James ch 1

Part 2

James ch 1

• 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

• (tack)

• 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”

Trial=Test

xxx

James ch 1

• 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

• 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”

Crown of life

• 8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

• These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Crown of life• 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to

suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.(crown of life )

• 11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death

Trial or Temptation?

• In Greek there is very little difference between the words “trial” or “tempt”

• Usually determined by

• Context

• Origin

• But there is an overlap

• Some tests from God can be used by Satan as a temptation

Trial or Temptation?

Trial

• From God

• Never Evil

• Designed to produce positive results

Temptation

• From Satan

• Designed to make us fall

• Produce negative results

God is Holy

• God is so Holy that

• he does not have a “slightly bad side” to contemplate any evil

• that could be directed towards us

back to James (NIV)

• 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

• 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Message

• 16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

• For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

• 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

• 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death

James likes progressions

v3

• testing of your faith produces perseverance.

• • 4  perseverance makes us

mature and complete,

v15

• desire has conceived,

• it gives birth to sin;

• and sin, …..

• gives birth to death.

What death?

• Physical death?

• Unlikely

• Spiritual death?

• Definitely not

• Death in the sense of

• separation from God = loss of fellowship

• Cf ADAM

Basic template of temptation

• Genesis 3• 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than

any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman,

• “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

• 1 Question what God has said

• 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

• 2 Not quite sure what God did say

• 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• 3 Contradict and accuse God of holding back something

• 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was

• good for food and

• pleasing to the eye, and also

• desirable for gaining wisdom,

• she took some and ate it.

• She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

3 Basic wants

• good for food and

• pleasing to the eye, and also

• desirable for gaining wisdom

• Gut feeling

• Looks nice

• Make me better

3 Basic wants

• good for food and

• pleasing to the eye, and also

• desirable for gaining wisdom

• Gut feeling

• Looks nice

• Make me better

• i.e. God has not given me enough

• After all, EVE WAS NOT HUNGRY

Jesus was tempted.. Luke 4

• 4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil.

• He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

• Luke 4:2 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested

Jesus was tempted.. Luke 4

• 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

• 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’

Jesus

• His temptations all mirrored Eve’s

• Food (Jesus was hungry)

• Looked nice (all the countries of the world)

• Will God look after me?

• Replied “It is written…”

Guide to Resisting Temptation

• F.B. Meyer, said • “when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are

two things we do not know: • First, we do not know how hard he or she tried

not to sin. • And second, we do not know the power of the

forces that assailed him or her.

• We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.” 

Areas of greatest spiritual challenge

• 1. Materialism.• 2. Pride.• 3. Self-centeredness.• 4. Laziness.• 5. (=) Anger/Bitterness.• 5. (=) Sexual lust.• 7. Envy.• 8. Gluttony.• 9. Lying.

Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent

• they had neglected time with God (81%) they were physically tired (57 %).

• Resisting temptation

• was accomplished by prayer (84 %),

• avoiding compromising situations (76%), Bible study (66 % ),

• & being accountable to someone (52%).

Temptations will come

• Beware of your weaknesses

• Things

• People

• Time

• Tiredness

Temptations will come

• Be aware of your strengths

• Quebec

• Babylon

• Eder Dam

1 Cor 10 AV

• 11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, ….

• 12 Wherefore

• let him that thinketh he standeth

• take heed

• lest he fall.

I Cor 10 NIV

• 13 No temptation[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Hebrews 4 Jesus’ example

• 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest ….Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.

• 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Satan’s lies

• There are two equally damning lies Satan wants us to believe:

• 1) Just once won't hurt.

• 2) Now that you have ruined your life, you are beyond God's use, and might as well enjoy sinning.

Look for the Emergency exit not the Entrance

• When you flee temptation, make sure you don't leave a forwarding address.

• The thing that makes men and rivers crooked is following the line of least resistance

• Broken Arms

James 1

• 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.

James 1

• First fruits

• 1 Dedication of what I have

• 2 Ceremony of a promise of what is to come

• As Christians we are a new dedicated people with a real future which is why Satan attacks

Take Home Messages• Trials will come

• Temptations will come, but should be resisted and probably run away from

If you can’t talk to God about it,

You probably shouldn’t be doing it.