SPEAKER_00: If you would grab your Bibles and turn to James chapter one.
SPEAKER_00: James chapter one is where we'll be.
SPEAKER_00: We are, for our visitors, we're in a series in the book of James.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have a Bible, please look in front of you on the in the row before you, you should be able to find a Bible there.
SPEAKER_00: And if you just find James chapter one, we'll be in verses nine through eighteen this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, you are good.
SPEAKER_00: Everything about you is good, O God.
SPEAKER_00: And we thank you, Father, for this time that you've allowed us to come and to worship you, O God.
SPEAKER_00: And now it is time, dear God, to preach and to teach your word.
SPEAKER_00: And so we pray, Father, that you open up our eyes, open up our minds' eyes, that we may receive wonders from your law.
SPEAKER_00: Father, touch our hearts, meet us right where we are with the transforming and the renewing power of your word.
SPEAKER_00: You know what it is that we need to hear on this day.
SPEAKER_00: And so we thank you for it, God.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask, Lord, that it be for our edification and your glorification.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray for unsaved souls in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: That they hear something today.
SPEAKER_00: They hear something from your word, oh God, that touches their hearts and helps them to know, Father, that today is the day for salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for love and life, and we thank you, Lord, for who you are and your Son Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Navigating the trials of life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the toughest parts for a pastor is to know any time that there's someone in our midst or someone that's a Christian and you know them very well, any time that they are living in defeat, it's a painful reality.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not speaking about anybody here in particular.
SPEAKER_00: I just, as I thought about this text, even as I was standing here this morning, I just thought about that weight that James must have had as he wrote the book of James.
SPEAKER_00: You know, God's goal for us is that we grow to maturity.
SPEAKER_00: His goal for our lives is that we grow up and we know that our children grow up extremely fast.
SPEAKER_00: And we enjoy watching them mature.
SPEAKER_00: We enjoy watching them grow up, even knowing, we enjoy watching them grow from children to maturity, even knowing that there's gonna be dangers, that there's gonna be trials, there's gonna be things that's gonna await them and happen in their life that's just not gonna be pleasing to them.
SPEAKER_00: And the truth is we can't shelter our children.
SPEAKER_00: We can't shelter them from the trials of life.
SPEAKER_00: And if we do, they'll never grow up, they'll never mature.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see that the same is true with God and the life of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 2 through 4 of our text, as Pastor Sammy dealt with last week, James is urging his readers to adapt God's view of their trials.
SPEAKER_00: And he says to them, from God's perspective, trials are meant to grow you, trials are meant to mature you, and the Christian, and to grow the Christian, making the Christian, making them perfect, complete, lacking in nothing, while you're putting your faith on full display so that others can follow you as you follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But in order to grow as a Christian, the Christian must be a willing participant.
SPEAKER_00: God will not work.
SPEAKER_00: He will not work in us without our consent.
SPEAKER_00: God is not a God that's going to hold a gun to our head.
SPEAKER_00: And to force us to grow, he's not that kind of God.
SPEAKER_00: God is a loving God.
SPEAKER_00: He won't force us to mature.
SPEAKER_00: There must be a surrendered will on our part.
SPEAKER_00: So the mature person does not argue with God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, the mature person willingly accepts God's will and obeys it joyfully.
SPEAKER_00: And so if we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we'll end up more like immature Christians than mature adults.
SPEAKER_00: The recipients of this letter from James were undergoing trials of various kinds, and they needed wisdom to understand their trials and respond to it appropriately.
SPEAKER_00: Misunderstanding, mishandling, trials were both problems for James readers.
SPEAKER_00: And so they needed to know.
SPEAKER_00: They needed to know that God uses trials to test the genuineness of our faith and to nurture our faith to maturity.
SPEAKER_00: See, they didn't understand this.
SPEAKER_00: When they were falling, failing these tests of faith, their trials were becoming temptations to sin, and some were even accusing God of divine conspiracy in which God was using their trials to set them up to sin.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to read for us James chapter nine verses all the way to verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: And if you would stand for the reading and the reverence of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be deceived.
SPEAKER_00: Coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
SPEAKER_00: Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's God's word for God's people.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: James is teaching us in this text that regardless of our circumstances, God deserves our highest praise, humble attitudes, and holy living.
SPEAKER_00: James makes the point here that God's nature and character and ways are all good.
