Embracing Trials: Do Not Be Decieved.

Recap on Last week:

Reminder #1: Unspeakable Joy. Vs. 12a

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

Reminder #2: Powerful Perseverance. Vs. 12b

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

Reminder #3: Righteous Reward. V. 12c

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

Reminder #4: Precious Promise. V. 12d

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

I feel the need to explain the difference between trials and temptations. The two are different in many ways.

Temptation- Meaning Trials. It’s the same Greek word found in James 1:2…

They’re different in their:

1. Source:

Trials- Approved by God and by the will of God Meant to help grow the believer in maturity, perseverance, knowledge, wisdom… Also, trials come from three sources:

A broken world system

A testing of faith

Discipline from God who loves you

Supporting Scripture:

James 1:2–4“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Temptations- Schemes devised by satan to draw you away from God and are meant solely for you to bow a knee to him instead of staying faithful to The Lord. Also, temptations come from three sources:

The Devil

The love of the world

The Desires of our flesh

Supporting Scripture:

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

2. Intent:

Trials- Trials are meant to be overcame. A trial is a truth to navigate you to the will of God.

Temptations- Temptations are meant to be failed. A temptation is a lie that needs a rebuke from the word of God.

The trials burn away any impurities in the believer’s faith. What is left when the trials have ended is purified, genuine faith, analogous to the pure gold or silver that emerges from the refiner’s fire.

Wayne Grudem

The trials of the saint are a “divine pruning”, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit.

Charles Spurgeon

Today, as we embrace that Word of God we’ll find some clarity on Temptation and from where it originates.

Regrading the word temptation. The same word (in noun or verb form) is used for both ideas because the primary difference is not in the peirasmos itself but in a person’s response to it. If a believer responds in faithful obedience to God’s Word, he successfully endures a trial; if he succumbs to it in the flesh, doubting God and disobeying, he is tempted to sin. Right response leads to spiritual endurance, righteousness, wisdom, and other blessings (vv. 2–12). Wrong response leads to sin and death (v. 15).

The Confusion. Vs. 13

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

What James is dealing with here is called fatalism.

For example:

Fatalism is by which a poor man blames his poverty for turning him into a thief and therefore justifies his stealing, or by which a drunk blames business or domestic problems and pressures for driving him to drink and therefore to the reckless driving that seriously injures or kills someone. Nor does he allow for the notion that “the devil made me do it.”

Even more vehemently, James opposes the intolerable idea of blaming God, declaring, Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God.” Let no one say translates a present active imperative form of the verb legō (Let … say), coupled with the negative imperative mēdeis (no man). The idea is, “Let no person say to himself,” that is, rationalize to himself, “that, when he is tempted, he is being tempted by God.” The very idea is anathema.

By translates the preposition apo, which is sometimes rendered “of,” or “from,” and carries the connotations of remoteness, distance, and indirection. Another preposition (hupo), which is often translated with those same English words (by, of, from), denotes direct agency. What James is saying, therefore, is that no one should say that God is even indirectly responsible for temptation to evil. He is in no way and to no degree responsible, directly or indirectly, for our being tempted.

for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (1:13b)

Cannot be tempted translates the adjective apeirastos, which is used only here in the New Testament and carries the idea of being untemptable, without the capacity for temptation.

Michael Hieser:

“God and evil exist in two distinct realms that never meet. He has no vulnerability to evil and is utterly impregnable to its onslaughts. He is aware of evil but untouched by it, like a sunbeam shining on a dump is untouched by the trash.”

God allows the trials in which temptation can occur, not to solicit believers to sin, but to move them to greater endurance (cf. James 1:2–4).

The Culprit. Vs. 14

James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

Each one - Emphasizes the universality of temptation, from which no person is immune. Every human being is tempted; there are no exceptions. The present tense underscores the continuing, repeated, and inescapable reality of the process, which occurs when a person is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

Drawn away and enticed -Both phrases are closely related but different aspects of the temptation process. The first term is from the verb exelkō, which has the meaning of dragging away, as if compelled by an inner desire. It was often used as a hunting term to refer to a baited trap designed to lure an unsuspecting animal into it. The second term (enticed) is from deleazō, which was commonly used as a fishing term to refer to bait, whose purpose was also to lure the prey from safety to capture and death.

Examples:

Peter uses deleazō twice in his second letter, first referring to “eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children,” and later to “arrogant words of vanity [by which] they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error” (2 Pet. 2:14, 18).

Animals and fish are successfully lured to traps and hooks because the bait is too attractive for them to resist. It looks good and smells good, appealing strongly to their senses. Their desire for the bait is so intense that it causes them to lose caution and to overlook or ignore the trap or the hook until it is too late.

Own lust -In exactly the same way, we succumb to temptation when our own lust draws us toward evil things that are appealing to fleshly desire. Although in contemporary use, lust has long been associated almost exclusively with illicit sexual desire, the Greek term epithumia that it translates refers to a deep, strong desire or longing of any kind, good or bad.

