The Mature Endure Temptation—James 1:12-18

[00:00:05] Thank you for listening to the Calvary Monterey podcast. Please visit Calvary.com to learn more about our church and visit

[00:00:12] Nate Holdridge.com for additional Bible teaching from our lead pastor, Nate Holdridge.

[00:00:19] Teaching today is our lead pastor, Nate Holdridge.

[00:00:24] All right. Good morning everyone.

[00:00:27] Great to see you all today. You know the Bible says to give honor to whom honor is due so we want to honor the moms today.

[00:00:34] We are so thankful for you. Let's applaud all the moms in the house today.

[00:00:42] Thank you for what you do, your labor of love. You are as Pastor Matt said in the announcements incredibly

[00:00:50] important to what God is doing on earth today.

[00:00:54] So you guys know we've been going through the book of James.

[00:00:57] We just started it last Sunday and it's been in my heart like we did with our Nehemiah series a couple of years ago

[00:01:03] to have different people from the church come up and read the text for that day

[00:01:09] to the church. And so I thought that for our first reading in the book of James

[00:01:14] I would invite, this will be a great day to invite, the best mom that I know my wife Christina to read us,

[00:01:21] James chapter 1. So if you guys would turn there in the Bible, James chapter 1 verse 12.

[00:01:27] Good morning everybody.

[00:01:29] All right. James 1 verse starting in verse 12.

[00:01:33] Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test

[00:01:38] he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.

[00:01:43] Let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself

[00:01:51] tempts no one.

[00:01:53] But each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire.

[00:01:58] Then desire when it's conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death.

[00:02:06] Do not be deceived my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above

[00:02:13] coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

[00:02:19] 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.

[00:02:27] All right, let's pray together church.

[00:02:33] Lord we thank you for your word. We thank you for the book of James and Lord what you are going to do as we interact with this book.

[00:02:41] I know Lord for many of us here in this room

[00:02:44] we've read this book so many times and you've done so many things in our lives at each

[00:02:49] visitation of these words and we pray Lord for the same here as we go through these five chapters.

[00:02:54] We ask Lord that you'd speak to us.

[00:02:56] Lord we take a moment this morning to pray for all the moms that are

[00:03:01] represented here whether they're present or serving downstairs or elsewhere on campus or whether they're at home with a little one or

[00:03:09] whether they're far away from us but represented through their children being present here in this place.

[00:03:16] We ask Lord for your hand to be upon them and Lord that they would embrace

[00:03:20] the calling that you have placed upon their lives.

[00:03:23] Thank you Lord for that unique gift that you've given to them and we pray Lord that you'd use them in great ways in

[00:03:29] the body of Christ and here on earth.

[00:03:31] And so Lord we again pray that by your spirit you'd speak to us from your book today in

[00:03:38] Jesus name. We pray together. Amen. Amen.

[00:03:43] Well last week as I mentioned to you

[00:03:45] we started our study in the book of James and I told you that the theme that I've chosen for this study of the book is

[00:03:54] maturity profile.

[00:03:57] Maturity profile. Years ago when I taught the book of James

[00:04:01] I think maybe in 2012 or so I chose the theme wake up your faith, you know

[00:04:06] it's a little bit younger a little bit more

[00:04:10] angsty and

[00:04:11] you know James talks in James chapter 2 about faith that is alive and active and living and all of that.

[00:04:17] So it's a great theme but as I've wrestled with this book over the years the conclusion that I've come to is that

[00:04:24] these dispersed Christians that James was writing to probably in the first

[00:04:30] decade of the early church the book of James being one of the earliest New Testament

[00:04:34] pieces of

[00:04:36] literature these Jewish Christians that had been dispersed because of persecution from

[00:04:42] Jerusalem they were wrestling with the question how do we live

[00:04:46] for Jesus in these cultures and among customs that are so different from what we are used to some of them are just

[00:04:54] odd to us some of them are

[00:04:57] sinful to us how do we proceed as God's people a

[00:05:02] scattered from the

[00:05:04] confines of revival there in Jerusalem and James who I said to you last week was more than likely the half

[00:05:12] brother of Jesus

[00:05:14] he had a front row seat to the life of Jesus and he

[00:05:19] exposit it to them the life and ministry and teaching of Jesus in these five chapters like I said last week

[00:05:25] it's as if James had

[00:05:27] ingested Jesus digested Jesus and

[00:05:31] reproduced Jesus in these

[00:05:33] five short chapters of God's word now last week we saw James crack open

[00:05:40] Three themes that he will repeat over and over again as we go through the book of James

[00:05:47] He talked to us about how a mature person handles trials

[00:05:51] He talked to us about how or where a mature person turns to for wisdom

[00:05:57] Who do they listen to? Where did they get their marching orders in life?

