Trials & Temptations

James 1:9-15

Intro: What the problem is; our contemporary cultural context: Here's what we face.

Early Points: What the Bible says; the original readers' cultural context: Here's what we must do.

Middle Points: What prevents us; current listeners' inward heart context: Why we can't do it.

Late Points: How Jesus fulfils the biblical theme and solves the heart issue: How Jesus did it.

Application: How through faith in Jesus you should live now.

Who wants a headache? I’d love a problem with a side of fries with that thank you.

A pastor placed this sign on his door: "If you have problems, come in and tell me all about them. If you don't have any problems, come in and tell me how you avoid them."

Introduction:

A little bit of background. Bobby started us off with James 1:1-4 and gave us an introduction to the book of James. We were introduced to the identity of the writer — Early church tradition affiliated this letter with James the half-brother of Yeshua. In Greek, Iakobos and in Hebrew, Ya’akov or in Jacob. The writer wastes no time in presenting who he is and who he is writing to. In Acts 15, James led the Jerusalem council and by ad 62 he was martyred. The book is considered to be rabbinical in its presentation because it was written for messianic Jews dispersed in the world. You can hear the Proverbs in his writing and you can echo Jesus’ own teachings in his voice. This is man who knows that Jesus is both LORD and Savior.

Bobby laid for us the start of Jacob’s teachings. These are wisdom sayings. He is not forming any theological thought but pithy wisdom for believers who are maturing in their faith in Yeshua. The first lines explodes out of the pages doesn’t it. Consider it ALL joy brothers, whenever you encounter VARIOUS TRIALS… Bobby continued to lay before us that these trials have purpose — produce endurance (staying power) and when perseverance has done it’s work (perfect effect) you may be mature and complete (shalom), lacking in nothing (Psalm 23) — and that the benefit of testing, of grinding, iron sharpening iron, the embers and sparks and the pressure and tension of daily life, comes only to believers who respond to the trials in the right perspective. 1 Peter 1:6-7 follows that same pattern, he says that the testing of your faith (christian life) that the genuineness of your faith may be found to result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul says the same thing in Romans 5:3-4, affliction produces patient endurance and this results to proven character…the trials and testing are not fun nor are they happy. There’s a psychiatric term for those who joy in pain. James is not saying that the various trials you’ll go through are easy or happy or the source of your joy. No the trials produce the perseverance to say anchored in the one who controls the “storms”, the joy is in your maturity and in seeing you more complete, lacking in nothing because you are made more and more like Yeshua.

James first use of peirasmos refers to "trials for good" (as in 1 Peter1:6), where he exhorted the saints to

Consider it (aorist imperative ~ do it now once and for all!) all (wholly) joy ("whole joy", unmixed joy, without admixture of sorrow, not just "some joy" along with much grief! How is this possible? The Spirit produces His joy in you - see notes Galatians 5:22), my brethren, when (implies temptations are to be expected) you encounter (fall into the midst of so as to be totally surrounded by) various (poikilos - all "shapes and sizes" of) trials (peirasmos), knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (James 1:2-3).

If you want to know pure, unadulterated joy, then you will find it in your trials.

How can this possibly be? This seems to be an absolute contradiction, doesn’t it? Joy, trials. Most of our contemporary life is lived trying to deal with life in such a way that we don’t have to have trials. And if we can avoid trials, then we’ll have joy. But if we have trials, we can’t possibly have joy. Therefore, we’ve gotta get rid of these trials in some way so that we can get on with joy. James says, “No. If you want to know pure, unadulterated joy, then you will find it in your trials.” What?

Joseph wasn’t protected from the circumstances but in the circumstances. We often ask God to remove the problem from us or remove us from the problem. But most of the time what God does with His children is change their attitude toward the circumstances in which they find themselves.

Alistair Begg

You see, when this begins to infect a life or a congregation, then we’ll have a very different impact on Cleveland. Very different! You see, because people are so used to the Christian success story. They’re so used to the Christian overcoming story. They’re so used to the beautiful people story. So that the unsuccessful, nonbeautiful, non-overcomers, they say, “Well, there’s no point in going in there. Those people have it all together.” Why do they think that? Because we don’t tell the truth. Because we have one of the finest cover-up societies known to man. And we baptize it with Christian orthodoxy. Because if we were ever to admit the sorry mess that we really are, then maybe that would magnify the wonder of who God really is and draw people to God rather than to us.

