Fellowship Baptist Church
Sunday AM Service 9.14.25
  • God Is So Good

      • Romans 5:1–5ESV

  • To God Be the Glory
  • Down at the Cross
  • How do I Grow?
    A. Rapport for the time
    We have many saying around a church some of them biblical and others not so much. Now they sound biblical and seem like not bad concepts but truth be told they teach our hearts bad theology. By bad theology, I mean anything that teaches us to rely more on ourselves than God. Let me give you an example.
    The Lord will never give you more than we can handle.
    Here is what happens. This statement will come out of our mouths when we have great intentions and someone is going through a difficult situation in life. The intentions are correct but we miss the mark because the person doesn’t need more of self or their own wisdom. What we need in these situation is more of the Lord and less of ourselves.
    The topic of trials and wisdom will be our topic for the next two week as we begin the book of James.
    B. Reading of the text
    James 1:1–8 ESV
    1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 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. 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. 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.
    C. Review of the text
    James the half brother of Jesus Christ is writing to a group of people who are going through trials at this very moment. This is what we call a general epistle written to not one specific church like Paul writing Romans, Thessalonians, Galatians. Instead, this book is written to a group that has been scattered.
    D. Relevance of the text
    Here are the basic truths of trials from a biblical perspective.
    Trials will come for all believers
    Joy in the midst of trials come from our salvation based upon the Lord not on how we do in this trial
    Trials will bring the Christian to a place of asking will I do what I want to do? Or will listen to the Lord. Another way of saying it is will I give into my weakness in my flesh or will I be led by the Spirit?
    Trials are opportunity for growth in maturity in Christ
    T.S. As we being James he establishes that servanthood shapes Joy

    I. Servanthood Shapes Joy

    James 1:1 ESV
    1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
    I used to love reading magazines backwards lets do that with this verse.
    Twelve tribes in the Dispersion—these are Christian jews he is writing to that have run from Jerusalem and now they find them self scattered. The dispersion of believers from Jerusalem happened in AD 44 as recorded in
    Acts 12:1–5 ESV
    1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
    The apostle James is killed by Herod who is trying to impress the Jews to make sure he holds onto power.
    The first part of this sentence is what I want us to focus on.
    James 1:1 ESV
    1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
    James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.—-This is important
    James who as the half brother of Jesus could have identified himself in many ways to begin this letter. He could have even said James the Just and everyone would have known it was him. Instead, he uses the title—servant of God. In the Greek servant is the word Doulos—one who is a slave in the sense of becoming the property of an owner. The phrase that James uses if he stopped at servant of God would have been used by the Pharisees of the day, Sadducees, and scribes. The people who are thing they are an example of how to live would have said yeah “I’m a servant of God.” James takes it a step further and say and of the Lord Jesus Christ. James in this one sentence established two huge things.
    He is stating that Jesus Christ is equal with God. That is coming from James who at one point did not believe in his half brother as Lord in anyway.
    2. The other point is that his identity does not come from being the leader of the church in Jerusalem, the half-brother of the Lord. Not husband, father, son, nor his job or position but servant to God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    This sets the mind of James in the position needed to be an instrument of God. How do you view yourself this morning? Is it your list of failures or maybe your list of success? The job you once had or have now that makes you who you are today?
    Or can we understand that our value is found not in ourselves. WE all need to hear that this morning. My value come from being a servant of the most High God, My life has been purchased by the Lord I am not my own, I’m empowered by the Spirit of God. Without that truth verses 2-4 make zero sense.
    T.S. James goes from servant to Joy’s transformative power in vs. 2

    II. Joy's Transformative Perspective

    James 1:2 ESV
    2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
    The First imperative—which is not a suggestion but a command from scripture is Count it!
    NASB—Consider it—Greek defined as to hold a view or have an opinion with regard to something
    Matthew 5:12 ESV
    12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    Amen!! Count it all joy! Now that is a message all of us can get behind can’t we?
    Joy—you know that which causes gladness...we would never run from joy would we?
    Now that James has pulled you close in to him and you feel all good counting joy he going to tell you when you should count this joy.
    WHEN YOU MEET TRIALS—Pause.......NOPE , No thank you! But wait this is a command an imperative remember not optional. To live the Christian life James is telling us that in the midst of trials count in joy. He also ruined this for me because I was really hoping that as a CHRISTIAN I would not have trials, but this says when you meet trials as though trials are guaranteed.
    WHEN you meet trials—to experience some what suddenly that which is difficult or bad(by our definition of bad which is uncomfortable)
    Trials—perasmos—-to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing
    Product testing example—to make sure it is genuine and perform the task given for the product.
    James is awesome in that we have to grasp each piece for the next sentence to make sense. We have learned that context is key!! Being a servant to our heavenly father brings us to a place in which we are called to find joy in trials but why?
    Beloved I’m so thankful you asked that questions..look at vs. 3.
    T.S. where perseverance produces purpose

    III. Perseverance Produces Purpose

    James 1:3 ESV
    3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
    This is part is the wisdom of God given to James and to us for you know!!
    Testing—to try to learn the genuineness of something by examining and testing, often through actual use.
    1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV
    6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
    Produces—Put in trial and out the other side come steadfastness
    Romans 5:3 ESV
    3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
    Romans 5:11 ESV
    11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
    Hebrews 10:36 ESV
    36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
    2 Peter 1:5–7 ESV
    5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
    Steadfastness—capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances.
    Looking back we can understand that the joy in the trial doesn’t come from the trial itself. The joy in in the knowledge that the Lord is at work refining my very being into his image. Making me into something that I could never be apart from his work in my life. I would never refine myself because I don’t even really know what I can be but my God does. Repeat that!!
    T.S. ultimately the trial and staying steadfast in the midst of the trial brings us to Maturity, maturity through trials.

    IV. Maturity Through Trials

    James 1:4 ESV
    4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
    Let....have—second imperative command for us in James
    Let that capacity to bear up under difficult circumstance have its full effect. Let it have the result it was intended to bring in my life to bring to to the point of relying upon God the way I was intended to rely upon him for all my needs. Because ultimately that leads us to the last part of verse 4.
    that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
    1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV
    23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    Matthew 5:48 ESV
    48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
    The trials is what God uses to refine us as we are steadfast and it brings us to a state of spiritual maturity that we did not have when the trial started.
    MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

    The testing of faith drives believers to deeper communion and greater trust in Christ—qualities that in turn produce a stable, godly, and righteous character

    Application......
    What does the Lord use as trials in our life? The better question is what CAN’T the Lord use to refine you and make you more like the son?
    Trials will come for all believers
    Joy in the midst of trials come from our salvation based upon the Lord not on how we do in this trial
    Trials will bring the Christian to a place of asking will I do what I want to do? Or will listen to the Lord. Another way of saying it is will I give into my weakness in my flesh or will I be led by the Spirit?
    Trials are opportunity for growth in maturity in Christ

      • James 1:1–8ESV

      • James 1:1ESV

      • Acts 12:1–5ESV

      • James 1:1ESV

      • James 1:2ESV

      • Matthew 5:12ESV

      • James 1:3ESV

      • 1 Peter 1:6–7ESV

      • Romans 5:1–5ESV

      • Romans 5:11ESV

      • Hebrews 10:36ESV

      • 2 Peter 1:5–7ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 7:4ESV

      • James 1:4ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:23ESV

      • Matthew 5:48ESV

  • I asked the Lord that I might Grow
Fellowship Baptist Church
fellowshipbartlett@gmail.com
901-331-3074
https://fellowshipbartlett.org
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