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[00:00] turn your Bibles to James, excited to be back in. We're kind of wrapping up the whole trial section.
[00:08] Now, I would say that tentatively because I think, you know, all of James together fits.
[00:13] And so I think you know, we can take what we're learning here and into other sections and we'll
[00:17] see that as we move through James. But I think that for the most part, as James is talking about
[00:23] trials and he's talking about these tribulations, it's kind of, he kind of wraps it up in verse 18
[00:29] today. And again, I say that tent because I don't want you to be reading past and go, oh,
[00:34] I still has to kind of do it. Yeah, it does. But he really spends a lot his focus is, you know,
[00:39] from verse two, I think the 18 is trials. And in today, we'll see and sin, all right, and sin.
[00:46] Let's pray real quick and then we'll get started father. There's much we don't know
[00:53] when we open your word and so father just teach us, teach us the things that we should know,
[00:58] open our hearts to the areas of our lives that you point to. And maybe we want to live a life of
[01:05] holiness, Lord, and just help us as we move forward. We love you and Jesus know we pray, amen.
[01:11] And so what we're going to see today is kind of, you know, a little bit of a transition,
[01:19] even in the trials. And right off the bat, we're going to see, you know, we've kind of been talking
[01:24] about, you know, this idea of, you know, Raymond talked about trials and staying steadfast,
[01:31] and then steadfast have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete. This is verse
[01:37] four and lacking in nothing. And he's obviously not talking, Raymond talked all about this and so
[01:43] I don't want to get too into it, but he's not talking about that you'll lack nothing ever in
[01:46] life, right? He's not spiritually lacking, right? But then he kind of goes and, you know, he goes
[01:51] through about wisdom and Chris did a great job on that and talking about the rich man, poor man,
[01:56] kind of idea of, you know, the idea of finances or the idea of having what we have and all that
[02:02] stuff in trials and if it's taken away, talked about that last week. And then he's kind of
[02:06] transitions now back to what he was talking about in verse four. And he says this in verse 12,
[02:12] "Blessed is the man." So right off the bat, right, when you read, "Blessed is the man or woman,"
[02:17] right? We kind of want to pay attention because, you know, I don't know about you, but, you know,
[02:21] hashtag blessed, right? I want to be, I want to be blessed. As I want to like,
[02:24] Susie said, "Blessed is the man." Okay, well, watch that, right? Because I want to, I want to know
[02:28] what's coming, right? And he says, "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial."
[02:34] For when he has stood the test, he will see the crown of life which God has promised to those
[02:43] who love him. But now, again, the word steadfast comes up. I love that word, man. We don't use it,
[02:53] Raymond said that, and I've said that before. We don't use the word going around talking about
[02:56] steadfast, you know? You know, even in your job, right? You may have been a faithful employee for,
[03:02] how long did you do in the fire department, Donald? 30 years. We don't, we say, wow, that's,
[03:09] that's, you know, perseverance. That's, you know, a lot of things. We don't go, Donald, man,
[03:12] you were steadfast in the firefighter. But it was, right? I mean, that's what it was. That was a
[03:16] steadfast, but we just don't use that word. Man, we should. All right, because I think it just,
[03:21] the connotation of it says it, right? The word says what it means. We're going to stand fast,
[03:27] even in difficult times, right? And James wants us, right, what he was, what he's trying to do here
[03:33] in these next few verses is help suffering Christians find strength, right, to make the right
[03:40] hard moral choices while in a trial, because oftentimes we're in a trial. At least I don't know
[03:48] about you guys. I can't speak for you. I can speak for only for myself and other people that I have
[03:52] talked to is that in a trial, sometimes we waver, right? Because we don't want to be in the trial.