Sin can look attractive and pleasurable, and usually is, at least for a while. Otherwise it would have little power over us. Satan tries to make sin as attractive as possible, as do the evil and seductive men and women just described above by Peter. But there would be no attraction of sin were it not for man’s own sinful lust, which makes evil seem more appealing than righteousness, falsehood more appealing than truth, immorality more appealing than moral purity, the things of the world more appealing than the things of God. We cannot blame Satan, his demons, ungodly people, or the world in general for our own lust. Even more certainly, we cannot blame God. The problem is not a tempter from without, but the traitor within.

By- The preposition that is here is from hupo, which carries the idea of direct agency. We are not tempted even indirectly “by (apo) God” (v. 13), but we are directly carried away and enticed by (hupo) our own lust. The fault is entirely within us, in our unredeemed flesh.

Supporting Scripture:

Romans 7:18–25 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Jeremiah 17:9 ““The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

Matthew 15:18–19 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.””

The Conclusion Vs. 15-16

James 1:15–16 “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

Shifting from the metaphors of hunting and fishing, he now uses the process of childbirth to illustrate his point. Lust is depicted as a mother conceiving and bearing a child, which is sin and whose ultimate destiny is death.

If the cycle of temptation is completed, sin is accomplished, and it brings forth death.

Supporting Scriptures:

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 Corinthians 11:30 “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”

1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.”

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. -Stop blaming other people, circumstances, or Satan for your temptations and sins, he is saying. Above all, do not blame God. Take full blame on yourselves, where it belongs. Realize that your enemy—your fallenness, your lusts, your weaknesses, your rationalizations, and your sins—are within and have to be dealt with from within. When a believer wins the battle on the inside, he can say with Paul: “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Cor. 1:12).

2 Corinthians 1:12 “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.”

The Clarity Vs. 17

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above-The perfect, flawless, holy goodness of God results in His doing and giving only what reflects His perfect holiness and truth. His works reflect His character. Negatively, James is saying that, from temptation to execution, God has absolutely no responsibility for sin. Positively, he is saying that God has complete responsibility for every good thing, and that every perfect gift that exists has come down from above.

The Father of lights- Is an ancient Jewish title for God, referring to Him as Creator, as the great Giver of light, in the form of the sun, moon, and stars (cf. Gen. 1:14–19). Unlike those sources of light, which, magnificent as they are, can nevertheless vary and will eventually fade, God’s character, power, wisdom, and love have no variation or shifting shadow. Through Malachi the Lord declares, “I, the Lord, do not change” (Mal. 3:6); through John, we are told that “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5); and through the writer of Hebrews we are assured that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Heb. 13:8). The celestial bodies God created have various phases of movement and rotation, changing from hour to hour and varying in intensity and shadow. God, however, is changeless.

Genesis 1:14–19 “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

Malachi 3:6 ““For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

1 John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Closing Statements:

Polycarp was a personal disciple of the Apostle John. As an old man, he was the bishop of the Church at Smyrna in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Persecution against the Christians broke out there and believers were being fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The crowd began to call for the Christians' leader Polycarp. So the authorities sent out a search party to bring him in. They tortured two slave boys to reveal where Polycarp was being hidden.

It was a Friday afternoon. Polycarp was resting upstairs in a country home. They came in like a posse, fully armed as if they were arresting a dangerous criminal. Polycarp's friends wanted to sneak him out, but he refused, saying, "God's will be done." (The Christians there taught that a believer was not to make oneself available for martyrdom and should not seek it out, but neither should he/she avoid it when there was no choice.)

In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable, Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends, talked with them and ordered that food and drink be served to them. Then Polycarp made one request: one hour to pray before they took him away. The officers overhearing his prayers (that went on for two hours) began to have second thoughts. What were they doing arresting an old man like this?

Martyrdom of Polycarp

Despite the cries of the crowd, the Roman authorities saw the senselessness of making this aged man a martyr. So when Polycarp was brought into the arena, the proconsul pled with him: "Curse Christ and I will release you."

REPLY: "Eighty-six years I have served Him. He had never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?"

The proconsul reached for an acceptable way out: "Then do this, old man. Just swear by the genius of the emperor and that will be sufficient." (The "genius" was sort of the "spirit" of the emperor. To do this would be a recognition of the pagan gods and religion.)

REPLY: "If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don't know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian."

More entreaties. Polycarp stood firm.

The proconsul threatened him with the wild beasts.

REPLY: "Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from the worse to the better, but not to change from the right to the wrong."

The proconsul's patience was gone: "I will have you burned alive."

REPLY: "You threaten fire that burns for an hour and is over. But the judgment on the ungodly is forever."

The Death of Polycarp

The fire was prepared. Polycarp lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed: "Father, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might take a portion of the martyrs in the cup of Christ. . . Among these may I today be welcome before thy face as a rich and acceptable sacrifice."

As the fire engulfed him, the believers noted that it smelled not so much like flesh burning as a loaf baking. He was finished off with the stab of a dagger. His followers gathered his remains like precious jewels and buried them on February 22, a day they set aside to be remembered. The year was probably 155. In the strange way known to the eyes of faith, it was as much a day of triumph as it was a day of tragedy.