[00:06:01] and

[00:06:02] He talked to us about how a mature person views

[00:06:05] poverty and wealth and

[00:06:07] Whatever their condition how they should view themselves in the light of their poverty or wealth in the eyes of

[00:06:14] God and those three themes are going to be on repeat throughout the book of James

[00:06:19] he is going to revisit in various forms and facets the subject of

[00:06:24] Trials the subject of wisdom and the subject of poverty slash wealth all throughout this book

[00:06:31] Now our passage today you may have noticed is James

[00:06:34] Revisiting the first of those themes the theme of trials. How does a mature believer deal with trial?

[00:06:43] specifically, how does a mature believer deal with

[00:06:47] Temptations that arise

[00:06:49] Because of trials now we all understand what this is like

[00:06:54] trials hit our lives and there are

[00:06:57] Temptations that begin to arise within us

[00:07:01] Often as a result of the trials that we are facing

[00:07:06] Maybe just a couple of examples from modern everyday life. Let's say a

[00:07:11] spouse goes through the trial of

[00:07:14] Betrayal at the hands or because of another spouse

[00:07:17] That betrayal that trial that difficulty that they're going through which is so brutal to pass through

[00:07:23] That trial can lead them to various sorts of temptation

[00:07:29] Temptation for vengeance temptation for revenge temptation to say the wrong thing

[00:07:35] You could go be going through the trial of physical illness

[00:07:39] difficulty physically

[00:07:41] That trial can lead to a crisis of trust and God God why would you do this to me?

[00:07:46] Why would you allow this into my life it can lead to all sorts of

[00:07:50] Temptations in our life even just pressures that we experience in life

[00:07:55] Maybe for you you're going through finals right now and everything is loaded up on you because you're a student and you're just grinding away

[00:08:03] And the temptation will come into your heart as all that pressure is upon you to

[00:08:07] Lash out at those that are around you to be a little less than

[00:08:12] Nice and kind to those that God has placed in your life over and over again

[00:08:18] Trials in our lives big and small will make way for

[00:08:24] Temptations to come and how do the mature

[00:08:27] Handle those temptations. What are the what are the what is the mature person thinking?

[00:08:33] What is the mature person believing and I want to give you like I'll give you a spoiler alert today at the beginning of this teaching

[00:08:40] The answer isn't

[00:08:42] Just don't do it

[00:08:44] Okay, that's not what James is gonna say James is gonna get into our souls our

[00:08:49] Psychies our spirits and he's gonna try to talk to us about the way that we view God and the world and ourselves

[00:08:54] These are things that are crucial if we are going to pass through

[00:08:58] Temptation well

[00:08:59] So if you're big strategy in dealing with temptation up to this point in your Christian journey in life has been just try not to do it

[00:09:06] This is a great study for you because James wants to break down how to be successful in trial

[00:09:12] And the first thing that I want to show you is that the mature endure temptation through a love

[00:09:18] Bond with God through a love bond with God

[00:09:23] Would you guys look again at your Bibles and read verse 12 with me James said

[00:09:29] Blessed is the man who remains steadfast

[00:09:33] Under trial for when he has stood the test

[00:09:38] He will receive the crown of life which God has

[00:09:43] promised to those who love him okay James is

[00:09:55] Obviously picking up that theme again as I said of trials and he says this astounding thing

[00:10:01] That in this verse in verse 12. He says that people who remain steadfast under trials are and uses this very biblical

[00:10:10] Word they're blessed

[00:10:12] Doesn't mean they're happy as they're enduring trials

[00:10:15] It doesn't mean that they're happy about the trials that they're going through

[00:10:19] But as they endure these trials with the Lord with his strength and they hold fast to their integrity in the trial

[00:10:25] There is a blessing there's something enriching something that enlivens something that adds to them as they're passing

[00:10:33] Through these trials. I'll be honest with you and tell you that this is one of the things that I love the most