[04:00] And so some things start to waver a little bit, you know? So James is saying remain steadfast,
[04:07] persevere. Because what happens is that many times in a trial, people will give up,
[04:12] they'll give up on a difficult ministry. If any of you have been in ministry,
[04:18] and you all are now, right? If you know, you weren't before, you are now, right? In this model. And I
[04:25] always, we talk about this a lot. I always think, man, it's fulfilling for me. And I love it. But
[04:30] man, isn't hard. And for you too, right? You're hosting. You could be sick on a Saturday night.
[04:38] You're tired. Allison worked 100 hours from like Thursday, right? She has longed it. She
[04:44] works. She drives an hour each way. And then she has to work 12 hours shifts as a nurse.
[04:47] Those are, and then she had to work four days in a row. And that's hard. And then she has to host.
[04:52] That's difficult, right? Those are difficult things. And yet, they do. Same with you, Chris,
[04:57] mom in the hospital, back in the hospital. But he's like, well, we have the food. So I got to get
[05:04] the food. No, just for your record, Chris, if you called and said, my mom's in the hospital,
[05:08] we would have been completely okay with that. Okay. Just so you know. But I, that's steadfastness,
[05:12] right? That's saying, Hey, we're going to, I was committed to it. Let's do it, right?
[05:16] You're upstairs with kids. And it's not like, Oh, hey, you're teaching fourth and fifth graders,
[05:22] right? You're teaching, you know, the youngest to fifth graders. Okay. I mean,
[05:27] it's a big gap, which makes it harder, right? Or maybe you're doing nursery or you're cooking
[05:33] food, right? Or you're speaking or you're leading music, right? I mean, there's a lot to it. But
[05:38] oftentimes in a trial, well, we don't want the trial. That'll be the first thing that goes,
[05:43] ministry. Well, I don't have time for that. Or, right? The trial is a difficult people.
[05:51] And so we instead of dealing with that and asking God for wisdom in that and how should I deal with
[05:58] that, right? We want to retaliate against people who mistreat us and then mistreat them.
[06:03] Maybe it's just withdrawing from this worship. Maybe it's just withdrawing altogether.
[06:12] Saying, you know what? I don't, I'm not going. Not because of any reason. I just, this trial is,
[06:20] I don't like it. I don't like what it has anything to do with it. I don't feel like worshiping today.
[06:24] So I'm out or tomorrow. And sometimes obviously we compromise even our moral standards within a
[06:32] trial. We do that anyway, even not in a trial. All this stuff can be done outside of the trial.
[06:37] But often in the trial is even, it becomes kind of, you know, more noticeable because you're already
[06:42] going through a trial and you hate the trial. You hate what it's doing to you. You hate everything
[06:46] that's happening. And so then you decide, I don't need this. And so maybe our moral failing. We start
[06:51] morally failing. We start a stop living a life of obedience. Right? And so what this assumes is
[06:59] that this response to adversity, when we do those things, is that escaping the trial,
[07:05] and assumes it, that escaping the trial is more valuable than gaining the crown of life.
[07:12] Okay? Does look what he says, right? "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For
[07:19] when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life. And while we don't stand,
[07:24] while we aren't steadfast, and we don't get past the test, and we, you know, we sin and we say,
[07:28] forget it. We're saying that ending this trial is more important than gaining the crown of life.
[07:36] We as believers are called, and you know this, because we've talked about this, we are called to
[07:43] place greater value, right, on the goal of becoming mature and complete in Christ. That is, right?
[07:53] Our goal in life is to becoming mature and complete in Christ. Right? And so what we end up having to
[08:01] do is make some really tough choices. And this is what Paul, or this is what James is saying,
[08:06] "Blessed is a man who remains steadfast in trial. For when he has stood the test,
[08:09] he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who what love him." And so then
[08:15] the choice comes, "Well, what if I don't remain steadfast?" Right? So you have those two choices
[08:20] in a trial. Am I going to remain steadfast in this trial? Am I going to grow and learn?
[08:25] Am I going to pray for wisdom on how to handle it? Am I going to seek others
[08:29] out other Galilee men and women to talk about it and help me through? Am I going to
[08:35] pour over Scripture? Or am I going to give up?