SPEAKER_00: So the question on the table for us is this.
SPEAKER_00: Since the goal of our lives, since God's goal for us is maturity, what must we do to allow the test to mature us?
SPEAKER_00: And so first thing that James says in the text, the first truth that comes up in the text is this for us to allow the test to humble you.
SPEAKER_00: To allow the test to humble you.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me at verses 9 through 11.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
SPEAKER_00: For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers to the grass, its flower falls and its beauty perishes, so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 9 through 11, James is introducing us to pretty much the entire theme of the book.
SPEAKER_00: But why in the middle of this section does he deal with, in this section of trials, why does he stop for a moment and he deals with poverty and riches?
SPEAKER_00: Many of James' readers at that time were likely poor.
SPEAKER_00: Some were rich and trusting in their wealth.
SPEAKER_00: And James reminds us in these verses that trials are the great equalizer of men.
SPEAKER_00: That a person's attitude toward material things is a good indication of our spiritual condition.
SPEAKER_00: In relation to eternity, neither the poor or rich have anything to boast about.
SPEAKER_00: Before God both are equals.
SPEAKER_00: Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation.
SPEAKER_00: And his point is simply this to those of humble circumstances, that they should find great joy from focusing and thinking about their spiritual riches.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he may be financially poor, he may be looked upon by the world, looked down upon by the world, he may be considered nobody, but in the eyes of God, he has a position of lofty dignity.
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, James says.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10 and 11, verse 10 tells us that in the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away.
SPEAKER_00: They'll pass away.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11 makes it plain.
SPEAKER_00: James makes it plain for his readers.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For the sun rises with his scorching heat and withers the grass, his flower falls and his beauty perishes, so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
SPEAKER_00: And the implication James is making here is that the rich man is, if the rich man is not careful, he'll pass away while he's so busy and restfully trying to become rich in his material pursuits.
SPEAKER_00: At what point the grass was green and lush, that it was at its peak vitality, but soon the grass will wither and it will turn brown.
SPEAKER_00: We know all too well about that here in Florida.
SPEAKER_00: And so James is saying the same is said for the rich person who places his pursuits of wealth above the love of God.
SPEAKER_00: James says he'll fade away.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're having a financial class next week, and that financial class is for us to be good stewards.
SPEAKER_00: It's not meant for us to go and seek wealth and strive and pursue to be wealthy.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if God allows us to be wealthy, that's his choice.
SPEAKER_00: But we see here in this text that trials are the great equalizer.
SPEAKER_00: They erase any thought or distinction that separates the rich and the poor.
SPEAKER_00: The timeless truth that applies to both kinds of people in this text is simply this material riches are worthless in the face of death and judgment.
SPEAKER_00: It will do us no good.
SPEAKER_00: It's all temporary.
SPEAKER_00: So when testing comes to the one that's of humble circumstances, what should we do?
SPEAKER_00: James tells us that you should boast in the fact that your circumstances are actually leading you to rejoice in the spiritual riches of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But on the other hand, for the rich, James is saying that the rich should be careful.
SPEAKER_00: He's letting them know that trials will remind you that money can't solve your problems.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'll be honest with you, they may make it a little bit better if you had a little bit more money.
SPEAKER_00: But all of the stuff that you fill your life with can't cover up your hurts.
SPEAKER_00: It can't cover up your pains.
SPEAKER_00: It can't cover up all that you have going on in life.
SPEAKER_00: It can't cover up trials, it can't cover up the things that we go to.
SPEAKER_00: When testing comes and you let God have his way, you can rejoice that your riches in Christ will not wither and they won't fade away.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what is the point of this text?
SPEAKER_00: It's not, it is not your material resources that take you through the testings of life.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the material resources that's going to get you through.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be the spiritual resources that you have.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have Christ Jesus in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Can you trust in the Lord to get you through?
SPEAKER_00: Trials that test us will grow us if we allow our circumstances to humble us.
SPEAKER_00: So from God's perspective, our trials, as well as our triumphs on earth only are only temporary.
SPEAKER_00: And for this reason, we can find encouragement to endure in the midst of trials.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what must we do to allow God to test us?
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter 5, 6 says this, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, for he will exalt you in due time.
SPEAKER_00: But verse 7 says, casting all your anxieties on him, because why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so, secondly, if you're going to allow tests to mature you, you must allow tests to bless you.