[00:10:39] About being a pastor of a local church because over the years

[00:10:43] I've seen so many people and I've had such a good seat in watching so many people pass through trials incredibly well

[00:10:51] It's an incredibly inspiring thing to see someone

[00:10:55] Passing through the valley of the shadow of death and saying but I'm gonna walk with the Lord in the midst of this

[00:11:01] I'm gonna remain steadfast in the midst of this trial. This is brutal what I'm going through

[00:11:07] I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, but I am trusting God in the midst of my difficulty

[00:11:14] It's it's inspiring because for this person they are more alive

[00:11:20] They are enriched there is as James said a blessing that is upon them. I

[00:11:27] I love watching sports

[00:11:30] Documentaries anybody any of you guys like that?

[00:11:33] I just like it doesn't even really matter whether I like the sport or not

[00:11:36] But I just like watching documentaries about athletes

[00:11:39] so I came across this documentary recently and

[00:11:42] It was about a cyclist from the 90s named Greg Lamont like I know so little about cycling that when I googled him

[00:11:50] I typed in Greg almond and

[00:11:53] Google said we think you're talking about Greg Lamont, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's the guy

[00:11:57] That's who I'm talking about but I loved it in this documentary

[00:12:00] there's this point where he won the Tour de France which is like the big race and

[00:12:04] Then after it was over with was on a hunting trip with some family and friends and was

[00:12:10] Accidentally shot by one of his relatives. It was a brutal injury

[00:12:14] They didn't think that he would make it at first

[00:12:16] And then he pulled out he began to recover and he made a decision in his recovery that he would

[00:12:22] Enter into that he was gonna try to compete in the next

[00:12:26] Years Tour de France and the the documentary was kind of about his journey and all of that and like by the time

[00:12:32] They got to the next year and they're showing old 90s grainy footage of him

[00:12:37] Like climbing the mountain chasing the guy that was in first so that he could eventually

[00:12:41] Win the Tour de France like I was so pumped for this guy. Just like this is amazing

[00:12:47] The endurance the pressing through a trial and difficulty

[00:12:52] They're just something inspiring about all of you who when the trials of life have hit you you haven't said I'm leaving the church

[00:13:00] I'm leaving my faith. I'm leaving my God. I'm leaving my Bible. I'm leaving but you've said I'm pressing in

[00:13:07] There's something powerful about that kind of life

[00:13:11] Why does James say that that person is blessed look again at verse 12

[00:13:18] He said when this person has stood the test

[00:13:22] He will receive the crown of life

[00:13:28] Those are the very James thing to do because James then does not go on to define

[00:13:35] What the crown of life is?

[00:13:37] He'll just make some statements throughout this book that you're left with like okay

[00:13:41] Can you fill in the blank and he's like no I'm moving on to the next thing?

[00:13:45] What is the crown of life?

[00:13:49] You know is it something that is purely in the future in

[00:13:53] Eternity when we meet the Lord face-to-face as God's children

[00:13:57] There are indications of that in other places in scripture like in Revelation chapter 2 when Jesus is talking to the

[00:14:05] Persecuted church the church in Smyrna

[00:14:07] He says to them that after their persecution in other words after their death when they

[00:14:13] Parish because of the persecution they will receive the crown of life kind of appears to be a

[00:14:20] Future-oriented thing doesn't fill in the blank for us really on what it is or what it will look like

[00:14:28] Like will we in eternity get these crowns from Jesus and there's little jewels in them like well

[00:14:35] I raised three teenagers and here's a jewel that I got for that or you know

[00:14:40] I went through a physical illness and here's a jewel that I got for that is that how it is

[00:14:46] There are some people who think the crown of life is not necessarily eternal, but is right now

[00:14:51] Some kind of quality of life

[00:14:55] Satisfaction deep-seated joy that we receive when we pass through our trials difficulty

[00:15:02] I wonder if both are true if there's if there's something so rewarding about living life from the vantage point of

[00:15:10] eternity

[00:15:11] Right now, but also rewarding in the future, but here's the thing that I found

[00:15:17] Lots of us like to wrestle with what is the crown of life and really what we're asking when we ask questions like that

[00:15:24] What are eternal rewards? We're asking the question are they worth trying to get?