[08:38] And so these are the important choices to make, and they oftentimes look like this. I want to give
[08:46] you some examples. And there's way more, but these are like serious trials that people go through.
[08:53] And it could be less trials, obviously, as Brooks was praying this morning. Not every trial is this
[08:58] major, major deal, right? But for you, it's a major deal. But when a Christian spouse is unfaithful,
[09:04] right, an abandoned marriage, is Christ still worth obeying to the other spouse?
[09:12] When your financial security is wrecked, you spent every last time you had
[09:19] whatever the case, because things are just horrendous. Is Christ still worth trusting?
[09:26] When something happens to us physically, and maybe our health is taken away,
[09:31] in some form, is Christ still worth adoring?
[09:40] When a loved one is taken too soon, is Christ still worth serving?
[09:44] And when our actions are misunderstood and were made fun of or were slandered,
[09:52] is Christ still worth our devotion? And even if, as Christians, we lose everything in this life,
[10:00] is Christ still worth honoring, and is the crown of life still worth perseverance?
[10:08] The answer should be yes, right? But it's easy to say yes, but not going through things,
[10:14] right? And everything is going well. Those are seasons in life where everything goes well,
[10:20] right? You got money in the bank, you have cars, you got house, you know, you got food,
[10:25] whatever the case, life is good, you're enjoying church, you're serving, you're doing all the
[10:29] good things, right? And you're like, yeah, I can persevere, right? And that's good. We should
[10:33] even in good times, because some people don't, even in good times. But it's easier in good times.
[10:37] When the trials come, when it makes it a little more difficult,
[10:40] when we start to say why, is it worth it, right? We say, why God? And then when we don't feel like
[10:47] God has given us an answer, we say, is it worth it? Is this worth it? The crown of life? It's because
[10:51] that's what you're saying. Is the crown of life worth it? And so I think James here is giving us
[10:59] encouragement. Blessed are you. Right? So this is a man, but he said, blessed are you who remain
[11:07] steadfast under trial. Think about that, right? For those of you who are going through a trial,
[11:12] James is saying, and you're remaining steadfast right now, you haven't, you haven't quit. You're
[11:18] still seeking wisdom. You're still loving God. You're still adoring him. You're still honoring Christ
[11:23] in all that you do. Blessed are you who remain steadfast, because when you stand the test of time,
[11:30] right? When you stand this test that you're going through, this trial,
[11:34] you will receive the crown of life. It's not like, oh, maybe, and we'll see that about God later on,
[11:43] he kind of, we get a, we get a characteristic of God here later on, but it's not a maybe you'll
[11:48] get the crown of life. And if you do, you know, if you do this and you stay, you know, you can,
[11:52] you have a better chance. You know, now it's 70, 30. No, it's 100% every time, because God
[11:59] literally promises him. That's the other thing. Can I encourage you, if you don't do this now,
[12:05] that when you're going through trials, it's to seek out promises of God to remind you of his goodness.
[12:10] And if you have nowhere else to go, you can go right here in James, right? Because there's,
[12:15] there's at least two, five more, but at least two, and there's one in this verse and one later on,
[12:19] we'll show you. At least three, maybe. But right there, right? If you have to, if you're in the midst
[12:29] of a trial and you have to continue and preach to yourself this verse by saying it over,
[12:35] blessed am I, because I am remaining steadfast under trial. And I will receive the crown of life,
[12:42] because God has promised it to me, because I love him.
[12:45] All right. It's not, again, right? There's a big difference is counter all joy. The joy is not
[12:53] to go, Hey, I'm going to try. Whoo, right? That's not what he's saying. It's a joy that I'm going to,
[12:58] at the end of this, if I remain steadfast, I become more Christ-like, right? And God is not
[13:04] abandoning me. And I have him and his promises. And so, and then I can have joy in that,
[13:10] even though I am crying out now. Does that make sense?