SPEAKER_00: We all know those people who have left the church or who have, who want nothing to do with Christ because of a trial that they have experienced and they faced in their life.
SPEAKER_00: James begins verse 12 with the word blessed, and we find this tendency all throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Psalms 1, 1 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.
SPEAKER_00: We find this same tendency over in the Beatitudes, where James uses the same formula, and we were where Matthew uses the same formula in Matthew 5, 3 through 12.
SPEAKER_00: But what's interesting is some of these modern translations use the word happy.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not actually rendering the true translation of what James is trying to say.
SPEAKER_00: Because a proper understanding of what James is getting at as he uses this word blessed, he's letting us know that the word blessed, blessed is an emotional, isn't an emotional state.
SPEAKER_00: That our emotional state can vary depending on the circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: But one thing that we can be assured of that whatever the circumstances are, that we can endure them with faith and commitment to God.
SPEAKER_00: And if we do, we'll be recipients of God's favor.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this blessing comes to the believer who endures under trials.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 2 of our text, trial refers to any difficulty in life that may threaten the faithfulness of Christ, our faithfulness to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And this blessing, of course, is something Christians can enjoy in this life.
SPEAKER_00: But James also focuses on the future reward.
SPEAKER_00: He's pointing us to the future reward.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, if you endure, you'll receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, you can be blessed and still be unhappy.
SPEAKER_00: That's why blessed is the true rendering of this word.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian who remains steadfast under trials, who stands and stands the test, who perseveres, demonstrates his or her love for God.
SPEAKER_00: It is those who persevere under trials out of the love of God while being severely tempted whom will be rewarded with the crown of life.
SPEAKER_00: We see this over in Revelations 2.10, where the church of Smyrna is going through suffering.
SPEAKER_00: In Revelations 2.10, it says this do not fear what you're about to suffer.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and for 10 days you'll have tribulation.
SPEAKER_00: Be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life.
SPEAKER_00: The crown of life, church, is the ultimate reward.
SPEAKER_00: It's the fulfillment of eternal life and the exaltation with Christ, which will be enjoyed by those who, because of faith in Christ, have loved God enough to live faithfully, obeying Him, even through the trials.
SPEAKER_00: See, at the end of these trials, God meets us with life and life eternal.
SPEAKER_00: Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 4.17, he says, For our momentary light of affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.
SPEAKER_00: James is not saying that the one who endures, the one who endures, who successfully endures trials, James is not saying that you're going to earn eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal life is not earned.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal life is given to us by Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's not earned through our human efforts and it's not earned through achievements.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal life is received through faith in Christ Jesus and his life.
SPEAKER_00: So don't miss the very end of this text.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes when we when we quote this text, we we kind of leave off the very end.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll just say, blessed is the man who, and as I learned it in the King James Version, blessed is the man who endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.
SPEAKER_00: But don't miss the last part of what James is saying in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: He says, which God has promised to those who love him.
SPEAKER_00: This idea that Christians, that all Christians do love God is fiction.
SPEAKER_00: All Christians do not love God, and it's unfortunate that all Christians do not love God, but that's the truth of the matter.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus felt it necessary to deal with this very same subject over in John 14, 21 through 24.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to read that for us so we understand what James is saying, because we can't miss this in the text.
SPEAKER_00: In John 14, 21 through 24, it says this whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
SPEAKER_00: And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
SPEAKER_00: Judas, not as scary yet, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.
SPEAKER_00: And my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
SPEAKER_00: Church, in no circumstances more than trials, does the presence and absence of the love of the Christian become more evident?
SPEAKER_00: Love is the essence of true faith.
SPEAKER_00: Where there is no love for God, death reigns.
SPEAKER_00: Where we don't have love for our Father, death reigns.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we don't have love for God, then that means we're not concerned about being obedient to Him.
SPEAKER_00: We're not concerned about living for Him.
SPEAKER_00: The promised reward cannot be earned.
SPEAKER_00: It is God's gift to those who truly love Him.
SPEAKER_00: And so James is letting us know that trials that test us will bless us if we truly love God.
SPEAKER_00: But then he goes on to say in verses 13 through 15, that if we're going to allow tests to mature us, if tests are going to mature us and we're going to grow as Christians, we are to allow the tests to strengthen, to strengthen us.
SPEAKER_00: 13 and 15 says this.
SPEAKER_00: 13 through 15 says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God.