And faith becomes significant under stress. So the very things that we seek to avoid are the very things that make us. The Puritans had it right: trials come to make us and to remake us. In shunning trials, we miss blessings.

The right perspective is fundamental to the right response. Unless we think correctly, we cannot respond properly. It is thinking correctly that enables us to respond properly.

Spurgeon; “To reach [the] condition of firm endurance and sacred hardi[ness] is worth all the expense of all the heaped-up troubles that ever come upon us from above or from beneath.”

Yonas then brought us a tested brother asks wisdom to endure the various trials. Ask for wisdom to aid us in our trials without reservation, without doubt. Doubt here is the man who has an immature faith; who says one thing to God and does the complete opposite. Because let’s be honest, life is hard. Perseverance is still doing its perfect work in us, we’re not done, we’re in the middle of this. This world demands upon us and confronts us with overwhelming challenges and almost unending trials and temptations doesn’t it. When it rains, it pours. Life punches us in the nose with things that bring us failures and tears, doubts, disappointments, cries, weepings, groaning. Hardship and suffering comes to all of us in different forms at some time or another. What do they say… you never know the daily battles that the person next to you is going through.

And therefore, it is important for us to understand it contextually and to understand it specifically. And when we look at that, then we recognize that what he’s saying here about wisdom is directly tied to what he has just said about trials and testings. So essentially, it goes like this: “You should count it all joy if you face trials of various kinds, because the trials in your life will actually produce perseverance, faith will be tested, you will grow, you will be mature and complete, and you will become the all-rounded Christian. However, if you’re not getting this, if you find yourself responding to this in a way that isn’t buying it, if you are tempted to think differently from what I have just said to you, then you better ask God for wisdom. Because it is wisdom that you require in order to think properly about these issues of life.”

Wisdom is knowing how to live God’s way in God’s world. Knowing how to live God’s way in God’s world. “This is my Father’s world.”[8] He has established the world. He has set the planets in space. He has ordered the affairs of the universe. He who is involved in the macromanagement of the entire universe is involved in the micromanagement of those who are his children. And the wise man or the wise woman is the one who knows how to live God’s way in God’s world. And to the extent that that becomes the hallmark of a life, it will be so radically different from the culture.

Today, we’re continuing with verses 9-15.

9-11 almost seemed like it came out of left field. James is still connecting his thoughts from previous verses. It remiss us to separate these verses from verse 5 and asking for wisdom.

If we were to ask God for wisdom then this also applies to those who rich and poor in status. James will continue to work this out in the next chapter 2. Favoritism to those who are rich versus poor. Finally he brings it home in chapter 5, woes on the rich who oppress others.

It’s important to note that James is not saying that no one is rich and poor because reality shows there was. There were no middle class during that time. There was famine that ravaged Jerusalem and it was a difficult time and those believers who were dispersed also faced trials in being poor somewhere else. The rich have trials and the poor have trials. How does each one view their status in life and how do they respond? how should we respond?

The median individual income in San Diego in 2022 is $45,674 and a household is $98,657. White-collar workers make up 85.92% of the working population in San Diego, while blue-collar employees account for 14.08%.

2021, US Census: The average annual household income in San Diego is $121,230, while the median household income sits at $89,457 per year. Residents aged 25 to 44 earn $98,194, while those between 45 and 64 years old have a median wage of $102,559. In contrast, people younger than 25 and those older than 65 earn less, at $45,161 and $67,065, respectively.

San Diego, CA Household Income, Population & Demographics | Point2 (point2homes.com)

Poverty was commonplace in James’ time so he is addressing those in poverty and those who have riches about the wisdom of how one can live rightly in each circumstance. In light of eternity, in the passage of time, James’ brings this perspective. Doesn’t this not bring you back and echoes Jesus’ own words. It’s hard to imagine that he didn’t have Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19 and following in his mind: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”

like flower of the grass, once here then gone in a second. the annual death of vegetation draws on the transitory nature of wealth and status. James is saying here in the same way that riches will rot and disappear so will your successes and pursuits be. No matter what you achieve in status in life, it will crumble and disintegrate and someone else will come and build a better legacy on top of yours. Such is the way of the world. Isn’t it? Success or your high status is fleeting.

James is drawing from Isaiah 40:6b-8 “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Psalm 103:15-16 “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no longer.”

In the same way, view poverty in light of the eternal riches that are made available in the gospel. Let the brother of humble circumstance, lowly, poor — orphan or widow, low status but rather view or boast in your high position — what position?