[13:14] So then he kind of transition, transitions here, right? It's kind of interesting. He goes and talks
[13:22] about, right, this, this wonderful idea of remaining steadfast. And then he goes about,
[13:29] he talks, wants to talk about sin, right? Kind of the kind of how it, how it works.
[13:37] And look what it says. Verse 13, let no one say when he is tempted,
[13:43] he doesn't say let some not say, he says, let no one say when he is tempted. I remember who he's
[13:49] writing to. All these people who are under duress, they are literally in a trial, a major trial,
[13:55] right? Some have lost everything that they have, literally, right? Some have lost family,
[14:01] some have lost their home and they've had a move. And so he says, let no one say when he is
[14:10] tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself
[14:15] tempts no one. And this is very interesting that he puts this here because many Christians I have
[14:20] met tend to think that God puts them in temptation. And there's reasons for that. Some is that we
[14:27] don't know all of scripture, right? Because if you remember the Lord's prayer, what does it say?
[14:32] Didn't you remember? Lead us not into temptation, right? But yet here it says God doesn't lead us
[14:38] into temptation, right? And I don't want to talk a ton about that. I would just say that that prayer
[14:43] and that moment when he says lead us not to teach it, lead us not to do it. Lead us not, Lord,
[14:47] I don't want to even be a part of this. I don't want, I don't want any idea like when I'm in it,
[14:52] when I step into something that is going to cause me, help me to look away, right? That I'm not
[14:57] in on that temptation. But many times in a trial or even outside of a trial,
[15:03] we have said that God, all right, God tempts me, right? To see where I'm at, you know? No.
[15:10] Why? Well, first it says it here, right? And it's very direct, right? He's not, he's not going,
[15:18] well, there's really no room. There's really no need for interpretation in a way, right? It says,
[15:22] let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God. So that's command, right? But
[15:27] no one say it. So you shouldn't say it, right? But why? For God cannot be tempted with evil and
[15:31] he himself tempts no one, right? God's nature is that he cannot be tempted by evil, right? Reminder
[15:38] of the holiness of God. We don't talk about that a lot. I don't feel that, I don't want to say
[15:44] we, I mean, as Christians in general, just absolute holiness is up God. His holiness is so pure,
[15:51] right? That if you were to go to Psalms, then we'll rewind. But the Psalms,
[15:56] they get like, how do you describe holiness of God? But it's so pure that though, the Psalmist,
[16:00] the different psalmist, describe it in terms of these terms, wondrous beauty,
[16:05] splendor, awesomeness, and other words like that. For example, Psalm 29, too, ascribe Psalm
[16:12] 29, too, ascribe to the Lord, the glory do his name, worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
[16:22] There is not the smallest trace of evil in God's nature. 1 John 1, 5. This is the message we have
[16:30] heard from him and declared to you, from him, right? In God, Christ. God is light. In him,
[16:38] there is no darkness at all, right? He is holy, right? There is no evil. If there's no evil and
[16:48] he can't think of evil, he can't participate in evil that he doesn't tempt us with evil.
[16:52] But we all experience temptation to do evil, all of us, even today, probably this morning.
[17:01] And so if we are being tempted, what is the source? And James holds up a mirror, right?
[17:13] He says, here's your source. But no one said it when tempted, I am being tempted by God,
[17:18] for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts, oh, okay, we got that.
[17:21] But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
[17:28] Oops. All right, Satan, Satan, all right. I get tempted. Now, Satan has a part in temptation,
[17:36] and I would encourage you to read more about that. But make no mistake, right?
[17:41] It's here. It is here. And people say, oh, God, you know, he tempts me and I'm trying to do it.
[17:50] No. Satan has it. No. It's here. It's our own desire. But each person is tempted when he is lured
[18:00] and enticed by his own desire, right? James wants us to take responsibility for our lives.
[18:10] And to deal with our sinful motives, right? No, that's hard to do. Because man, are we sinful people?