SPEAKER_00: For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_00: Then, desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: God is never the source of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't try to get us to sin.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what God does.
SPEAKER_00: Some people will go as far as blaming God for their sins.
SPEAKER_00: God may allow trials, but he is not.
SPEAKER_00: And James insists on this, he is not the author of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: God often tests, but he doesn't tempt.
SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to temptation, we tend to blame everyone but ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We blame others.
SPEAKER_00: When God was when God asked Adam if he had eaten from the forbidden fruit, his first response was, The woman you gave me.
SPEAKER_00: We tend to blame God.
SPEAKER_00: In Genesis 3.12, the man said, The woman whom you gave me to be with, to be with me.
SPEAKER_00: She gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate.
SPEAKER_00: So Adam tries to blame God for the same, for the shame that he feels.
SPEAKER_00: Her exact words, the serpent deceived me and I ate.
SPEAKER_00: Enticement to sin comes from our own sinful natures, not from God.
SPEAKER_00: But secondly, I want you to see that our temptation to sin comes from our own desires.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me at verses 14 and 15.
SPEAKER_00: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_00: Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown gives birth, it brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: Three truths about temptation in this text in verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: James is letting us know that first of all it's universal.
SPEAKER_00: He says, each person.
SPEAKER_00: He's letting us know that temptations are inevitable.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, temptations is gonna, we all gonna deal with temptation.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's oftentimes that we deal with this subject about temptation, we always think it's sexual.
SPEAKER_00: No, there's a whole lot of temptations out there.
SPEAKER_00: But temptations are evitable.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14 says, each person is tempted, not might be tempted, not may be tempted, not could be tempted, but each person is tempted when he or she is lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_00: And so James makes this universal, he makes it inevitable, but then he brings it home to us and makes it personal.
SPEAKER_00: He says, when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing that we must come to grips with is this source of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: And then we also need to come to grips with the trap of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: This word Lord means to drag out of something.
SPEAKER_00: It means to drag out of something with great effort.
SPEAKER_00: This word enticed refers to being entrapped with something as if it was a bait.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how many of you have ever been fishing, but in order to catch a fish, you have to use bait.
SPEAKER_00: And if the fish aren't biting, and the key to using bait when you fish is to try to make the fit, try to make the bait as luring as possible to the fish.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, to try to fool the fish so that the fish will take the bait.
SPEAKER_00: And when the fish takes the bait and bites the hook, the hook gets hooked in his mouth.
SPEAKER_00: And so what that fish thought was something that was enticing, that fish thought something that was good for them turns out to be something that was bad for them.
SPEAKER_00: It turned out to be a trap, then that fish is now a done deal.
SPEAKER_00: On your dinner table.
SPEAKER_00: We change the bait.
SPEAKER_00: So if the fish aren't biting, we change the bait.
SPEAKER_00: We find another bait.
SPEAKER_00: We find something else.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if this isn't working, then maybe this will work.
SPEAKER_00: Temptation works the same way to entrap us.
SPEAKER_00: If this isn't working, then guess what?
SPEAKER_00: The enemy is gonna bring something else in our way to lure us, to entrap us.
SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna keep changing the bait, keep changing the bait, keep changing the bait until he finds the one thing that causes us to bite.
SPEAKER_00: This word enticed, this luring and enticed, it's in the present tense, which means that temptation is always, always trying to catch us off guard, to entice us, to drag us away.
SPEAKER_00: And James changes the metaphor, and he moves from the world of fishing to the process of human development, from bait to biology.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me at verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: So I want you to see what James is doing.
SPEAKER_00: James is showing us the progression of sin.
SPEAKER_00: He's showing us the progression of sin, and he's using the biology, he's using the biology of birth.
SPEAKER_00: Look what he says in verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: He says, then desire when it is conceived gives what?
SPEAKER_00: Birth.
SPEAKER_00: Desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: James goes from the conception to the child being born.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, from conception to the child being born to the child now growing up, to the point to where now sin enters the picture.
SPEAKER_00: What James is saying is this: listen, is if this is a person's life, if this becomes our lifestyle, if this becomes the way that we live, if this becomes who we are as a person, then maybe, maybe that we really didn't have a conversion to begin with.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that we really didn't accept Christ to begin with, because he says in this text, he says, when sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death, James is letting us know, listen, when it becomes a way of life, and I believe if I'm correct, I don't know if Pastor Sammy said this last week or not, but when we if we get to a point to where we can sin and it doesn't affect us, if we get to that place, run to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Run to God.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever we get to a place to where we think that it's okay before God, that's not a good place to be in.