If a man must boast of anything as his own, he must boast of his misery and sin, for there is nothing else but this that is his own property.

William Law

Galatians 4:7 — “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Romans 8:15 — “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

1 John 3:2 — “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as he is.”

the person who is low should rejoice that he’s high and the person who is high should rejoice that he’s low.

This reminds of the story of Ruth and Boaz… why because Boaz points us forward; forward to the better Boaz.

And Boaz’s action there in Ruth chapter 2 points to the Son of God, the Redeemer, who sheds his blood, draws to himself men and women in the routine of life, men and women who are undervalued, men and women who are downplayed, men and women who are disregarded.

There is also no question that in the history of the church, the church has grown exponentially and most significantly among the poor. Why? because rich people are used to having it our way? Like Burger King, Have it your way, NO, Jesus said I am the Way, it’s not have it your way, I AM the ONLY Way.

When our affluence has us convinced that we can buy anything we want, we can get the reservations we want, we can go to the concerts we want or we can be at this ball game on this day. There’s not a ticket we can’t get, there’s not a vacation place we can’t go, there’s not a car we can’t drive.

James is shooting from the hip, our affluence, our riches, our status are fleeting. But rather have a right perspective of your blessings but rather he says in chapter 3: 13 who is wise and understanding among you, let him show by his good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom. See the fleeting nature of richness and invest or store up riches in heaven instead. Use your wealth wisely and do not oppress the poor.

Paul addresses it with Timothy as well and says Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

To the poor, James is not suggesting that if you apply wisdom then you will be rich. That’s the prosperity gospel and that’s not the good news. But rather if you think of your status this way (high position), you will realize that you are rich.

Jesus reminds that we worth more than the sparrows

Why should I feel discouraged? And why should the shadows come? And why should my heart seem lonely And long for heaven and home, When Jesus is my captain? My constant friend is he: His eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me.

Verse 12, blessed is the person who perseveres under trial — describes an attitude of determined courage that is unaffected by external circumstances.

It’s almost ludicrous that in academia that someone can graduate without taking any classes, and without any classes there are no tests and without tests there’d be no graduation. How similar it is with our faith, it’d be foolish to think that we would grow and mature in our faith without the tests.

Blessed in Greek is makarios similar to the word used in Jesus’ beautitudes

because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

what is the crown of life? — Eternal life, more accurately a crown that consists of life

Revelation 2:10 “Do not be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and you will experience affliction ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

we receive the crown of life until death, which means trials will remain until death. It’s the duration of our lives,

When you and I finally understand the reality of our christian life, that the storms are not abnormal, not unusual, not intruders part of our continuous sanctifying process — making us christlike.

It is important to also note that our perseverance under the trials are not done by our sheer will, if it was there wouldn’t be any addictions or the need for any medications.

Philippians 1:6 “convinced of this same thing, that the one who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of Christ Jesus,”

Our perserverance in faith flows from our resting in God, trusting in God and depending in the Holy Spirit. Jesus will sustain us in our walk.

Galatians 3:3–5 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to be made complete by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things for nothing—if indeed also it was for nothing? Therefore does the one who gives you the Spirit and who works miracles among you do so by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Sometimes, we can know a thing better by its opposite. To better understand what it means to have faith, we can study what it means to be faithless – to be filled with doubt, and to be without any hope, trust, or confidence. Experiments, along with research over the last half of a century, have revealed that "learned helplessness" — the assumption that we cannot do anything to change our situation based on past experiences — depression, and anxiety may be a response to the feeling of a lack of control – that is, the lack of power to influence someone or something.

(Moses warning Israel) And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (Deuteronomy 8:2)

The Hebrew word emunah (אמונה, pronounced “eh-moo-nah”) is understood in English to mean “faith” or “belief”.

Emunah is faith that results in faithfulness, implying action. It shouldn’t be a total surprise then that the word amen shares the root with Emunah. Amen means “so be it” or “may it be so,” and shares the root also with eman, meaning “to confirm”. Add to that haemeen, which means “to trust” or “confide in”.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen.”

It begins with the Hebrew letter “alef,” which means “strength,” and ends with the letter “heh,” which means “reveal.” Faith does not, then, begin with knowing that the other side of the crate is safe – that revelation is reserved for after we find the strength to jump over the partition. Faith, then, starts with strength, and ends with revelation.

we must remember that perseverance is not tied to tenacity. It is rather the work of God the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. The starch in a saint's spine is shown by Scripture to be nothing less than the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Hupomeno was a military term used of an army’s holding a vital position at all costs. Every hardship and every suffering was to be endured in order to hold fast.

