What is from the Lord? (Week 2)
Notes
Transcript
Announcements:
Announcements:
Men’s Night out Sep 29th @ Holly 6-8pm
All Location YA is coming up on Oct 3rd 7pm
Welcome Team Help needed for All Location YA
YA Bonfire on Oct 11th @ 6pm
Bring a chair and be ready to have a good time.
Prayer:
Prayer:
Summarize last week
Summarize last week
we went through James 1:1-11.
In the beginning of James, we see James open up with the statement. “Count it all joy My brothers, when you face trials of various kinds.”
And then we see him talk about faith and try. surrender. regarding our walk with the Lord.
And then in verses 9 10 and 11 we see James talk about how we. should act to whether we have much or have little
He talks about How fleeting money is, James hits the fact that we live in a world that is temporary and. that riches beauty all fade like flowers in the end.
And as James moves in to verse 12 he almost recaps verse two. Again, talking about trials and tribulation.
And if we remember from last week, Israel is in a famine and. the church is under attack, being persecuted. and going through many trials.
James 1:12–18 (ESV)
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Looking at this very sweet, we open up with the word blessed.
in the greek this word can be translated, fortunate, well off:—blessed, happy (× -ier).
What's being said here is that? the person who is steadfast in trials ends up happy… And I want to be clear, I'm not talking about a prosperity gospel. where if we obey, God will make our life easy and joyful and happy all the time.
But what I am saying. is that James is pointing out that when we're in the fire when we are in the trials there is joy on the other side. on the spiritual side.
Let's look at a few examples.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
What Hebrews describes is men who were going through trials and suffering terrible. things many of them decided that they wanted to stay and not accept release because they knew the reward that would be in heaven. They knew where they were going.
They are demonstrating what James is saying. He is saying that we are blessed to be persecuted. We are blessed to suffer for Christ. Paul talking about the blessing to suffer like Christ.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Practical question. have you been persecuted for your faith? Have you been reviled or talked bad about because of your relationship with Jesus?
What is your response to persecution?
Older preacher within Christianity named John Wesley, When he noticed he hadn't been persecuted that day. he would go to the Lord and repent and say, Lord, I obviously haven't represented you well enough to represent who I am to show my Christianity. Otherwise I would have been persecuted in some way.
We as Christians should stand out in our culture And us standing out should bring forth some level of response from those around us, whether positive or negative, we should be set apart indifferent.
Now I am not saying to go seek out persecution and rile people up, but what I am saying is be intentional with how you live your life, so that if I brought you into a court room, I could say that you were a Christian based upon sufficient evidence.
This isn't working for salvation This is working out salvation or living out our salvation.
Any thoughts from that section as we move forward?
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
What is temptation?
in this room by raise of hands who has been tempted before?
Each and every one of us have been tempted towards evil. No matter who you are, where you live, where you work, what you do, you will. be tempted towards sin.
Even Jesus was tempted towards sin.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Temptation is common to man. And it isn't a sin to be tempted; It's all about our response to temptation
Temptation does not come from God. He cannot be tempted. He cannot be anything but holy.
So where does temptation come from?
Continuing with our text James gives us the answer.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
This word lured. is a word that. is like baiting a hook and putting it out, putting out a lure in fishing.
How many of you have ever gone fishing?
How many of you have ever seen a fishing lure?
Oftentimes, a fishing lure looks very realistic towards a certain type of thing you find in the lake or pond naturally. whether it be a smaller fish or a tadpole looking lure. it looks like something a fish it would want.
It looks like the real thing, sometimes it even may smell like the real thing, but it. is counterfeit. It's a trap.
And this is very similar to what the devil will layout for us as a trap or a lure.
What are some lure's of the devil or temptations?
And this is where desire comes in
Desire is necessarily bad. We can desire food. and it's ok.
We can desire a partner or intimacy and it's OK. It's actually good.