SPEAKER_00: Conception leads to birth, which leads to growing up, which ends in death.
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes when scripture refers to death, he's talking about scripture is talking about the consequence of sin.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about separation.
SPEAKER_00: Sin always leads to death, either physical death, spiritual death, or eternal death.
SPEAKER_00: There's no future in sin.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are here today, and you find yourself in this place, in verse 15, I beg you to run to the cross and lay it at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It might promise pleasure, but always delivers pain.
SPEAKER_00: When faced with temptation, stop looking at the lure or the beauty of the bait and look ahead at the consequences of getting caught by that bait.
SPEAKER_00: Trials on the outside can become temptations on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: And I wrestle with this for just for quite a bit this week.
SPEAKER_00: Douglas Moo writes this.
SPEAKER_00: He says, listen to what he says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, every trial, every external difficulty carries with it a temptation and inner enticement to sin.
SPEAKER_00: Every trial, every external difficulty carries with it a temptation and an inner enticement to sin.
SPEAKER_00: The death of a loved one, of a loved one.
SPEAKER_00: Too many have stopped walking with God under the pressure of that kind of trouble or tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: Financial reversals, people have gotten divorces over financial difficulty.
SPEAKER_00: They have killed themselves over financial difficulty, marital difficulties.
SPEAKER_00: Issues become abuse because of things that happen in marriage, outside circumstances, that now is used to entice us to sin.
SPEAKER_00: Trials that test us, church, strength will strengthen us if we don't get tripped up by the temptations.
SPEAKER_00: So the key to overcoming temptation is to recognize its source and how it's designed to trap us.
SPEAKER_00: But if we want victory, if we want victory, we must focus our attention on God Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16 and 18 says this it says, Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
SPEAKER_00: Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
SPEAKER_00: And so, how do we allow tests to mature us?
SPEAKER_00: We need to allow tests to be good for us.
SPEAKER_00: William Tyndale said this God's goodness is the root of all goodness, our goodness.
SPEAKER_00: If we have any, springs out of his goodness.
SPEAKER_00: So he says in verse 16, he says, Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
SPEAKER_00: James is warning, he's warning them from a pastor's heart.
SPEAKER_00: He lovingly commands them, don't be deceived.
SPEAKER_00: This word deceived means to stray away or to wonder.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a ship, a picture of a ship drifting off course or being lost at sea.
SPEAKER_00: James is using it here as a warning for us.
SPEAKER_00: He's using it to let us know that his concern is about them straying away from the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And so he says to them, do not be deceived.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be misled about who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be misled about what he will do and what he won't do and why he exists.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be misled about that.
SPEAKER_00: Know who God is.
SPEAKER_00: And so the tense reads this way: it says, stop being deceived.
SPEAKER_00: And it's an action that's already in progress.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the work of the enemy of our souls to seek and to deceive us is non-stop.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy is not gonna stop, which means that we must always have our antennas up.
SPEAKER_00: Always have our antennas up when it comes to false teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Always have our antennas up when it comes to true doctrine.
SPEAKER_00: Know what we're hearing about God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, James warns us against being deceived.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 17, he warns us by reminding us of the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me at verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, which with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
SPEAKER_00: These highlights the attributes of God.
SPEAKER_00: And look what he says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, first attribute is this God is good.
SPEAKER_00: We see that in verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: God is good.
SPEAKER_00: His goodness is seen in his acts of giving and is seen in his nature of the gifts.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17 says, every good gift, it focuses on the fact, on the act of giving.
SPEAKER_00: Certainly the gifts of God are good, but the very act of giving by God is also good.
SPEAKER_00: And I know this may be simple and sophomoric, it may be a simple point to make, but let us not overlook what James is saying here.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 9 7 says this each must give as he decided in his heart, not reluctantly, under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_00: You see, a person may give grudgingly out of necessity rather than giving cheerfully.
SPEAKER_00: And just because you give someone a gift does not mean that your heart is in the right place.
SPEAKER_00: But not with God.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17 talks about the nature of these gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And what are the nature of these gifts?
SPEAKER_00: It's the gift of the new birth, the gift of wisdom, the gift of salvation, the gift of the kingdom of God, the sending of his son, the coming of the Holy Spirit, all things come from him.