[18:18] I know our sinful motives, right? Our motives are sinful.
[18:25] Al-Stirbegg says, because we live in a fallen world, although not all our desires are evil,
[18:36] all of our desires have the capacity for evil, right? And sometimes, especially within a trial,
[18:42] right? Because we're mad, right? We don't want this on us, right?
[18:48] And I said, now you have choices. You're either going to remain steadfast or you're going to go
[18:55] to a way of faithlessness and disobedience. And it's a really strong warning here to Christians.
[19:06] And about their sin. He expects that true believers will not continually be giving themselves to sin.
[19:14] Get that? True believers, right? Why? Because to accept Christ as Savior is to accept him as
[19:25] Savior from sin. He gives us the power to overcome sin. And hopefully, we realize the extreme danger
[19:38] in a life of sin and what that means. That if we are just continually sin,
[19:45] but if we continually sin knowingly over and over, James is making a statement,
[19:55] right? And you'll see the rest of it here, right? Look what he says. He says,
[20:00] "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire,
[20:06] then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it fully grown brings forth death."
[20:15] All right? Now, obviously, we know if we're true believers, there's no death death, right?
[20:23] I think a great example of this, you know, what are the worst things I do? Well, let me say this
[20:28] way. A good preacher has great illustrations, right? I mean, a good preacher first preaches the word,
[20:34] but in that they have great illustrations. I never have illustrations that you all know and I
[20:38] think, right? Not because I don't try. It's just, I really, my mind just doesn't think through that.
[20:44] I don't know. But a lot of times I find I love using illustrations from the Bible, right? That's
[20:49] kind of what I love to do, right? And part of it is because it's already there. It's in the Bible.
[20:55] And part of it is because I just think it coming up with good illustrations, okay?
[20:58] But this whole idea of being led away by your own desires, lured and enticed by his own desire,
[21:06] and then the desire one has conceived his birth to sin and sin when his fully grown brings forth
[21:10] death. A great example of that is found in 2 Samuel. All right. 2 Samuel talks about David
[21:19] and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel, chapter 11, 2 Samuel, chapter 11. So I don't, I'm not going to preach
[21:27] on this, but I do want to read it because, and then think of this verse, okay, as I'm reading it.
[21:32] In the spring, this is verse 1, "In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,
[21:36] David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites
[21:41] and besieged Raba, but David remained at Jerusalem." Okay. Some would say, well, he should have went
[21:46] with his man as a problem, but let's say for sake of argument, that's what Kings did in that
[21:51] moment. And he's fine, right? And if you're looking at, if you're looking at verse 15,
[21:57] right? There's no ill desire there or, you know, there's no sin being conceived per se.
[22:03] But look at verse 2, "It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couches
[22:08] walking on the roof of the king's house." Again, right? He's kind of hanging out,
[22:12] walking on his roof. He's the king. He can walk on the roof. No sin, no nothing.
[22:15] He saw a woman roof of, as he saw from the roof, a woman bathing. Okay, even that. All right,
[22:25] guessing women bathed on the roof back then, okay? You go and you walk in, but, okay, don't let me,
[22:31] let me go away, right? I don't want any part of that, so let me go back into my palace on my couch
[22:38] that I was sitting on, right? And it says this, "So really nothing." He adds it up into that point,
[22:44] "David is still good." And the woman was very beautiful. Uh-oh. Now,
[22:53] this is David's story. So the fact that she was beautiful is coming from David, right?
[23:00] Let me know what it is. Something's happening, right? Desire is starting to take effect.
[23:06] And David sent and inquired about the woman. Now we're in trouble, right?
[23:14] Now he's stepping in it. But he gets out now, right? Look what, because look, they try to warn
[23:21] him, and one said, "Is that not, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Ilium, the wife of
[23:27] Uriah the Hittite?" One of his, you know, men? Like, hey, you know who this is? You know what
[23:34] you're doing, King? I can't say it because he's like, "Oh, you know, hey, is it this?"