[00:15:29] You know, I kind of want to know what they are because if they're not worth it to me

[00:15:33] Then why would I live for the Lord today?

[00:15:36] Because I don't really care about what he might give to me tomorrow

[00:15:40] But what James says is that the person who endures trials well, they will not feel that way

[00:15:46] Look at what he said in verse 12. He said that God has promised this crown of life to those who love him

[00:15:54] Those who love him the person who loves God says I want to go through this well

[00:16:00] Not just because I want to get a thing

[00:16:03] But because I love God who gives whatever that crown of life is

[00:16:09] in other words to James

[00:16:12] endurance or steadfastness in trials can be

[00:16:17] Evidence of a person's love for God or to put it another way

[00:16:22] Love for God

[00:16:24] Produces steadfastness which leads to the crown. I think we often think of it the other way around if I am

[00:16:32] steadfast we might say if I'm faithful I will get God's love someday and I will then get God's crown

[00:16:40] But what the Bible teaches is that because God loved us so intensely through the gospel

[00:16:46] We then love him in return and because we love him

[00:16:53] We will endure trials and get the crown

[00:16:56] The truth that James is revealing is very simple

[00:16:59] Enduring the temptations that trials produce is best done through a strong love bond with God

[00:17:09] J. A. Maier said it this way. He said we live by what we love

[00:17:14] The shape of our lives is determined by the joys of our hearts

[00:17:21] The shape of our lives is determined by the joys of our hearts when a person is in love with God

[00:17:27] Loves the father is walking with him. It forms a bond with him that produces a

[00:17:34] reflexive

[00:17:35] Response to him when trials hit this this came into my mind and from the Nate Holdridge, you know archive back there

[00:17:42] I'm sure you guys have heard this quote before

[00:17:45] From Mike Tyson the old boxer from back in the day and man that guy was savage

[00:17:52] I remember back in you know my teenage years like we loved a good Mike Tyson fight

[00:17:56] You know it was like who is gonna get HBO so we can all go to their house and watch a

[00:18:03] 7-second boxing match because that's about how long they were and

[00:18:06] Man, it was just so fun like the hype and all of that and he has this classic line

[00:18:10] You know he says everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face

[00:18:15] You know and and the idea here from James is look you can say to yourself when a trial comes

[00:18:21] I'm gonna respond like

[00:18:24] When a temptation comes I'm gonna respond like but if your

[00:18:30] Relationship with God is shallow if your love for God is only skin deep

[00:18:37] Then when the trials hit you in the face it will be hard to

[00:18:44] Reflexively then endure as James is telling us the blessed man

[00:18:50] Endures that's why he's saying the person who receives a crown of life is someone who loves

[00:18:55] God loves God

[00:18:57] I was thinking about this in just everyday life. We do this quite often, you know, it was

[00:19:03] Almost 22 no over 22 years ago Christina and I who was up here earlier. We got married

[00:19:08] We actually got married on this same stage and platform pastor Manny who prayed for the offering earlier

[00:19:13] He was our pastor that day. He wore this sweet olive suit and yeah, he was looking good

[00:19:19] but and Christina was looking better than Manny, but

[00:19:23] But I was pretty enamored with Manny that day. He was he was looking good, but

[00:19:28] you know

[00:19:32] We went on to in our early years have three

[00:19:36] little girls who we love so much and

[00:19:39] There was you know one point where they were all, you know very very little

[00:19:43] You know, we had a I think Lauren was four and Violet was two and June our newborn

[00:19:49] you know was just a brand new little baby and

[00:19:52] You know, I tell parents all the time that are going through that stage or season of life

[00:19:57] I'm like look, you know, you are going through a season of life. That is

[00:20:01] physically

[00:20:04] exhausting and

[00:20:06] In the future you're gonna go through a season of life as a parent that will be more emotionally exhausting

[00:20:13] You know, you you you have to deal with complexities as you're helping them climb into adulthood

[00:20:18] Our oldest is gonna be 21, you know this year

[00:20:21] So we're learning about you know that side of parenting as well and for us, you know as I look back over the years I

[00:20:28] Can recognize how important our love for each other has been as we've passed through

[00:20:34] Just the inevitable trials and difficulties that come with being a parent. We have amazing kids. They're wonderful

[00:20:40] They've just been the highlight of my life

[00:20:43] But there's inevitable challenges and difficulties that come with parenting

