestyles (1:22-27; 2:14-26; 3:9-12).

As a pastor, James writes to these scattered Jewish believers to make the point: True faith shows itself in practical, godly living.

*

* *

*~*~*He develops several themes: endurance through trials; the dangers of riches and encouragement to the poor; the law and love; faith and works; the coming of the Lord; and, humility.*

* *

*~*~*But his main point is that true biblical faith /works./*

* *

*~*~*The AUTHOR has been RECOGNIZED but I also believe that:*

* *

*II.

**THE ATTITUDE SHOULD BE PERSONALIZED*

*A.                 **REJOICING* in the *LORD*

*1:1 *Greetings!

*~*~*The word for GREETINGS is the word for REJOICING:*

 

*B.

**JOY* in the *TRIALS*

*1:2 *Consider it all joy, my brethren when you encounter various trials

 

*~*~*The word *“Consider”* means to think, count, or regard something based on weighing and comparing the facts.

It carries the idea of deliberate and careful judgment that stems from external proof, not subjective judgment based on feelings (/Thayer//?s// Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament /[Harper & Brothers, 1887], p. 276;*

* *

*~*~*There is a great question that will be worth our time and effort to ask and answer.

The question is: *

*What is the difference between JOY and HAPPINESS or PLEASURE?

*Secular dictionaries define *joy* as the emotion evoked by *well-being*, *success*, or *good fortune* or the emotion evoked by *the prospect of possessing what one desires.*

~*~*The world's definition of *joy* is therefore virtually synonymous with the definition of happiness, for both of these "emotions" are dependent on what *"happens".*

~*~*Certainly there is *joy* in human life, such as joy when one experiences a victory.

The psalmist said: /("// We will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.

May the LORD fulfill all your petitions."

/*Psalm 20:5* Spurgeon's comment)

 

~*~*But the Bible speaks more frequently of *joy* in a spiritual sense.

For example, Nehemiah declared to the down in the mouth (not very filled with joy) Jews that:

/"The *joy* of the Lord is your strength" (//*Nehemiah 8:10*).

/

/ /

/Similarly/, David pleaded with God to “restore to me the joy of Thy salvation” (*Psalm 51:12* Spurgeon's Comment).

*~*~*Joy* then is the *deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord.*

~*~*It is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances because *JOY* even occurs when those circumstances are the most painful and severe as Jesus taught His disciples when He declared:

/Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to *joy*.

21 "Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for *joy* that a child has been born into the world.

22 "Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will *rejoice*, and no one takes your *joy* away from you.