Endurance is a critical Christian virtue. Unless we have endurance , we can never learn many of the truths that God wants us to learn, truths that will lead us into a deeper life and a more fruitful ministry. Children are usually impatient; they cannot sit still long enough to get the things done that need to be done. “How long do we have to wait?” is the stock question of the child. Impatience is a mark of immaturity. Impatience is also a mark of unbelief.

Many times we tend to pray away our difficulties, our tests, our trials for they are painful indeed. God is not in the business in putting in the trial to see you fail. No, he started the work, he wants to see you perfected in the image of His Son. So that we may bare again the resemblance of His Image.

Spurgeon explains the great value of his personal trials writing…

I am afraid that all the grace that I have got out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows, and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable. What do I not owe to the crucible and the furnace, the bellows that have blown up the coals, and the hand which has thrust me into the heat?… I bear my witness that the worst days I have ever had have turned out to be my best days… I can bear my personal testimony that the best piece of furniture that I ever had in the house was a cross. I do not mean a material cross; I mean the cross of affliction and trouble… In shunning a trial we are seeking to avoid a blessing.

A famous violinist always made his own instruments because he wanted to choose a special kind of wood. He shunned the forest but went instead to the mountains. There at the top of a cliff exposed to all the storms he obtained his trees. He knew the severe weather conditions toughened the wood and produced a quality of grain and resiliency that could be developed in no other way. In fact, he used only the wood from the side of the tree facing the wind! Thus, too, by the storms of adversity, does our loving Father prepare in us the music of heaven.

Anonymous

Do not flatter yourself that you can hold out against temptation’s power. Secret lusts lie lurking in your own heart which will never give up until they are either destroyed or satisfied. In theory we abhor lustful thoughts, but once temptation enters our heart, all contrary reason is overcome and silenced.

John Owen

God brings (allows) such tests (peirasmos) to prove and increase the strength and quality of one’s faith and to demonstrate its validity Every trial becomes a test of faith designed to strengthen the believer's faith, but if the believer fails the test by wrongly responding, then that test becomes a temptation or a solicitation to evil.

Later James uses the root verb form (peirazo) explaining that no one should

"say when he is tempted (peirazo), “I am being tempted (peirazo) by God”; for God cannot be tempted (apeirastos from a = without + peirazo = tempt > incapable of being tempted) by evil, and He Himself does not tempt (peirazo) anyone." (James 1:13)

Dokimos conveys the idea of being tested and passing the test, so that God’s “Good (God) Housekeeping” stamp of approval is on your life.

In the ancient world there was no banking system as we know it today, and no paper money. All money was made from metal, heated until liquid, poured into moulds and allowed to cool. When the coins were cooled, it was necessary to smooth off the uneven edges. The coins were comparatively soft and of course many people shaved them closely. In one century, more than eighty laws were passed in Athens, to stop the practice of shaving down the coins then in circulation. But some money changers were men of integrity, who would accept no counterfeit money. They were men of honour who put only genuine full weighted money into circulation. Such men were called "dokimos" or "approved"

The Greek for one who has stood the test is dokimos, which describes anything which has been tested and is fit for service. For instance, it describes gold or silver which has been purified of all alloy in the fire. It is therefore the word for money which is genuine, or, as we would say, sterling. It is the word used for a stone which is fit to be fitted into its place in a building. A stone with a flaw in it was marked with a capital A, standing for adokimastos, which means tested and found wanting. Timothy was to be tested that he might be a fit weapon for the work of Christ, and therefore a workman who had no need to be ashamed. (Barclay's comments on 2Timothy 2:15 from The Daily Study Bible) Barclay adds that "To the man who meets trials in the right way there is joy here and hereafter. In this life he becomes a man of sterling worth. He is dokimos; he is like metal which is cleansed of all alloy. The weaknesses of his character are eradicated; and he emerges strong and pure."

So we are beginning to see that even when, as Calvin puts it, the world appears to be aimlessly walking about, the Lord is everywhere at work.