[00:20:47] And it's been our love for each other Christina and I that has helped us to endure

[00:20:53] I think that same kind of principle is what James is holding out trials come

[00:20:58] Temptations come but your love for God your relationship with God

[00:21:02] That is the thing that gives you a strength to pass through the trial the love bond with God being all important

[00:21:09] I mean, we all know that there are people in our lives that we would do anything for

[00:21:13] Tonight when you're asleep if your phone goes off at three in the morning

[00:21:18] There are people that you would get out of your bed and you would go to the airport

[00:21:23] To get on a plane to go to them if they were in crisis

[00:21:27] Right, that's a love bond that creates a certain kind of response and James says this is the best way to endure

[00:21:35] Trials and temptation is to develop your love bond with God. Okay, you guys got this like give me a head nod

[00:21:41] Because then I'll move on to the next point. Okay number two is this we got to approach the mature approach

[00:21:48] trials or temptations with ownership and honesty

[00:21:53] Let's read verse 13 to 15 for this. He says let no one say when he's tempted

[00:21:57] I'm being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one but each person

[00:22:04] Is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire

[00:22:09] Then desire when it has conceived

[00:22:13] Gives birth to sin and

[00:22:16] Sin when it is fully grown

[00:22:19] Brings forth death

[00:22:26] Okay, these are some frank sentences from James

[00:22:31] and

[00:22:32] What he says here first in verse 13 is he says that when someone is tempted they should not say

[00:22:40] God tempted me

[00:22:42] Or to say it in other ways we should not say God made me do it

[00:22:47] Or we should not blame God

[00:22:50] For the temptation perhaps that we've succumbed to James's whole reason for this is he just gets into like the nature of who God is

[00:22:57] He says God cannot be tempted by evil in other words in James's mind as he thinks about who God is his theology

[00:23:04] He's saying God can't do evil God won't do evil God will never do evil

[00:23:10] God doesn't even know how to do evil. He's not capable of evil. It's impossible for him

[00:23:16] It's not within the realm of what he can do so a person being tempted should never say I am being

[00:23:23] Tempted by God now will God test his people?

[00:23:27] Absolutely, he will test his people

[00:23:29] The point is is that God is pulling for rooting for good to come out of our lives

[00:23:36] When we're passing through tests and trials and difficulties

[00:23:39] But he is not tempting us aiming at us to try to see if we will commit an evil before him

[00:23:45] He's not trying to produce that in our lives, but blaming God is if we're honest is quite often our natural response

[00:23:55] And all the way back in the book of Genesis when God spoke to the first man

[00:24:00] He said you know you've got a lot of leeway here

[00:24:02] You can do a lot of things need anything you want

[00:24:05] But you cannot eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and you guys know the story

[00:24:09] They ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and a God came into the garden in the cool of the day

[00:24:15] God walked in the midst of the garden Adam and his wife Eve had hidden themselves from God and God said

[00:24:22] Where are you? Have you eaten the fruit of which I told you not to eat God God, of course knew the answer

[00:24:27] He's giving them a chance to repent to own up to their sin

[00:24:33] And you guys remember what Adam said he basically said to God

[00:24:38] the woman

[00:24:40] That you gave me

[00:24:43] Gave me the fruit and I ate it's like he just looked in both directions. He's like it's not my fault

[00:24:49] It's your fault because you gave me a

[00:24:53] malfunctioning woman

[00:24:56] And it's her fault too

[00:24:59] And we've been doing the same thing ever since then

[00:25:02] Looking around looking out looking up looking down looking everywhere, but within

[00:25:09] To see who is to blame James says don't do that

[00:25:12] You know, but we love to do that

[00:25:14] We love to say well

[00:25:15] God made this enjoyable or he made me this way or the heart wants with the heart wants or he could have kept

[00:25:20] Me from this if he wanted to keep me from this or he wants me to be happy

[00:25:24] Or he shouldn't have let this into my life or he has bigger concerns than what I do with my private life

[00:25:32] On and on our blame shifting goes but the person who endures temptation expresses

[00:25:38] Total ownership they say, you know this temptation it began with my own desires

[00:25:43] That's what James says in verse 14 broke in desires that then led to temptation

[00:25:48] Where I was and he uses all these hunting and fishing words lured and enticed