But it's when we allow it to become an idle, or we allow it to become a counterfeit option that it becomes sin.
What the devil does is he takes a desire we have that is good and God given, and he provides a bait, a lure, a counterfeit.
Oftentimes that could be glutiny,
That could be a relationship that isn't God centered or is Unequally yoked. meaning a believer dating/marrying an unbeliever.
or it could even be premarital intimacy with a partner or casual intimacy.
These are all lures. The devil will put in front of us to try and snag us, hook us.
And what happens when a fish is hooked?
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James, is it trying to rain on our parade? He is trying to protect us from counterfeit joy. Counterfeit pleasure.
One of my favorite books is pilgrims progress, and in that book there is a story, a Parable a picture of truth
In this story, there is two characters, patience and passion. Both of them are offered a bag of treasure at their feet, and passion takes it immediately with joy. But then, over time, the treasure becomes dust, and he is clothed in rags. And it fades away. But patience had waited for something better. And he was the one found with wisdom.
As Christians, we are to follow what the Lord has for us and seek the best Not the immediate.
Oftentimes, the devil will offer us a shortcut, instant gratification, but it's hooked to death. It becomes. sin. And James wants us to avoid this.
In recap What is the pattern that James puts forward in verses 14 and 15?
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
What are ways that we can combat the lure or the trap of the devil?
How can we battle temptation?
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
What is the pattern we see in Matthew that would help us today? What is the tactic for defense against temptation?
How many of us already know this passage and know this tactic by raise of hands?
Now, how many of us can say we apply this very well in our life?
We are to be brothers and sisters, keeping each other accountable and helping each other to press forward in our relationship and grow. And this is an area where we can grow.
We need to memorize scripture and meditate on it often.
Now in verse 16 we see James pivoting from the counterfeit to the legitimate.
Jesus does not tempt God does not tempt. He does not lure us with sin. but He gives Good Gifts
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
There are two things being said here.
1. Their is something Better than the counterfeit.
God has given good things and will give good things to those who love him in his time.
I'm not saying that you will be rewarded for your faith in this life. I'm not saying you'll have wealth, possessions, spouses, children. I'm not saying that you are guaranteed those things. If you're a good Christian.
What I am saying is that God has better things for you than counterfeit love.
The devil will offer lust, but God offers love.
The devil will offer distraction, but God will offer peace.
The Devil will offer pleasure, but God will offer joy.
The things of God will last into eternity because they're not physical things, but the things of the devil will fade away because they. are spiritually empty.
Are we tracking with that?
any questions on that before I move to the second point of what James is saying?
The second thing James is saying. is that these gifts come from a god who will never change There is nothing you can do to make God love you more or love you less.
And if you are a Christian, if we are Christians. then we know God will never change his mind about our salvation. He has given us the ultimate gift of the. gospel.
And I'm going to reiterate it so we don't just move past it. It's incredible.
Romans 5:19 (ESV)
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:8 (ESV)
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
As Christians, we have been given a gift of salvation and this is a gift that we should share with our communities.
The church during James's Day was the first fruits as we see in verse 18.
18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Those who were the first fruits sewed the seed of the gospel to the next generation, and so on and so forth.
And we are to be the continuation of that. We are to continue to sew the truth of the gospel with everyone we know who is not a Christian.
We are to go into all the world and share the gospel to all nations.
We as a church are based on reach, gather and grow.
And a question I have is, are we reaching?
And if not, is it because of fear of persecution?
My hope is to give us opportunities to connect with our communities, whether that be attending football games to reach students for the gospel or going to bicentennial to reach other young adults with the gospel, or eating out at Buffalo Wild Wings to reach the wait staff with the gospel. We should be pictured as the crazy Christians.
And we should draw attention to Christ.
Does anyone have any thoughts
I'd like to close us in prayer groups if the girls could stay here and the guys go into the sanctuary and we can pray and then we're done. We can hang out.