Aim: To look beyond suffering, to its joyful ends (in Jesus).
Doctrine: Christians may take sincere pleasure in the most unpromising situations. This is because Christ forms His church through furnaces, so as to guarantee our real happiness.
Exegesis: How strange joy becomes realized blessing for the church: when we approach every circumstance with the eye of faith (v. 2), we can and should expect positive results (v. 3) that will bring us ever-closer to the ideal of Christlikeness (v. 4).
Further application: Why this strange joy is a hard thing for us to appreciate: because our flesh hates to be shaken or challenged, even though there is no satisfaction (unless this happens).
Key verse: v. 2 ''My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials...''
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Mark Henninger
Strange Joy Series in James Redeemer Presbyterian...
Rev. Mark Henninger received his Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and he has been Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois for more than 30 years.