[00:25:54] You know, I was the hook was baited and my desires were drawn and I came out and I partook

[00:26:00] You see temptations appeal to our desires with plans to ensnare us

[00:26:06] What James is saying here in a sense is that our desires do not always indicate God's will and God's design

[00:26:15] Those desires broken within if yielded to James says they lead to a terrible process

[00:26:22] It was like scary to even read it. He uses a metaphor from pregnancy to describe how it works

[00:26:29] He says there's desire it gives way to temptation

[00:26:33] Temptation when it conceives brings forth

[00:26:37] Sin and he says baby sin when it is full-grown brings forth death

[00:26:43] It's like a terrible analogy or picture that James is giving

[00:26:49] But we've all seen this play out

[00:26:52] You know a little desire

[00:26:54] To gossip or slander a family member

[00:26:59] turns into

[00:27:01] destroying a family

[00:27:04] You know a little desire to be socially

[00:27:08] Accepted or just have a good time

[00:27:11] turns into a

[00:27:13] lifelong

[00:27:15] addiction

[00:27:16] you know a little desire to

[00:27:19] Impulse shop turns into mountains of debt that you can't get out of you don't know where to turn or what to do

[00:27:27] a little desire to view

[00:27:29] pornographic material turns into a secret and dominating practice over and over again this process unfolds

[00:27:38] Now I think it's important to recognize a couple of things James

[00:27:42] doesn't say that the

[00:27:44] Desire is the sin the desire is there

[00:27:47] But then it's perverted and appealed to in a perverted way by the temptation

[00:27:51] But still the sin has not occurred but the temptation when yielded to that's what brings forth sin

[00:27:58] Which festering and allowed to remain alive brings forth death

[00:28:03] This is important because many believers the second they feel a desire that is outside of God's bounds or word

[00:28:11] They begin to feel as if they have already lost the war the desire is

[00:28:17] often very normal

[00:28:19] But it's what you do when that desire is being appealed to by temptation

[00:28:26] Again James details this anatomy of temptation not by blaming God not by blaming the devil

[00:28:32] But the desires within a Taylor Swift as a lyric in one of her songs where she says it's me. Hi

[00:28:39] I'm the problem. It's me and James would be like yeah, that's true Taylor. You're the problem

[00:28:45] I'm the problem. We're the problem

[00:28:48] It's within

[00:28:50] There's a war that's happening within us

[00:28:53] Now there's a lot I could say at this point about starving the flesh and feeding the spirit

[00:29:01] James or excuse me Paul gives a great argument in Romans chapter 6 about

[00:29:08] giving our bodies as

[00:29:10] Members of righteousness to God yielding our bodies to the Lord, you know get yourself out of those environments where your desires are

[00:29:17] Going to be more appealed to by temptation

[00:29:21] But one of the things I want to say here because well plenty of time to talk about that all throughout the book of James is

[00:29:26] I want to talk about the importance of us being a community that recognizes this

[00:29:32] reality and is honest about it

[00:29:35] If you've been here for a number of years and you've heard me teach for a long time

[00:29:40] You may have noticed over the last few years

[00:29:41] I've been trying to make a conscious effort and I don't always succeed at this

[00:29:45] But a conscious effort when I talk about a passage in the Bible that has a failure of the people of Israel or a

[00:29:52] Failure of the church or Jesus's disciples. I've been trying harder not to make fun of them for those failures

[00:30:00] And part of there's two reasons for that one is it's kind of unfair, right? It's like these people failed and then they wrote about it

[00:30:09] For all of us to read about for the next couple thousand years

[00:30:13] It's like obviously there they're not sitting there thinking this was real

[00:30:17] This was really good when we doubted God and didn't go into the promised land

[00:30:21] No, they're writing it down saying this was a failure of ours, but God was faithful

[00:30:25] God was

[00:30:27] He blessed us as his people he kept his promises

[00:30:31] We eventually returned to him and he was gracious to us and but but I think what can happen sometimes is when we're in

[00:30:37] Church and you know that Peter's like oh Lord if that's you call me out of the boat

[00:30:42] And he walks on the water and then he gets his eyes on the wind and wave and storm and he begins sinking or he tells Jesus

[00:30:47] Like I'm never gonna deny you and he's like three times

[00:30:50] You're gonna deny me before the rooster crows and when that happens or when these failures occur and we kind of we laugh about