[23:42] David sent messengers and took her. She came to him. They slapped, you know, the rest of the story.
[23:47] They slept together. And you know that the rest of the story, right?
[23:52] It's the story of James 1.15, right? Let me look at it. James 1.15 again. Let me read it again.
[24:00] But each person is tempted, David, when he was lured and enticed by his own desire, David,
[24:05] then desire one that has conceived and gives birth to sin, David. And the sin one has fully
[24:10] grown drink for death. And in this case, the death of his son, right? That was born of that relation.
[24:15] I think it's, right? But I'm looking at David because he's the illustration, but is it us?
[24:28] Think about our sin and how it works. It works just like that. Now, pastor theologian Sinclair
[24:35] Ferguson, he uses, he calls this a cycle of sin, right? Which it is. But he uses, he gives six words
[24:42] for this cycle, six words. One, attraction. Remember, this is for sin. And it doesn't have to be just,
[24:51] you know, what David did, that kind of sin, right? Lost for another woman, right?
[24:57] We understand that, right? But attraction, number two, deception, number three, preoccupation,
[25:05] four, conception, five, subjection, right? What do you, like, what he means by this, and when
[25:14] you get into a situation like David or where there's sin involved or where there's sin potential,
[25:18] which is almost every situation, right? At first, it's just an attractive situation.
[25:23] But if you walk away, no big deal, right? Maybe it's an attractive situation that somebody told you
[25:28] to stay away from, like, hey, don't do that, you know, don't ever go there or don't ever look
[25:33] at this or don't, you know, be, and you're like, yeah, yeah, you know, they don't know what you're
[25:36] talking about. But before you knew it, now you're being deceived. The attraction turns into
[25:42] deception. And now you have nothing else except that on your mind. You're now you're preoccupied
[25:48] with it, right? And then now sin is conceived. And now you're subjugated, right? You said, right,
[25:59] you said six words. That's five. Yes. Because the final word is desperation. And I thought, man,
[26:08] this is great, right? Because it gives a full cycle of sin. James gives it. And I think this
[26:15] theologian passes as he speaks into it, he understands what James is trying to tell people all about sin
[26:21] and the dangers of it. Desperation. Why? Because when this is what he says, when the cycle gets to
[26:27] this point, we despair on the account of our circumstances and confronted by our failure,
[26:33] we're told by Satan that we might as well give up completely because we're in such dire difficulty
[26:38] that there is no way back. You ever get there? Your sin, you've sinned greatly.
[26:47] And you know it, but you're having a hard time coming back to Christ because you just hear the
[26:55] voice you worthless, right? You have nothing to offer. You have failed too many times.
[27:03] Desperation. Have you ever been there in the sin cycle? Have you been in desperation mode,
[27:20] right? Because we're told over and over and by Satan himself that you are not worth it. I
[27:27] am not worth it. Christ died for you and this is how you go about. Be done. Just walk away.
[27:35] And yet James is going to remind us now in the next two verses that nothing can be farther from
[27:42] the truth. Oh, I love the next two verses. I love it all. The next two verses, man, right?
[27:49] James wants these truths and I'm going to read here in a sec, right? To kind of impact our actual
[27:55] beliefs about God, right? Because it's been a rough go in this chapter so far. It's like,
[28:02] hey, you're going through a lot. Guess what? Keep going. Have joy, right? Understand where they're
[28:07] coming from. Be steadfast. Then he gets to and he goes, and here's why. But for those of you
[28:16] in the trial who have walked away or even just walked away for a little while, because you feel
[28:19] that you can't go back and I feel like I need to speak to this. You are in desperation mode.
[28:26] James speaks to you here. He speaks to all of us in a trial
[28:34] and thinking that there's that God may not be. He might be voting on God. Is God really good?
[28:43] I might say it, but do I really believe it when I'm going through? James wants us to remind us,
[28:48] James wants to remind us, look at verse 16. Do not be deceived. My beloved brothers.