SPEAKER_00: God only gives perfect gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And these gifts are gifts to build us up, not to tear us down.
SPEAKER_00: These are gifts to build us up and not to tempt us and to knock us down.
SPEAKER_00: This doesn't mean that every gift from God is desirable.
SPEAKER_00: This doesn't mean that every gift of God is comfortable, and it doesn't mean that every gift of God is pleasurable.
SPEAKER_00: But Romans 8 28 tells us this, and we know that those that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_00: And so even in the midst of trials and faced with temptation, church, God is good.
SPEAKER_00: And not only is he good, but look what it says in verse, in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17 is a very powerful verse in this text.
SPEAKER_00: God is it's also letting us go how powerful God is.
SPEAKER_00: These perfect gifts, look what it says, they're coming down.
SPEAKER_00: Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from where?
SPEAKER_00: From the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
SPEAKER_00: Every good and perfect gift is from above.
SPEAKER_00: It's a constant stream.
SPEAKER_00: God is constantly pouring goodness on us.
SPEAKER_00: Constantly pouring goodness.
SPEAKER_00: Even when times that we're not acting like we should, even when we're not doing and living as the way we should, God is constantly pouring his good gifts on us.
SPEAKER_00: Lamentations 3.22 through 23 says this the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
SPEAKER_00: His mercies never come to an end.
SPEAKER_00: They are new every morning.
SPEAKER_00: Great is your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you want to know how to respond in times of testing, you want to know how to respond in times of trials, look to God.
SPEAKER_00: Just look up.
SPEAKER_00: Don't look at the circumstances around you.
SPEAKER_00: Look to God.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that we ought to be focusing on.
SPEAKER_00: Psalms 121, 1 through 2 says this I lift up my eyes to the hills.
SPEAKER_00: From where does my help come from?
SPEAKER_00: My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: And so when he says the father of lights, he speaks of God without directly mentioning his name.
SPEAKER_00: God is the creator of heavenly lights.
SPEAKER_00: He creates the sun, the moon, the stars, the planet, all the heavenly bodies.
SPEAKER_00: And so when James calls God the Father's light, he's saying that God reigns.
SPEAKER_00: God reigns over these heavenly bodies with all power and authority.
SPEAKER_00: These heavenly lights they turn, they rotate and shift, causing shadows.
SPEAKER_00: Not so with God.
SPEAKER_00: Because this text also tells us that with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
SPEAKER_00: God does not change.
SPEAKER_00: There's no variation in God.
SPEAKER_00: Our God never changed.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why we have not been wiped out is because God is a good God.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how else to put it.
SPEAKER_00: God is a good God who does not change when we change on Him.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 13, 8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
SPEAKER_00: God never changes and always shines.
SPEAKER_00: Why does our portion of the earth become dark even though the sun always shines?
SPEAKER_00: Because earth keeps turning.
SPEAKER_00: The earth spins on his axes every 24 hours.
SPEAKER_00: And even though it's spinning on his axis, God is constantly shining forth his goodness, constantly shining forth his truth.
SPEAKER_00: He's constantly shining forth his grace.
SPEAKER_00: This phrase due to change.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to stay here for a minute because we got to understand the God that we serve and his attributes.
SPEAKER_00: This phrase, shadow due to change, points to the fact that nothing that does change can block or hinder the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, life may be hard, but God is still good.
SPEAKER_00: The difficulties of life do not cancel out the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: If we're standing in the sun, we may be standing in the sun and we may see a shadow that we see that shadow change.
SPEAKER_00: Why did that shadow move?
SPEAKER_00: And we stood still.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the earth is moving.
SPEAKER_00: But God is not, but but God is not changed.
SPEAKER_00: And so from your perspective, it seems that the sun has moved, but in reality, the planet is moving, but the sun stays right where it is.
SPEAKER_00: You moved, the sun didn't.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same way with God.
SPEAKER_00: If it seems, if God seems far away in your life, guess who moved?
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't God.
SPEAKER_00: God is good all the time, but then lock, what watch the last part of this verse, and that's, I'm gonna deal with this, and then we're gonna get ready to go home.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the ultimate gift from God, from from from from from God, the Almighty Giver.
SPEAKER_00: James didn't want his readers to get caught up in the rappings and the trappings of life so that they miss out on the true gifts of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so he specifies in verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: It says, of his own will, he brought us forth.