[00:30:56] Them I'm nervous that in the back of our minds then we'll think to ourselves. Oh if I fail

[00:31:04] Then they'll laugh at me

[00:31:06] But that can't be the case

[00:31:09] We need to be willing to say to each other in

[00:31:12] The right environments and healthy spaces with the right people

[00:31:17] Here's some temptations that I'm battling here's some even failures some some losses in my loss column

[00:31:25] But I'm looking into the Lord. I want to move forward

[00:31:28] I don't want to go there anymore and I need to be honest with you that this is what I'm dealing with

[00:31:32] This is what I am

[00:31:33] Battling I think this is an important thing that James is laying out to us

[00:31:38] Okay, the last thing though that I want to show you

[00:31:41] We the mature person endures temptation through a love bond with God and through

[00:31:49] Ownership and honesty

[00:31:51] But the last thing I want to say is that we endure a temptation the mature person does at least by trusting God by trusting God

[00:31:58] Now I want to I want to say more about that because I don't want to send you away with something that like oh man

[00:32:03] That just sounds like a Christian t-shirt or something, you know like trust God more like what does that mean?

[00:32:08] I want to talk to you about that from these verses verse 16 to 18 if you guys would read them in your Bibles with me

[00:32:14] He says do not be deceived my beloved brothers

[00:32:16] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom

[00:32:22] There's no variation or shadow due to change of his own will

[00:32:26] He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of

[00:32:32] His creatures

[00:32:40] Okay, so how does the mature person endure temptation? I've we've already said love God and

[00:32:46] Through ownership and honesty but here I want to say by trusting God in two specific ways

[00:32:52] The first way is that we need to trust that God is the source of all that is truly good

[00:32:59] And perfect for us look at what James says about God in verse 17. He said God the father of lights

[00:33:04] He is the source of

[00:33:06] unwavering

[00:33:07] Goodness every he says good gift every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights

[00:33:15] His light in other words is steady and unchanging God never dims. He never fades

[00:33:21] He's a constant beam no variation no shadow of turn change James says

[00:33:27] In and about God why why is James saying that to us? Why is he describing God?

[00:33:33] Almost like the Sun

[00:33:35] You know, why is he describing God in that way?

[00:33:39] Well, I think it's because when we go through

[00:33:43] especially trial induced temptation

[00:33:47] And temptation begins to hit our minds our souls our spirits however it works

[00:33:53] What we begin believing is that behind the temptation?

[00:33:59] If I were to express myself and indulge in the temptation what we begin thinking is

[00:34:06] behind that temptation is what is good and perfect for me right now

[00:34:13] That is the good and perfect gift and God who is telling me not to go in that direction

[00:34:20] He is holding out on me the good and perfect gifts the things that I truly need

[00:34:27] But the person that is mature who endures temptation well

[00:34:33] They say to themselves no even if I feel that way. I believe that my father in heaven

[00:34:41] has a

[00:34:43] constant stream of goodness coming down to me as his child in person and

[00:34:48] I want to receive only what he has for

[00:34:52] My life I trust his direction

[00:34:57] I don't know if any of you guys here when you were little kids if you were a harness

[00:35:01] Child you ever seen harness kids my little my little sisters here. She was a harness kid

[00:35:06] And I love to tease her about it because I wasn't

[00:35:09] But actually kind of shows up later in life

[00:35:12] She's just more creative and spontaneous and I like take forever to make a decision because I was just playing it safe all the time

[00:35:19] but

[00:35:20] When you see a little kid that needs a harness, you know

[00:35:23] It's like they got a harness and then attached to that harness is like

[00:35:26] I don't know how to describe it as a leash that the parents put on there and

[00:35:31] Sometimes you'll see this in like public places where the kid

[00:35:34] You know is in danger of getting lost or hit by a car or whatever

[00:35:38] You know the parents know that like whatever thing needs to happen to this child eventually

[00:35:43] Where they realize like me versus a semi truck

[00:35:46] I will lose that battle like that thing hasn't clicked on yet

[00:35:50] And so they're just going for it, you know

[00:35:52] So I got to put the harness on and the little leash and it's for their good and benefit

[00:35:58] And then there's the other kid

[00:36:01] The other kid who's like, you know my parents have taught me about running in traffic that message