[28:53] Remember who he's talking to. Remember all that has gone on and he says,
[28:59] listen, my brothers and sisters who I love, right? My beloved. Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived,
[29:10] what? Because when we're in a trial or when we're in desperation mode,
[29:17] we tend to think that God is not good, right? That God is not really who he says he is.
[29:23] And look what James says, listen, don't be deceived. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
[29:31] above. Coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change,
[29:38] right? Don't be deceived by this kind of nonsense when you're in desperation mode and Satan talking
[29:45] to you that you have nowhere else to go that you're done. No, don't be deceived that God is not good
[29:50] because you're in a trial.
[29:52] He wants James wants us to know and he's trying to man just like pour it on here in this verse,
[30:03] right? And especially in times of trial that your, that the image of God is one,
[30:10] should be to us. The image of God should be one who is trustworthy,
[30:15] who is kind, who is unfailingly generous.
[30:22] Do you believe that God gives you good gifts? Can you say it when you're in a trial?
[30:34] He reminds us of these good gifts come from God, right? When it says, every good, perfect gift is
[30:42] from above coming down from the father of lights. Now, I won't spend too much time there, but this
[30:48] idea of father of lights is that like the heavenly hosts, right? The stars and the moon and everything
[30:53] that God has created in my house, you know, you guys have all been there. You know, my little
[30:59] backyard, I have a little postage stamp backyard kind of thing, but I have a fire pit that takes
[31:03] up most of my backyard, right? But I love to sit there because I have trees kind of around at night
[31:07] and just stare up in between the trees kind of where my house is. Because you can see some of
[31:13] the constellations, you know, see the big dipper, you know, things like that. It's just
[31:18] reminded of God's greatness. And I think there's a couple of things going on here with James,
[31:24] right? He wants you to know, number one, that this God who did all of this is father of lights,
[31:30] the creator of all things is the one who gives you perfect gifts and good gifts.
[31:36] But I think he also wants his idea of us to look up, right? Especially when we're going through it,
[31:45] especially when we're going through it.
[31:48] Every good gift, good gift and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights
[31:58] with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. I think when he talks about variation
[32:02] change, he's using the same metaphor of lights, right? Of the father of lights and all that that
[32:11] entails. And when things move and the earth rotates and the shadows move, and he's saying,
[32:15] that's not who God is, right? God doesn't change. There's no shadow of change. There's nothing. He
[32:21] is good. He is always good. And when we are in the trial and we start to think maybe,
[32:28] is he? I've been going through this trial for a long time, Lord. Are you? He says, yes,
[32:35] I do not change. I hear you. I'm still good. That's one of these promises I was telling you about,
[32:42] right? Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights
[32:48] with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.
[32:53] Man. And so again, are you able to say in the midst of trials, in the midst of desperation,
[33:00] God has good gifts for me. Are you able to say that?
[33:05] And I know, and again, this isn't the idea where we're going through trials that we can just be like,
[33:12] man, let's go. God has good gifts for me, right? You know, your life has fallen apart or bad things
[33:18] are really happening. You got, you lost your health or, you know, a loved one is sick or dying.
[33:23] Man, God is so good, right? That's not the joy he's talking about. That's a false joy.
[33:28] That in your tears and your cries out to God, you remember that God is still good. And in that,
[33:37] even though I have heart breaking pain, I still have joy at knowing who God really is.
[33:45] And then he wraps it up with my favorite part.
[33:51] But that was one of my favorite parts. He wraps it up with this, right? Man,
[33:56] of his own will, meaning God's own will, he's going to give us a kind of a picture into God's
[34:05] character again. Of his own free will, he brought us forth by the word of truth.