SPEAKER_00: He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
SPEAKER_00: This phrase brought us forth.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God has done for us in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He brought us forth, and the verb is the same word used in verse 15 when James says, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same verb.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what he says here.
SPEAKER_00: Sin brings forth death, but God brings forth new life.
SPEAKER_00: And it's three three wonderful facts about what he's saying here.
SPEAKER_00: He's given us the motivation, the means, and the measure.
SPEAKER_00: Look what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Of his will, he brought us forth.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, God chose to give us good life, give us life.
SPEAKER_00: To give us new life.
SPEAKER_00: God chose to give us new life.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says, by his word, God brings us forth to new life by the word of truth.
SPEAKER_00: But then the measure that we we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
SPEAKER_00: When the harvest would come, the people would, the people of God would give their first fruit, the first and best of the harvest to God.
SPEAKER_00: It was to be consecrated to God to acknowledge that God was the source of the harvest and express confidence in God's future provision.
SPEAKER_00: The grace of God has been extended through the gospel to all people so as to bring into existence a foretaste, a down payment, a first fruits, a redemptive plan that will eventually encompass all of creation.
SPEAKER_00: So here James uses this imagery.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8.19 says this, for creation awaits with eager longing for the revealing of the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the reference to the first fruit emphasis that emphasizes the fact that salvation is for us.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not about us.
SPEAKER_00: God gave, God saves us for his glory, not for our glory.
SPEAKER_00: So, church, we see in this text that God is the source of salvation, not temptation.
SPEAKER_00: So have you believed and received him as Savior and Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Because if not, he's offering that gift to you today.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, so that we can take it.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know where you are.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if perhaps you're being beat down, perhaps you're being pushed around repeatedly, violently by bricks of life.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you find yourself right now in a dark place at the end of your ropes.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you're wondering if God even cares.
SPEAKER_00: But I declare to you today that God is good, He's all powerful, and He is your only hope of deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: These truths about the character of God are so critical in dealing with the trials and temptations.
SPEAKER_00: We ought to bind them to our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Church, God is good, God is all-powerful, God never changes, and God is the giver of life.
SPEAKER_00: And so James tells us to claim these truths about God by faith today.
SPEAKER_00: Trials that test us will open our eyes to the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll close with just this.
SPEAKER_00: In the book, in his book, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, our Kent Hughes tells of a dark night of the soul that he went through and how the Lord brought him out.
SPEAKER_00: Kent Hughes had been groomed for success, and it was no surprise that he was chosen to plant a church.
SPEAKER_00: Expectations were so high that there were whispers that this new church would soon outgrow the mother church.
SPEAKER_00: But several years later, there were very few signs of life.
SPEAKER_00: No growth, no fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And in a moment of weakness, Arkent Hughes said to his wife, God has called me to do something that he hasn't given me the gifts to accomplish.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, God is not good.
SPEAKER_00: And his wife, Barbara, told him and assured him that she still believed in the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: She encouraged him to hold on to her faith for the night.
SPEAKER_00: She had enough faith to believe for the both of them.
SPEAKER_00: So my question to you is this is what do you hold on to when life causes you to question the goodness of God?
SPEAKER_00: What are you holding on to?
SPEAKER_00: I beseech you today to hold on to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Grab hold of Jesus Christ and never let him go.
SPEAKER_00: When trials come, God is at work.
SPEAKER_00: That's all you gotta know.
SPEAKER_00: When trials come, God is at work.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, we humbly accept, Lord, the trials that come in our lives, dear God.
SPEAKER_00: We help, we thank you, Father, for helping us to get a better, clearer, a clearer picture of what it is that you're doing in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: We praise you, God, for the warnings, for the thoughts that go through our head, dear God, as we think about areas of our lives that's that need to be turned over to you, Father.
SPEAKER_00: We praise you for what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: For even in the midst of those trials, even in the midst of those tests, dear God, you are doing a mighty work.
SPEAKER_00: We may not like it.
SPEAKER_00: It may be confusing, it may be painful, it may be hurtful, dear God, but we know that you are good.
SPEAKER_00: And all good and perfect gifts come from you, oh God.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, we humbly say, have your way.
SPEAKER_00: Have your way, oh God, in our lives, so that you will get to glory.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you, we praise you, and we ask these blessings in Christ's Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.