Alistair Begg

you see God’s work, God’s mission of redemption continues to work everywhere not only in Grace City but in every single church, community, city and life He is at work. His power and his love explodes out of the canvas of creation and he points at you and I saying that, I the creator of all and the one who gave my breath (ruach) to you and created you in My image, I invite you in My story. In the finished work of My Son, you are redeemed and you get to tend my garden

count it joy by Susan Peterson

How do believers love God? Certainly they can say it and pray it, but ultimately the aphorism still applies that actions speak louder than words. If we love God with our lips, we should demonstrate it with our life. Let's listen to our Lord's words to those who call themselves His disciples (cp Mk 8:34, 35, 36, Lk 9:23)…

Jn 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep (tereo) My commandments.

Comment: The key verb explaining love is "keep" = keep an eye on, keep something in view, to attend carefully, or to watch over it. Tereo speaks of guarding something which is in one’s possession. It means to watch as one would some precious thing.

You might expect James to say, “the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who persevere,” or “to those who obey,” or “to those who believe in Him.” But rather, he says, “to those who love Him.” Why does he say this? I think it is because love for Christ keeps us from loving the world. Love for Christ motivates us to persevere under trials. Note that love for Christ does not exempt us from trials. Rather, it gives us the strength to persevere. Love for Christ is the inevitable result of belief in Him. If we don’t love Him, we don’t know Him (1Jn 4:8). When Jesus restored Peter after his denials, He asked him three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” (See John 21:15, 16, 17.) Why? Because love for Jesus Christ is the necessary motivation to serve Him, especially when serving Him causes hardship and persecution. If you’re struggling with perseverance in trials, examine the quality of your love for Christ.

Patrick Fairbairn - What is temptation? Seduction to evil, solicitation to wrong. It stands distinguished from trial thus: trial tests, seeks to discover the man’s moral qualities or character; but temptation persuades to evil, deludes, that it may ruin. The one means to undeceive, the other to deceive. The one aims at the man’s good, making him conscious of his true moral self; but the other at his evil, leading him more or less unconsciously into sin. God tries; Satan tempts.

Desire -> temptation > lust/sin > habitual sin > death

Trial > faith > obedience > perseverance > crown of life

God will test us — but God will not tempt us. God tests us to make us stand. Satan tempts us to make us fall. - Adrian Rogers

Temptation is trying to get us to fulfill a legitimate desire — in an illegitimate way. (Rogers)

On overcoming temptation: If you want to take a bone from a dog — give him a steak, and he'll drop the bone. (Rogers)

What/who is better than Yeshua?

In a sermon titled Faith Tested and Crowned (Genesis 22:1-14) the able expositor Alexander Maclaren distinguished between being tempted and being tried writing that

the former word (tempted) conveys the idea of appealing to the worst part of man, with the wish that he may yield and do the wrong. The latter (tested) means an appeal to the better part of man, with the desire that he should stand." "Temptation says, 'Do this pleasant thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.' Trial or proving says, 'Do this right and noble thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is painful.'

Dr. Roy Baumeister, who directed the research, drew the conclusion that self-control is "something that gets used up. It needs time to get replenished before you use it again."

Temptation--the urge to do something we know is wrong--troubles all of us. It may be some terrible evil, or it may be something we tend to excuse, like impatience, pride, gossip, or a short temper.

Victory over temptation is not simply a matter of willpower. Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23-note). Our weak human spirit cries out for the Spirit's strength.

Some people fall into temptation, but a great many make plans for disaster ahead of time. “Son,” ordered a father, “Don’t swim in that canal.” “OK, Dad,” he answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening. “Where have you been?” demanded the father. “Swimming in the canal,” answered the boy. “Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” asked the father. “Yes, Sir,” answered the boy. “Why did you?” he asked. “Well, Dad,” he explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.” “Why did you take your bathing suit with you?” he questioned. “So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted,” he replied. Too many of us expect to sin and thus excite sin.

deceptive nature of sin: it lures away, it entices you, promising you of under the pretense of good but is evil underneath

Origen calls confession the vomit of the soul whereby the conscience is eased of that burden which did lie upon it. Now, when we have vomited up sin by confession we must not return to this vomit." Watson, p.32

Sin presents the bait but hides the hook

MacDonald - Man is always ready to shift responsibility for his sins. If he cannot blame God, he will adopt an approach of modern psychology by saying that sin is a sickness. In this way he hopes to escape judgment. But sin is not a sickness; it is a moral failure for which man must give account. Some even try to blame inanimate things for sin. But material “things” are not sinful in themselves. Sin does not originate there. James tracks the lion to its den when he says: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Sin comes from within us, from our old, evil, fallen, unregenerate nature (flesh). Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Mt. 15:19).

We flirt with temptation; story of David and Bathsheba