[34:14] What does that mean? It sounds like, okay, I don't know. It means he saved us. The word of truth is the
[34:20] gospel. And why? Of his own will, because he's gracious and kind and he loves us. And so he saved
[34:33] us. Think about that, right? You're going through a trial and you still have, even though you've
[34:42] lost and believe me, I really struggle with this passage in this way, right? Because I don't want
[34:48] to come across as like, oh, everything's great when you're going through a trial. Oh, I don't want
[34:52] that. But it's to remember that God saved us. He didn't have to. It could have been judgment from
[35:00] day one. It should have been. It could have been like, well, better, better enjoy this life because
[35:06] it's all I got. And God says, no, I've called you to something more. I've saved you through my son,
[35:12] Jesus Christ on the cross, right? And if he were to do nothing else for us, and that was the only
[35:19] good gift he gave us, should that not be enough? Right? Should we not be? He saved me. Me, evil heart,
[35:31] sinful, the worst at times. And yet he saved me. Why? Because it was his will to do so. Because of his
[35:41] grace, because of his mercy, because of his love, right? And so he saves us. He makes us his own in
[35:52] order that we might be holy, right? We don't again, we don't say that often. Holy. In order
[36:01] that we might be completely set apart for God, in order that he might rule and reign in our lives,
[36:08] in order that he might be sovereign, think about this, over our thinking, over our morals,
[36:15] over our finances, over our family relationships, and over our private thoughts.
[36:21] Is he sovereign over those things in your life?
[36:25] He wraps it up here and he says, I'll keep looking over at Hebrews on the why.
[36:36] He says of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, the gospel, right?
[36:44] That we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. James is taking this from Deuteronomy
[36:51] and then Israel had to gather their first and best and give it to God completely,
[36:58] right? Set apart, it was set apart for God. And he's using that metaphor, kind of that picture
[37:04] of first fruits that Israel used to have to give and say, that is who we are in Christ.
[37:11] Your sort of first fruit meant to be completely for God, holy for God, set apart to God.
[37:17] And so I ask you again, right? What is your picture of God when you go through trials?
[37:30] Do you see him as a God who is the giver of all good things?
[37:39] Do you see him as a God that saved you when there was no reason to, except for his love
[37:45] and his grace and his mercy? Do you see him as someone who has called you to be set apart
[37:51] to live holy? Because if you do, then the trial, remember, Raymond said, it's going to pull out the
[37:57] impurities and make you more holy like he is holy. And so we say then, yes, Lord,
[38:07] I trust you in this trial. Make me more like you, all right? Because I know that you are good.
[38:16] I know that the gifts that you have to give me are good.
[38:18] Al-Stabek says, we cannot live in perfection, but we can live in increasing victory,
[38:28] right? Trials on this side of heaven while we have them will not make us perfect.
[38:37] They'll make us more holy. They'll make us more, give us the ability to live in increasing victory,
[38:43] right? We're going to sing a song and we've sang it every week of this whole passage,
[38:52] right? And it's called worth it all, worth it all. It says this, I let go of all I have
[39:04] just to have all of you. And no matter what the cost, I will follow you.
[39:11] Can we sing that especially when you're in a trial? Lord, no matter what the cost,
[39:20] right? You are worthy. I will follow you. Is he worth it to you? Is he worth being steadfast?
[39:30] Is he worth holiness in your personal life? All right. Is he worth the crown of life? Father,
[39:38] as we close on this portion of James, we thank you for your word, your powerful word.
[39:43] And we just ask you, Lord, to help us remain steadfast, help us stand the test,
[39:53] keep us free from sin, Lord, help us to recognize it in our own lives and kill it, destroy it,
[40:00] make no room for it. Lord, help us to remember that you even in our trials,
[40:10] mostly in our trials, Lord, help us to remember that you are a giver of all good things.
[40:18] Oh Lord, we thank you for the blood of Christ, for saving us, for your grace that you've poured
[40:28] out on us, your mercy. May we remember these things as we go through trials and tribulations,
[40:37] as we grow, as we look to grow more Holy Lord, remind us of these things. We sing this praise
[40:45] It's now to you Lord, Jesus may we pray, amen.