[00:36:07] It's sunk in and when I see a car zooming by, you know, I put my hand up

[00:36:12] Grab my mom's hand grab my dad's hand. I want them to take me

[00:36:17] Across the street because I need their help. I need their guidance

[00:36:21] What James I think is saying is there's a trust in your father that is like that

[00:36:28] That is not looking for how what can I do? What can I get away with but it's looking to say

[00:36:32] I want you to be the one that leads my life. That's the first part of trust

[00:36:37] But James goes on to say that we should trust that God will finish the work that he started

[00:36:44] This is really important as we wrap up today

[00:36:47] Because when you read James

[00:36:50] One 12 to 18, especially when you're in verse 13 through 15

[00:36:55] It can be a little bit deflating to think about the desires

[00:37:00] That are raging within

[00:37:02] You know, I don't know what you or how I don't know how long you personally have been walking with the lord

[00:37:08] Or what you expected in your journey with Jesus

[00:37:11] And I've been at it for

[00:37:14] 27 years now walking with the lord

[00:37:16] And when I started when I was 18 years old if you to ask me like

[00:37:20] What do you think you're gonna be like?

[00:37:22] When you're 45 years old

[00:37:25] You know, I think I would have said to you like I am gonna be

[00:37:29] So

[00:37:30] Holy

[00:37:31] By that time of my life

[00:37:33] I'm pretty sure like half of the things I say are just going to be bible verses coming out

[00:37:37] I'm gonna be the most encouraging people person that anybody knows

[00:37:41] I'm gonna be like spirit led and speaking into everybody's life

[00:37:46] I'm gonna be like a monk combined with Jesus combined with the apostle paul

[00:37:51] I'm gonna be like amazing

[00:37:54] And uh, I could just tell you now it has not happened

[00:37:58] There are still these desires

[00:38:01] That are warring within and it can be a little deflating to be honest about that

[00:38:06] And and to kind of think about that to have the mirror of the book of james held up

[00:38:12] But james

[00:38:15] Says in verse 18

[00:38:18] I want you to be reminded of this

[00:38:20] It was of god's own will that he brought us forth by the word of truth

[00:38:26] That we would be in verse 18 a kind of first fruits

[00:38:31] Of his creation

[00:38:33] What james is highlighting here is he's trying to say to these christians

[00:38:37] That want to endure temptation well, he's trying to say

[00:38:41] You didn't start this

[00:38:44] God started this

[00:38:46] He reached out to you

[00:38:48] He grabbed a hold of your life

[00:38:51] And he began a work that day that he plans on finishing

[00:38:59] In fact, he has a destiny in mind for you that you would be the first fruits of his creation

[00:39:07] When he first made adam and eve when he first made our species he placed us at the

[00:39:13] Pinnacle of his created order

[00:39:16] He made us as his image to express his dominion here on earth

[00:39:22] Now we've marred that image a little with our sin and brutality

[00:39:27] But what james is saying is that through the gospel when we're birthed again into god's family

[00:39:34] God's plan and purpose and desires to say i want to bring you back to that pinnacle of my created order

[00:39:42] You are the first fruits of my creation the work that i began

[00:39:48] I am going to continue in you like when a little baby is born

[00:39:53] If that child is healthy

[00:39:55] They have within their bodies everything if they're given the right environment the right love the right boundaries

[00:40:01] The right care the right input the right discipline the right teaching the right food the right nourishment

[00:40:07] If the right stuff goes in they will develop into maturity

[00:40:12] It's all in there

[00:40:14] But over time it will come out

[00:40:17] Peter tells us in second peter chapter one that we have everything that is needed for life and godliness

[00:40:23] When you are born again, and you're a new little baby christian and infant in jesus

[00:40:27] All the stuff that is needed to develop into the vision that james has it's there

[00:40:34] And what james is highlighting in verse 18

[00:40:36] Is that god is about that process

[00:40:39] So if there's anything i want you to take away from today and from the whole book of james

[00:40:44] Is that man a walk with god is of utmost importance

[00:40:47] Because it's through walking with him that this life

[00:40:50] Is produced

[00:40:56] Thank you for listening if you would like more teachings and information about calvary monoray, please visit calvary.com

[00:41:03] You can also find books teachings through the bible and articles from our lead pastor at nateholdridge.com

[00:41:10] Thanks again for tuning in see you next week